What I’ve Learned From Prosperity Teachers

I’ve shared before my experience with prosperity “gospel” teaching. Early on in my Christian life I swallowed it whole. I woke up with TBN on in my house and I went to bed with folks like Benny Hinn preaching to me. I drank the Kool-aid they stirred. I smoked everything they rolled up for me.

Not all of it was killing my soul.

Consider these recent tweets by Joel Osteen. Statements of this sort pepper the speech of TBN throughout each day:

What I learned from prosperity teachers is that God is a really big God that can do anything…so long as we _______.

Such a belief of course is necessary to prosperity teaching. God must be big in order for prosperity teaching to work. Believing that He can turn my $20 seed of faith into a down-payment for a house requires a God that is able to do anything. It requires a God that is able to “call into existence the things that do not exist”.

The second half of that statement is equally important. God is a really big God that can do anything—but in order to get Him to act it requires our faith or our words. Yeah, God can turn twenty bucks into 2,000. But He will only do that if we put that twenty into the pocket of our favorite prosperity teachers tailor made suit coat.

Eventually I dropped the second half of that statement. That is the part that is untrue. The first part, however, that God is really big and can do anything is absolutely true. It was through prosperity teaching that I learned that God was big and can do anything.

What do we learn from this?

Some might take this and say, “see prosperity teachers aren’t all bad! We ought to thank God for them.” I partially agree. I agree that in as much as they do faithfully proclaim Christ I’m grateful that the gospel is preached. I also don’t believe they are all bad. Some of them have really nice hair, probably love their mothers, can teach really well, might even be good leaders, and stand for many biblical principles.

Yet, I still believe they are deadly. Satan parades around as an angel of light and so do many of these false teachers. Rather than thanking them for preaching a half truth I believe the lesson here is that we ought to thank God for being powerful enough to shine the light of Christ through substantial error. His Spirit is powerful enough to bring us through even the most shoddy of teaching.

That’s comforting for teachers too. I want to be as faithful as I possibly can in presenting the gospel. But I also know that the tongue is a fire and I’m not totally redeemed in either my theology or my heart. I agree with Craig Blomberg, “sooner or later every teacher will do damage.” That’s heart wrenching. But it’s also good to know that the Lord leads people through our errors. God can speak through donkeys, and that means He can probably speak through me.

It is also encouraging to know that God can use everything—even a season sitting under rotten teaching for His glory and our good. I’m glad that the false god of the prosperity teachers is subservient to Almighty God that can use anything to serve His sovereign purpose.

May we press on in being faithful teachers and thank God that He is more than able to bring us into full maturity.

That Angel Is an Idiot

That title bothers you doesn’t it?

It bothers me too. But that is telling. We revere angels—as maybe we should. So I invite you to imagine a scenario with me for a moment.

You’re driving home from work. You haven’t had codeine or any other mind-altering substance. You’ve been sleeping well. You didn’t have Indian food for lunch, either. All of a sudden you get this weird urge to pull over to the side of the road. You ignore it for awhile but after it keeps gnawing at your guts you sheepishly veer off to the shoulder.

Your car has not been stopped for more than 15 seconds when a man that looks like Michael Landon gets in your car. He tells you that he has a very important message for you. He explains that he is an angel. And he even shows you his wings and his drivers license to confirm it.

His important message is that most Christians have gotten the gospel message of Jesus entirely wrong. He lets you know that the message that Christians proclaim is only partially true. Because of a vast conspiracy, that Satan himself was behind, an entire book of the New Testament has been left out.

The angel hands you a tattered scroll with some funky ancient writing on it. He opens it and reads the important portions to you. It turns out that Christians are correct about salvation in Jesus by grace through faith. That is what gets you into the kingdom. But you do not stay there simply by a continued faith in Jesus. The way that you stay in the kingdom is through a complex set of rituals that mark you off as the people of God. Everyone that does not engage in these rituals (similar to the putting blood on the doorpost in Exodus) will not inherit eternal life even if they have initial faith in Jesus.

How You Decide If This is Bunk

This seems really weird to you, but the guy is really convincing. So, how will you determine whether this is true or not? How will you go about getting at the truth? Some might answer, “Well, I need to figure out if this is really an angel or not. If it’s really an angel then I ought to really consider what he’s saying. But if it’s just some crazy guy dressed up like Michael Landon then I can dismiss this.”

That might be your answer. And you might also be totally wrong.

