I would like to put together a response to the Prosperity Gospel Theology, This is because my sister who is a believer in this theology has espousing it in our household as real Christianty. (She was telling me that Jesus was rich, Abraham was rich). I know it wrong, but how do I explain it?

Bronwyn Sheldon - 08 September 2008 01:37 AM

I would like to put together a response to the Prosperity Gospel Theology, This is because my sister who is a believer in this theology has espousing it in our household as real Christianty. (She was telling me that Jesus was rich, Abraham was rich). I know it wrong, but how do I explain it?

Rather than try to explain it, why not ask her to show you from the Bible where Jesus and Abraham were rich. Abraham, maybe, with all his cattle, but Jesus? Didn’t he say something about not even having somewhere to lay his head?

Cheers,
Andrew

This what Mark Driscoll had to say about the “bling” Jesus :

How do you combat the ‘prosperity gospel’?

“The key is just keep talkin’ about Jesus. If you’re talking about a homeless guy, its hard to end up with prosperity theology. Jesus does enable some people to be rich, so they can be very generous. But there’s nothing in the Bible that says Christians should expect health and wealth. So I see that as a perverse gospel, its a false gospel.”

MD interview

David Wilkerson of Times Square Church (and Cross and Switchblade fame) has spoken against the prosperity gospel for years, have a look at these examples

Ah, a middle class nonsense theology that makes us feel good and makes a pastor rich.
Oh, and is terribly unbiblical.
Where on earth did they get the idea that Jesus was rich?

Something that struck me that Mark Driscoll said at Engage was that you can generally tell a false gospel because it will seek to validate your desires rather than transform them.

Prosperity theology takes materialism and validates it as “God’s will for your life”.  God , therefore, becomes the means to get what you want.

God , therefore, becomes the means to get what you want.

ie; magic.

Magic, traditionally (unlike Harry Potter and Enid Blyton) was about dealing with spirits, gods, demi gods and other assorted invisible men. You dealt with them, they gave you what you wanted.
Said the spell, burned the incense, disembowelled the cat (see, even witches aren’t all bad) and then “stuff” happened.
Personally I think it largely as much tosh as is the Prosperity Gospel. You act and wait for something to happen and then interpret that event in the light of your action. (eg; tithing)
Incidentally, how often do proponents of the PG ever endorse the tithe going to a church thing unaligned to them? A curiously rare event. Oh they do say it but there is alway “but” attached.

Perhaps reading through Job together might be a good idea. Though if she still likes PG by the time you get to the last chapter she might feel vindicated.

The suffering servant songs of Isaiah could be good too. Or Paul’s missionary journeys.

She got the idea from Church. I think it is a matter of reading too much into the text.

I spoke about Jesus, and she said that all the disciples and the friends of the disciples were rich, and all had plenty of money. For example the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, well apparently they would have had plenty of money, and the real problem was that out in the desert they had no where to buy the stuff!

Abraham was probably a very rich man and a leader, and I almost laughed when the minister said in church last night he was a no body.

BTW - I did actually take her to BYPJ...she actually liked Driscoll, but she was annoyed by the comment about Bling Jesus.

Well Abraham was very wealthy, at least towards the end of his life.

Bronwyn Sheldon - 08 September 2008 01:37 AM

I would like to put together a response to the Prosperity Gospel Theology, This is because my sister who is a believer in this theology has espousing it in our household as real Christianty. (She was telling me that Jesus was rich, Abraham was rich). I know it wrong, but how do I explain it?

Hi Bronwyn,

Sorry to hear this - you are a faithful and loving sister for seeking to challenge your sister’s views.  I’ll pray for you both.

Some resources which might be useful:

Joel Osteen and the Glory Story by MIke Horton - a brilliant summary of modern (American) prosperity ‘theology’ and why it falls short of the true Gospel.

What to Look For in the Gospels by Martin Luther - a beautiful summary of the Gospel & its core message, including this wonderful nugget: “So you see that the Gospel is really not a book of laws and commandments which require deeds of us, but a book of divine promises in which God promises, offers, and gives us all his possessions and benefits in Christ.” (my emphasis)

Using God by Kim Riddlebarger - an article which addresses various aspects (including the prosperity gospel) of what happens when we use God to serve our own interests.

I’ll post any more I can think of :)

pax

Nicole