I am going into the attack mode this morning. I don’t do this often but sometimes one of those 39,000 versions of Jesus Christ around today severely strike my ire. That is the case with the “Prosperity Gospel”. When I came across these calendars in a stand recently their position next to each other got my immediate attention. Here are some words from Christianity Today that speak to the issue of the prosperity gospel:
Source: Joel Osteen vs. Rick Warren on Prosperity Gospel | Christianity Today.
17 percent of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61 percent believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31 percent—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money. … Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three—Joel Osteen’s Lakewood in Houston; T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House in south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar’s World Changers near Atlanta—are Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits.
Lets make no mistake about this, the primary purpose of the “prosperity gospel” is for the prosperity of their leaders. They say that the more money you give to them the more money God will give to you. Plain and simple that is a greed motivated theology and has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ! To put money and God on the same level is to make money the ultimate idol! In a country where 7 out of every 10 jobs will soon be at minimum wage levels it is not surprising that the dream of wealth is so subversive. Shame on these supposedly “Christian leaders” for taking advantage of this condition in the name of God! To pervert the Bible is such a way is vulgar to me! (a lot of exclamation points here and all are necessary)
Here is what Rick Warren said about “theology prosperity” in the same reference article:
“This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?”, [Rick] Warren snorts. “There is a word for that baloney. It’s creating a false idol. You don’t measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn’t everyone in the church a millionaire?”
Or I could even say in the face of so much poverty why is there anyone in the church who are millionaires. Jesus had some words to a rich man about that. Fact or Crap, I know where I put Mr. Osteen and those like him in those categories…
