THE PROSPERITY MINISTRY IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL BUT NOT AS BLATANT

 

 

 

The prosperity ministry (PM)—the Name-it-Claim-it or the Word of Faith—play fast-and-loose with the truth. Joel Osteen had taught:

 

·       It's not enough to just think it, something happens when we speak. You have to prophesy your future. You can personalize yours. But let me give you some generic things that should be on your decree. I am strong. I am healthy. I am in shape. I weigh what I'm supposed to weigh. I am full of energy. I am passionate. I am talented. I am secure. I am valuable. I am confident. I have a good personality. People like me. I am fun to be around. I am happy. I enjoy my life. I am a person of excellence. I am full of integrity. I am successful. I am prosperous. My future is bright. My children are mighty in the land. My legacy will live on to inspire future generations. I run with purpose in every step. I am blessed. I am victorious. https://sermons.love/joel-osteen/81-joel-osteen-your-words-become-your-reality.html

 

According to the PM Osteen, it doesn’t matter if these affirmations are not true. Instead, it a matter of obtaining positive result:

 

·       “Our words are vital in bringing our dreams to pass. It’s not enough to simply see it by faith or in your imagination. You have to begin speaking words of faith over your life. Your words have enormous creative power. The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it.”  “Just look in the mirror and say ‘I am strong, I am healthy. I’m rising to new levels, I’m excited about my future.’ When you say that, it may not be true. You may not be very healthy today, or maybe you don’t have a lot of things to look forward to, but Scripture tells us in Romans we have to call the things that are not as if they already were.” (Christian Research Journal (CRJ), Hunter)

 

Scripture never gives us the license to play fast-and-loose with the truth. All truth is God’s truth. It belongs to Him, and we are not at liberty to tamper with it. He tells us that He requires truth in the depths of our being:

 

·       Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)

 

We have to speak and think accurately about ourselves:

·       For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment... (Romans 12:3)

 

Our Lord wants us to reside in the light, in the embrace of wisdom. Using our tongues to distort the truth is simply not part of His program for us. Telling others that we don’t have cancer, when we do, is a refusal to walk in His light. It will also bring disrepute upon the church!

 

Instead, our tongues must be servants of the light – the truth of God. Therefore, they must always speak the truth, as James instructed:

 

·       Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

 

When we use our tongues in a presumptuous manner by claiming that we will get rich through trading or that we will obtain a certain blessing that is not Scripturally guaranteed, we speak evil and “boast in arrogance.” What we say must always conform to the truth. According to James, we are a mere “vapor.” Therefore, we are in no position to make arrogant claims about the future, as one PM had declared: “No one will leave this crusade unchanged!”

 

Osteen and other Word of Faith (WoF) preachers claim that Romans 4:17 gives us the authority to speak things into existence as God had done:

 

·       God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

 

Indeed, God has the power to speak things into existence. However, there is nothing in this verse to suggest that we are endowed with such power. Instead, James claims that we are as insubstantial as mist. Prosperity preachers also resort to Proverbs 18:21 to prove that we have been given this power:

 

·       The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

 

However, this verse falls far short of affirming that our tongues have the supernatural power to call things into existence. Yes, the tongue does have “the power of life and death,” but this is a psychological or interpersonal power. Our words can build people up or tear them down. We can instruct others in the way of truth or the way of deceit.

 

Prosperity preachers also misdirect their audience away from the true Gospel. They encourage us to seek self-destructive things (James 4:3).

 

Prosperity preacher

Creflo Dollar defined the Gospel this way:

 

·       “What’s the Gospel to those who are poor? Prosperity! What’s the Gospel to those who lack? Prosperity! And if you don’t preach it, then you won’t be able to do anything about it, then you won’t be able to do anything about the poverty situation.” (Hunter, CRJ, 24.)

 

However, the Gospel is not a matter of prosperity. The NT informs us that, often, the exemplars of faith fell far short of prosperity:

 

·       They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 11:37-38)

 

Instead, according to Paul, the Gospel is about contentment:

 

·       But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (1 Tim. 6:6-9)

 

Contrary to the prosperity gospel, Paul wrote that the desire for prosperity is “harmful” and can “plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

 

The prosperity ministry also fails to recognize the need for suffering and brokenness. Paul wrote that:

 

·       Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. (2 Cor. 4:16-18; NKJV)

 

According to the Gospel, trials are necessary for growth into Christ-liken-ness. Our “renewal” can only take place as we look in faith towards the heavenly and not the hope of earthly prosperity.

 

The PM also diminishes the power and authority of God and elevates themselves to fill the vacuum. PM Rod Parsley claimed:

 

·       He [God] can’t do it on His own. He can’t get what He wants on His own because He placed you in authority on this earth. Did you hear me? He has to compel you to ask Him so that then He can answer, because He said ‘Call and I will answer.” (CRJ, Hunter)

 

However, the God of the Bible is not dependent upon us as PMs claim:

 

·       Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." (Genesis 18:14)

 

·       "I [Job] know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” (Job 42:2)

 

Instead, according to Jesus, it is we who are dependent on Him:

 

·       “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

 

Paul echoed the same sentiments:

·       Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5)

 

WoF minister, Joyce Meyers, also claimed that we have God-like powers:

 

·       “Unto every man is given the measure of faith, and faith is a powerful force.” “It says in Romans 4:17 that …we have a God who gives life to the dead and He calls things that be not as though they already existed…If there’s something in your way, speak it.” “When I talked with Dr. Roberts today and we talked about this seed-faith thing, he said…when you give you get a receipt in heaven that when you have a need you can then go with your receipt and say, ‘You see, God, I have got my receipt from my sowing and now I have a need and I’m cashing in my receipt.” (CRJ, Hunter)

