Hi Sixpence,
Originally posted by Sixpence
Seagoon, it is interesting you brought this up. There is a new fad in religion, one that states it's good to accumulate and strive for material things, to spoil ourselves. Do you agree with this?
And to be honest, I can't remember where I read it, but it was recently
I'm not sure, but you are probably referring to the "Health and Wealth" movement.
Health and Wealth or the "Word of Faith" movement as it is sometimes called, came out of American Pentecostalism and has become tremendously popular. It even has its own television network - TBN - where Health and Wealth preachers like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Haggin, Paul and Jan Crouch, Kenneth Copeland, and so on. Their television shows emphasize a "give to get message", that lures the gullible into sending them money under the pretence that the giver is "planting a seed" that will in due time produce a huge harvest of money from God. Needless to say, the only people getting rich are these false prophets.
The Word of Faith movement basically states that faith is a power, and that by the power of positive confession we can change the universe. They teach that God wants us to all be wealthy and healthy all the time, and that the only thing that stops us from attaining that goal is a lack of faith on our part. As such the movement itself has more in common, with gnostic cults like Christian Science than orthodox Christianity. Unfortunately the message strikes a cord with man's fallen desires, we want money and health and so a religion that tells us that it has key to having both all the time tends to resonate.
The Christian faith however, does not teach that God wants us to be healthy and wealthy all the time, in fact, it emphasizes that it is in the crucible in times of adversity that we grow most spiritually, and that following Christ involves self-denial and inevitably suffering on this side of eternity: As Christ Himself put it,
"Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23) While God can and does heal, and we are encouraged to pray to that end, sometimes it is not best for us or for His glory if we are healed. Surely, there was never a Christian whose faith was stronger than that of the Apostle Paul and yet scripture tells us that God answered one of his prayers for relief from suffering with a definite "no."
"Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:7-9)
Paul knew that God uses all things for the ultimate good of his people, and understood that even suffering and tribulation can work to the good of the Christian and form the kind of character and perseverence that truly adorns a persons profession of faith, therefore he wrote:
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-5)
By contrast, the Word of Faith movement makes health and wealth into an all consuming idol, and encourages what is essentially a shallow and unbiblical religion of greed. It shouldn't surprise us that the age of spoiled brat behavior would develop a religious arm as well.
I have no problem calling the "health and wealth movement" a false gospel, and blight on the Christian faith, and several unified declarations produced by evangelicals have done the same, for instance, the recently produced "Together for the Gospel" Statement included the following declaration:
We affirm that our only sure and confident hope is in the sure and certain promises of God. Thus, our hope is an eschatological hope, grounded in our confidence that God will bring all things to consummation in a manner that will bring greatest glory to his own name, greatest preeminence to his Son, and greatest joy for his redeemed people.
We deny that we are to find ultimate fulfillment or happiness in this world, or that God's ultimate purpose is for us to find merely a more meaningful and fulfilling life in this fallen world. We further deny that any teaching that offers health and wealth as God's assured promises in this life can be considered a true gospel.
The following summaries of the origins and problems of the Word of Faith movement including profiles of the "main characters" presume that the reader is familiar with what orthodox Christianity teaches, but I'll list 'em anyway in the hope that they might be useful to somebody out there:
What's Wrong with the Faith Movement (part 1) Freedom From the Faith Movement
