THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL IS NOTHING MORE THAN A SPIRITUAL VERSION OF A PYRAMID SCHEME

 

Though few of us truly heed them, the bible is full of warning about lusting after wealth and possessions:

 

Luk 12:15  And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 

Ecc 5:10  He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 

Ecc 5:11  When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 

Ecc 5:12  Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 

 

Mat 6:24  “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 

 

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

 

On the corruption scale, organized religion is often right up there with politics, and in some ways, probably surpasses it. This largely came about when churches were granted 501(c)(3) status in the early 20th century. Any time you introduce an excessive amount of self-interest into the equation, corruption is sure to follow, as you will naturally draw a much higher percentage of profit-seeking opportunists into the fold, who wouldn't otherwise be there. Tax exempt status was the perfect tool to poison the church well.

 

Nowhere is this more evident than in what is often termed 'the Prosperity Gospel'. These pastors live lavish lifestyles that would make any rock star green with envy. They live in mansions, fly around on jets, and cruise around in luxury cars - while sporting the customary designer suit and a high-end watch.

 

In order to justify this material excessiveness (and assure its continuance,) parishioners are presented with a god who functions like a cosmic ATM machine. These pastors not only don't try to hide their wealth; they flaunt it and use it as proof that they are in ATM-god's good graces. And if you will present sufficient "love offerings" to their ministry, they will pick up the red-phone and put in a good word, so that ATM-god will similarly reward you with a lavish lifestyle. It would seem very obvious to see-though such pastors and their true motives, but many people don’t. I believe that’s because, to these partitioners, the wealthy pastor represents what they are truly seeking: materialistic excess, wealth, and the accompanying, ego-feeding social status. Needless to say, these motives are severely misguided.

 

While God may want you to be rich, that is ultimately in His hands. He may just as well desire that you be quadriplegic, blind, or destitute, in order that He may work through you to inspire others by persevering through your limitations and glorifying Him in the process. We have absolutely no way of knowing His will, but the idea that God will reward every Christian who asks with huge fortunes and materialistic excess is an absolutely ludicrous notion. In fact, these things are typically only a reward in the earthly sense, because in the end, these ego-feeding materialistic desires are far more likely to draw one away from God, than closer to Him. They open a person up to many additional potential temptations and dangers, of which poor people need not contend.

The ultimate example of the trappings of excess: Hollywood, CA. On the surface, there is an abundance of glitz and glamor. However, if you could pull the curtain back and see just beneath that sparkly exterior, you'd find some of the most unhappy and depressed people walking the face of the earth, as their identities and self-images are totally reliant on what they have, rather than who they are. Stripped of their possessions and wealth, life would be meaningless and unlivable for many of these people, as their egos couldn't handle no longer feeling 'special'.

 

This isn’t to say that wealth itself is evil, as many of God’s elect have been wealthy (Abraham, David Solomon, etc.). That said, love of wealth and lusting after it is never a good thing. Someone in this state of mind equates his own personal value to how many things he possesses. Much like the silly slogan, ‘he who dies with the most toys wins’. In reality, he who dies with the most toys….is dead. He will instantly pass on to another dimension, in which vast wealth and power, so treasured in this world, now buys absolutely nothing. The perks are definitely non-transferable, as God is no respecter of persons. Dirt poor or filthy-rich, we will all humbly bow before Jesus Christ in the same exact manner. God’s will for us is what matters, not our own fallible desires. By withholding earthly trappings, God may very well be saving our souls from ultimate destruction.