Hatin’ on Prosperity
Posted on January 8th, 2008 by catalyst into the Christian Pop Culture categoryFICM sends in another article about the perils of the prosperity doctrine.
Fun quotes:
Many outside the evangelical movement are puzzled by the apparent lack of outrage following reports of high-living, tax-exempt religious broadcasters.
I know one blog that is a little outraged. But I didn't realize it was called the "prosperity doctrine". I just thought Frank wouldn't shut up about tithing. I didn't realize he was actually preaching a Doctrine.
The article concludes:
There is a clear difference between praying for health and financial self-sufficiency, which is reasonable and understandable, and the expectation of divinely mandated wealth and the right to profligacy. American evangelicals have enough enemies. Why hand such adversaries another stick — especially a gilded one — to beat them with?
If the whole goal of being a Christian is to gain wealth, then it doesn't make Christians any different than the rest of the world.
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January 8th, 2008 at 7:14 am
One thing that is peculiar about CBC is how much different their practice is as opposed to their written doctrine. To one extent or another no church attains exactly their doctrine, but CBC strays miles from theirs. For example, doctrinally they are Charasmatic, but in actuality they have very little, if any of the Gifts of the Spirit in operation on any Sunday. They also, as far as I know, have little written to say they are a “prosperity oriented” church. But we all know wealth is one of, if not their top priority. They are in fact heretical then on an applied basis. Though they have correct doctrine in writing for all the world to see, they continue to do what they want in spite of written guidelines. They constantly badger for money and are very fast to stop any move that would take a microphone away from the top few that officiate the services. Don’t believe me? Go up Sunday and tell PF you have a “word” for the church. Unless that word involves a triple portion blessing for anyone who gives above and beyond their tithes I promise you will be asked to sit down.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:04 am
“…any different from the rest of the world”
Interesting point. I’m of the opinion that this is the case and has been for a long, long time. From where I’m sitting, as soon as an organization becomes accepted into the mainstream, it begins to take on attributes of its environment, and its environment takes on attributes of the organization. It’s like putting a bag of frozen peas into a bowl of hot water….you’ll wind up with lukewarm peas and lukewarm water.
Christianity does have some interesting things happening in the corners with the folks who are pursuing social justice objectives (Outreach Uganda, for example) or looking to renew and enliven the face of worship for everyone who participates (Alice Parker, John Bell, Marty Haugen). However, all that is also much the same as Western culture at large….there are interesting things happening in the (usually) non-profit corners. This is a cynical point of view, I know, but I think it’s time to face it: we aren’t just different because we call ourselves different. And, I’m of the opinion that Christ-likeness is more readily identifiable with almost ANY fringe element more than it is with mainstream capitalism…..the same mainstream capitalism that is the driving force behind 99% of what churches do, especially the archetypal fundamentalist (usually totalitarian) megachurch where the congregation is expected and conditioned to be as passive and receptive as possible.
Christ-likeness may be about a lot of things, but it isn’t about money, and it isn’t about being passive. Interestingly, American culture is very much about both of those things….which brings us back to the original point: the Church has taken on attributes of its environment in unhealthy and inappropriate ways. We all have a LOT of explaining to do.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I think if you’re going to bring up the pastors/preachers who practice this “doctrine” then you should also mention the pastors/preachers who don’t. The article also mentions a couple of other people who are not of the same “mold”. Pastor Rick Warren, Pastor Joel Osteen and Billy Graham are the three that this author mentions in this article. I think it is pretty amazing that the two pastors do not take salary’s anymore from their respective churches. And I have heard that Billy Graham’s salary is set by his board and he has no say in it whatsoever. This isn’t fact, it is only what I’ve heard.
Pretty good article, I only wish that there were more pastors who had Pastor Warren’s mentality about servant-leadership.
“Warren is vociferous in his opposition to prominent Pentecostals’ embrace of the prosperity gospel. “Success in any area often creates a spirit of entitlement — ‘I deserve this’ — that is the exact opposite of servant leadership,” Warren says. “It is evidence of insecurity and low-self esteem. Insecure people show off. Secure people serve.”
God help us all to have this attitude in our daily lives!
January 8th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Rick Warren is an awesome man, I met him at Urbana, and he was so down to earth and humble. He is also built like a linebacker