Problems with the Prosperity Gospel

American televangelists have been making false promises for decades.

They claim if you have enough faith and if you give to their ministries, God will bless you with abundant finances and physical health. They teach that God wants all believers to be healthy and wealthy, thus their message has been dubbed the “health and wealth gospel” or the “prosperity gospel.”

Proponents of this gospel are numerous and include Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Joel Osteen, Joseph Prince, Paula White, Joyce Meyer, and Benny Hinn. (Hinn says he has “repented” of this teaching, but since then he has continued to promise financial blessing in return for donations.)

An Example of Prosperity Preaching

Paula White says this on her website:

When you give your first fruits offering, you are planting a seed for the remainder of the year. There is a greater portion that awaits you in honor of your first fruits offering! It all begins with your obedience…

Prosperity preachers frequently refer to financial giving as sowing seed. They promise that just as a seed grows into a harvest, those who give money will get more money in return.

But to whom should we give?

White continues,

I want to bless you this season when you give your very Best First Fruits Offering! With your very best First Fruits seed today, I will rush to you my brand-new for 2022, 4-Disc series and digital download: “God’s Principle of First: Releasing The Blessing of First Fruits” 

So people should give their “very best First Fruits seed” to her ministry and she will send them her teaching on giving. White, however, is selling more than a 4-Disc series:

Don’t miss your opportunity to honor God and unlock the promises and provision He has prepared to bless you- ACTIVATE IT NOW!

This is incredible stuff. We can instantly activate God’s blessings by giving our “very best” to White’s ministry. The page ends with these words:

Remember, when you sow your First Fruits Seed Offering it activates God to do the blessing. To reap the best in 2022, you must give God your best as we come into alignment with His Word through your worship!

This is nothing more than a sales pitch. The items being sold are a teaching series and, stunningly, God’s blessing. This epitomizes the strategy used by prosperity preachers: promise people that if they give to a particular ministry they will be blessed.

If you think the prosperity gospel is a fringe movement in American Christianity, consider this data from a 2006 article:

In a TIME poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money.

During the past 16 years, this made-in-America gospel has been exported around the world. Here are nine problems with the prosperity gospel from a biblical perspective.

1. Ignores repeated statements that believers will suffer

• Instead of teaching that his followers would enjoy health and riches, Jesus promised the opposite: “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn 16:33 NIV).
• Paul and Barnabas preached, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
• Paul writes, “we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Rom 5:3-4).
• Paul continues, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered’” (Rom 8:35-36).
• James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (Jam 1:2-3).
• Peter declares, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Pet 1:6).

2. Ignores examples of suffering

Consider the following examples of suffering:

• Abraham and Sarah waited for their promised son for twenty-five years.
• Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers then falsely accused and imprisoned.
• Moses served as a shepherd in the wilderness for forty years then led thousands of complaining people for forty years.
• Job lost his children, wealth, and health.
• Ruth and Naomi lost their husbands and became destitute.
• David ran for his life and sought refuge in deserts, caves, and forests.
• Elijah fled into the wilderness to hide from Jezebel then prayed for God to take his life.
• Jeremiah was rejected and thrown into a muddy cistern.
• Daniel was sent into exile in Babylon then later thrown into a lion’s den.
• John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded.
• Peter was arrested, beaten and imprisoned.
• Stephen was stoned to death.
• Paul was arrested, flogged, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and stoned.
• The recipients of the letter of Hebrews endured much hardship: “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions” (Heb 10:32-35).
• Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for forty days. Later he was beaten, mocked, and crucified.

3. Ignores expressions of suffering

Prosperity teachers affirm “positive confession” theology, which is central to the Word of Faith movement. The idea is that our words have the power of life and death so we can speak things into existence just as God did. If we admit negative things in our lives, such as financial, health, or relational struggles, we are making those things a reality. Hence, believers must say only positive things.

Kenneth Copeland uses the seed analogy with words:

Of all the seeds, words are the most powerful. In fact, words are an important part of the entire process of sowing and reaping. Words were not created by God primarily for communication. Words release power. The Bible calls them arrows that cannot be recovered. That’s why we have to be so careful with what we say. We can say, “Well, I said it accidentally.” Yes, but the arrow has already been shot.

You also reap your harvest with your words. . . We reap our harvest the same way we acquire anything else—by faith. Our words of faith cut down the crops and bring in the harvest. What you say is what you sow. And the words you speak today will dictate tomorrow’s harvest. So, be sure your words are calling in your harvest with faith. They are a powerful harvesting tool!

