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...
