What do you think of when you read the words prosperity
gospel? Well, depending on what side of the Charismatic fence you are on,
you may like it or your stomach turns a bit as you think about the preachers on
television who speak to very large crowds and appeal to even more people in
their books. Queasiness is the reaction one should have to the brand of
Christianity trumpeted by prosperity preachers. This is because the prosperity
gospel is not a gospel at all but rather a damnable perversion of the true
gospel. Its preachers herald a message of self-improvement that runs painfully
contrary to several key biblical realities. They minimize the purpose of
suffering, discourage self-denial, and make the Christian life about the
accumulation of stuff. To do this they turn Jesus from the self-giving,
sin-atoning, wrath-satisfying, guilt-removing Savior into an eager butler who
fetches all of our desires and gives us our best life now.
The prosperity gospel shrinks the gospel down to an unfiltered
pursuit of our desires. It shifts the message from the spiritual to the
materialistic. Let’s be clear about this: the prosperity gospel is about US rather
than GOD.
Many like the prosperity preachers have tried to avoid the clear
instructions of Jesus that are forever etched on the doorpost of the church:
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Jesus’ call to discipleship is a call to deny self. It’s a costly call that
expects and embraces suffering.
Martin Luther vehemently opposed those who would seek to
marginalize the experience of suffering and self-denial in the Christian life.
His contrast between the “theology of glory” and the “theology of the cross”
showed a fundamental difference in the starting point for Christian thought and
experience. Theologians of glory build their theology on what they think God
would be like, while theologians of the cross form their knowledge of God in
light of the cross. On the one hand, the theology of glory will craft a god
that looks like the theologian. On the other hand, the one who stares intently
at the cross will learn about God through the lens of Calvary and the
Scriptures.
Look closely, you can see how this intersects with prosperity
thinking. There is no way that people can hold to prosperity theology when they
have a front-row seat to the cross. There upon the cross, the perfect Son of
God suffered the triune God’s accumulated wrath for all of His people. The
Sinless One became a curse for us. And we should hasten to add that the cross
was not plan B. It was God’s plan all along—even from eternity past. Christ was
focused with unrelenting precision upon the cross that He might accomplish the
work that He had been given. And this work that He accomplished serves as an
example for us (1 Pet. 2:20–25).
But here is where we must refocus our attention and concern: We
would be naive to think that prosperity thinking is limited to those who cruise
around in their expensive private jets or overtly speak in self-help platitudes
fit for fortune cookies. No, prosperity thinking has gone viral today. Being
more nuanced and subtle than you may think, prosperity thinking is very active
in the church. And because it undermines our understanding and application of
the gospel, its effect is cataclysmic. Like a computer virus, it drains the
vitality and productivity of the church community. And you know the worst part?
We may not even recognize where we’ve been affected by it.The prosperity
gospel is not so loud and ostentatious. It is more mainstream, polished, and even
American.
Starting in Part 2, we will take a look at some ways that the
church – perhaps, your church -- may be nibbling at the hook of a soft-prosperity
gospel without even knowing it.
End of Part 1
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