LIE # 5 - THE
PROSPERITY AND "SEED FAITH" DOCTRINES
-by Andrew
Strom.
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~revival/lie-5.html
-The fifth
article in the series on "The 9 Lies of Today's Church".
A lot of
people think that today's "Prosperity" teaching only affects those
in the 'Word-Faith' movement. But it's effects are felt far more
widely than that. Jesus said, "A little leaven leavens the whole
lump" and we find that this insidious teaching has infected large
sections of the body of Christ in all kinds of ways. -Especially in
America. One of the main reasons for this is because it has aligned
itself so successfully with CHRISTIAN TELEVISION.
The fact is,
Christian TV can be costly, so it helps to have lots of money. And
the "Prosperity" teaching is a proven money-maker for preachers. It
really gets people giving! And so these kinds of preachers thrive on
television. But it sure is a sick kind of "Christianity" that is
presented. And totally unscriptural, as we shall see.
The
Prosperity gospel basically teaches that not only does Jesus want to
take away your sins and heal your body, but He also wants you to be
prosperous and even "rich". -Not just 'SPIRITUALLY' rich, but
actually blessed with all kinds of possessions, cars and houses,
etc. Because, of course, any kind of poverty and suffering is a
"curse", and we know that Jesus came to set us free from the
'curse'.
Now of course
there is some truth in this. If there wasn't, then this false
teaching would never get off the ground.
But the Bible
makes it very clear that Jesus' followers can expect to SHARE IN HIS
SUFFERINGS (Rom 8:17, Lk 14:27, etc). The Scriptures also speak
again and again of Jesus' affinity with the POOR and His opposition
to those who are rich. In fact, the sheer weight of Scriptures on
this subject is staggering. It is amazing to me that the Prosperity
teachers can get away with the things that they say.
Doesn't
anybody read their Bible any more?
The fact is,
these people can find only ONE verse that mentions "Prosperity" in
the whole New Testament (-and it is of dubious help, as we shall
see). And there are dozens and dozens of verses in opposition! But
which one do they choose to quote again and again? Here it is in the
King James version (-which is the only translation that helps them
in any way): "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and
be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 2). Now, it is
interesting to note what this word "prosper" really means in this
verse. Renowned Greek scholar W.E. Vine says that it simply speaks
of "the prosperity of physical and spiritual health." So it's not
about MONEY at all!
And thus we
find that in all the later translations, this meaning is made clear.
For example, the NIV translation says: "I pray that you may enjoy
good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is
getting along well" (3 John 2). Isn't that interesting?
As I said,
this is one of the ONLY VERSES that these Prosperity teachers quote
in the entire New Testament. If they are honest, they will admit
that most of the rest of the NT is squarely AGAINST THEM.
What I would
encourage anyone to do, who wants to research this subject, is to
get a Concordance and look up EVERY VERSE in the New Testament that
contains these words: (1) Rich or Riches, (2) Money, (3) Poor, (4)
Mammon (5) Possessions, (6) Treasure, (7) Sell or Sold, etc.
You will be
absolutely amazed at how strong the NT Scriptures are on this
subject. I did this exact search years ago, and was astonished at
what I found.
When you look
up the word 'Rich' you find Scriptures such as this: "Woe unto you
that are rich! For you have received your consolation" (Lk 6:24) and
"How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God" (Lk 18:24-25, NIV) and "People who
want to GET RICH fall into temptation and a trap" (1 Tim 6:9) and
"You rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming
upon you" (Ja 5:1). There are many more along similar lines. Go and
look them up, and you will see!
We find that
when Jesus was preaching kingdom principles he was very strong in
this area. When the 'Rich young man' came to him, He told him: "SELL
your possessions and give to the POOR, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me" (Mt 19:21, NIV). He also told his own
disciples to "SELL your possessions and give to the POOR" (Lk
12:33).