However, the idea that we must not speak negative things prevents honest conversations. Of course, it is also contradicted by the entire Bible. For example:

• David expresses his suffering throughout the Psalms: “LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!” (Ps 3:1)
• Elijah ran for his life then prayed that he might die (1 Ki 19).
• Job wished he had never been born: “If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!” (Job 10:19)
• Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth: “Cursed be the day that I was born . . . Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (Jer 20:14-18)
• The book of Lamentations is a cry of desolation after Jerusalem was destroyed.
• Paul said that he and his companions endured much suffering:
  • We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. (2 Cor 1:8-9)
  • We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Cor 4:8-10)
  • Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Cor 11:24-27)
• Before he died, Jesus told his disciples that he was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Mk 14:34). Then while on the cross he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (15:34).

Was Paul wrong to say, “we despaired of life itself”? Did Jesus lack faith when he said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”?

Reflection

Notice that the first three major points I made are not supported by an isolated or random statement in Scripture. These ideas are repeated throughout the Bible. Why does this matter? Because anyone can pull out a random statement here or there and make a big deal of it. In fact, that is exactly what cult leaders do with Scripture.

Although I made no attempt to be exhaustive, I believe the Bible clearly expresses the following: (1) believers will suffer, (2) believers have suffered, (3) believers have acknowledged their suffering. Most importantly, the Lord of all took on a human body then suffered and died. These points undermine the core idea of prosperity theology that all believers can and should continually thrive physically and financially.

These points, however, do not mean God wants believers to be poor and sick all the time. That is a straw man argument frequently used by prosperity teachers. If you are against their teaching, they claim, that is because you believe everyone should be suffering all the time. That is going from one extreme to another, from a prosperity gospel to a poverty gospel, and both extremes are wrong. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not the good news of being rich or the good news of being poor. It is the good news of eternal life through faith in Christ, regardless of financial status. The reality is that at times we may prosper, at other times we may suffer, and still at other times, we may be doing okay, and all can be a part of God’s will (see Phil 4:11-13). It’s called life and God is with us in all of its ups and downs.

Additionally, prosperity gospel critics are accused of not believing in prayer for the sick or prayer for someone’s financial situation. That is another straw man. We should pray for all types of things knowing that God cares and has the power to remedy the situation. But we must also pray knowing that in his sovereignty God may want us to endure hardship (see 2 Cor 12:7-9).

Much more could be said about this false gospel, such as it is rooted in greed and promotes greed, focuses on earthly riches instead of heavenly riches, equates giving to a prosperity preacher with giving to God, encourages giving to the rich instead of giving to the poor, equates material wealth with divine blessing, and harms people spiritually and financially.

Conclusion

I have no idea if these preachers sincerely believe what they are saying. Whether they believe it or not, if the Bible is right, they are wrong. They are trying to sell something that cannot be sold. They are distorting the Bible to their own benefit, but in the end, it will only lead to their ruin. They are claiming continual health and wealth even though the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and early Christians suffered. And shockingly, they are rejecting suffering despite the fact that the Lord himself suffered and died and called his followers to do the same. This is a false gospel.

Don’t misunderstand me. Scripture does not call us to reject enjoyment in life. We should be grateful for the many good things God gives us to enjoy. Nor should we recklessly run toward hardship. This is simply an acknowledgment that suffering cannot be removed from the Christian faith without destroying the faith itself.

The prosperity gospel does not come from the good Shepherd who says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” It comes from strangers who say, “Give us your money and you will get rich.” Don’t listen to them. Don’t visit their churches. Don’t give to them. Give to the poor.

Video Resources

Many have warned against the prosperity gospel:

• David Wilkerson (especially minutes 11-20)
• Costi Hinn (51 minutes)
• John Piper (10 minutes)
• Bishop Barron (7 minutes)

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Examples of Misinterpretation

Mark 10

When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything and give to the poor, Copeland says,

This rich man came to Jesus with a need—the need for eternal life—and Jesus began talking to him about planting seed, but the man didn’t realize it. In his natural way of thinking, he thought Jesus meant he was just supposed to give away everything he had.

But that wasn’t the case at all. Jesus was simply trying to help him change from the world’s way of doing things to God’s way by sowing a seed.

Copeland’s twisted interpretation is the opposite of what Jesus said: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mk 10:21).

The story continues with the rich man going away sad “because he had great wealth” (v. 22). Then

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (vv. 23-31)

The entire episode is intended to move us away from seeking earthly prosperity, to free us from materialism. The rich man cannot do what Jesus asked “because he had great wealth.” So he walks away sorrowful and Jesus comments on the difficulty or impossibility of the rich entering God’s kingdom. But God can even do the impossible—he can can help the rich loosen their grip on material wealth by attracting them to true riches so that they will enter God’s kingdom. Prosperity teachers, however, use this same story to preach the exact opposite: God wants you to be materially rich. 

