Prosperity Gospel and the Wickedness of our Hearts

There is a lot about the prosperity gospel that rubs me wrong... recently the New York Times wrote an article titled "Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich" and it makes me cringe. I have a hard time with the fact that ministries can so readily adopt idolatry as their highest goal. What I mean by that is the prosperity gospel is more concerned with their stuff, which is idolatry, than with Jesus Christ... Tell me how a prosperity preacher handles the text from Hebrews 10: 34 where it says, "You sympathized with those that were in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." They have to dismiss texts like these and many others to be comfortable with robbing the poor to build their empire.

But it would be easy to point fingers and scoff and not examine ourselves... would you be willing to lay down your goods and rights for the gospel? What do you hold in higher esteem than the gospel? Is it your car? your wardrobe? the acceptance of your parents? your status? your favorite sports team? fitting in at work or school? would you be willing to accept the confiscation of your property? would you be willing to be named Beelzebub with Christ?

John Calvin said it best when he said, "the human heart is a factory of idols... everyone of us is, from his mothers womb, expert in inventing idols." We are prone to idolatry of all sorts and kinds. Prosperity preachers are prone to their idolatry of goods and popularity. But what is your idol? What trumps the throne of grace in your heart? What do you value more than Christ? Now the key to overcoming that idol is to take it to the cross in repentance and let grace overcome you.

God, we are a wicked and stiff-necked people. We can even take good things like being compensated for ministry and turn it into evil. Our hearts are prone to lift up pithy and worthless things. We are experts in golden-calf making. We idolize everything under the son. So God break us of our wickedness and let our hearts lift you up today. You are supreme. Help us to count you as gain and everything else rubbish. Please God. Help us to not look down our noses at those whose errors are so prevalent, but help us to pray for them. And, help us to see our faults as equally wicked. Convict us and change us by Your grace. Amen.

Luke 16- The Rich Man and Lazarus

Here is an interesting teaching from Jesus. He tells a story of a rich man who lived in luxury. At the rich man's gate was a beggar who longed to receive any kind of blessing he could from the excess of the rich man but received only crumbs at best from the rich man's table. Then Jesus says "the time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried in hell, where he saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side (verses 22-24)."



Let us learn a couple things from this parable. We live in luxury and so we more easily relate to the rich man. So please reader be warned, do not let your prosperous position so crowd your life that you are unaware of beggars at your gate. Whether that is spiritual or physical, be warned. Take compassion. It is better to give than receive."Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)." Be rich towards God. Give and give and give expecting nothing in return. Bless those around you and give lavishly. That is the first piece of advise I can give you from this text.



Secondly, don't always assume that if you are blessed here on earth that God is your best friend. He disciplines those that he loves and "has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor (James 2:5-6)." What I am saying is this; "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus(the beggar) received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony (verse 25)." Instead of putting our trust and hope in the provisions we have received on this earth we need to put our hope in the Provider. We should turn all of our blessings into praise to Him who gave them graciously and we should make a habit of giving so we don't fall into the temptation of loving our stuff. Don't get in the habit of trusting in your money. Give as much as you can and then give even more. Money is such a stumbling block for so many. Don't let it be your Master.



Third, hell is hot. I fear that hell is scoffed at these days and most unfortunately in churches. Let scripture warn you, hell is real. "Have pity on me! If I could just get a drop of water on my tongue because I am in agony in this fire... please warn my family so they will not come to this place of torment," said the rich man. Hell is real. I know that sucks. Unfortunately, we can't dismiss that hell is real, so we should live in the reality of the news.

Lastly, listen to scriptures... "They have Moses and the Prophets; Let them listen to them (verse 29)." We have been warned and instructed by all of scriptures and I think we need to carefully 'listen to them.' For the rich man's family, Abraham says, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead (verse 31)." Scripture is enough. And we are studying it together. But let us be careful to listen to what it says. How is scripture transforming you lately? Or do you simply read and then forget? Are you applying these truths to your life? Or walking away unchanged? If you are not moved by scripture than a dead man walking into your life wont even have an effect on you. Pray that God would make your heart soft and receptive to the warnings of scripture.

Luke 16- Use Your Money

This is an interesting parable... I actually like it a lot. It doesn't fit the in our Christian bubble. It is rough and jagged and if you try to handle it with bare hands it will likely cut you. That my friends is life. Rarely does it fit our neat and ordered guidelines. Rarely does it brush up against you softly.

The parable, if I can sum it up for you, is one where an owner calls to account his manager because he finds he is wasting his possessions. The manager is called to account and told, 'you cannot be manager any longer' (verse 2). Then the manager says to himself, "what shall I do now? I am losing my job I am not fit for work and I am ashamed to beg." Then he devises a plan to help him through this predicament. He calls debtors of his master to him and reduces their debts, thinking, "when I lose my job here these people will welcome me into their houses" (verse 4).

The master then praises the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. Then says this line, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwelling" (verse 9). Then Jesus goes on to say, "No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money" (verse 13).

Now you see why this is a rough parable? It isn't commending a righteous man for doing righteous things. It is actually praising a crook for being wise with money like all believers had ought to be. Do not loose the heart of this because of the character flaws. The man was a bad and shady man and he acted in an dishonorable way, but he put his resources to work to help better his situation. We need to learn as believers to put our resources to work. We need to see that money can be a snare to us that holds us back like a restraint from God. We should instead employ our money to gain for us an eternal inheritance. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:20-21). And Jesus wants to emphasize how big of a hindrance this can be. In verse 13 he says "Money" capital M showing that Money can be your master. Lots of so called "Christians" are actually serving that master and not the real Master. Who are you serving? Do you actually spend your money like you have eternity in a dwelling with God? Or, more realistically do you spend your money like you are staying here for awhile? More pointedly, are you making strides towards Christ with your career choice or are you picking subjects that lend themselves towards a bigger paycheck? Do you spend your time sowing into the kingdom work or sowing into your work? "If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (verse 12)" Put your money to work gaining you an eternal dwelling. Let me take it a step further... you should actually dislike money. I think being poor puts you in a much better relationship to God. Dependence on God is a great thing that we all are leaning on but so many are fooled by their riches to think otherwise. "Be devoted to God and despise [money] (verse 13).

Luke 6 -Blessings and Woes

"Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God." (vs. 20)

We are exceedingly rich. The majority of people on the planet live for a couple of bucks a day. You didn't read that last sentence wrong. Literally most people have nothing. You are so rich. But Jesus says, "blessed are the poor because theirs is the kingdom of God." We have to figure out how to be poor in spirit. We have to figure out how to be desperate for God. People that are actually poor live everyday asking God for provisions and praising Him when they survive another day. But, we can manage a whole week without even hardly thinking about God?! That is dangerous. In fact Jesus says in verse 24, "but woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort." As a rich American I need to force myself to be desperate for God. I need to read passages like this that warn me from setting in and being comfortable. That warn me from dashing my ship on the rocks of richness.