 

The idea that we can earn or deserve something from God is another concept alien from Scripture. Instead, our infinite God is never in a position where He owes us anything. Nor is He obliged to us:

 

·       "Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?" (Romans 11:35)

 

There is only one thing that justice requires Him to give us—death:

 

·       For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

 

T.D. Jakes makes the same mistake:

 

·       But it was not what was in Christ’s mouth that got him healed. The power was in Bartimaeus’ mouth. He would have whatever he said. And Jesus was saying ‘My hands are tied because I can’t do any more for you than what you say’…If the power of life and death is in the tongue and you can have whatever you say and if you’ve been praying and praying and praying and you finally got God’s attention and now He’s looking at you and saying ‘What do you want?...What do you want? Name it, baby, name it…Declare it! Speak it! Confess it! Get your list out!” (CRJ)

 

However, it seems that much of the PM has gone underground, even though it seems to persist. For example, Kris Vallotton, the senior associate pastor, lead prophet, and the founder of several ministries at the Bethel Church, Redding, Ca. seems to be a PM advocate. This church is also at the epicenter of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Vallotton has written:

 

·       Yet God shared a secret with Joshua that would ultimately be the key ingredient to his profound success. God exhorted Joshua several times to “be strong and courageous,” and then He finished His exhortation with these final words: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Joshua 1:8). Notice that God told Joshua in effect, “By meditating on My Word, you will make your way prosperous and have success!” I’m not sure if you caught the “you will” part. God didn’t say, “I will make you prosperous and successful.” He said, “You will make your way prosperous, and you will have success.” https://www.krisvallotton.com/why-every-christian-has-a-spirit-guide-2

 

According to this statement, God has relinquished His authority to us. Therefore, He is no longer in control. Instead, we are, if we are willing to believe it. However, even the next verse indicates that God remains in control:

 

·       “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

 

The reason that Joshua need not fear is not because he has now been granted power and control but because “God is with you!” It is God who will grant Joshua victory as long as he continues to trust and obey his God. If He turns away from God, he could only expect failure.

 

Although not blatantly, Vallotton promotes PM belief, which elevates man and demotes God. But should God be demoted? Not according to Jesus:

·       “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

 

We are undeserving! To exult in our worthiness and adequacy denies the Scriptures which claim that God exalts the lowly and brings down the proud (Matthew 23:12; Luke 18:14). God had revealed that He makes His power perfect amid our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9. Therefore, Paul responded:

 

·       For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

 

However, the NAR, PM, and WoF exult in their power and authority. This message is highly divisive. In their view, if your ministry is not characterized by power and authority, it means that the Holy Spirit is not present. This seems to be especially true of Bethel Church where the NAR is central. Vallotton has blogged that:

 

·       What I’m getting at is that you can’t separate the gospel from the power of God! Paul put it like this: “In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and around about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Romans 15:19)

 

He brings this point home in 1 Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” However, Paul had been talking about the power that he was able to bring against those in Corinth who were rebelling against the Gospel and not a power that the rebels (or anyone else) could exercise:

 

·       But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (1 Corinthians 4:19–21)

 

Vallotton seems to be aiming his arrows at evangelicals and even at Pentecostals who have lost their confidence in manifestations of power:

 

·       Isn’t it just as dangerous to remove the power of God from the people of God as it is to be deceived? In fact, isn’t this, in itself, partnering with deception?

 

Are we partnering with deception? We believe in prayer, healing, and the power of God, but the NAR and the WoF largely regard us as apostate. Vallotton references the following two verses in support of their us-vs-them distinction.

 

·       “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come…men will hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3:1,5)

 

However, Paul is not referring to evangelicals and lapsed Pentecostals here, as the verses he leaves out demonstrate:

·       For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (2 Timothy 3:2–4)

 

I suspect that Vallotton left these verses out because they point to the worldly and not to faithful evangelicals who he is targeting.

 

The threat of division is real. A friend, who regularly goes to the seminars of WoF preacher Andrew Wommack, excluded me from prayer for an ailing Christian because I don’t believe as she does.

Must our lives be characterized by a steady diet of the supernatural, or by faith in the unseen:

 

·       For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 8:24–25)

 

According to Jesus, walking in faith is the way of blessing. Thomas was reprimanded for demanding a miracle:

 

·       Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

 

·       but he answered and said to them, "an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given”… (Matthew 12:39)

 

Miracles are not always of God:

 

·       The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. (2 Thessalonians; 2:9 Matthew 24; Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

 

God purposely gives us a miracle-lean diet:

 

·       You have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 1:6-7)

 

Lacking a steady diet of miracles produces a longing for his return and produces Christ-like-ness:

 

·       Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

 

·       We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Cor. 4:10-11)

 

Perhaps worst of all, by insisting that signs and wonder should be accompanying us daily undermines the faith of many. I have also been tempted to think, “Perhaps I am missing out on something, and I have departed from the will of God, especially in view of their many testimonies of signs and wonders?” However, several verses have assured me otherwise. For one thing, our Lord promises that He will let us know when we are heading down the wrong path:

·       Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (Philippians 3:15)

 

Perhaps even more reassuring is the Spirit’s acknowledgement that it is not critically important that we understand enough to even pray correctly:

 

·       Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26–27)

 

Consequently, we are safe in Him!