I believe in the prosperity gospel

I had a sickening epiphany today. I realized that I believe in the Prosperity Gospel. In spite of the fact that I think it’s one of the most widespread and destructive lies of Satan in the church today I realized that, to a degree, I’ve come to believe in that which I hate. Residency has been tough spiritually. The struggle with temptation and sin has often been a losing battle. Compared to the past year, my life in medical school and in seminary before that looked like “victorious living.” I’ve also become more cynical in the past year. This morning I realized why. It’s because I’ve developed a sense of entitlement that God should just take it all away. In spite of praying for decades that various sinful desires would leave me they are still here and as strong as ever. Sometimes, by God’s grace, I feel strong and those temptations seem to have little power over me. But other times I’m weak, like in the past year, and those temptations have much power over me. But the temptation to sin has never completely left me even at my best times.

And somehow I came to the place where subconsciously, at least until this morning, I felt that God was not holding up His end of the bargain. The belief that God will make our lives easy has a name. It’s called prosperity theology. Instead of Christ alone being our portion, instead of Christ alone being enough, we must add on financial prosperity, good health, success in business and victory over sin. If these “blessings” are not seen in the life of the Christian it is attributed to not praying the right magic words, or not having enough faith, or perhaps not “declaring” correctly, whatever that means. And while I find Word of Faith style Christianity to be ridiculous I realized this morning that because of my frequent prayers and Bible-reading and participation in the Sacrament I had somehow come to expect that God was going to make things easy.

I realize that there are Bible verses which seem to indicate that God sometimes blesses with financial prosperity or with healing and with other tangible material goods. But I’m perfectly willing to get into a proof-texting battle with anyone and remind them that we’re also promised the hatred of the world (John 15:8), tribulations (John 16:33), family strife (Matt. 10:34), suffering (1 Peter 3:17), persecution (Matt. 5:11), the painful-feeling discipline of God (Hebrews 12:11), thorns in the flesh which remain in spite of prayer (2 Cor. 12:7), and captivity to the law of sin which dwells in our flesh (Romans 7:23). Prosperity and good health may be blessings from God although in our sinful state, needful of constant humbling (2 Cor. 12:7), I think the Psalmist’s words “It is good for me that I was afflicted (Ps. 119:71)” are more likely to reflect what truly is a blessing.

Ultimately, true blessedness has nothing to do either with prosperity or affliction. True blessedness is that which can say, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:12-13).” True blessedness is that which is based on the objective reality of Christ and His work outside of ourselves, outside of our poverty or prosperity, outside of our sickness or health, outside of our victory or failure. The Psalmist speaks of the true blessedness when he writes, “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him (Psalm 32:2).” Christ Himself speaks of this blessedness when he corrects his own disciples who were mistaken about the locus of true blessedness. When the seventy-two returned to Christ they were rejoicing over the fact that the demons were subject to them. They were rejoicing in the miraculous, in that which is tangible in the here and now. But Christ offers them a word of correction – He commands them not to rejoice in these things but instead to rejoice that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). Instead of being filled with sorrow because the false expectations of a damnable and false “gospel” are not fulfilled in me I should rejoice in the fact that my name is written in heaven and has been since I was baptized as a little baby in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is only this assurance, this looking to Christ, who sympathizes with us in our temptations, and Christ's perfect work on the cross, where He became sin who knew no sin, which will ever give me the strength to resist sin and to seek after God. Instead of believing that God is going to make things easy I must know that His grace is enough even in the midst of the worst strife. I pray that God will cleanse me from the delusion of “prosperity,” and that He will rid His holy Church of this evil leaven.

The Danger of Prosperity

“I fear, wherever riches have increased, (exceeding few are the exceptions,) the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore do I not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.”

-John Wesley 

More "Prosperity" in the Third World

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

"Drug-money or church-money?"