The Scriptures teach you that it doesn’t matter if this really is an angel. If it’s an angel then the angel is an idiot. This is what Paul says in Galatians 1:8,

“…but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” 

You don’t need to know whether or not this is an angel to know that what he is telling you is bunk. It doesn’t match up to the gospel and so the credentials of the messenger really do not amount to a hill of beans*. What matters is the content of the gospel. As soon as this Pa Ingalls look-a-like starts blathering on about a different gospel you know his words are nothing more than serpent talk—even if he is an angel.

Today’s “Angels”

It doesn’t take wings to teach a different gospel. There are many different gospels that are being promoted in our world, sadly even from “Christian” pulpits. For many of them they are followed simply because of their credentials. Their book deals, the number of people coming to their church, the massive amount of people they have “helped”, etc., serve as an angel license. Surely they aren’t preaching a “different gospel” if the Lord is giving them so much success.

It might be easy for us to point a finger at those goobers that embrace a different gospel simply because of the flashy teachers credentials, but let’s be really honest…we can be just as awestruck.

Dude…it’s John Piper**. You can trust what he’s saying. And you can. He’s not going to preach you a different gospel nor is he deserving of an anathema. So, in that sense Galatians 1 doesn’t apply at all. I still think that we can learn a lesson here, though. We ought to be careful not to be so enamored with some dude’s credentials (even if it’s a long list of gospel-centered talks) that we begin weighing what people say based upon their name instead of on the unchanging gospel message.

So, let’s weigh the veracity of a message based upon it’s faithfulness to the gospel of Christ instead of Preacher Joe and his stellar gospel credentials.

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*I’m not really sure what the exchange rate for a hill of beans is these days, but my grandma seems to think that they aren’t much.

**You can substitute John Piper for any other solid Bible teacher.

Seven Steps to Becoming a Heretic

Heretics usually fall into the role. Seldom does a man wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, read the morning newspaper, put on his clothes, and then stare himself in the mirror and say “Today, thou shall become a heretic”. Heretics usually start by staring in the mirror and saying, “Today, thou shall be a difference maker”.

Consider Sabellius. Sabellius became what is now known as a modalist. They were very concerned with maintaining the truth that God is one. They also wanted to maintain that Christ was fully God. Sabellius emphasized these two truths to the neglect of another truth: that God is also three distinct Persons.

Tertullian responded to the modalists. (It is from Tertullian that we have the statement “one substance consisting in three persons”). To our knowledge, this would be the first time that the term Trinity was used. Sabellius and the other modalists were unmoved. Sabellius was eventually condemned a heretic in 220 AD.

His story is not unique. I share it simply because it is the typical pattern of heretics. If you want to become a heretic here is the way to do it:

Step One: Have a desire to be an epic difference maker.

Step Two: Find a truthful doctrine that is being neglected or under emphasized

Step Three: Make your ministry about restoring this precious doctrine.

Step Four: Begin emphasizing this truth to the expense of other equally true doctrines

Step Five: When people begin to question your overemphasis and/or your negating of other truths consider this the price of being an epic difference maker.

Step Six: Continue undeterred. Begin seeing this “other truth” that your opponents are emphasizing as part of the reason why your precious doctrine was under- emphasized. Find ways to minimize this truth, or even show that it is an error.

Step Seven: Emphasize your truth. Totally deny the other truth. Congratulations you are now a heretic that has denied a key doctrine of Scripture. 

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The above picture is from a great series at The Resurgence on Know Your Heretics.

I Declare… “This is Whack”

One of my favorite moments from the Office is when a flat broke Michael Scott learns about the option of declaring bankruptcy.  If he only declares bankruptcy then all of his bills are gone.  So he does just that:

We laugh at this because it is ludicrous to think that just because we declare something that it will somehow be spoken into existence.  I love when Michael says, “I didn’t say it, I declared it”.  It’s silly to think that you can declare something and it will inevitably happen.  Right?

According to Joel Osteen, Michael Scott is on to something.  His latest book “I Declare” is a collection of the most powerful blessings in Scriptures.  According to Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”.  Osteen wants people to speak blessings into their future rather than curses.  If you want to know who you’ll be in five years just look at the words you say about yourself today.  If you buy this book you can “take charge of your future”.  For 31 days you can declare what God says about you instead of those negative words.  Your world will be changed.

Where He Is Right

What Osteen is really encouraging people to do is to preach to themselves.  And there really is value in preaching to ourselves (provided the content is correct).  Furthermore, we really ought to be certain that our identity is founded upon God’s view of us rather than a fallen view of ourselves.  The words we say really do matter.  They don’t have the same amount of power that Osteen wants them to have—but the Bible is clear that the tongue is a powerful instrument for good and for evil.  He gets that much correct.  But then…

He Totally Shanks It

While there is benefit in proclaiming the gospel to yourself and there is a benefit in seeing yourself the way that God does, Osteen’s muddy non-gospel taints every single one of these declarations.  His theology has no room for a blood-soaked Cross or disciples following the dangerous path of the Suffering Servant.  Woodbridge and Jones summarize Osteen’s “non-gospel” well when they state:

Osteen’s gospel, then, is that Jesus died in order to save man from a less than ideal life.  Absent from his preaching is a well-defined concept of original sin, as well as a biblical explanation of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Of course, within prosperity theology these omissions make sense, for negative thoughts impact your ability to gain God’s favor; thus, sin and the cross are omitted.  (Health, Wealth & Happiness, 77)

Consider Osteen’s version of preaching the prosperity gospel to yourself.  Here he encourages us to wake up and proclaim these words to ourselves:

“Good morning, you beautiful thing.  Good morning, you handsome thing.  Good morning, you blessed, prosperous, successful, strong, talented, creative, confident, secure, disciplined, focused, highly favored child of the Most High God.”  (emphasis mine)

Now let’s see how that gels with the Apostle Paul who declared himself to be the chief of sinners:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
(Ephesians 1:16-23 ESV, emphasis mine)

See the difference?  Osteen has us looking within ourselves and calling ourselves amazing.  Paul (and I could have pulled in a host of other verses) has us looking outward.  Looks within always are met with declarations similar to “I’m the chief of sinners” but quickly followed by a “BUT, in Christ…”  And it’s not declarations of “since I’m in Christ I’m now promised prosperity”.  No it’s quite often “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” 

The last time I checked the only One with the power to speak things into existence is the Almighty.  Our faith in Him doesn’t somehow give us the power to then look outside of Him and “change our futures”.  No, our faith calls us to look solely to Him and to trust the work of His hands, not conjure up a world of our own making. 

Why This Matters

Inevitably somebody will respond that I am being too harsh on Joel.  After all isn’t he a nice chap that is just trying to help people?  It’s not like he’s telling people to go out and throw kittens in wood-chippers.  He’s simply telling people to think more positively about themselves and consider themselves the way that God does.  What is so wrong about that? 

Quite a bit, actually.

Later today I’ll give you at least 5 reasons why this teaching of Joel Osteen isn’t just smiley ignorance but it’s damnable serpent talk. 

Pat Robertson vs. The Gospel

I wanted to title this article, “Remind Me Again Why People Still Listen to Pat Robertson”.  But as I thought about it I realized that this fits in rather nicely with the theology of a good number of American Christians. 

Yes, you heard him correctly.  Be careful when adopting children because they might have brain damage and “grow up weird”.  Guys ditching this lady aren’t dogs they are just smart men that don’t want to parent the United Nations.  You never know what has happened to the child.  You don’t have to take on somebody else’s problems.  We help orphans but we aren’t going to have them into our homes. 

In the next few days you will see Robertson issue some sort of apology and say that he misspoke.  What he was really trying to say is that you do not have to accept responsibility that God has not given to you.  You aren’t a dog if you realize that you cannot handle the suffering of someone else.  You’re just human.  It’s great and wonderful for people that feel called by God to take in these orphans but you shouldn’t feel guilty if you aren’t comfortable or called to do it yourself.  I apologize for the way my words sounded but all I was really trying to say is be cautious when considering adoption. 

And all of Pat’s happy followers will wipe the sweat off their brow and say, “whew that was a close one, we were afraid for a moment there that Pat was a little off his rocker". 

Still a problem, though.

Problem is, even if (when) he offers some sort of similar clarification it will still expose his underlying…dare I say it…heresy.  Robertson only gets a hearing in a world/church that has bought into some form of the prosperity gospel.  Foundational to such teaching as Robertson’s is that suffering cannot fit in with the good purpose of God.  It’s just “weird”.  Suffering is my failure to utilize the divinely designed means of blessing. 

In a 700 Club world you don’t take up a cross and devote your life to caring for children with Down Syndrome without seeing any visible reward in this life.  You might see a story about a lady that cared for children with Down’s and somehow God healed the child, or somehow God blessed them financially, or emotionally, or spiritually.  (And all of those may be well and true).  But what you won’t see featured is raw in your face suffering that will only find redemption on the other side of glory.  As I’ve noted before, there’s no room for that in 700 Club theology.