How so?

They twist statements and latch on to the last few verses, especially “receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields.” (The promise of “persecutions” is not helpful to their perspective so that is not highlighted.) Are they right to emphasize this point? Did Jesus just affirm the dangers of wealth then immediately promise it to his followers?

First, this is not a general promise to every believer. This promise is given to those who leave family, home, and fields for the gospel. (By gospel he clearly did not mean prosperity gospel since he just told a rich man to give away his prosperity.) Second, Jesus’ promise prioritizes relationships: “brothers, sisters, mothers, children.” People who leave family will be blessed with more family. Third, we don’t have any examples of people receiving a hundred homes or fields in the New Testament. Indeed, we don’t even have an example of anyone receiving two homes. Instead, we have many examples of believers suffering. Fourth, this is a random and isolated statement so we must be careful when interpreting it. Unlike the first three major problems I listed above, this statement of receiving a hundred homes, sisters, and brothers, is not frequently repeated. (It is also found in Matthew 19 and Luke 18, but those are parallel versions of the same story.) In light of these observations, some believe this promise is best understood as saying that people who suffer relational loss for the good news will be welcomed into many homes, not that they will actually own many homes. This interpretation does a nice job of highlighting the familial relations emphasized in the promise.

Let me add that Jesus did talk about being repaid for serving others, but he primarily mentioned being repaid in another place— “you will have treasure in heaven”—and in the future— “at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Lk 14:12-14)

2 Corinthians 8:9

Paul writes, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Prosperity preachers love to use this statement because to them it clearly shows that we should be rich. In response, the statement must be read in context. In the previous verses Paul encourages the Corinthians to give by appealing to the example of the Macedonians:

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. (vv. 1-4)

So we have the example of the Macedonians followed by the example of Christ. Both gave willingly and sacrificially, which is what Paul wants the Corinthians to imitate. Notice that the Macedonians were generous even in their “extreme poverty.” Primarily, then, this passage is about giving not getting. Once again, prosperity preachers warp the text against its original intention. Second, when was Jesus “rich”? Prosperity preachers claim that the man who said he didn’t have a place to lay his head (Matt 8:20) had earthly riches. But Paul’s downward description from riches to poverty, fits with his statement in Philippians 2:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (vv. 6-8)

As Jesus says, he had glory with the Father “before the world began” (Jn 17:5), but when he became a human on earth he gave up those “riches.” Paul, then, is most likely referring to Jesus’ heavenly riches prior to his incarnation. Third, interpreting the statement “so that you through his poverty might become rich” to mean material wealth goes against all the biblical data we have seen on suffering. If Paul really meant that believers should be financially wealthy, shouldn’t he have been the prime example? Shouldn’t he have been featured on the ancient equivalent of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”? Yet in the same letter he writes, “I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” (11:27). Moreover, if Paul really taught that believers should be wealthy, why didn’t he say it in other places? Once again, we have prosperity preachers taking an isolated statement and running with it. Finally, to whom should the Corinthians give? Should they give to Paul and his ministry? He explains in the next chapter.

2 Corinthians 9

In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul writes:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. (vv. 6-12)

What is Paul talking about?

He is talking about a collection of money he is raising for the poor in Jerusalem. In particular, he says it will supply “the needs of the Lord’s people.” This was an important act of service for Paul, which he mentions in other places:

• Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. (1 Cor 16:1-4)
• Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. (Rom 15:25-26)
• I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. (Acts 24:17)

Paul is not fundraising for himself or his ministry. He is talking about his plans to collect money from Gentile believers to give to poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. And yet prosperity preachers use these verses to manipulate their audiences into giving to them. Let me say it again: The collection of money in 2 Corinthians was not for Paul. He was seeking to do what Jesus said—give to the poor.

3 John 2

John writes, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” Some translations use the word “prosper”: “Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually” (HCSB).

Of course, prosperity preachers love this verse. In fact, this was a key verse in Oral Roberts’ (1918-2009) conversion to prosperity teaching. In response, (1) John is simply opening his letter with a normal ancient greeting, (2) John says he prays for his friend Gaius’s well-being. This prayer is not unusual. Who wants their friends to suffer? Who doesn’t want their friends to do well? Keep in mind, however, that John’s prayer does not guarantee that Gaius will “prosper in every way.” Finally, John’s statement does not overturn the abundant evidence for suffering listed above.

Malachi 3

Some preachers use Malachi 3 to place guilt trips on their listeners. The prophet Malachi says:

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. ¹¹ I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. (vv. 8-12)

If you don’t give to the church or their ministry, they claim, “you are under a curse.” I discuss this passage in my post on tithing.