It was a question that was asked in response to the hummers across the street from the house. As most people in Guatemala know, drug-dealers and drug-lords drive nice cars. The father in one host family told a fellow student that if he saw a hummer in the streets of Xela then he should assume it is someone connected with a drug cartel. But in the case of one student, when she asked her host family if the hummers parked across the street were related to the drug trade she was told that no, these vehicles were the result of a different trade. These vehicles were the result of what is perhaps the United States' foulest export, that is, the Prosperity "Gospel." These hummers, parked across the street in Guatemala's second city, filled with impoverished people seeking the Lord, belonged to the children of a mega-church pastor in Xela, a preacher of the Prosperity "Gospel."

This story about the hummers was my third encounter with "Health and Wealth" or "Prosperity Theology" here. The first had been in an unfortunate Easter-Sunday service. The second had been when the daughter of my own host family expressed her distrust of the pastor of the largest Protestant church in Xela. She related that this man had multiple nice cars, multiple houses and body guards. And all this in a developing nation with a staggering rate of malnourished children. And what sickens me is that here in Guatemala these churches are not called "Health and Wealth" or "Prosperity Gospel" or "Word of Faith," they are simply called "Evangelical."

Towards the end of my conversation with this student who had seen the hummers, I joked that instead of asking whether it's drug money when we spot a hummer in Guatemala, maybe we should ask if it's church-money. The money of all the people who can barely buy food but instead give it to their rich pastor thinking that it's a way to secure God's blessing. But the complete totality of blessing for the Christian is found in Christ alone and His work and not in any work of our own. That's why I'm thankful for the Reformed Presbyterian churches I've found down here, preaching a message exactly opposite of those preaching the Prosperity Gospel. As I've reflected on these things I've been reminded of a diatribe by John Piper that I agree whole-heartedly with:

Resurrección en Guatemala

On Saturday I arrived, with a classmate, in Guatemala City and then took a four hour bus-ride to Guatemala's second largest city, Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela (pronounced Shay-la). We arrived in Xela after dark and found our way through the mostly un-labeled streets to a hotel we had reserved while we waited at the bus station in Guatemala City. We had eaten little on Saturday, arriving early in the morning from an overnight flight from Los Angeles and then waiting for seven hours at the bus station with few food options so we were famished by the time we got our hotel room. We decided to brave the dark streets in a country known for it's violence (in certain places) and were not disappointed by that decision. As we walked to a more central part of the city it began to rain and we found a small square with an adjacent cathedral which was filled with people celebrating Easter-vigil.

The square and the cathedral with overflow crowd in background.

After finding a food cart which would accept dollars, as we had run out of quetzals and there was no ATM nearby, we devoured a much-needed dinner.

The food stand where we got out of the rain and had some excellent dinner. I tried to take this one stealthily with my iPhone to avoid looking any more like a tourist than I already did.

As I looked around at the other people eating and those sitting in the pews for the overflow crowd coming out the doors of the cathedral I noticed that we were the only Gringos, which I took as a good sign as hopefully we will get a more authentic Latin American experience in a place that doesn't exist mainly to cater to tourists.

Contraption to heat water for the shower. Amazingly no one got electrocuted and if you turned the stream of water down low enough it actually got pretty hot.

On Easter morning we made our way back to the same square and got some coffee and tamales for breakfast. We had planned to worship in a Presbyterian church while in the city but after a short taxi ride were disappointed to find that church firmly locked.

The same square in the morning.

We walked back toward our hotel and went into the first "evangelical" church service we passed. Unfortunately it was a pretty extreme Prosperity "gospel" Word of Faith type of church. I hardly speak Spanish and even I could tell it was Word of Faith heresy but my friend who speaks a lot more Spanish was quite disgusted by the end of the sermon. I regretted not just having gone to one of the many Roman Catholic options we had passed by. Overall it was great to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord here in Guatemala though. He is risen!

That man who takes up Christ for the world...

... John Bunyan destroys the "prosperity gospel."

