"The Prosperity Gospel, also known as a facet of the Word of Faith movement (a louder voice in Pentecostalism), has been writing checks with its lips that’s its theology can’t cash. Last year’s Pew Foundation mega-poll, which surveyed nearly 35,000 people (one of the largest religion polls ever accomplished), revealed a few interesting facts about Christians in the Pentecostal tradition, among them:
• Pentecostals have the lowest incomes of any other Christian denomination.
• Pentecostals have the least education of any other Christian denomination.
The results show that Pentecostals have the most high school dropouts, the fewest college graduates, and the fewest post-graduates. But the most interesting thing is that they earn the least annual income of any other Christian tradition polled. This is shocking, considering that a main feature in popular Pentecostalism is the Prosperity Gospel, where church members are promised that God will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams if they tithe generously and believe that they will receive the money"
Like the author, I have been a member of a prosperity preaching church, and have seen some troubling things. And yet there are promises in scripture that point to God as rewarding those who are faithful to Him:"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you" [Luke 6:38, ESV].
And don't forget about:
"Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life" [Mark 10:29-30, ESV].
So how do we find the balance between extorting each other in the name of Jesus and encouraging faithful stewardship that trusts God for provision?
Feel free to post some thoughts and you can check out the Ponzi Prosperity Gospel article at:http://http//religiondispatches.org/archive/economy/1374/the_ponzi_prosperity_gospel/
Blessings,
PSP
