The problem with this is that
there are people out there who do not have homes, or are severely handicapped,
for example, yet are Christians. Are we really supposed to believe that these
people just cannot measure up in having faith? Are we supposed to believe that
someone with cancer just does not have enough faith to get well?
For starters, the Bible clearly
paints the picture that we have the privilege of asking God for things, but this
does not, by any case, mean that everything we ask for will be granted to us… Nor
does it teach that God owes us health and wealth, let alone promises it.
I think that prosperity gospel
preachers have it wrong, but there is something that I must point out. I see a
particular pattern throughout the whole Bible, which talks about blessing and
even cursing.
Consider Deuteronomy 28. There are
two subtitles in that chapter in most Bible translations, and they all point to
the same things: Blessings for obedience
and cursing for disobedience. A little farther on in Deuteronomy chapter 30,
beginning at verse eleven, we see God reasoning with His people:
Now what I am
commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It
is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to
get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea,
so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to
us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set
before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command
you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep
his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord
your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your
heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow
down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will
certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the
Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I
call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before
you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your
children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his
voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you
many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
A question arises in my mind:
would he change this pattern for everyone else, or does He continue this
pattern for all people, generally
speaking?
I find that the Bible is replete
with this kind of blessing-language which ultimately confuses prosperity
theologians. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” He is searching
for those who have integrity… those who are blameless toward Him.
If I failed in a relationship
somehow, it is my integrity that would not let me “just let it go.” I would
have to do something about the cracks that formed in the foundation. My
conscience won’t let my integrity have a weak foundation. If I did something I
knew was wrong and that it hurt my wife, for instance, I would tell her about
it. After confessing to God and then her about it and asking for forgiveness,
my integrity remains intact and solid.
The Bible says, “If we confess our
sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It also
says in Psalm 66:18 that “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would
not have listened.” We see the nature of our disobedience and moral failures
here and how they put a distance between us and God, but those who “Draw near to God, He will draw near to them”
(James 4:7-8). This is a very similar message to what 2 Chronicles 16:9
teaches.
Does this teach that God wants us
to be healthy and rich? Definitely not. Does it mean we will be healthy and rich if we draw near to God? Maybe? But not
necessarily. This repeating idea in the
Bible, that God does indeed bless His people, even proves itself when the Kings
of the Old Testament had their hearts after God. This is where prosperity
gospel preachers are way off. They teach that people will be blessed if all
they have to do is believe that they will be blessed. There are several
problems with this.
It Teaches the Wrong Message of Hope
It assumes that people place hope
in what they receive, not in who they should follow. Prosperity gospel
preachers are manipulating the system. They are banking on people who want a
break in life, and when these people gain a sense of hope, they put stock in
the one wrong source of hope. Namely, the words of the prosperity theologian. The
prosperity theologian knows how to make people want stuff, rather than a
relationship. The prosperity theologian knows how to arouse the desire of
people to seek after their own benefit, whether this is a benefit of health,
marriage, or a new car. But seriously, shouldn’t people be more concerned with Jesus?
Paul prays for the Ephesians in chapter 3:
“I pray that out
of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in
your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together
with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep
is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you
may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16-19).
Notice how Paul doesn’t really
care that they all get healed, or that they all get new houses or that they all
become kings and queens. He is concerned with what is going on in their inner
being. Paul is saying that Christ should be dwelling there. Not some love for
being healthier, or a desire for a new car. The prosperity theologians are
teaching their people to be idolaters.
James chapter 3 teaches that not many of us ought to become teachers because we
are held at a higher judgment. If this does not instill fear into anyone who
does teach, then they are not taking their position seriously.
It is Just Plain Bad Theology
When preachers tell their people
that “God will bless you, He told me so” and it never happens, these people
live their whole lives questioning Jesus. This is a similar idea to the one above,
but from a different angle. The whole issue is that their hope is not in
someone, but something. Hope other
than in Jesus will always result in disappointment. This is what our hope is.
We have no hope apart from Jesus.
Teaching that people will be
blessed if all they have to do is believe it is like a whole other religion all
together. Think about it. Christianity is the only religion that absolutely
does not allow for hope in oneself, and all other religions teach that people
have to hope in themselves. Look at Buddhism for instance. They teach that
following the Noble Eight-fold Path will release one from being attached to
things and people, but in order to become unattached, they must find it within
themselves in order to be released from this horrible prison of attachment and
suffering!
Christianity is different from all
other religions because it is the one that says “You can’t do it… You need a
savior to take your place of punishment.” This is why our hope is in Jesus. He
took our place on the cross!
God does want to Bless us, but His Main Concern is that We Obey
Him
“…We know that for those who love
God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to
his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
God wants to bless us. Because if
He blesses us, that means we are near to Him, which is what He wants. Why do we have so many questions in theology? Because He wants us to seek Him. He wants us to search Him. Sure,
He causes the sun to shine on everyone and the rain to fall on the evil and the
good and evil people sometimes receive special blessing (I think this points to
what C. S. Lewis called “Wooing”), but when our hearts are blameless toward
Him, when we obey His word, we can expect to see His hand working in our lives.
“In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).
Our motivation should not be to
merely receive blessing, because then idolatry kind of comes into question. Our
motivation should be to want to please God, not because we have to earn His
favor, but in fact, the opposite. Because we have the grace of God—His undeserved
favor—because we are saved through Him, we should want to please Him… Grace
compels godliness (see Titus 2:11-12). The more we realize what it is that He
has done for us, the more we will want to please Him.
To Beat a Dead Horse…
Jesus teaches in John 15:5-10:
“I am the vine;
you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears
much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in
me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered,
thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide
in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my
Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love” (emphasis mine).
It is laid out quite simply… There
is nothing about believing that you will receive something that will give you
something for which you are hoping or wishing. Let’s get our priorities right
as children of God.
“If you love me, obey my commandments” –John
14:15
Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus
© Nace Howell, 2018
For what it's worth, this may be one of best you have written so far.
ReplyDeleteThanls, Dave. I appreciate that!
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