Messy Theology

Health and Wealth; Name it and Claim it; it is the Prosperity Gospel; and our Western culture has embraced this and it is now a part of too many church's dogma (belief that this is true teaching).  I know this because I once was a part of this (but not as a Pastor - thank God).  But I am glad the God has made it clear to me now that this is rather a dangerous theology.  You see, I worked in the High Tech Industry (telecommunications/ Voice over the Internet/ Voice Embedded Application stuff) for over 20 years and in my last years making OBSCENE amounts of money.  I lived the good life; God wanted me to have ALL this; I was blessed by God.  However, my whole world came crashing down around me.  The Tech Industry bubble burst and I lost my senior management position; we had to sell some wonderful waterfront property where we started to build our dreams; we stopped our living practices - we gave up much; my plans of retiring at 55 were dashed; and then to top it all off, my dad died rather quickly to cancer.  This all happened within a year.

Where was God in all this? Did God hate me now?  Who was God?  These are some very hard questions.  To add to all this; I had a member of our congregation say to me; "just pray for a new job; I did, and got one."  As if I hadn't already been doing this. This comment made me more angry.  I felt like hitting someone. God isn't fair; God should give me back my luxury life-style because I was supposed to be blessed by Him; taking advantage of my God-given talents for my own purpose and my own advancement - isn't this what God wants?  I want it; I pray for it; I get what I want... full stop... this is what the Gospel is.  Pray for that Mercedes (I think of Janice Joplin's "O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz song); pray for that obscene pay check; pray for that 5000 square foot home; pray for that huge bank account pray for all this in Jesus' name because we said it is supposed to work that way; "ask and you shall receive."

Then... reality breaks into my life.  S#!% happens; life happens; we seek God's help to get us through the messiness of this world.  Reality breaks in when I see millions of people (Christians included) who pray daily just for a clean glass of water... I guess God hates these people, too?  Reality sets in and I see that in the midst of suffering God is in the middle of it all, carrying me and comforting me because I am having problems doing this myself.  Reality breaks into my life and I realize just how dangerous the Prosperity Gospel is because I almost gave up on God; he wasn't living up to the Gospel message that was being preached.  The church in the western world is messed up; this Theology simply isn't biblical. I read about a Jesus who said; "give everything you have to the poor and come follow me;"  I read about a Jesus who reached to the out-castes of society and touched the un-touchables; I read about a Jesus who had no-place to rest his head; I read about a Jesus who said our rewards are in heaven.  Jesus did not die for our possessions and our bank accounts; he didn't die for our Mercedes or our 5000 sqft home; he died for our souls; he died for our heart; he died for our relationship with God. Someone once told me; "have you ever seen a trailer being towed behind a Hearse?"  Below is a link to a video on YouTube on the "Prosperity Gospel" by Pastor John Piper; take a look...



Our messy theology in a messy world... I thank God for waking me up to reality... the reality of God being in a messy world Loving people who lead messy and broken lives. In some way, I pray that God messes you up, too... that is... if you aren't already messed up...