Do You Believe the (Prosperity) Gospel?
From the time we are born, we are hardwired and conditioned to avoid pain. This is a gift from God because, it preserves our bodies (think hot burner). It is also often used to discipline us by our parents (think spanking or time out). And so, we learn that if possible, we should avoid pain. In fact, most of the time, we come to believe that if we are in pain or suffering, there is most likely some different approach or action that will end or lessen that pain. Many times, our experience proves this reality out. There are even some Scriptures that speak to the reality that to follow God and do what He says will result in less pain. Proverbs is full of these sort of statements, tracing out the realities of a fool’s pain and a wise person’s blessing. What can happen then is a subtle but dangerous connection in our thought process. It goes something like this, “Doing what God asks will result in blessing, not doing what God asks will result in pain and suffering.” I say subtle because, of course, we can come up with some pretty quick examples of people who definitely followed God but still had pain and suffering. Jesus and Paul come to mind but we could add Jeremiah and Isaiah and so on. This way of thinking of course is the foundation on which the “prosperity Gospel” rests. And what is the prosperity Gospel? It is the idea that to follow Jesus will result in blessing. In a phrase, you will be healthy wealthy and wise if you do what God wants. Of course if you do not, then the inverse is true per the prosperity preacher. Your health, wealth and general American dream life, will slip away as your disobedience deserves. And again, I would guess that most of you would say, I am more discerning than to believe that clap trap. I hope that you are. But, my own experience convinced me that, in fact, I had a good bit of this theology deeply embedded into my relationship with God.
Let me explain. It all began when my wife and I were convinced that God wanted us to pursue adoption. We were sure and had many confirmations along the way, this is the path that God wanted us on, no doubt about it. It was a hard journey to be sure with plenty of heart rending twists and turns but, I knew it was what we were to be doing. As time went on, we were matched (FINALLY) with a premature infant. We of course fell instantly in love and by we, I mean my wife, my daughter, my son and I. And for 3 months everything moved forward as smoothly as the adoption processes can. Then, the biological father a man who had been deceived by the biological mother came forward and decided to parent the infant that we had given 24 hour care to for over 3 months. We were devastated. And as often happens in our darkest moments, we were left with deep and troubling questions, especially for and about God. In the midst of all that needed to be processed for me, there was this startling discovery: I believed functionally in the prosperity gospel. My deepest pain was related to the sense of betrayal. How could God trick me like this? How could He lead me down a path that would culminate in my most painful experience? And while I cannot still offer a satisfying answer on God’s behalf (that’s a fool’s errand if ever there was one), I do know that in the process of healing from that pain and processing it, I was forced to deal with some lousy practical theology.
Am I saying that following God does not result in blessing? No. Rather I am saying that we need to be very careful how we fill the word blessing up with meaning. If by blessing we mean no pain or suffering, we need to start over. Blessing is God’s best for us. Sometimes that is pleasure and happy occurrences. Sometimes, God blesses us with affliction and suffering, pain and sorrow. And the important thing for us in those pain-filled moments of obedience is to remember why we don’t collapse. Can pain and suffering be the result of disobedience? Yes. But, if that is the only way we can sort it, we’ve denied the fundamental truth of the Gospel. Jesus doesn’t invite you into your best life now. He invites you into your best life forever. That means that pain and suffering in the way of obedience is part of the path. It means death is part of the ongoing program here. Jesus bids us come and die and our prosperity theology too. Because, in our dying, we give way to His life.
Application Questions?
To what level do you think you may have embraced the prosperity gospel?
What Scriptures will you memorize to have ready for your moments of suffering in the way of obedience?
Helpful further resources:
To watch/listen to:
Matt Chandler’s message on suffering
John Piper’s message on suffering
To read:
The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis
For listening/reflection/signing along: