Joyce Meyer Denounces Prosperity Gospel; What About You?

            Finally, Joyce Meyer realized that the prosperity gospel is not only a theological aberration, but it rudely condemns God’s most faithful disciples, just by virtue of their suffering.

            An article in Faithwire revealed the good news of Joyce Meyer’s transformation, “Evangelist Joyce Meyer recently admitted that in the past, her views on the “prosperity Gospel” were “out of balance.”

            Meyer, who has received much criticism for her preaching on the prosperity Gospel, shared with her Instagram followers the dangers in taking such theology too close to heart.

            “I’m glad for what I learned about prosperity, but it got out of balance,” the well-known Christian author and speaker said. “I’m glad for what I’ve learned about faith, but it got out of balance.”

            Meyer noted that this sort of theology led her to believe that the reason others experienced calamities was due to a lack of faith.

            “Every time somebody had a problem in their life, [I thought] it’s because they didn’t have enough faith. If you got sick it’s because you don’t have enough faith. If your child died, it’s because you don’t have enough faith,” Meyer said.

            She explained that she has since learned that faith doesn’t ensure that everything will be perfect, but rather it means simply putting your trust in God in all things.

            “Faith is something God gives you that you need to use and release in your life. It’s a powerful force but it’s not just an automatic, you put your trust in God, you put your faith in Him,” Meyer added.

            Meyer’s announcement came as a surprise to some, as she has been a major proponent of the prosperity Gospel in the past.”¹

            Joyce Meyer, in her 8^th January 2019 video on Instagram, said, “Faith is something God gives you that you need to use and release in your life. It’s a powerful force, but it’s not just an automatic. You put your trust in God. You put your faith in HIM. I’m glad for what I learned about prosperity, but it got out of balance. I’m glad for what I learned out of faith, but it got out of balance. And so every time somebody had a problem in their life was ‘cause they didn’t have enough faith. If you got sick, you didn’t have enough faith. If your child died, you didn’t have enough faith. Well, that’s not right. You can’t – there’s nowhere in the Bible where we’re promised that we’ll never have any trouble. I don’t care how much faith you’ve got, you’re not gonna avoid ever having trouble in your life. Jesus said, “In the world there will be tribulation. Cheer up, I have overcome the world.”²

            This is the same Joyce Meyer, who audaciously said that Christ might have owned an airplane, had HE been living now.³

            But by the grace of God, Joyce Meyer has now understood the truth behind prosperity. Now, we believe, that her ministry would effect a change in the hearts and minds of those who have fallen for the deceptiveness of the prosperity gospel.

            The deceptiveness of the prosperity gospel was emphasized by Pastor John Piper, “In a video for his ministry, Desiring God, Piper argues that a huge component of the prosperity Gospel is wealth.

                        He points out that Paul talks about the dangers of money in 1 Timothy 6:6-10:

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

            “In other words, the very thing that leads people to suicidal piercings of pain is nurtured and cultivated by the prosperity preachers,” he notes. “They are encouraging that this suicidal behavior happens. That is abominable.”

            “It’s because riches are such dangerous things. They’re not a blessing usually, they’re usually a curse. People are cursed with riches; they’re destroyed by riches,” Piper added.

            He goes on to point out that “it’s not sinful to make a lot of money, but sinful to keep a lot of money.”⁴

            Prosperity Gospel is indeed deceptive.

            But just as Joyce Meyer realized before it’s too late, let’s hope and pray that the bulldogs of the prosperity gospel – the Joel Osteens and the T.D Jakes’ of this world  – and their believers, understand the deceptiveness of the prosperity gospel and preach Christ-crucified, for Christ did not come to make poor people rich, HE came to make dead people live (spiritually).

Endnotes:

¹https://www.faithwire.com/2019/01/14/joyce-meyer-takes-a-jab-at-the-prosperity-gospel-denounces-her-past-beliefs-in-it/

²https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWuTxmjS_y/?utm_source=ig_embed

³https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/joyce-meyer-transparent-evangelist/story?id=10355887

⁴https://www.faithwire.com/2019/01/14/joyce-meyer-takes-a-jab-at-the-prosperity-gospel-denounces-her-past-beliefs-in-it/

Websites last accessed on 17^th January 2019. 

Hey Prosperity Gospel Preacher, Don’t Condemn The Poor (Is A Christian Poor Because He Sins?)

            This short essay is to emphasize the false doctrine of the prosperity preachers. Prosperity preachers preach false doctrines when they preach prosperity and blame the poor for their poverty. When prosperity preachers blame the poor for being poor, they miss out on the crux of Historic Christianity that Christ came not to make poor people rich, but to make dead people live (spiritually).

            A few introductory remarks are essential.

            First, let’s define poverty. In the context of this short essay, I use the word poverty to signify material poverty (not spiritual). Material poverty includes wellness of body and mind. Poverty, therefore, is an insufficiency of necessary ingredients such as shelter, food, clothing, sanitation, education and healthcare.

            Second, people generally do not desire poverty. Minimally, all of us strive to have our basic needs met.

            Third, the Bible teaches that God prospers people (Deuteronomy 15: 4, 28:11; Psalm 25:13, 37:11, Proverbs 13:21 et al.). But the question is whether prosperity ought to be the universal status of all believers. In other words, does God allow poverty upon HIS people?

            Fourth, the Bible does not teach that God desires poverty or that God’s people should desire poverty. However, the Bible mentions the presence of poor and needy even among God’s people. This is not a condemnatory reference of the poor but a reference that encourages the wealthy to help the needy, but more on this later.

            This is the claim of the prosperity preachers:

            1. God wills prosperity upon HIS people and not poverty.

            2. If God’s people obey God and believe that God would prosper them, then they prosper and not remain poor (Deuteronomy 15: 4-6 et al.)

