"Does God Want You to be Rich?"
REFLECTIONS FROM THE REVEREND
by the Rev. B.J. Beu
As I was packing up to move to our new home, I ran across an old copy of TIME Magazine that addressed the gospel of wealth preached in many evangelical and mainline churches. TIME’s September 18, 2006, cover sports a picture of a Rolls Royce complete with a gleaming cross for a hood ornament and asks the question: “Does God Want You to Be Rich?” I was intrigued to reread how a secular magazine would handle this trend in American civil religion. I say this trend in American civil religion rather than this trend in Christianity intentionally.
Sadly, what passes for Christianity in many American churches today is a blending of national self-interest and capitalistic values married to the confession that Jesus is Lord and the belief that God has bestowed unique blessings on our great country. In American civil religion, particularly when it is under the influence of prosperity theology, wealth is the sign of God’s blessings—which easily morphs into a prejudice against the poor: God has not blessed them. Such a perversion of the gospel is incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ, who blesses the poor and teaches us to pray for our daily bread, not for a Mercedes Benz.
Still, I was intrigued. How would TIME Magazine treat this issue? I am pleased to say that the treatment was pretty fair, with arguments from mega-church prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer, and rebuttals from evangelical mega-church pastor Rick Warren and evangelical antipoverty crusader Ron Sider. But because TIME is a secular magazine, the question it posed remained unanswered: “Does God Want You to Be Rich?” I, however, will not leave you guessing.
Those who preach “Prosperity’ lay claim to some powerful religious truths.
• Jesus loves us and wants only good for all of God’s children. (Joyce Meyer notes: “Who would want something where you’re miserable, broke and ugly and you have to muddle through until you get to heaven?”)
• There is power in positive thinking. Telling people over and over how bad and sinful they are can be a recipe for low self-esteem and for an inability to grasp the glory of who God created us to be. (A friend of mine always responds to: “How are you doing?” with the response, “Better than I deserve.”) My friend has issues.
• Everything in this life comes as a gift from God, including prosperity.
But while “Prosperity” theology teaches some important lessons, too much of a good thing is indeed too much of a good thing. As Rick Warren succinctly puts it: “This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy? Baloney. It’s creating a false idol. You don’t measure your self-worth by your net worth.” The problem with “Prosperity” is that it takes the idea that every good thing is a gift from God and turns wealth into an end unto itself. And that, my friends, is the heart of the problem. Jesus is crystal clear that we cannot serve two masters: God and money. We are therefore, to seek first the kingdom of God.
I do not want to be misunderstood here. Money is not the heart of the issue. Money is religiously and spiritually neutral. It is simply a tool. We can use this tool for purely selfish ends, or we can use it to do good in the world: to help feed the hungry; to sponsor a child’s education in a part of the world where there is no public education; to provide disaster relief; to build affordable housing and wells in drought stricken lands, and so on. The good that money can do is endless. And if we were all poor, that good could not so easily be done. Think of how public opinion of Bill Gates has changed since he and Melinda started their charitable organization. Years ago, I remember people murmuring about his obscene wealth and how he never gave a dime to charity. Now people are in awe at the works of the Gates Foundation and how much money he and his wife have given to some really good causes around the world. The wealth didn’t change. How it was used changed, and therefore, our perception of the Gates changed with the usage.
Does God want us to be rich? No. Does God bestow material blessings on us? Yes. Should wealth be sought as an end in itself? Only if this pursuit does not distract us from pursuing the kingdom first. And if we have to choose between abandoning our pursuit of wealth or compromising our pursuit of the kingdom of God, heaven help us make the right choice. But don’t worry, our friendly Stewardship Committee will help remind us in the coming months to make the right choice—a choice that makes all the difference.
Yours on the journey,
Pastor B. J.