In this quote from The Pilgrim's Progress, a company of men ask a question of the hero of the story, Christian. In the book there is a long set-up to the asking of this question but if I were to paraphrase it I would write, "what is wrong with following Christ in order to get physical or material blessings in this life?" Christian answers:

Then said Christian, Even a babe in religion may answer ten thousand such questions. For if it be unlawful to follow Christ for loaves, as it is in the sixth of John (John 6:26), how much more abominable is it to make of him and religion a stalking-horse to get and enjoy the world! Nor do we find any other than heathens, hypocrites, devils, and wizards, that are of this opinion.

1. Heathens: for when Hamor and Shechem had a mind to the daughter and cattle of Jacob, and saw that there was no way for them to come at them but by being circumcised, they said to their companions, If every male of us be circumcised, as they are circumcised, shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs be ours? Their daughters and their cattle were that which they sought to obtain, and their religion the stalking-horse they made use of to come at them. Read the whole story (Gen, 34:20-24).

2. The hypocritical Pharisees were also of this religion: long prayers were their pretence, but to get widows’ houses was their intent; and greater damnation was from God their judgment (Luke 20:46, 47).

3. Judas the devil was also of this religion: he was religious for the bag, that he might be possessed of what was put therein; but he was lost, cast away, and the very son of perdition.

4. Simon the wizard was of this religion too; for he would have had the Holy Ghost, that he might have got money therewith: and his sentence from Peter’s mouth was according (Acts 8:19-22).

5. Neither will it go out of my mind, but that that man who takes up religion for the world, will throw away religion for the world; for so surely as Judas designed the world in becoming religious, so surely did he also sell religion and his Master for the same. To answer the question, therefore, affirmatively, as I perceive you have done, and to accept of, as authentic, such answer, is heathenish, hypocritical, and devilish; and your reward will be according to your works.

Then they stood staring one upon another, but had not wherewith to answer Christian. Hopeful also approved of the soundness of Christian’s answer; so there was a great silence among them. Mr. By-ends and his company also staggered and kept behind, that Christian and Hopeful might outgo them. Then said Christian to his fellow, If these men cannot stand before the sentence of men, what will they do with the sentence of God? And if they are mute when dealt with by vessels of clay, what will they do when they shall be rebuked by the flames of a devouring fire?

-John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

The Golden Shore

One of my favorite genres of literature is the biography and my favorite biographies are those of missionaries. I recently finished one that was, for the most part, hard to put down and a very enjoyable read. It was a biography of the first Protestant missionary to be sent from the North American continent. A story of a man who, through much suffering, was the first to bring the gospel to a land utterly foreign to anything he had known before. He had to learn the language of this people from a man who didn't speak English, he was imprisoned in the worst conditions imaginable, had one wife die, remarried and had his second wife also die, and also lost children to sickness in the mission field.

If you haven't guessed it yet the man is Adoniram Judson, a Congregationalist descended from Puritans, who sailed in 1812 from Salem, Massachusetts to India and then on to Burma, now Myanmar, where he would accomplish much, by God's grace, for the propagation of the gospel. I had first heard of Judson from a CD of John Piper preaching about the lives of missionaries that a friend gave to me my first year of med school. When I got sick with a bad cold in January, Judson came back into my life when another friend loaned me the biography, To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson. After reading it I jokingly accused my friend, who is a Credo-Baptist, of placing Baptist propaganda in my hands as Judson converted to the Baptist faith and was re-baptized after he struggled with what was the true teaching of Scripture on his ship-ride to India. I was not converted to the Baptist understanding by this book but it was certainly a blessing to read and to be encouraged by Judson's steadfastness through the intense struggles he underwent in Burma.

One quote which stood out to me impressed me because it stands in such sharp contrast to comfortable American Christianity and speaks a strong word against the so-called "prosperity gospel." In this quote Judson reflects on the difficult position of the Burmese converts. Judson writes: "But it is really affecting to see a poor native when he first feels the pinch of truth. On one side he sees hell; on the other side, ridicule, reproach, confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death."

Your Best Life Now

The martyrdom of Polycarp, who was stabbed to death after being burned at the stake for his unyielding faith in Christ.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives."

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

-Hebrews 12:5-7

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

-Romans 8:16-17

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

-Jesus (Matthew 16:24b-25)