I may have written on this before… sorry… hahahaha… But even if I have I think it’s something worth reflecting on again 
. It’s harsh, so buckle your seat belts and enjoy (or not) the ride 
I watched a video recently of a preacher calling prosperity into the lives of his congregation through prayer… Everybody responded, naturally, I mean who doesn’t like the idea of earning more and living better? His ministry, it would appear, was succesful also – there was a LOT of people crammed into that building – they were clapping and cheering and taking notes… but again, who wouldn’t do those things if they thought that they brought a big fat cash blessing…?
I have 2 thoughts on the topic.
1) Absolute Arrogance
Every Sunday in every country on every continent people hear prosperity teachings… things like pressed down, shaken together and pouring over or Jesus came so that we may have life and life in abundance get thrown around to inspire people to give more, attend more, pray harder, read more, serve longer… We have honestly given ourselves the idea that IF we are good christians God will bless us… BUT IT’S CRAP… and just quietly it’s both arrogant and offensive to live in that mistaken mindset…
Here’s why.
In 2009 I travelled to Fiji – I preached in a few churches and did some leadership training with a bunch of youth leaders… I met a guy there called Richie. Richie is a pastor’s son – he is a strong, intelligent and good-looking guy with a BUNCH of dreams… Things that HE wants to do in the name of Jesus. I had the privilege of praying for Richie one evening and watching the Spirit of God come upon his words and upon his music. His passion was always people… it always will be… The struggle for Richie is that there isn’t a lot of money or resource where he comes from. food is scarce amongst the people in the surrounding villages, the church is like a lean-to – random bits of timber or sheeting nailed together as best it could be… There isn’t entertainment like there is here, not a great public transport system, he can’t just send out a mass text or email because not everyone has access to that kind of technology……… by the standards of a prosperity preaching church Richie (obviously) just isn’t connecting enough with God… or maybe he doesn’t tithe enough… perhaps it’s because he doesn’t read as much as other people? BUT IT’S CRAP… That night amongst those people Richie prayed as hard and as passionately about seeing God touch his community as anyone I had ever seen… His love for God is genuine – his commitment to seeing people FIND God is real… His financial situation and that of the community he lives in has NOTHING to do with how christian he is… because truthfully – if it was the measure – he would be living better than me… than all of us…
Truth is after travelling throughout large parts of the third world I have met 1000′s of people like Richie. Christians who give up EVERYTHING to serve God… missionaries who left their homes, pastors who run 5 or 6 churches in 5 or 6 different villages every week, doctors and nurses who administer medication for free every single day of their lives… I am not worth more than them… and frankly assuming that my blessings are as a result of my faithfulness to God is a slap in the face to those people… and they deserve better from us than that.
2) Absolute Ignorance
I believe that we are blessed so that we can be a blessing. The bible tells us that to whom much is given much is expected… And for some reason we think that going to church, being involved in a ‘team’, going to a small group, paying our tithe, sponsoring a child, even going on a short-term mission trip is somehow going satisfy God… as if that even comes close to the blessings we have because of him?!
We know the statistics about poverty – we know how many hundreds of innocent children die every day of preventable diseases, we know that water is the biggest killer on the planet, we know that most of the world lives on less than $2 a day… we know it… and yet somehow we still believe that those things I mentioned before are somehow enough?
I remember a conversation that Jesus had with the Disciples about forgiveness – how many times should I forgive he was asked… Jesus response was profound… and gut wrechingly, life changingly, pain stakingly DIFFICULT… you must forgive them seven times seventy seven… What Jesus was trying to tell them was: YOU CAN NEVER FORGIVE THEM ENOUGH… ever… it’s ongoing, it’s always, it’s with everything you have… And our life is meant to be lived that way…
If we aren’t constantly giving, constantly praying, constantly serving then we aren’t doing it enough… And (this is where it gets brutal) if you think that it’s okay to live at all in excess while God’s children suffer then your living in absolute ignorance…
Sorry for the downer…….. we’ll… kinda… hahahaha
Adam
4 comments
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March 24, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Kat
You certainly are fired up about this Adam! Any particular reason you posted about this? About a month ago I was listening to my pastor talk about giving and he reminded us that while God does promise to bless us when we give, HOW he blesses us is the issue. To teach that we will be blessed in the same way that we give is erroneous. God blesses us with health, good relationships – a whole range of blessings! And the financial blessings we have is given to us so we can be a blessing to those less fortunate.
Always fun to drop by your blog and see what you’re thinking Adam
March 25, 2011 at 11:18 am
itsrealsimple
Not really a particular reason… I guess other than I think that it’s wrong… lol…
I am absolutely convinved that blesses us as we obey his scripture – but like your pastor I feel like the understanding of HOW we may get blessed has been lost in our culture… The bible even teaches us the trials can be a blessing – but we never hear that during an offering talk – hahahaha…
I am writing one on tithe next week – love to get your thoughts on it
March 24, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Alicia
Agreed, and yes it is very hard to consider that we hold a responsibility for those who have less than us. It cannot be ignored and what we do choose to give doesn’t justify us spending our ‘excess’ on ourselves. I always think about the old woman with the coin who gave all she had and the Pharisee who gave more money but whose reward was in his earthly recognition.
I am sitting with a further question…
How often are decision make by pastors and church leaders based on whether the tithe-paying members will agree and hence their tithe retained? Is this decision made consciously or unconsciously? And how do church leaders choose love above all else, genuine care and concern for people over popular believe over an assured income.
Maybe I should flip it over to me. How do I make decision about how to use my money? Do I decide how to live by deciding how I can make the most money? What comes first for me when I decide how to use my money, my care and concern about myself, or by deep care for others?
And where is the line (blurry and moving as it may be) between what to keep to accumulate like the good servants (to whom much was given and much required), and what to give away so that I call nothing my own and hold tightly onto the ride God takes us on… promising to provide for all our needs.
Mmmm… thank you for your ponderings. They sit closely to my counselling class’s frustrations with religious hypocrisy today. And my frustrations to. Yet I am part of this family. How will I be part of a change?
March 28, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Lucia
I’m right with you on this Adam, and it’s something I struggle to reconcile myself with all the time – especially all my ridiculous and outrageous blessings. A full time job, husband, family, home, spare time, etc etc etc and yet others are living in filth and oppression – I am no better than them and yet somehow I keep getting told to ask for more by preachers?!
I don’t want anymore, I couldn’t handle anymore….the guilt would be overwhelming!
You said “And for some reason we think that going to church, being involved in a ‘team’, going to a small group, paying our tithe, sponsoring a child, even going on a short-term mission trip is somehow going satisfy God… as if that even comes close to the blessings we have because of him?”
and I completely agree; the question is then is what do we do? I’m personally working through that, but I love how you’re not afraid to ask the hard questions.
Even more abhorrent to me sometimes is the Prosperity Gospel that says if you don’t have wholeness/healing/perfect marriage/mortgage/business, then clearly you’re not sowing enough/praying enough/”declaring” enough.
I’m heartened and encouraged by the apostles and disciples who also would have failed according to this ‘Gospel.’
Love this blog!