TIME MAG vs. PROSPERITY GOSPEL
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
CNN.com editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's
Time magazine cover story.
DOES GOD WANT YOU to be RICH?
(Time.com) -- In three of the Gospels, Jesus warns that each of his
disciples may have to "deny himself" and even "take up his Cross."
In support of this prediction, he contrasts the fleeting pleasures of
today with the promise of eternity: "For what profit is it to a man,"
he asks, "if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"
Generations of churchgoers have understood that being Christian
means being ready to sacrifice. But for a growing number of
Christians, the question is better restated, "Why not gain the
whole world plus my soul?"
For several decades, a philosophy has been percolating in the 10
million-strong Pentecostal wing of Christianity that seems to turn
the Gospels' passage on its head. Certainly, it allows, Christians
should keep one eye on heaven. But the new good news is that
God doesn't want us to wait.
Known (or vilified) under a variety of names -- Word of Faith, Health
and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, Prosperity Theology -- its
emphasis is on God's promised generosity in this life. In a nutshell,
it suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke.
Its signature verse could be John 10:10: "I have come that they
may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." In a
Time poll, 17 percent of Christians surveyed said they considered
themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61 percent
believed that God wants people to be prosperous.
"Prosperity" first blazed to public attention as the driveshaft in the
moneymaking machine that was 1980s televangelism and faded
from mainstream view with the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals.
But now, after some key modifications (which have inspired some
to redub it Prosperity Lite), it has not only recovered but is booming.
Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three -- Joel
Osteen's Lakewood in Houston; T.D. Jakes' Potter's House in
south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar's World Changers in Atlanta -- are
Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits (although Jake's ministry has
many more facets).
While they don't exclusively teach that God's riches want to be in
believers' wallets, it is a key part of their doctrine.
And propelled by Osteen's 4 million-selling book, Your Best Life
Now, the belief has swept beyond its Pentecostal base into more
buttoned-down evangelical churches, and even into congregations
in the more liberal Mainline. It is taught in hundreds of non-
Pentecostal Bible studies. One Pennsylvania Lutheran pastor even
made it the basis for a sermon series for Lent, when Christians
usually meditate on why Jesus was having His Worst Life Then.
The movement's renaissance has infuriated a number of prominent
pastors, theologians and commentators. Fellow megapastor Rick
Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has outsold Osteen's
by a ratio of 7 to 1, finds the very basis of Prosperity laughable.
"This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?" he snorts.
"There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You
don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you
millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't
everyone in the church a millionaire?"
The brickbats -- both theological and practical (who really gets rich
from this?) --come especially thick from Evangelicals like Warren.
Evangelicalism is more prominent and influential than ever before.
Yet the movement, which has never had a robust theology of
money, finds an aggressive philosophy advancing within its ranks
that many of its leaders regard as simplistic, possibly heretical
and certainly embarrassing.
Prosperity's defenders claim to be able to match their critics
chapter and verse. They caution against broad-brushing a wide
spectrum that ranges from pastors who crassly solicit sky's-the-
limit financial offerings from their congregations to those whose
services tend more toward God-fueled self-help.
Advocates note Prosperity's racial diversity -- a welcome exception
to the American norm -- and point out that some Prosperity
churches engage in significant charity. And they see in it a happy
corrective for Christians who are more used to being chastened for
their sins than celebrated as God's children.
"Who would want to get in on something where you're miserable,
poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you
get to heaven?" asks Joyce Meyer, a popular television preacher
and author often lumped in the Prosperity Lite camp. "I believe
God wants to give us nice things."
If nothing else, Meyer and other new-breed preachers broach a
neglected topic that should really be a staple of Sunday messages:
Does God want you to be rich?
~Go to - http://www.time.com - for the entire cover story in Time.
Copyright © 2006 Time Inc.
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(SOURCE: CNN.com)
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