Robertson’s advice is fundamentally “you’re not a monster if you choose not to suffer”.  Okay, I’ll give you that.  You aren’t a monster.  But you aren’t a disciple following the footsteps of a suffering Jesus either.  I can’t say it any better than Russell Moore:

I say to my non-Christian friends and neighbors, if you want to see the gospel of Christ, the gospel that has energized this church for two thousand years, turn off the television. The grinning cartoon characters who claim to speak for Christ don’t speak for him. Find the followers who do what Jesus did. Find the people who risk their lives to carry a beaten stranger to safety. Find the houses opened to unwed mothers and their babies in crisis. Find the men who are man enough to be a father to troubled children of multiple ethnicity and backgrounds.

And find a Sunday School class filled with children with Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy and fetal alcohol syndrome. Find a place where no one considers them “weird” or “defective,” but where they joyfully sing, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.”

That might not have the polish of television talk-show theme music, but that’s the sound of bloody cross gospel.

So even though this guy makes our ears tickle can we please stop listening to him and instead follow the Man that didn’t have a place to lay his head some nights. 

Review of Health, Wealth & Happiness by Jones & Woodbridge

I have really poor eyesight.

Not able to see the big giant “E” type of horrible eyesight.

Not even knowing that there are letters I’m supposed to see type of horrible eyesight. 

Nevertheless, I was planning on driving 45 miles without my contacts.  I wanted God to know I was serious about having my eyes healed.  It wasn’t really bugging me that I couldn’t see but my homeboy Benny Hinn was telling me that I needed to whole and complete and not have any sickness.  I felt fine, but these dastardly eyes were a problem. 

So I did what he told me to do. 

With trembling hands I touched the television.  I could feel the electricity coming forth from his hands.  It was amazing.  I prayed with him.  Yes, he knew what I was going through, I could feel it.  You want my money Benny?  I’ll give it.  Just let me see, Benny!  And then when he encouraged me to plant my seeds of faith I knew what I was supposed to do.  Go to sleep and then drive to school the next morning without my contacts in.

Thankfully for myself and the other drives on the road (or probably those walking on the sidewalk and the cows in the nearby field) I lost the faith.  I let Benny down.  I let myself down.  I knew that God could heal me but I just couldn’t conjure up the faith.  Same thing with some of the other things too.  People in my life that needed a good savin’.  Addictions that people needed broken from.  Financial problems that needed solvin’.  Unfortunately, I lacked the faith to get it done. 

I’m not sure when the turning point happened in my life.  Honestly, (and I don’t mean this snarky) I think it was when I began really reading Scripture and rubbing shoulders with broken people.  I also had a professor in college that graciously pointed out the errors of the prosperity gospel way of thinking.  Eventually (and thankfully somewhat quickly) I was rescued from its clutches and the gospel really began taking root. 

Sadly, many still buy into the false beliefs of the prosperity gospel.  46% of self-identifying Christians believe God will make them rich if they have enough faith.  That is a number that David W. Jones and Russell S. Woodbridge would like to see plummet.  That is why they have written Health, Wealth & Happiness. 

The book itself is only a little over 160 pages and six chapters long.  In the first part of the book the authors critique the prosperity gospel.  They look at the foundations of prosperity teaching and help the reader to understand that it has more in common with New Thought and Hinduism than it does with biblical Christianity. 

They also look at specific teachings and errors in the prosperity gospel.  They quote the sources themselves and often do so with painstaking accuracy and context.  Having come out of a season of devouring this stuff every night I truly believe that those within the movement would say, “Yes, this is what we believe”.  Jones and Woodbridge are not prone to caricature but they are rigorous in applying the Scriptures to the teachings of the prosperity “gospel”. 

At the end of the day they come to the conclusion that it really is no gospel at all.  “Simply put, if the prosperity gospel is correct, grace becomes obsolete, God becomes irrelevant, and “man is the measure of all things” (102).  It really turns the biblical gospel on its head.  Though prosperity teachers may seem sincere and even genuinely want to help people at the end of the day, “their message achieves just the opposite, for they do not proclaim the Christ of the Bible” (163). 

In the second part of the book Jones and Woodbridge correct the prosperity teachings.  They outline a biblical theology of suffering, wealth and poverty, and giving.  It’s clear through each chapter that these men have done their research on both the teachings of prosperity teachers and a thorough biblical understanding of the areas that the prosperity teachers are not faithful. 

