We sometimes get too complex when we attempt to explain why a certain popular doctrine in the church today is not biblical. We pour over the verses that apply and look for each particular instance where Jesus or one of the disciples spoke about the issue. We lay them out in list form to attempt to prove our case definitively and throw out Bible verses at others until we are blue in the face. While the Word is wonderful and specific verses are always worthwhile, sometimes the issue involved is just so much simpler to understand if we look at the pictures that God gives us in the Bible. While it is helpful to understand that Paul wrote that he has learned to be content in all things, a broader and perhaps simpler statement of the same truth in the Bible expressed by looking at the life of Jesus or of Paul can at times be more helpful in tearing down strongholds of false doctrine.
This is the case when debating the always flourishing doctrine we commonly refer to as the Prosperity Gospel. This teaching suggests that Jesus wants His followers not only to be spiritually rich, but also materially rich on earth. Yes, there are numerous verses that directly contradict this teaching and they can be very effective in responding. But if we zoom back a bit and just look at the lives of the great New Testament men of faith in the Bible, we can see a bigger picture and pattern that should make the preachers of the prospeity gospel blush and then seek repentance at Jesus’ feet. Any honest look at the life of Jesus and the lives of the great saints of the Bible should lead to the conclusion that money has nothing to do with faith in Jesus and God’s blessing on us as believers in Christ.
Our example in this world in how we live and act is Jesus. You can not find a more blessed or righteous a person in all of history. His faith was perfect in all aspects and His relationship with His Father, immaculate. Yet, He was born poor, lived poor and died without a fancy home, fancy car and with meager possessions. His faith is unmatched in all of history, no one knows He is God and the goodness of God better than Jesus, and yet Jesus ended up with nothing material in this world. His Kingdom was not of this World was His explanation to Pontius Pilate why this was so.
Well, Jesus was different you say, we are just people and once He rose from the dead things change. The fancy preachers with helicopters and private jes cite verses I tell you, verses!
Paul the Apostle possibly had riches and power after all. He was possibly a member of the Sanhedrin and had great schooling and great position. Yes, Paul had position and power and was a real up and comer in society until, of course, he met Jesus and everything changed. After becoming a Christian, Paul has very little, is regularly beaten, put in prison and generally is poor and persecuted for the remainder of his life…which ends with him executed for his faith in the Risen Jesus. Read 2 Corinthians 11 for Paul’s list of material prosperity, shipwrecked, beaten, flogged, stoned, lost at sea. Fancy prosperity gospel preacher are you ready for a life of great faith?. Paul is one of the greatest men in Christian history, yet materially he had nothing. Is Paul’s faith somehow defective that it does not result in him driving a Bentley? Is Paul doing it wrong?
Paul is stoned, Peter ends up crucified, John the Beloved Disciple is boiled in oil and exiled where he likely was forced to work in terrible conditions in a mine, the list of terrible deaths and rough lives of great men of God goes on and on. If you read your Bible this should present a great discordance. The men who are presented by God as an example for all believers through the work of the Holy Spirit lived lives of want and persecution. The prosperity gospel teaches that you will have a fancy house and want for nothing if you just have enough faith.ou can only believe one as they are contradictory. So which one?
Peter and Paul gave everything they had so that people could be saved and asked nothing in return. When their lives compared to the preaches with helicopters and private jets preaching a gospel of only prosperity, who honestly should you trust more? I honestly take solace from the fact that Jesus loves me greatly whether I am doing well at my tent making job or whether I just lost a big client.
Jesus gave up everything so that we could be saved. Our King did not die hung from a Cross just so we could have a fancy car.
you truly have no idea how frustrating it is seeing and hearing pastors or should i say motivational speakers like Joel Olsteen preach the prosperity Gospel with the focus on riches in this life. Love that you chose to shed light on this particular fallacy. God bless you brother lets keep spreading the word the way its supposed to be spread hahaaha!
Thanks for the comment! I take comfort from the fact that false teachers were around at the time of Paul and Peter, the early church fathers and will be there at the End Times so they are nothing new and God is not surprised. He will deal with those who mess with His Gospel much better than I ever could.
