The Place of Prosperity in Gospel Proclamation 4

This is the fourth and final part of an essay written by a dear friend of mine on the prosperity gospel.

As we proclaim the gospel, what does that also look like? A lot of the time what we proclaim is influenced by how we proclaim it. What does gospel proclamation look like? It is well known that a lot of the prosperity teachers live affluently, Gloria Copeland talks about home life; ‘the home in Southern California, healthy bank statements, the shiny new sports car.’ An African pastor on the radio once said, ‘people will not follow me unless I look successful’.

Along with this also is the style of preaching that is encouraged. Any time spent listening to people like Houston or Osteen will show they are powerful preachers, with great oratory skill. They can whip up a crowd with their words and their passion and drive. It is interesting when listening to these preachers what is it that moves my soul, is it the text and application of scripture or the persuasion and passion of the communicator? I think the apostle Paul deals with these topics very well in the later chapters of 2 Corinthians.

In Corinth a group of ‘super-apostles’ (2 Corinthians 11:5) have come into the church and influenced the believers. Paul writes to them and with a rebuke tries to encourage them back to the Jesus that he proclaimed to them. This is the same Jesus who said to his disciples ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’[1]. This is the same Jesus who if we follow him we are only ‘fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified in him’[2].

In the face of a triumphal church, influenced by powerful and eloquent apostles Paul a man of weak bodily presence and speech of no account[3], boasts firmly in his weakness:

"Whatever anyone else dares to boast of…I also dare to boast of that…Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; for night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys….. in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles…..in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and in thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure…Who is weak, and I am not weak…..if I must, I will boast of the things that show my weakness[4]."

Does this sound like a strong triumphant life? No, the apostle Paul, the one who Jesus personally appeared to and was given the awesome job of going to the gentiles, suffered for the gospel more than any man, he went the way of the Jesus he was following. Carson calls this ‘paradoxical boasting’ and in his commentary on these chapters says:

"Instead of talking about his exploits and his victories, Paul details his suffering, loss, shame and defeats. It is almost as if the primary, if not the only incontestable criterion for true apostleship is massive suffering in the service of Christ[5]."

After the great stories of Acts, the book seems to end in quite a strange and ordinary way; ‘He (Paul) lived there for two years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ’[6]. Acts leaves us with a picture of Paul, simply teaching the truth about Jesus, pointing like we have looked at to the coming kingdom and judgement of God. This is gospel ministry; this is what it looks like. If we want to follow Christ we will suffer, if we want to work for Christ it means faithfully proclaiming the gospel to all who come to us.

John Piper has something to say of this in article he wrote for his website:

"What is it about Christians that makes them the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It is not wealth. The desire for wealth and the pursuit of wealth tastes and looks just like the world. It does not offer the world anything different from what it already believes in. The context of Jesus’ saying shows us what the salt and light are. They are the joyful willingness to sufferings for Christ. Here is what Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you when others revile and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:11-14).[7]"

One of the main problems with prosperity preaching is that of eschatology. As I began my essay I stated that one day we will all be glorious and rich beyond measure, with no diseases and perfect relationships but that is not now, we are not there yet. Romans 8 makes this very clear:

"For I consider that the sufferings that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God…..we ourselves groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved."

Robert Doyle in his book "Eschatology and the Shape of Christian Belief" provides many strong arguments for this in summary at the end of the book he says:

"God does not promise that we shall die well, but that we shall share the sufferings of Christ (Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 2:21, Romans 8:17-18, 2 Corinthians 1:5-7, Philippians 3:10), and that he has a crown, ‘an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you’ (1 Peter 1:4), which is our living hope[8]."

Again Doyle states very clearly:

"The power of the weakness of the cross has been replaced by the power of signs and wonders. The hope of the resurrection has been replaced by the hope of dying well…. The expectation is that one will die comfortably at a great age, surrounded by prosperity, firm friends and extended family who are likewise prosperous and faithful Christians. In the light of Jesus’ promise of the gospel bringing not peace, but a sword to every level of our social relations (Matthew 10:34-6), the hope of dying well domesticates and individualizes heaven, making it the mere continuation of victorious Christian living now."

Doyle makes it very clear that the Christian gospel is about a future hope, a future prosperity. Jesus promised suffering and division in this life and it is only the gospel, the good news of Jesus, the escape from judgement as the Kingdom of God arrives that will keep us going as a Christian until that day.

In conclusion what is the place of prosperity in gospel proclamation? Well it has, as I stated at the beginning, every place. In the face of judgement and separation from God, the gospel promises life, abundant life forever. But for now we must be prepared to suffer, prepared to stand up for Jesus in world that hates him and proclaim the contemptible and seemingly weak message of a man hanging on a cross, bruised and beaten, bearing the wrath of God in the place of sinners:

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.[9]"

And then with Paul we can say:

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…….For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God[10]."

1. Mark 8:34
2. Romans 8:17
3. 2 Corinthians 10:10
4. 2 Corinthians 11:24-30
5. D.A Carson. From Triumphalism to Maturity. IVP. p. 117
6. Acts 28:30-31
7. John Piper. Prosperity Preaching: Deceitful and Deadly. www.desiringgod.org
8. Robert C Doyle. Christian Eschatology and the Shape of Christian Belief. Paternoster Press. p. 313.
9. Mark 8:34
10. 1 Corinthians 1:18-22

God Bless.

Dear Freedom