My Take:

Even those that are familiar with the prosperity gospel, like myself, will be surprised to see some of it’s similarities to obviously non-Christian teachings.  Furthermore, I was shocked at the audacity of some of these teachers.  As a new Christian I swallowed this stuff because they were charismatic, spoke with authority and conviction, and I simply did not have a firm biblical foundation by which to analyze their teachings.  

I am thankful for the work of Woodbridge and Jones.  They admirably critique the movement (even sharing why it is at times appealing) and they set up a thorough and succinct biblical theology in its place. 

Should You Buy It?

I recommend it.  I do so because somebody (if not many people) in your church have swallowed this teaching.  This book will help you share the biblical gospel with them.  I am not saying that they are not saved but their growth will be ridiculously hindered. 

I pray that the Lord uses this book to rescue many from the teachings of the prosperity gospel.  Get this book, read this book, and spread this book.  It’s a much needed message. 

You can buy it here. 

Are You Prone to the Prosperity “Gospel”?

David W. Jones and Russell S. Woodbridge have served the church well by writing Health, Wealth & Happiness.  It is probably no secret to my readers and those within my church community that I absolutely abhor the prosperity “gospel”.  It’s not just some little error to be trifled with, it’s dangerous heresy that breaks people and churches.  I was even more convinced of this after reading the work of Jones and Woodbridge. 

One of the most helpful things in their book is in the conclusion they give five questions to diagnose our openness to the prosperity gospel:

1. Why does God exist and what does He control in the world?  Does God exist to serve us and grant our wishes?  Or is He about His purposes in the world?  Do I control my own future?  Or does God direct my steps?
2. What is the purpose of suffering and how do I react when I suffer?  Do you see suffering as your failure to utilize divinely designed means of blessing?  Or do you see suffering as the good purpose of God?
3. What do I deserve in life?  Do you believe you are entitled to a good life, good health, and overall success?  Or do you see that everything beyond condemnation is grace? 
4. Why did God save me?  Does He need you on His team?  Did He save you to fulfill your dreams and longings?  Or did God save you so that you might enjoy Him and extend His glory? 
5. Why do I give to God?  Do you give to get something?  Do you give out of guilt?  Or do you give out of love? 

I plan on reviewing this book tomorrow.  I can tell you today though that when I review it I am going to encourage you to buy it.  So, you can go ahead and purchase it today. 

An Open Letter to Creative Technological Make-it-Happen Guru Guy or Gal

Dear Creative Technological Make-it Happen Guru Guy or Gal,

You know who you are.  If I emailed you my next sermon series you could put together a graphic, a video to promote it, and probably a couple of T-shirts.  You make things happen.  And you don’t just Google search a few images and put together a hodgepodge of images and say, “that’ll do”.  You create.  You know how to make websites.  You know what html code is.  Your laughing at me right now because html code isn’t even that big of a deal anymore.  You know what it is. 

Also, you could figure out all the ins and outs of creating a brand new television station. 

That last one is why I am writing to you.  You see there are many people in my life that are being fed a healthy dose of poison to go with their weekly dose of preaching.  These dear believers in Jesus are hungry for the word.  But as newer believers, they are susceptible to eating rat poison and thinking its a new brand of Fruit Loops. 

I know that the answer on my end is faithful, Spirit-led preaching, teaching, and plodding in gentleness and respect.  I know that discernment often is not something that happens over night.  I know that what will really protect them from the rat poison on television is to see, savor, and feast upon the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has taught us. 

Yet, it is also really difficult on my end.  It is difficult because whereas we may get at most 4 hours of preaching during the week these false teachers promote their ridiculousness 24-7.  And they are crafty.  What they say often sounds so biblical, so faithful, so Christ-like.  And it’s killing our people.  And it’s making our job as pastors even more difficult because whenever we say things like, “God places value on you” they hear, “God wants to bless me with a houseboat”.  And so, everything we say in the local church is heard through muddied ears because of the shoddy preaching that these hungry souls go to for a meal on Tuesday, or Thursday, or Friday evenings. 

One thing that grieves me greatly is that there is no preaching on television that competes with this foolishness.  This is not for a lack of quality preaching.  One could go online and find hours upon hours of quality, Christ-honoring, biblically-faithful preaching.  That is well and good for those of us that spend more time in front of iPad’s and computer screens than televisions.  But for those that spend more time watching television they seldom take advantage of these healthy options.  (And this is a large number of those within our congregations). 

So, I’m pleading with you dearest creative technological make-it happen guru guy or gal, make it happen.  Create a new television station that will hit the airwaves and compete with the horrible preaching that is on television.  People are dying and we need your gifts.  Make it happen, please.

Love In-Christ,

Mike Leake