Money, Mansions, and a Mercedes – How you can have these things!
Here is what Pastor Ben Gilbert proclaimed recently:
“You know why I live in a $6million house?” Gibert tells the crowd during his recent sermon. “Because I’m concerned about what other folk live in …You know why I ride good? Because I care about other people riding good. … That’s why the Lord blesses me.”
Seriously, if I held to the reasoning that God wants Christians to prosper in good health and great wealth then the opposite must be true, right? If I am being blessed with health and wealth, I must really be a good Christian, right? If that is the case, then I must be one of the best Christians out there right now! In the midst of possibly the single largest economic downturn in America over the last 6 months, I have bought a new house, a new car, and a new boat. How many people in America can say that over the last year much less Christians? Heck, I mine as well go ahead and start a church in Waxhaw and give people the secret sauce to my unbelievable prosperity. Maybe not, as my health isn’t what it once was as I am a walking accident waiting to happen and I am getting more out of shape, slower and I even have gray hair when I tried to grow a beard this week. But I am sure I belong right up there some of the greatest Christians in the last 200 years because of my economic prosperity.
Yep … that’s right! Just pencil my name in right there beside … Billy Graham, Bob Jones Sr., Billy Sunday, Adoniram Judson, D.L Moody, Fanny Crosby, C.H. Spurgeon, and newly added Brian Williams!
Ben Gilbert is just one of the many “Christian Pastors” (Christian is used loosely) that subscribe to this very anti-Christian dogma. There are scores of mega churches across America blinded by this anti-Christian teaching that is spreading across the pulpits of these churches to the ears of truly needy people. Kenneth Copeland, Creflo and Taffi Dollar, Benny Hinn, Bishop Eddie Long, Joyce & David Meyer, and Randy & Paula White are just a few of the prosperity gospel preaching proponents in America. Those same persons are actually being investigated for irregular tax reports and various financial activities. Yeah, bet we call couldn’t see that one coming! I retrieved this information from the following blog: http://danski.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/prosperity-gospel-preachers-under-investigation/
The problem with the “prosperity gospel” philosophy is three-fold. First, it presumes that those needy people’s needs are material or from this world rather than spiritual. Second, if the front side of this view is true that Christian believers are to prosper from a health and wealth perspective, then the reverse of that has to be true … if you aren’t prospering then you either aren’t a believer or your faith and relationship with God must not be strong enough. Third and most importantly, it directly conflicts with Scriptural teaching and the teaching of Jesus during His earthly ministry.
Addressing those points, there is no where in Scripture that says that unbelievers or believers need anything other than a relationship with Christ. The famous C.H. Spurgeon once preached a sermon about the single common theme he preaches to his congregation each week. He titled it “Preaching Christ Crucified,” and you can see the text of this sermon here (http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/3218.htm).
Here is what C.H. Spurgeon said in his introduction:
Now, today, there are some who would be glad, if we would preach anything except Christ crucified. Perhaps the most dangerous among them are those who are continually crying out for intellectual preaching, by which they mean preaching which neither the heavens nor the preachers themselves can comprehend, the kind of preaching which has little or nothing to do with the scriptures, and which requires a dictionary rather than a Bible to explain it. These are the people who are continually running around, and asking, “Have you heard our minister? He gave us a wonderful sermon last Sunday morning; he quoted Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, and he gave us some charming pieces of poetry, in fact, it was overall an intellectual treat.” Yes, and I have usually found that such intellectual treats lead to the ruination of souls; that is not the kind of preaching that God generally blesses to the salvation of souls, and therefore, even though others may preach the philosophy of Plato or adopt the arguments of Aristotle, we preach Christ crucified,” the Christ who died for sinners, the people’s Christ, and “we preach Christ crucified” in simple language, in plain speech such which the common people can understand.
© Copyright 2001 by Tony Capoccia
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul stated in I Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ Crucified.” Spurgeon is right and the ruination and damnation of eternal souls can easily be happen from the pulpits where a “prosperity gospel” is being preached rather than “Christ Crucified.”
This is the message that we preach to the converted and the unconverted. The message of “Christ Crucified” is the very foundation of all other messages and also defines the need of every human being in this world who has ever lived. It isn’t health, money, cars, things, etc… that we necessarily need, rather knowing Christ and cultivating that relationship is our need for ultimate peace in happiness. Our health and wealth are gracious gifts of the Almighty God of the universe and they are bi-products of that relationship. Health and wealth are not guaranteed and granted to all believers nor does someone who has more money, more things, a bigger house, a better car make them more spiritual or closer to God than those without.
The Scriptures are filled from the Old Testament to the New Testament with multitudes of examples of Spirit filled individuals (including Christ) that would never be deemed socially, economically or professionally prosperous in the world’s eyes. The supreme example of Christ’s life and His words directly conflict with the notion that our lives should be prosperous from a material standpoint. He who was without sin and bore the sins of the entire human race is said to not have had a place to call home and lay his head. The very disciples he called were asked to leave behind (not literally to never see them again) their families, their businesses, and their possessions to follow Him. It wasn’t that they would never have familial relationships, a business or possessions, but until they realized that those things weren’t t the supreme value in their life and only following Him was, they wouldn’t be suited to be a disciple. It is the same in our lives in regards to a relationship with Christ. Until we put into proper perspective and order our loves and our priorities, we will never prosper spiritually. There are a lot of Christians that have many possessions, nice homes, nice cars, good salaries, and ease of life that is much better than a lot of people presently and in the past of human history, but it isn’t indicative of our spiritual maturity. The priorities are always to be our faith and relationship with God, our love and devotion to our families, and our care and support of our Christian friends.
williamsbrian1
