Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....February 22, 2021
I have taught on this subject before but with some questions people have been asking me, I decided to do another Reflections on the question of the Prosperity Gospel and its validity. In the past i have always taught the Bible is very often interpreted differently for various reasons, including some that are not Biblical.
"What Prosperity Gospel Preachers Don’t Want You to Know"
2 Corinthians 9:11a – “You will be made rich.”
This passage includes the words "you will be made rich." Does that mean the prosperity gospel is true? Or is this passage actually pointing us toward using God's blessings in a way that doesn't further the American Dream?
A SWEET SOUND TO A PROSPERITY GOSPEL PREACHER: “You will be made rich.”
As most of you know, there is a misguided teaching that God’s purpose in your life is to shower you with material and financial blessings. Under this teaching, signs of monetary success are proof of closeness to God. They are signs that you are one of God’s anointed and that He is giving you His very best.
Examples of this. I am not going to use names here but if you want to look it up, you can do so:
The story of a famous pastor twisting the passage in James. The recent story of famous pastors wearing ridiculously expensive tennis shoes. The incident with the protégé of a well known pastor buying the Lamborghini and then saying don’t judge who I am by what I do.
I want to note up front here that this teaching is absolutely NOT consistent with New Testament teaching on a whole host of issues. I’m not going to take the time in this teaching to chase rabbit trails about all the ways this teaching is absolute theological and exegetical garbage.
Let me simply summarize my thoughts on this as we start: if you ever hear a pastor preaching this kind of stuff, you should turn him off, never listen to him again, and advise those around you do avoid him.
Back to these five words for a minute before moving on. We are going to find out in the rest of this teaching what Paul is actually pointing us toward, but let me talk about the NIV translation for a moment.
I much prefer the NASB rendering here: “you will be enriched.”
The NIV translation, while technically acceptable, points American minds in a questionable direction. We tend to immediately go to material prosperity and the phrase “made rich” points us there.
AN ALWAYS IMPORTANT POINT: In my classes, for those of you who have attended, my main theme in reading and teaching Scripture is...... Context is key.
Matthew 6:33: 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Luke 6:38: 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
You have heard me say this many times before and it’s worth reiterating here. You always need to look at the context of the passage.
If you pull out those five words out and preach on just them, you can obviously pursue a prosperity gospel message. “Hey, the Bible says God promises to make you rich! You can enjoy God’s blessings and live well in His favor!” You can preach that, but it requires you to take Paul’s words out of context.
So I want to look at three important ideas this passage shares that help put those five words in their proper context.
So could this passage include material blessing from God? Yes, it can. In fact, I think – understood in the proper context that we’re going to unpack in the following paragraphs – that God is generous with those give into His Kingdom.
I think of the wonderful teaching of Christ in Luke 6:38, where Jesus tells us to “give and it will be given to you.” He then goes on to say that God is generous in those blessings.
I want to say that Terry and I have experienced this in our lives. We have tried through the years to be faithful to God in our giving. While we are not rich, we have not only experienced God consistently taking care of our needs, we have also seen God perform miracles and open amazing providential doors to provide for our financial needs.
I focus on Matthew 6:33 and Jesus’ promise to care for our financial needs when we put the Kingdom first.
So there absolutely are promises God has made to us that relate to our finances. But prosperity gospel preachers have twisted them into something selfish and shallow. Let’s look at the context of this:
2 Corinthians 9 passage and see what Paul is actually getting at.
FINDING THE LARGER PICTURE:
1. The “harvest” Paul is hoping for is a harvest of righteousness.
2 Corinthians 9:10c – “. . . and you will enlarge your harvest of righteousness.”
Verse 10 sets the stage for our passage. Paul begins by talking about the generosity that God shows to the entire world on an ongoing basis. He mentions the seed and the bread. Let’s just focus on the seed for a moment.
We take it for granted, but it’s an amazing gift that the world works the way it does. You take a little seed and put it in the ground. Water it and tend it. And a few weeks later, it’s grown corn or something else that you can eat. And then there are more seeds to plant and start the whole process over. Isn’t that an amazing thing, though? Stick a seed in the ground, give it some water, and food grows!
God was the one who created that impressive system.
Paul says, “Now, if the God you serve created that kind of overwhelming, ongoing blessing in the natural world, He’s going to bless His children spiritually even more.”
Paul continues in v. 10 on this point and it’s important that we see the harvest that God is going for. Look at the end of v. 10 – “the harvest of your righteousness.”
The harvest that God is going for here (and remember this is a passage about finances) is not the harvest of huge houses or expensive sport cars or $4,000 tennis shoes. He is aiming for a harvest of righteousness.
Let’s define “righteousness” for a minute to make sure we’re on the same page. Paul here is thinking about us becoming more like God, being more Christlike, having less sin, and being more “right” in our behavior and thoughts.
