The Prosperity Gospel

“My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block. I don’t know what kind of God the rest of y’all are serving, but the God I serve says, ‘Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I’m gonna make sure you’re doing that’.” -Mary J. Blige [1]

Prosperity Gospel supporters “believe that faith works as a mighty power or force. That it is through their faith that they can obtain anything they want such as health, wealth, or any form of personal success. However, this force is only released through their faith.” [2] Adherents of the Prosperity Gospel, almost always also part of the word of faith movement, usually hold to the tenet that God never grants suffering or poverty, and that both always should be attributed to sin and Satan in every way, and in no way attributed to God.

This topic hit home for me in July, as my wife almost lost her life in giving birth. She lost 6 units of blood, and had to have a massive blood transfusion and hysterectomy. During the surgery, we were praying fervently for Staica’s life and health, and that God would make it so that she wouldn’t need the hysterectomy. In a short time after the surgery, we were assured that Stacia would be fine. We were both devastated over the hysterectomy though, as it hit head-on our dream of having more biological children. Now we have a beautiful baby boy, and I can’t fully describe how uniquely special and valuable he is to me. He is the only biological child I have or ever will have. He is my son, my only son.

When we were discharged from the hospital, Stacia and I prayed together, directing our faith toward our God who is wise. God did fully answer our prayer, just in his own wisdom and power and goodness. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) Everything that happens to a Christian is either an obvious or hidden blessing. Everything works together for our good, and ultimately brings us to a more intimate relationship with our Caretaker. The Holy Spirit brought Romans 5 to mind, and we prayed it together to our Lord:

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5, emphasis added)

While it is true that God often shows his goodness by granting health and wealth, we must see these as secondary blessings. The primary blessing is knowing God himself (Psalm 27:4; John 17:3), and all secondary blessing is meant to point to him. We will enjoy health and material blessing to a degree unfathomable at the resurrection, but while on this fallen earth, preparing for either heaven or hell, we must remember the words of Jesus:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

When we define (either implicitly or explicitly) blessedness chiefly as having material things and good health, and obligate God to bless us with these things, we ignore scripture which speaks of the sufferings of the followers of Christ as a badge of honor, and a means of producing endurance and genuineness. We also distrust God’s higher prerogative and wisdom and sovereignty–God has the final, supreme right to answer our prayers how and when he pleases. His wise goodness is not bound by our exacting demands. Paul wrote,

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29, emphasis added).

Peter wrote,

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, emphasis added)