Exposing the Prosperity Message

EXPOSING THE PROSPERITY MESSAGE

Just a cursory examination of the New Testament will reveal to anyone with a reading level of the 5^th grade that the prosperity message has been created by false prophets in order to justify and satisfy their own lusts. Let us review the facts even in the natural. Millions of followers of these men and women have watched as their leaders accumulate great wealth. Some even have several jet planes and several luxurious homes. But some of their followers have not experienced that same level of prosperity, and even some who have prospered to an extent only mirror the prosperity experienced by some in all churches. And curiously the level of prosperity in most churches seems to be aligned with the general prosperity in the economy at large. Yea, curiously.

But how can normally intelligent people get sucked in by such an obvious deception? And how can they sit year after year and watch the leaders proper greatly from their own offerings and not be suspicious? That scenario reveals the depth of the deception that finds an open door by the greed and avarice within the human heart. So the Mormon church down the street prospers at the same level as does the prosperity church and yet the people remain oblivious to it all. And unbelievers prosper as well?

Another aspect in which that deception finds leverage is that most people love to hear good things and avoid bad news. And what better news to the fallen nature than God desires you to be rich. The allurement in that message is extremely strong, and coupled with the visible example of a rich minister, the heart longs and lusts after what it sees. It is quite a process and it has imprisoned millions of people.

And yet the New Testament is replete with all kinds of teachings that go against any such notion. In fact, there are more warnings about lusting after money and the trappings of wealth than any other subject in the epistles and the gospels. And when Oral Roberts wrote a book that said Jesus was rich, well that exposed the length these false prophets will go in order to bring in the funds. And while he lived in a mansion, he said if He could not raise 8 millions dollars God would take him to heaven. You see, nothing is too absurd for people to believe if they hold that man as a prophet.

The teachings, the anointed oil, the handkerchiefs, the spring water, the bill folds, the magic stones, and all the promises from health to wealth and all the way to the salvation of loved ones have one common denominator - money. It cannot be stressed what an abomination this all is when they attempt to bribe God as if He needed your money. The treachery of this scheme is not done in the shadows, but openly do men and women blaspheme God. And armed with the diabolical “seed faith” teaching they make merchandise of millions.

The cross means nothing to these purveyors of spiritual filth spawned from Satan himself. How dark and perverted must a heart be to make money the exclusive vehicle of faith in Christ? These are ministers of unrighteousness who come as messengers of light but who bring profound darkness and bondage. And as volunteers furiously open letters filled with checks and cash, the money grubbing hands of these false teachers catch most of it and place it in their own pockets and the pockets of their loved ones. But still people give. And most of these so called ministries travel a couple of times a year overseas in order to take fund raising pictures of poor people, preferably black and children. It is a Satanic business to be sure.

The falsehoods are so extravagant and so profound that one is forced to wonder concerning the salvation of such men and women. I mean when they preach another Jesus and another gospel, how can they know the true Christ? I will leave that to God however I have my doubts. But don’t you see how preposterous this all is? I haven’t even provided any of the scores of Scriptures which openly expose this fraud. But just a description of what the do and teach exposes them as spiritual imposters. But some sincere people will still swear by them and eagerly defend them. Yes, this deception is a colossal stronghold.

But this kind of teaching does not fit in many other countries where affluence is not as prominent as it is here. You see, when a believing Sudanese mother has a dying child sucking from her breast, the last thing she is interested in is how she can give money to make God help her. She has no food or water, and her children’s very lives are in peril so the prosperity message is irrelevant to her. And when any message is not universally relevant to the entire world then it is a lie wrapped in a certain culture. It is all so very evil.

And let me be clear, it isn’t just the prosperity messengers that have wet their beaks from this doctrinal trough. Most American evangelical churches practice and believe a form of this very evil. They may not preach it openly, and they may even speak against the Copelands and the Roberts and the Osteens of this age. But to be sure, the western evangelical church has heard the sirens of money and while guarding against being discovered they willingly borrow and spend individually and corporately in like fashion.

Incredible budgets, absorbitant salaries, over staffing, colossal interest payments, ornate auditoriums with state of the art sound systems, and even sports complexes on church property reveal a form of the prosperity belief system. And when the preacher stands behind the pulpit and says that God will bless you financially if you tithe, well the connection to Joel Osteen et al is complete.

And to some extent we all have fallen for this capitalistic scheme. “You can have money as long as money does not have you” is a self serving deception that sounds very reasonable and makes sense. The only problem is that it is not Scriptural, and the overwhelming majority of people who have much money are to some extent preoccupied with that money. And let a person get a sizeable raise in his job and he automatically raises his standard of living. And as the local church grows in membership and offerings, the preacher’s salary grows accordingly. That is how secular businesses operate and the church has followed suit. It is not unlike a multi-level marketing scheme.

And we all sit there without a clue that we have left following Jesus. It seems so innocuous and acceptable. But it is directed by the spirit of this world. And it is just this kind of system which leads believers to become discontent in their job, discontent with their salary, discontent with their cars, discontent with their homes, and generally discontent with any circumstance which does not proper them or accommodate their wants. No one believes that when they have to purchase a smaller home or a smaller car it is God’s plan. In fact, any financial increase is a praise report while any financial decrease is a prayer request. I ask you, just who is our god?

Yes, the prosperity message is a lie from the god of this world, and to some extent we all have been entrapped by it. Let us take a fresh look at God’s Word and live our lives accordingly. But be aware that any suggestions like I have outlined will not be received with joy and excitement. Remember, money issues are tied to capitalism which is tied to nationalism, and a cord of three strands is not easily broken.