During my sermon last Sunday I mentioned how prosperity theology was corrupting churches -like Portland's New Beginnings Christian Center - by turning houses of worship into country clubs. The Oregonian reported recently in an article about New Beginnings that:
... the church's "prosperity gospel" -- which occasionally raises the eyebrows of outsiders -- resonates deeply with New Beginnings worshippers, who say the idea that God rewards the faithful with spiritual and financial blessings is not only appealing, it's Bible-based....
Christianity shouldn't be viewed as part of a get rich quick scheme and any serious reader of Scripture will tell you that both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament condemn those who seek wealth over devotion to God and God's commitment to justice for the "least of these."
I'm not the only one this week worried about the impact prosperity theology is having on our churches. Associated Baptist Press reports:
Speaking to a late-afternoon audience of more than 1,000, former Southern Baptist Convention president Jimmy Allen told the nation's largest African-American Baptist group that media promotion of a "prosperity gospel" is deluging modern-day churches -- and driving them into error.
"Prosperity gospel is now a problem because we've learned to study the market, and now the marketplace is dictating the message," said Allen, the last moderate to lead the SBC.
Allen spoke as part of the National Baptist Convention USA's 126th annual meeting, in a forum designed to answer the question, "What do we preach?" Claiming more than 7.5 million members, NBCUSA is the largest historically African-American denomination in the nation.
As part of a panel including social activist James Earl Massey and several prominent pastors, Allen set the tone for the discussion, referencing the prevalence and persistence of Christian media in contributing to the creation of so-called "seeker-sensitive" megachurches.
"The marketing studies are so precise and so constant that they figure out what you want," Allen said. "We have folks who are looking at that and saying, 'Now if this is what they want, then I'll give it to them.' And so we find ourselves with seeker churches. The fact is that we build to match the market."
William Shaw, NBCUSA president since 1999, also broached the subject of churches tailoring themselves to match demographics. He prefaced Allen's remarks by correlating the so-called prosperity gospel with the development of seeker churches. He defined "prosperity gospel" as a belief system focused on health, wealth and faith -- "a contemporary form of uplift theology" and "a capitalistic devotion to personal privilege."
Prosperity theology is simply the antithesis of the Christian faith.
