Pastors Sean DeMars (6th Avenue Community Church, Decatur, AL) and Mike McKinley (Sterling Park Baptist Church, Sterling, VA) have written a wonderfully helpful little book titled Health, Wealth, and the (Real) Gospel: The Prosperity Gospel Meets the Truths of Scripture.
In the opening chapter, the authors expose the four most prominent problems with the “prosperity gospel” (hereafter ‘PG'):
PG: God wants to bless you materially! The Problem: It puts our focus on the gift more than the Giver.
PG: God wants us to speak with power! The Problem: It confuses creatures and their Creator.
PG: God doesn’t want us to suffer! The Problem: God promises his people will suffer in the world.
PG: God wants us to live the victorious, prosperous life! The Problem: Scripture teaches the faithful Christian can’t be reduced to a few themes.
Of course the authors define these problems in more detail and direct our attention to Scripture in dismantling such popular claims. But you’re going to have to read the book yourself to benefit from such insight. (The book is an easy read — just 105 pages.)
The part of the book that caught me a bit off guard (in a helpful way) was the final chapter, which bore the heading, “The Prosperity Gospel Among the Orthodox.” As DeMars and McKinley begin drawing their book to a close, they state,
We want to suggest one more important fact: it’s possible to believe in the prosperity gospel and not even be aware of it. More specifically, we might reject the PG as a set of doctrines, yet unwittingly embrace it in how we live and relate to God. We may reject this constellation of false teachings in theory but actually adhere to them in practice.
Years ago comedian Jeff Foxworthy became a household name with his “You Might Be a Redneck If…” jokes. For instance, “You might be a redneck if you’ve ever cut your grass and found a car.” Even though the Prosperity Gospel is no laughing matter, you might be a PG practitioner if Jesus asked you to give up something that you wouldn’t be willing to let go.
What if Jesus asked you:
To cut your salary in half in order to take a job that would serve His Church more effectively?
To move elsewhere so that you might spread the gospel (see Heb. 11:8)?
To give away a big chunk of your retirement savings because He knows that security is an idol for you?
To sacrifice some of your peace and convenience to serve your neighbors?
To leave your normal social circles in order to befriend people from another culture living in your town?
To open your home to a recovering addict even if there’s a possibility he might take advantage of you?
To lend your second car to a missionary family who has come home on furlough?
To give more of your time to your local church and be actively involved in loving that body?
To show the glory of the gospel by adopting an orphan?
To stand up for a particular person or issue, even if doing so will cost you your job?
To be mocked and ridiculed as backwards and bigoted for following Jesus?
These are good, practical questions that DeMars and McKinley have put before us. How would you answer such questions? The authors are right when they say, “If we’re only willing to follow Jesus if we can have what we would want anyway, then we’re disciples of the PG, not Jesus Christ.”