The Worst Ideas of the Decade The prosperity gospel by Cathleen Falsani In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, we are told that Jesus said, You cannot serve both God and money and, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The prosperity gospel, an insipid heresy whose popularity among American Christians has boomed in recent years, teaches that God blesses those God favors most with material wealth. The ministries of three televangelists commonly viewed as founders of the prosperity gospel movement - Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland and Frederick K.C. Price - took hold in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the oldest and best-known proponents of prosperity theology, Oral Roberts - the television faith-healer who in 1987 told his flock that God would call him home if he didnt raise $8 million in a matter of weeks - died at 91 last week. But the past decade has seen this pernicious doctrine proliferate in more mainstream circles. Joel Osteen, the 46-year-old head of Lakewood Church in Houston, has a TV ministry that reaches more than 7 million viewers, and his 2004 book Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, has sold millions of copies. God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us, Osteen wrote in a 2005 letter to his flock. As crass as that may sound, Osteens version of the prosperity gospel is more gentle (and decidedly less sweaty) than those preached by such co-religionists as Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and the appropriately named Creflo Dollar. Few theological ideas ring more dissonant with the harmony of orthodox Christianity than a focus on storing up treasures on Earth as a primary goal of faithful living. The gospel of prosperity turns Christianity into a vapid bless-me club, with a doctrine that amounts to little more than spiritual magical thinking: If you pray the right way, God will make you rich. But if youre not rich, then what? Are the poor cursed by God because of their unfaithfulness? And if God were so concerned about 401(k)s and Mercedes, why would Gods son have been born into poverty? Nowhere has the prosperity gospel flourished more than among the poor and the working class. Told that wealth is a sign of Gods grace and favor, followers strive for trappings of luxury they can little afford in an effort to prove that they are blessed spiritually. Some critics have gone so far as to place part of the blame for the past decades spending binge and foreclosure crisis at the foot of the prosperity gospels altar. Jesus was born poor, and he died poor. During his earthly tenure, he spoke time and again about the importance of spiritual wealth and health. When he talked about material wealth, it was usually part of a cautionary tale. Cathleen Falsani is the religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and the author of The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 14:59:19 +0000
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