            3. There are poor Christians.

            4. Poor Christians are poor since they do not obey God (sin) or they do not believe in God’s words that God wants HIS people to prosper or because of other people’s sins.

            5. Therefore, poverty is the fault of poor Christians.

            My brief response to this teaching of the prosperity preachers is, GET OUT!

            My rather elaborate response to the prosperity preachers is as follows:

All Are Sinners; Even the Prosperity Preachers

            The Bible teaches that all are sinners - Christians and Non-Christians (Romans 3: 10, 3: 23 et al.). The sinners include the wealthy and the poor Christians, and the prosperity preachers as well. The prosperity preacher is either just as much or more sinful than the poor Christian. Therefore, if sin is universally present in mankind, then sin does not play a universal role in causing poverty among Christians.         

            This entails that prosperity is not granted to a lesser sinner or poverty upon a greater sinner. In other words, prosperity need not be the consequence of a believer’s greater obedience to God or poverty a consequence of a believer’s lesser obedience to God, especially when all believers are sinners.

Poverty Is Not Sinful

            The Bible does not teach poverty to be a sin as in the likes of idolatry, adultery, drunkenness, theft, homosexuality etc. Neither does the Bible teach that it is very difficult for the poor man to enter God’s Kingdom.

            In fact, it’s the other way around. The Bible teaches that it is very difficult for the rich to enter God’s Kingdom (Cf. Matthew 19: 23-24).

            If poverty is not a sin, then the prosperity preacher is not justified calling it so.

God Allows Poverty; Poverty Is A Tenable Status In Christendom

            These verses state that God allows poverty, “The rich and the poor have a common bond, The Lord is the maker of them all” (Proverbs 22:2) and “In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him” (Ecclesiastes 7:14)

            Just as the rich, if the poor are to praise God, then poverty is a tenable status in Christendom, “Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name” (Psalm 74:21).

            The following verses establish that God’s people could be poor.

            Exodus 22:25: “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you…”

            Exodus 30:15: “The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel…”

            Leviticus 14:21: “But if he is poor and his means are insufficient, then he is to take…”

            Prosperity preachers who cite Deuteronomy 15: 4-6 should read the 7^th and the 11^th verse as well. Deuteronomy 15:4, “However, there will be no poor among you…” is not a categorical imperative about the poor being an abomination, for a couple of verses later the poor are mentioned as being in the family of God’s people, “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns…” (Deuteronomy 15:7).

            Subsequently an imperative appears in Deuteronomy 15:11, “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land…’(Emphasis mine). The importance here is on your brother, your needy and the poor in your land, signifying that the poor belong to the family of God’s people.

            Primarily, the Bible establishes the fact that there could be poor among God’s people. Then the Bible states that poor will always exist. These verses do not state the reasons behind the poverty of God’s people, but they merely state that they are poor and should be supported.

            If the Bible refrains from emphasizing causes to the poverty of God’s people, then so be it. Instead of examining and emphasizing the cause of a believer’s poverty, these nonsense-wielding prosperity preachers should alleviate the poverty of their brothers and sisters. 

            We are not done yet. Please observe more verses that establish the presence of the poor among God’s people.

            Leviticus 25:25, “If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property…”

            Leviticus 25:35, “Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him…”

            Leviticus 25:39, “If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you...”

            The Lord Jesus exalted the giving of the poor widow instead of alleviating her poverty or blaming her for her poverty (Mark 12: 41-44; Luke 21: 1-4). In fact, Christ’s ministry was not about eradicating poverty or prospering people.

            The Apostle Paul boasted about his weakness than his success (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10). He relates abundance and poverty giving neither the dominance over the other, but emphasizing upon the fact that we should be satisfied during poverty and abundance (Philippians 4: 12-13).

            The verses cited above merely mention the poverty of believers, and instruct the fellow believers to sustain and support the poor than blame them for being poor. There are more such verses, but the point is made.

            The Bible establishes that poverty is a tenable presence in Christendom.

Poverty Sans The Sin Of The Poor

            Sin could play a specific role in poverty e.g. a person may gamble his possessions to become poor. But specificity of sin as a cause for poverty is in some instances only. Most surely, sin cannot be universalized as a cause for poverty.

            Think this through please. If a person is born to a poor family, then the person cannot be blamed for poverty.  People cannot be blamed for poverty when their entire possessions are destroyed due to natural calamities such as earthquake or hurricane. Similarly, a person may invest his life’s savings into a business and may end up in bankruptcy.

            In these instances and more, the poor cannot be blamed as being sinful for their poverty.

            The Bible, in other instances, refrains from blaming the poor but recognizes their presence and supports them. Here are those citations from the Bible:

            The Bible commends the giving of poor people (Luke 21:4; 2 Corinthians 8:2).

            The Bible warns against pursuing wealth (Matthew 6: 19, 24; 1 Timothy 3:3, 6: 10; Hebrews 13: 5)

            God will sustain the poor man (Psalm 12:5, 34:6, 72:13, and 140:12)

            Bible defends the poor (Proverbs 19: 1, 31: 9)

            Finally, how can the prosperity preacher judge with all certainty that the poor refuse to believe in God’s words that HE would prosper them? Only God knows perfectly well as to what a man believes or not.

            Moreover, God is a God of believer and unbeliever. When God blesses those who do not believe in HIM, how can the prosperity preacher proclaim that God will not bless the Christians who apparently do not believe in God’s promise for prosperity? Thus the prosperity preacher exposes his lack of understanding of God and HIS Word.

            May these words of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ conclude my tirade against the prosperity preachers, “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15; NIV). Amen.

Endnotes

All Scripture verses are from NASB, unless mentioned. The scripture verses have been emphasized by me through italics and underline.