A number of weeks ago now we recommended that if you had a Netflix account that you watch the film “American Gospel: In Christ Alone”. It’s exposes various false preachers who have been preaching a prosperity gospel. The film was right to expose such horrendous teaching. However, I wonder whether you and I can actually fall in to a different prosperity gospel?
There are at least two kinds of prosperity gospel. An earthly prosperity gospel and a heavenly prosperity gospel.
No surprise, the earthly prosperity gospel is when someone recognises they have a hole in their life, something missing, and then when you bring Jesus in, he’ll fill that void by giving you all this ‘stuff’. You’ll get a perfect relationship, your health will get better, your skin will improve, you’ll get that Aston Martin, that perfect house with the perfect kitchen, the perfect TV and the perfect swimming pool. That’s your earthly prosperity. Who wouldn’t want that Jesus!? Look at all the ‘stuff’ he gives you. You bring Jesus in, life will go well.
I’m guessing most of you reading this do not believe in this type of earthly prosperity gospel.
But I do think we can slip into a heavenly prosperity gospel.
The heavenly prosperity gospel is just as much a prosperity gospel as the last one, it just take a longer view. This belief would be; become a Christian, come to Jesus and you’ll get ‘life’ insurance, get out of hell free card. When you come to Jesus, you will have eternal prosperity. Of course, coming to Jesus means you’ll receive eternal life, but the issue with this teaching is the focus of this gospel is wrong.
This gospel is still about us and what we get out of things, about what we get out of our relationship with Jesus.
But these ‘gospels’ is not truly the ‘good news’. The good news of the gospel isn’t what Jesus gets us, the good of the gospel is we get HIM! Jesus is the good news. The gift of the gospel is God Himself.
“My beloved is mine and I am his” Song of Solomon 2:16
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8
“I want to know Christ” Philippians 3:10
Lets not trust the earthly prosperity gospel. Let’s not trust the heavenly prosperity gospel. Let’s trust Christ.
Everything in our life is God’s gift. All good is from Him. All we lack is His right to withhold. But we trust Him in all circumstances because we are not to be a gold-digger. We are not in this relationship for the sake of the “stuff.” We trust Jesus for the sake of having Jesus. And, come what may, He is enough.
Lloyd
Song by CityAlight
(Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus
Satisfied, He is all that I need)
Elizabeth Grainger says
Thank you so much for this. I’m really saddened when I meet Christians who are following the prosperity gospel or so-called Word of Faith movement.