I have thought long and hard about how to address the heresies of the Prosperity gospel movement in this forum. Over the course of these articles, I’ve hit on the subject here and there, but it is such a big movement that I didn’t feel I could adequately cover it in these short articles. Nonetheless, the size and damning influence of the Prosperity movement demands that it be confronted at every turn. Thus, over the next couple of weeks, I will make an effort to at least give a fair warning about it.
One of the challenges with addressing the Prosperity gospel movement is that it doesn’t have a singular head or a cohesive doctrinal statement by which to confront it. One Prosperity teacher might make one claim, while another might contradict him (or her), while both still fit under that umbrella of Prosperity teaching. Furthermore, the Prosperity gospel is known by a lot of different names: Some call it, “Prosperity,” others call it, “Word of faith, or ‘Name it claim it,’” some call it, “The Health/Wealth Gospel,” and still others call it, “Positive Confession.” By whatever name, it clearly is derived from the Pentecostal movement and shares many of the same Charismatic root doctrines pertaining to miraculous sign gifts and supposedly receiving divine revelation from God. Some of the early names of those who helped develop the Prosperity message were: E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth Hagin – And many more have since added to their foundational teachings, creating the fastest growing heretical teaching in the world. While it would be impossible to name all of the Prosperity gospel teachers let me give you a few of the most prominent or well-known ones: Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Paula White, Joel Osteen, Robert Morris, Joyce Meyer, Oral Roberts, TD Jakes, Marilyn Hickey, and Brian Houston (Hillsong). Needless to say, if you gain anything else from this article, stay far away from the teachings and ministries of these charlatans!
On the surface, it appears that the Prosperity message is all about believing you can receive blessings (financial, health, or otherwise) in your life if you just believe it enough. They misappropriate passages such as Mk. 11:24 which says – “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” They make such passages to be like blank checks from the Lord, as if God were just waiting for you to believe it enough so He could make you a millionaire. But that is just the first error, because so often the message becomes more than just “believe and you will receive,” but it progresses to “give to our ministry and you will receive.” Just one example is summed up in the words of Gloria Copeland (Kenneth Copeland’s wife) who said – “Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane… In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal.” The idea is that if you believe enough you will give what you already have to get it, thus demonstrating that you really believe God will answer your prayer. Some Prosperity teachers call this: “Sowing a seed.”
Of course, whether it is by just “believing” or by “sowing” such thinking and teaching is completely antithetical to the teaching of the Word. We have to qualify such passages with others that give Christ’s full meaning – Allowing the Scripture to interpret Scripture:
1Jn. 5:14 – “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
Jam. 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Matt. 6:9-10 – “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matt. 6:19-20 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Heb. 13:5 – “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’”
We could go on listing verses like this that refute the basic premise of the Prosperity message, but if such plain and clear passages won’t convince a person of the truth – Then neither will they be convinced with dozens and hundreds more. Sadly, the message of temporal prosperity is incredibly popular (it always has been in whatever form), and so those who spin these doctrinal errors are finding ready and willing hearers all over the globe. Tragically, like pyramid schemes, they prey on the weak and undiscerning, and take advantage of the poor who will do anything to escape their plight.
But, for some reason, many of these charlatans who proclaim this message are given a pass. It is thought: “Perhaps they misinterpret some things, but at least they are preaching Jesus, and preaching the Gospel.” But that is the exact opposite of what they are doing. Over the next couple of weeks, Lord willing, I hope to show how Prosperity teachers’ views on wealth and health are but the tip of the heretical iceberg in their teaching. And that their theological views of Christ and the Gospel are in fact utterly false and damning to believe in.
Comments