In my recent
article on "Tithing" we discussed the whole issue of 'Giving' in the
New Testament. The fact is, there is no "law" telling Christians to
give 10%. In fact, what the NT makes clear is that EVERYTHING we
have literally belongs to God. Many people claim that "All I have is
God's" but they do not act like it! In the New Testament it is clear
that it was EXPECTED for Christians to sell any spare possessions,
land or houses, to give to their needy brothers and sisters -
especially widows and orphans. They certainly weren't giving their
money to wealthy preachers on TV! And neither were they giving it to
erect a new church building on the corner! (-Such things did not
exist). They were giving from their HEART - and while some of it
went to support the ministry, MOST of it clearly went to feed and
clothe the POOR. (See Acts 2:44-45, Acts 4:34-37).
Some people
today want to go back to the Old Testament and use people like
Solomon and Abraham as examples of RICH people to emulate. But what
they fail to realize is that the Old Testament is a 'type' or a
"SHADOW" of the New. (Col 2:16, Heb 10:1). The Old was a "physical"
covenant, with a "physical" temple and rituals, etc. The "blessings"
of God were also mostly PHYSICAL and material. But today we have a
"spiritual" covenant - a "heart-based" covenant, with mostly
SPIRITUAL blessings. That is why we should not seek Old Testament
wealth today. -We live under a different covenant.
It is very
obvious from the New Testament that there is NO SUCH THING as a
'Prosperity' gospel. In fact, it is the exact OPPOSITE. Jesus said,
"Blessed are you who are POOR, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Lk
6:20). And James declared: "Has not God chosen those who are POOR in
the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom
he promised those who love him?" (Ja 2:5, NIV). Jesus clearly stated
that you "CANNOT serve God and Mammon" (Mt 6:24) and yet it is
obvious that many Christians today are trying to serve BOTH. The
'Prosperity' teaching clearly encourages this. It is a very
dangerous and harmful fallacy.
So does God
want to bless His children or not? Of course He does! But He wants
to bless us so that we can GIVE MORE AWAY - NOT so that we can hoard
more luxuries to ourselves. How can it be right for some Christians
to be wealthy and rolling in money and possessions, while just down
the street there are Christians who barely have enough to eat? And
what about our needy brothers and sisters overseas?
There is a
prophecy about the coming move of God that one thing it will be
built on is "Extravagant giving to the poor." I truly believe this.
I am convinced that it is something that is very high on God's
agenda.
"SEED-FAITH"
GIVING
It is
important that I make a few comments about the 'Seed-Faith' teaching
here, because so many TV preachers use it to pressure people to give
to their ministry. What it amounts to is a "Give-to-Get" doctrine
that blatantly twists Scripture.
When a
preacher says something like, "Sow a seed of $100 into my ministry
today, and God will give you back 100-fold," then they are operating
out of this "Seed-Faith" doctrine. What they are really saying is,
"Give to get". The motivation for giving is not so much to bless
that ministry, but to GET SOMETHING BACK from God. The motivation is
all twisted. Do they really expect God to "bless" something so
wrong-hearted?
But the TV
preachers love this doctrine, because it enables them to gather huge
sums of money. And surprisingly, studies have shown that it is the
poor and needy who give most often to these TV preachers. Why is
this? -Because these people often feel that only a financial
"miracle" can save them. It is not uncommon for desperate Christians
to give and give, well beyond their means, in the hope that God will
rescue them. Some will even lose their homes. And the elderly and
the sick often give sacrificially in the hope of some kind of
improvement.
Many
preachers are fully aware of the kind of people they are exploiting.
How sick it all is. As Jesus said in Mt 23:14, ?Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses.? I shudder
to think of the fate that awaits some of these preachers on Judgment
Day.
Much of the
reasoning behind this "Seed-Faith" teaching is a distortion of
'Sowing and Reaping', which is a biblical concept. But when it is
distorted by preachers and sold as a means of "Giving to get" then
it has gone well beyond the Scriptures. The purity of simply "giving
from the heart" is lost and replaced with selfish motives. People
give because the preacher "guarantees" they will get a 'big return'
on their investment! The motivation is so wrong that it is no wonder
that this doctrine has produced disastrous fruit in the church. It
is one of the sickest things around.
So next time
you hear a preacher using this kind of manipulation to get you to
give him $100, make sure you rebuke the deception in the name of
Jesus, and turn the television off!
We would all
be far better off giving to the poor.
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