Where does Your Jesus say judge others who are trying to serve Almighty God? How did penniless Paul travel over land and see without money? How did Paul plant churches and lead missions unless he had money? You have not yet received any of the “revelations” about Jesus House, His clothes which were so valued that Roman soldiers gambled to acquire them, or the fact that Almighty God saved Paul from “All” deaths he was subjected to so that he remains alive until Jesus Christ returns in His clouds of glory ! Where do you read in scriptures about the death of John or Paul? Where are “ALL” the fruits of your ministry ???
Hi there Devealan – thank you for taking the time to read this post and comment. It is through conversations like this that the Lord opens doors to greater understanding of Him, if we are willing. I will respond to each of your questions below:
Where does Your Jesus say judge others who are trying to serve Almighty God?
Why do you say “Your Jesus”? There is only One Jesus and the revelation of Him is set out in the Bible. If you agree, then you will also agree that we are told repeatedly to judge the claims of people who come to us claiming to speak in the Lord’s name. In the Old Testament, the standard is very high.
20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” Deuteronomy 18:20
The New Testament does not impose the death sentence on false teachers, but it is filled with clear directions to reject them:
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.2 Peter 2
So we have Jesus, Peter, Paul, and John all warning us false teachers are coming and we have to watch out for them. We an only do that if we judge what they are teaching against the Word of God and see if they conflict.
The claims of the Prosperity Gospel directly conflict with the teaching of Jesus – you can start with Jesus statement, In this life you will have troubles, and go from there.
How did Paul plant churches and lead missions unless he had money?
The usefulness or need for money is not the issue. You see in the Book of Acts how the Church at Antioch first supported Paul on his missionary journeys and then Paul took up collections for churches that were poor and under persecution. The Church of Jerusalem, for example, is listed in Acts as sufferng from great persecution and poverty and hunger from a famine that hit the area. The other churches took up a collection for them, including from the churches that were themselves poor. The money is needed to pay for food, but the part that destroys the prosperity gospel is the fact that they needed money to begin with. The Church of Jerusalem is the first church in the world, led by the brother of Jesus and filled with godly men and women, many of whom knew Jesus. They also were being thrown in prison and even killed by guys like Saul of Tarsus. This is normal for Christians – Jesus told us persecution and trials would come and we would be hated for our faith. The prosperity gospel says that this is not true – that if you just have enough faith then you can proclaim victory and wealth and health will come to you. So when Jesus’ brother James is killed by Herod in Acts and Paul is put in prison for more than 2 years, we have to conclude that there was a problem with their faith. Why didn’t they just manifest their destiny and claim their release? Why didn’t Jesus?
You have not yet received any of the “revelations” about Jesus House, His clothes which were so valued that Roman soldiers gambled to acquire them
Jesus’ house??? Jesus Himself said:
And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20
The Son of Man is Jesus and He is saying that He did not even have anywhere to sleep, much less the riches and material benefits the people of Israel were looking for. There are no references to Jesus owning a palace or even a home during his incarnation .
His clothes which were so valued that Roman soldiers gambled to acquire them
I am sorry that you probably have heard this claim made many times. I know it is used by many false teachers to support their claims, but it is simply not true. It is not even supported by the verses that recount it. For example, from Mark 15:24
And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
The Bible only says that they cast lots for His garments. It does not say “they were so valuable that they cast lots” and this is important – what the verses actually say as opposed to what people say they say. So they cast lots to get Jesus’ stuff – that is it. we then have a whole bunch of other descriptions of Jesus and His interactions with people where the whole point is they think Jesus looks too much like a regular guy to be the Messiah or the King.
Some examples – we know for certain that Joseph and Mary (both of great faith) were poor due to the sacrifice they gave at Jesus’ dedication. It was not the regular sacrifice, but the one reserved for the poor – those who could not afford the regular one.
We also have Isaiah’s prophetic description of Jesus as being despised and rejected of men, nothing in His appearance to attract us to Him. The idea goes directly against the whole point of Jesus’ incarnation:
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it [b]robbery to be equal with God, 7 but [c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8
Do you notice that Jesus willingly became a bond servant, a slave, for us. Slaves are not wealthy.
Jesus, in fact, preached against wealth as a measure of goodness or holiness – He called the wealthy of that day vipers and white washed tombs and warned it is earlier to get a camel through an eye of needle than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus Himself was very clear that He did not care at all about the things the gentiles chase after – like riches, big houses, and status.
the fact that Almighty God saved Paul from “All” deaths he was subjected to so that he remains alive until Jesus Christ returns in His clouds of glory !