So a big part of the goal in what God wants to produce with our money is us becoming more like Christ. Stop and think about that for a moment because it’s not something most of us think about. Many of us completely separate the spiritual and the financial. Others know that we’re supposed to give to church, but don’t have any thought that their own spirituality is at all impacted by that.
Yet Paul says here that our righteousness is the harvest that God is going for. How would that happen?
This is teaching unto itself, but let me just throw one key verse out.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:21), Jesus says that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I’ve said it before this way: money is heavy, spiritually speaking. Where you put your money, your heart is drawn by its weight in that direction. You spend on worldly things, your heart is drawn in a worldly way. You spend on spiritual things, your heart is drawn in a spiritual way.
Let me state again before I transition to the next point that the point of the monetary blessings from God is not to live an exorbitant life.
2. The goal of the harvest is increased generosity.
2 Corinthians 9:11b – “so that you can be generous on every occasion.”
Verse 11 starts with the phrase we started the sermon with “You will be made rich.” Note the key transition phrase in v. 11 – “so that.” This is crucial because it means that we are being told why God would bring these multilayered blessings.
What is that goal?
Paul continues, “so that you can be generous on every occasion.” Whoa – that’s not what the prosperity gospel preachers told us. What about the big houses and expensive cars?
None of that is in mind here. Rather, what Paul has in mind is something like this:
a. God blesses us financially.
b. We use our money in ways that benefit the Kingdom.
c. As we spend on Kingdom things, our hearts are increasingly passionate about Kingdom things.
d. Because of our Kingdom heart, God chooses to bless us more financially because He knows that will lead to even greater Kingdom giving.
God doesn’t bless His people so they can buy ridiculous luxuries. God blesses His people so that they can give even more to His Kingdom.
Am I saying that God brings more money into some Christians’ lives just because He knows they will give it away? Yes, exactly.
Again, I want to emphasize the point of how different this is that what prosperity gospel preachers say. This has nothing to do with living the high life as evidence that God has blessed you. This has to do with giving more into the Kingdom because that’s where your heart is.
3. The result of the generosity is thanksgiving toward God.
2 Corinthians 9:11c – “through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
So the harvest of righteousness leads to ongoing, overflowing generosity. What’s the result of that generosity?
We are told at the end of v. 11.
Paul writes, “Through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
What does “through us” mean? I think it simply means that Paul and his preaching associates were one of the places where they were investing a good amount of their money. So he’s speaking of the ministry that they are able to do in part because of the financial generosity of the Corinthians.
How will their giving result in “thanksgiving to God”? They have given, Paul and his companions will preach, and people will be saved and matured. Those impacted people will praise God and give thanksgiving to Him because of these truths that have been brought into their lives.
So the Corinthians’ giving enables Paul’s preaching ministry which changes lives. Those changed lives will thank God for that change and so the Corinthians’ giving results in thanksgiving to God.
Again, let me make a note of how unlike the prosperity gospel this is. The focus is on getting the Word out there and seeing changed lives – not only the givers’ lives (v. 10c), but also the hearers’ lives (v. 11c).
There’s nothing in here about expensive homes and fast sports cars.
Before I conclude this teaching, let’s go back to the opening statement from the passage: “You will be made rich.”
We talked at the outset about how that sounds (when taken out of context) like prosperity gospel. Having gone through all this, though, we see how distant from the prosperity gospel this is. It’s not even in the same ballpark. Giving to C4 Foodbank, Compassion International, or some other worthy cause, is not the same as giving to the Ferrari dealership!!
Our goal with God’s “enriching” is not becoming a millionaire so we can live the American Dream. Rather, as we’ve unpacked from this passage, God’s blessings on us are more than financial. And when they are financial, it’s not so that I can live an exorbitant lifestyle, but so that we can be an even bigger part of seeing the Kingdom grow.
In conclusion, this is not even remotely a verse that, properly understood, prosperity gospel preachers could honestly claim.
Prosperity gospel preachers reflect American culture – imagine the witness that this countercultural generosity could have.
I want to close this teaching with a thought of what this would look like to those around us if we lived it out.
America is obsessed with money, prosperity, and position. What would it look like to have a large group of people who had money but weren’t consumed by it? Instead, they freely and joyfully gave it toward non-material things. That would get the attention of those around us!
This matters because even though our culture is obsessed with money, they have also experienced its emptiness. They know that, ultimately, more stuff doesn’t fill your heart. It doesn’t fill your soul. If they saw a group of people with money but using it in ways that both made a difference in the world and brought joy to their hearts, that would be deeply attractive to them. I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
Most Important Question
During my second month of Seminary, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: 'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke.
I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
Absolutely, said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello". I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week, in our look into Religions of the world, we focus on another cult....Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called the Mormon (or LDS) Church, is probably the best known and undoubtedly the largest of the religious movements begun since 1800. Since 1950, it has doubled in size every fifteen years, and in 2010, claimed fourteen million members worldwide, with over half that membership outside the U.S. Much of its growth is attributable to its missionary program: Tens of thousands of clean-shaven, white-shirt-and-tie-clad young men give two years of their life, at their own or their family’s expense, to spread the LDS Church’s message globally. In an average twenty-four-month stint a missionary converts five people to the Mormon faith.
