Just in case we are tempted to downplay the potential harmfulness of movements and messages that play a tune other than the true Gospel or relegate it to the second fiddle position we need to get a grip on the urgency of understanding what the Gospel really is and exercise an active defense against distortions. This is stressed in no uncertain terms by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:6-9:
(NIV) I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
Besides the danger of putting the biblical gospel in jeopardy by exchanging it for the Social Gospel, as we addressed it in our last column, we also need to be wary of the Prosperity Gospel and wave a red flag when see or hear it take the platform.
The Prosperity Gospel usually comes packaged in terms of the “word of faith” or “faith-promise” theology developed early in the 20th century by preachers such as E. W. Kenyon who drew from the tradition of New Thought associated with movements such as Christian Science. In one sense, he attempted to bring elements extracted from positive thinking movements into his message, mixing New Thought with Christianity. Kenyon promoted his “new type of Christianity” and found a ready following, especially among those who were experiencing financial distress or poverty. Kenyon, who died in 1948, exerted a significant influence on prosperity preachers such as Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, and Kenneth Copeland.
The Prosperity gospel is not new. It crops up from time to time in the secular media again and again. TIME magazine published a major cover story on prosperity theology, documenting its development and tracing its influence. As David Van Biema and Jeff Chu explained in the magazine, prosperity theology “is a peculiarly American theology but turbocharged.” This “turbocharged” theology offers a false hope, presents a failed message, and is a False Gospel.
The Prosperity Gospel is now preached by a wide assortment of televangelists and local figures who assure congregations that God promises to make them healthy and wealthy, (not necessarily wise) if only they will possess and demonstrate adequate faith by “sowing seed-money” into the bank account of the particular personality who is doing the plowing and plans to do the reaping. The entire movement presents the Gospel as a message that is primarily about earthly rewards — a theology that turns God into a heavenly banker who is obligated to invest His people with material riches if they exercise adequate faith and claim these asset-column blessings for their own.
Sincere believers in Christ are found among both the impoverished and the wealthy, but the vast majority of Christian believers throughout the ages have experienced nothing that can be described as material wealth. Their hope was and is established in Christ, who bought and paid for their salvation from sin with his own life’s blood and secures their hopes for eternal life through His death and resurrection.
The Prosperity Gospel is a false gospel. Its message is unbiblical and its promises flop. God never assures his people by making a capital gains deal that guarantees a payoff in material abundance or physical health. Instead, Christians are promised the riches of Christ, the gift of eternal life, and the assurance of glory in the eternal presence of the living God; a much better deal, at that, if you insist on dealing in terms of value.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers salvation from sin, not a perk for earthly prosperity. In the end, besides relegating the true gospel to a place of secondary emphasis, the biggest problem with the Prosperity Gospel is not that it promises too much, but that it promises far too little.