Did you read all of the hardship that happened to Paul? There was much in there that is just extremely painful – that you would never describe as prosperous – that God allows Paul to go through. Being flogged and thrown in jail in Philippi would have hurt like crazy and been uncomfortable, but would not have killed Paul – yet, God puts Paul in prison virtually alone with no money, no connections, and far from healthy. According to the prosperity teachers, Paul must have done something wrong to ge there.
Paul does die eventually. Church history recorded him being beheaded after a long imprisonment. Peter, John, Paul, and the rest of the Apostles all die as well, with all but John being killed for their faith. An early church historian records that Peter was crucified by the Romans alongside his wife. They are just a handful of what are millions of Christians who have been killed for their faith – what did they do wrong? The answer is nothing. The Bible tells us that we should count it all joy when we suffer in Christ’s name or when we are persecuted. We are also called to be like Peter and James when they were jailed and beaten for sharing Jesus – to rejoice in suffering.
Jesus told us that we will have trials and that we should not chase riches or worry about what the world chases after- He was very clear in doing so. Why in the world do people think it is ok to go directly against these clear directions?
Where are “ALL” the fruits of your ministry ???
Brother or sister, I am a lawyer by profession and there was a time where I had the riches of the world at my fingertips. I obtained what I wanted in my career and had money, security, and position. Like Paul, I count those days and those things as garbage compared to the true riches of knowing Jesus and His work in my life, my family, and my church.
This is part of the reason I feel so sad for all those who are trapped under the burdens and in the prison of the prosperity gospel. It is false and offensive to Jesus, yes, but even if you are successful and get a big house and fancy cars etc – it is empty and nothing compared to the true riches in Jesus.
Thank you for your post. The prosperity gospel is completely wrong.
People doesn’t know the different between judging and correction. That shows that the devil has blinded them. Prosperity gospel is a fake message and you will definitely be a discouraged person one day if you follow it. Please get rid of it. It is just for the people who “LOVES MONEY” which will lead them towards all kinds of evil.
wow…so is wrong of me to want have wealth so i can a. help myself feed myself and clothe myself?? is it wrong to want have alot of money so ican at least make sure my parents are ok ?? and what about church ? always and i mean always wanting money from the audience ,always wanting you to part with it so they have and well you cant ever seem to be able to..your one sided view of life and world we live is very small.You see its all good for people like to talk this nonsense and have your nice house and car after having had success to some degree ie bieng a lawyer and such.however if someone like me wants to have anything just a little success just a little bit of wealth,then oh my goodness its a sin! how dare i want to be wealthy so ican comfortably look after myself and my parents ,or siblings or anybody for that matter,how dare I pastor?..wow im going to now go and throw up in my blue bucket i bought in airlie beach..
Hey al – I think you significantly misunderstand the point of the post, which never claims that wealth is bad, that you are sinning by wanting to make your family wealthy, or that money is bad. Rather, it is directed at the Prosperity Gospel, the teaching that warps the Gospel of Jesus and tells us that once we become Christian, if we have enough faith, then we will become wealthy, never get sick, and generally life will be wonderful in material things.
This teaching is not true and if you are struggling to provide any of the things you mention, caring for your kids material needs or your parents, then it would seem that you see that in your life. Life is hard and there are many Christians who are not wealthy, mourning losses, and who deal with pain, disability, and ongoing illnesses.
Let me make it clear – there is nothing wrong with wanting money, health, healing, and relief from these problems. The enormous problem with the Prosperity Gospel, though, is that it tells you both that God guarantees you all these things on earth (which He does not) and that if you don’t have them, it is your fault – you did not have enough faith or did not give enough money. It makes following Jesus all about what you can do in order to obligate Jesus to give you money and health.
I am sorry if the somewhat brief explanation of the Prosperity Gospel led to the wrong conclusion, but the point of the post was that the lives of Jesus and the early church prove that God loves you and is with you even when life, finances, health, career, are not going like you want them to. Suffering and struggle does not mean God is punishing you or angry with you and we can see that from the pattern of Jesus’ life and death.