Once found mainly in Utah, Mormons now live in all fifty states and nearly every nation. Formerly despised, on the fringe of society, Mormons have become a mainstream group. They head large corporations like Marriott and Albertsons and are elected as representatives and senators—there’s even a chance that by the time you read this a Mormon will be working out of the Oval Office. Their strong family values help them find acceptance in almost every neighborhood. Many Americans, including some members of the LDS Church, assume they’re another Christian denomination. But their actual teaching contradicts Christianity on a number of key points. Mormon use of Christian terms, with different meanings, causes and spreads confusion.
The Mormon Church was founded with six members in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. Its founder, Joseph Smith Jr., said God had revealed to him that none of the Christian denominations was the correct one and that he was to restore the true faith. Smith claimed a number of revelations through appearances by divine messengers. The one appearing most often was Moroni, a glorified being and the son of an ancient prophet named Mormon.
Among other messages, Moroni told Joseph Smith where some metal plates had been buried in the woods. Smith’s translation of these plates is the Book of Mormon, which along with Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, added later, became the primary Mormon scriptures. Smith claimed the plates were written in “Reformed Egyptian” hieroglyphics (a nonexistent language). He also said that upon complete translation, Moroni took the plates to heaven (so there is no way to verify his claim). Mormons also claim to follow the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly” (8th Article of Faith). “Correct” is anything that does not contradict the other books, so in practice Smith’s revelations hold authority over the Bible. Prophets of the LDS Church can add (and have added) further revelations.
The fledgling group grew rapidly and made moves due to friction with non-Mormons (whom LDS members call Gentiles). They settled in Ohio, briefly, then two locations in Missouri, followed by Commerce, Illinois, which they renamed Nauvoo (Smith said this was Hebrew for “Beautiful Place”). During this period, Smith claimed more revelations and wrote more scriptures, supplementing his original teaching, and announced his candidacy for U.S. president. Continued friction with non-Mormons, controversy over polygamy, and Smith’s destruction of a non-Mormon newspaper office led to his arrest in 1844. On June 27, a mob stormed the jail and killed Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum.
Following Smith’s death, the Mormon community divided. The largest group followed Brigham Young on a famous journey west to the Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. The largest of several splinter groups accepted Smith’s son, Joseph Smith III, as prophet and leader. Staying in the Midwest, they officially registered, in 1860, as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They use Smith’s own Bible translation rather than the King James Version used by Young’s group. Their headquarters is in Independence, Missouri. In 2001, they changed their name to the Community of Christ.
As the main group continued to grow, it faced a number of challenges. Brigham Young had announced, in 1852, a previously secret revelation of Joseph Smith’s promoting the importance of polygamy. Young himself had fifty-five wives. As Utah was seeking statehood, the LDS Church began to distance itself from the practice. An 1890 manifesto warned against plural marriages, and a 1904 edict strengthened that warning with excommunication against polygamous unions, though the practice still continues in splinter groups. In 1978, LDS President Spencer W. Kimball reversed the Mormon position on racial issues. Joseph Smith had taught that black skin was a curse and prohibited African-Americans from holding the priesthood. Since this change, the LDS Church has experienced rapid growth in Africa.
Mormon doctrine teaches that there are many gods and that God the Father is god only of this world. The gods were once humans who achieved a glorified status, which is taught in the couplet “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” The goal of Mormonism is ultimately to become a god of one’s own world. In heaven, a Heavenly Father and Mother produce spirit children who await bodies so they can become human and begin the process (this is the main reason Mormons typically have large families).
Jesus, the first of God the Father’s spiritual children, became a human through physical relationship between God the Father and a human mother. His death purchased resurrection for all people, who will face a judgment and spend eternity in one of four places. The celestial kingdom is for those who accept Mormon doctrine. The terrestrial kingdom is for good people who reject Mormon teaching on earth but later accept it in the spirit world. The telestial kingdom is for those who twice reject Mormon doctrine. The outer darkness is for Satan, his angels, and former Mormons who left the Church.
The celestial kingdom itself contains three levels. To attain the highest level, a necessity to eventual godhood, one must accept Mormon doctrine and carry out numerous temple rituals. For most of LDS Church history, there was only one temple, first in Ohio when the group settled there, then rebuilt in Salt Lake City. More recently, as Mormonism has grown significantly, more temples have been built in major cities across the U.S. and overseas. Rituals like eternal marriages and baptisms for the dead are carried out in the temples. (There are many additional rituals for the leadership.)
As the LDS Church continues to expand and become more generally accepted, it may see further revelations from leadership that further change controversial teachings. Core beliefs, however, will remain the same. Many, from those who have accepted an invitation to attend a Mormon church, to those who have married into a Mormon family, know little or nothing about LDS doctrine and assume it is a variation of Christianity.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou