The Pro$perity Preacher$

Although not as well received as it was 10 or 15 years ago, the “Prosperity Message” is still being preached by some die-hard televangelists. Last night I listened to a few minutes of one of the more popular Word of Faith preachers. He and others have  made the same argument for the prosperity message  for years:

1. Jesus had a full-time ministry staff, therefore He must have been wealthy in order to pay them a salary.
2. Jesus received offerings wherever He went.
3. Jesus had a treasurer, Judas.    To have a treasurer must mean that you have a lot of money.
4. Jesus had his own home, a sign of wealth in those days.
5. Jesus wore expensive clothing. He wore an expensive “robe without seams.” Why would the soldiers gamble for his clothing at Calvary unless it was expensive clothing?
6. Jesus was a carpenter. Carpenters made a lot of money in those days.
7. Jesus and His ministry staff traveled from town to town. Only a wealthy ministry could pay for the daily food and lodging required for such an undertaking.

And the list goes on and on. Was Jesus wealthy? Did He insist on wearing expensive clothes? Did He live in an expensive home? Did He really have a “ministry staff” that He paid a salary? Was Jesus the wealthy evangelist that the Prosperity preachers say He was?

Or do they, perhaps, want to make Jesus in their own image?  They wear expensive clothing. They live in expensive houses. They pay and are paid expensive salaries. Could it be that their message is just an attempt to justify their own lifestyle?

If Jesus was as wealthy as the Prosperity preachers say He was then I wonder why the Bible says:

1. He was born in an animal stable, and first slept in a feed trough. Luke 2:7
2. He had no place to lay His head. Like 9:58
3. When the Pharisees tempted Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar, He asked someone else for a coin. Matthew 22:17-21
4. He borrowed a room for the Last Supper. Mark 14:13&14
5. He rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed colt. Mark11:1-6
6. He was laid in a borrowed tomb. Matthew 27:57-60
The truth is that the Bible does not say that Jesus was a wealthy man, at least not in the sense that the Prosperity preachers try to make Him to be. Jesus was rich in the sense that He had a perfect relationship with His Heavenly Father. His riches did not consist of earthly possessions or money. Yet, there is no Biblical indication that He lacked anything.

It is my considered opinion that the Prosperity message is nothing more than an attempt to justify a lust for mammon by cloaking it with wrested scripture and wishful thinking.  The most vocal Prosperity Message preachers are themselves quite wealthy and are continuing to preach the message to those who will keep them that way.

One of the favorite verses of scripture for the Prosperity preachers is I Corinthians 8:9 :For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. On the one hand it disproves their claim that Jesus was wealthy. On the other hand, and more importantly to them, they claim it proves that Jesus (and, therefore, God) wants us to be wealthy. But the “rich” that is referred to here is not the money and possessions that is the goal of the Prosperity message.

After all, just what kind of riches are in the Heaven that Jesus came from? Are there banks in Heaven? Are there designer clothes in Heaven? Are there Citation jets in Heaven? Are there expensive automobiles in Heaven?

No, the riches in Heaven are far greater than  man’s lust can conceive. The riches that Jesus gave up for us when He came to earth  consists of a sinless and pure relationship with a Holy God, the creator of all, Who Himself lacks no good thing and wants the same for His children. It is not riches of money and possessions that Jesus gave up for us. And it is not, therefore, riches of money and possessions that Jesus wants us to have. Jesus wants us to have what He had and what He has now – a perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father.

That said, the question of earthly possessions still remains. In 2 John we read where we are to prosper and be in health. In the 23rd Psalm we are told that we shall not want (or lack) anything. The truth is that the Lord does want us to prosper, to be successful, to be over-comers in this life. This is accomplished by “seeking first the Kingdom of God” (Mattew 6:33).

Our focus is to be on serving the Lord and “letting our life be without covetousness, and be content with such things as we have, for He hath said I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

The Bible says much about the deceitfulness of riches. According to Jesus the last-day’s church can be easily identified because it will proclaim the message that it is “rich and increased with goods.” If you listen to the Prosperity preachers you know full well that their message is to have a church that is “rich and increased with goods.”

The Prosperity preachers that I am thinking of are likable people and they have a huge following. For years I, like many others, listened to and perpetuated their message.  But Jesus said He would rebuke and chasten the church that claims to be “rich and increased with goods.” Jesus tells us to open our eyes and see the deception of such a message. He tells us to buy gold tried in the fire, not the wood, hay, and stubble of money and the things of this world. He tells us to be clothed , not in $3,000.00 suits, but in white raiment, which is the righteousness of the saints.

The Prosperity preachers try to counter criticism of their message by saying that the only reason they want to be wealthy is so that they can be a blessing to others. “After all,” they say, “you can’t be a blessing if you are not blessed.” While this sounds like pious reasoning for asking you to give to their ministry, it is not the full story. I am sure that most, if not all, of the most prominent Prosperity preachers do give to others. But they do keep enough for themselves to remain quite wealthy.

There is no Biblical bases for the Prosperity preacher’s claim that Jesus was a wealthy evangelist. And there is no Biblical reason to think that He was poor. He was what He was, the Son of God come in the flesh to save a lost world. It’s too bad that the Prosperity preachers have tried to turn the Saviour of the World into an Investment Counselor.