Prosperity gospel, who is prospering?

Lazarus Sauti

One of the most used words in religious circles these days is prosperity – Prosperity gospel; God want you to prosper; you are born to prosper; prosperity is for those who give abundantly; and if you give, God will give you daily and you will prosper.

But what is prosperity?

Tadisio Zvinowanda, a Harare based servant of God, says prosperity is defined in two categories – the modern (world) dispensation and the Biblical definition.

“In the present (world) dispensation, the gospel of prosperity is shaped by material things, cars, houses, following, clothes, number of churches established and their locations, power exercised by preachers on their congregations,” explains Zvinowanda, adding that competition is fueling this modern day dispensation of the gospel of prosperity.

In this worldly definition of prosperity, he adds, some initiators of churches and those around them are prospering because they are preaching about riches and in the process acquiring wealth out of lust.

“They are no longer men of God but men of gold. They demand money from their followers and sadly some members are neglecting their families by giving all the money to the church,” remarks Zvinowanda.

“People are brainwashed and as a result they are giving more to the church not because they are willing but because they are threatened to do so. They are told if you give to the church, you will be blessed abundantly,” he says, adding that the act of giving is arm twisted by prosperity preachers.

“The act of giving, in this case, is based on what you get after giving,” he adds.

In the Biblical perspective, Zvinowanda says prosperity starts in the spiritual realm.

“People should seek the Kingdom of heaven first. They should follow the principles of Matthew 6:33 which read that but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” he says.

Zvinowanda goes on to say, “The life of a Christian must be supernaturally natural – everything that a Christian must have should start in the spiritual realm.”

Concurring with Zvinowanda, Admire Betera, a God-fearing man, says the Bible is clear on the issue of prosperity.

“Matthew 3: 5 says blessed are the poor in spirit (not material things), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” notes Betera, adding that this verse is arm twisted by many preachers to amass earthly riches.

“Riches must be grown out of hard work. Prosperity preachers know that people are striving to make ends meet. Therefore, they are taking advantage of this, capitalising on spiritual needs of people,” adds Betera.

He adds: “The church is an institution called for mutual benefits of people. Resources must be shared to people according to their needs. Accordingly, any person who knows Christ will learn the joy of giving to others.”

The prosperity gospel in the Biblical sense should be anchored on winning souls not motivational talks that are characterising it these days.

Journalist Phillip Kundeni Chidavaenzi, on his Facebook timeline wrote: “I am increasingly depressed by how the preaching of the gospel has been reduced into mere motivation speeches, how Christ has been pushed to the periphery of those sermons and get-rich-quickly schemes have taken the centre stage.”

“Preachers must never forget that this gospel did not come cheap. It came by blood sacrifice and we need to point people to what the sacrifice of Christ has wrought them… Not these cheap, feel-good motivational talks that are taking us further and further away from Christ.”

Author, award-winning journalist and ordained minister J. Lee Grady also believes the prosperity gospel is hurting Africa in that it is mixed with occultism, fuels greed, feeds pride, works against the formation of Christian character, and actually keeps people in poverty.

The fact that prosperity churches have been growing rapidly in many parts of Africa triggers questions such as: “Is the prosperity gospel the urgent message that the world needs in these last days? Who is prospering from these churches? What is the fruit of prosperity preaching?”

Grady answers this way: “Churches have been growing rapidly in many parts of Africa today, yet Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where poverty has increased rapidly in the past 25 years. So according to statistics, the prosperity gospel is not bringing prosperity! It is a flawed message.”

Grady, author of four books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, said: “They (churchprenuers) plant churches not because they have a burden to reach lost souls but because they see dollar signs when they fill auditorium with chairs. A selfish message produces bigheaded opportunists who need position, applause and plenty of perks to keep them happy.”

The Bible warns people against false doctrines and the love of money.

1 Timothy 6: 3-10 provides: “If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound teachings, he is conceited and understands nothing.

“He has unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

“But godliness, with contentment is great grain. 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.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Accordingly, the real message which the world needs urgently is the repentance and salvation of mankind.

The wealth gospel is earthly-focused and makes the return of Christ a non event. Satan obviously has a field day to see Christians who are mindful of earthly riches, which Christ rejected.