Are we latching on to 'prosperity gospel'? Mormon/Anti-Christian

Mormon Times ^ | January 1, 2010 | McKay Coppins

[greyfoxx39]

In January 2008, my mission companion and I met up with two other missionaries at one of the biggest mega-churches in the country.

Officially, the purpose of our trip was to better understand the religious culture in Dallas so that we could more effectively teach our investigators.

Unofficially, though, we were there to satisfy our curiosity and maybe even find a little Sunday morning entertainment.

Among the missionaries in the Texas Dallas Mission, Pastor T.D. Jakes and his church, the Potter's House, were legendary.

The non-denominational church in west Dallas boasts a membership of 30,000 — and any missionary who had tracted a middle-class or lower-income neighborhood within a 50-mile radius of the enormous worship center had heard plenty about Jakes and his electrifying sermons.

Sure enough, the Sunday we attended provided an adrenaline-pumping experience, complete with a stirring gospel choir and a knock-your-socks-off performance by Pastor Jakes. His sermon, which occasionally slipped into a rhythmic sort of rap, revolved around the story of the woman with an issue of blood.

I remember thinking, "You know, this type of worship certainly isn't for me, but I don't know if T.D. Jakes is really doing any harm here. He's teaching thousands of people about Christ's healing power. Sure, it's a bit simplistic, and it lacks some important details of the Atonement, but overall, it's better than nothing."

Then came the pleas for donations.

I wasn't so much bothered by the fact that the service spent time encouraging members to open their wallets. I had become accustomed to the common Bible Belt practice of preachers collecting "tithes" from their members. But what struck me was the loftiness of the temporal blessings T.D. Jakes was promising his congregation.

He didn't just quote Malachi 3:10 — about the "windows of heaven" being opened to faithful tithe-payers — he ensured his followers that the scripturally promised blessings would be financial: a better job, a new car, a higher salary, etc.

The cover of the December issue of The Atlantic is plastered with the provocative headline, "Did Christianity cause the crash? How preachers are spreading a gospel of debt." The article itself, written by Hanna Rosin, is a bit less inflammatory, but it describes a philosophy that is permeating mainstream American Christianity — namely, the "prosperity gospel."

The fundamental teaching of the prosperity gospel is that faithful followers of Christ will unconditionally be blessed with financial success and upward mobility. T.D. Jakes was named in the article as one of the most popular prosperity preachers, and he's not alone. According to a study cited in the article, 50 of the 260 largest churches in the country teach this belief. And a Pew survey found that 66 percent of Pentecostals and 43 percent of "other Christians" believe that the righteous will be rewarded with wealth.

The consequences of adopting such a belief are obviously dangerous. There are the economic outcomes which The Atlantic points out: risky investments made with no real foundation other than faith, foreclosures by people who thought that access to a subprime mortgage was a blessing from God.

But I think the implications go even further than that. If we believe the result of righteous living is always, without exception, financial success, many of us will end up only one bounced check away from a crisis of faith. Wealthy members of the church can become self-righteous, believing their SUVs and million-dollar homes somehow make them morally superior to the poorer families in their congregations.

Silent judgments, inaccurate assumptions and frequent gossip become the norm. Prudent living and staying out of debt suddenly lose their appeal. Seeking for riches becomes synonymous with seeking the kingdom of God, and if we haven't ended up losing both, we at least end up losing perspective.

I saw all of this unfold to one degree or another on my mission, among the poorest Pentecostals in South Dallas and the richest Baptists in Plano.

My only question left is this: How many Latter-day Saints will allow themselves to fall prey to the prosperity gospel?

[greyfoxx39]

Ping

[greyfoxx39]

An honest description of ecumenism, mormon-style.

[rob777]

There is nothing anti-Christian about it. A lot of fundamentalists and traditional evangelicals have made much the same criticism of the so-called “prosperity gospel”.

[svcw]

Yep

[Christian Engineer Mass]

“he ensured (sic) his followers that the scripturally promised blessings would be financial: a better job, a new car, a higher salary, etc”

(a) I doubt that. Show me the mp3. I’m sure it was more nuanced than that. I also doubt the “new car” thing was ever said. In fact, I call lies on that.

(b) apart from the “ensured” (sic) part, why would the writer think God would not want them to have a better job and a higher salary?

Is Malachi 3:10 not in the writer’s Bible? Does he interpret it some weird way?

[Christian Engineer Mass]

The article includes lies. see #6

[rob777]

The notion that the so-called “Prosperity Gospel” de-emphasizes sin and salvation in favor of material prosperity is a common critique. If you Google the term, you will find far harsher criticism from traditional evangelicals and fundamentalists. This critique is actually quite mild in comparison.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Post 6 is someone’s assertion without evidence that parts of the article are false. Obviously, they could be, but just saying “I doubt that” isn’t really evidence for anything, just a personal opinion.

Again, what is anti-christian about opposing the prosperity gospel? Jesus certainly didn’t preach that we’d have riches on earth if we followed him. Generally speaking, “prosperity preachers” are playing on people’s greed and their guilt. Greed, because they want something NOW, and guilt, because they are told that the only reason they don’t prosper is because they didn’t give the preacher enough money.

It’s not much different from someone saying that God wants us all to be healthy. It sounds nice — until you have someone show up with a Down’s child, asking why you are saying they aren’t under God’s blessing. Devout people get laid off, get disease, get cheated, robbed, murdered.

All of this is for God’s purpose. We might not have any idea how that works, but that doesn’t make it so.

[svcw]

Name it and Claim it........God is NOT Santa Claus - place marker

[greyfoxx39]

There is nothing anti-Christian about it. A lot of fundamentalists and traditional evangelicals have made much the same criticism of the so-called “prosperity gospel”.

The "anti-Christian" part is the attitude of the mormon missionaries in their holier-than-thou criticism of the pentacostal service as a whole and the inference that these 30,000 worshippers have all bought into the PG because they, of course don't have the mormon "restored Gospel".

From an article posted by Colofornian on FR in October titled "The Mormon Wealth Attribution","Do we really believe that just because one is rich one is blessed by God? According to a study published in 2004 which researched the Mormon Wealth Attribution (MWA), we do. The MWA can be defined as the tendency of LDS individuals to perceive those who are wealthy as more righteous or pious than their less wealthy neighbors. The randomized empirical study reported that “Church members are more likely to attribute righteousness to a wealthy church member than to a poor one” and that (in general) wealthy members of the church are seen as being better people, both secularly and spiritually than poor people.

The Mormon Wealth Attribution

[Christian Engineer Mass]

“they are told that the only reason they don’t prosper is because they didn’t give the preacher enough money”

No, they are not. That is your own personal bias backed up by nothing but false MSM stories.

[greyfoxx39]

Again, what is anti-christian about opposing the prosperity gospel?

Again, Charles you are behind the times on the Religion Forum. See my post #11.

[bella1]

Having spent 16 years in a “prosperity gospel” church, the above description sounds about right. Although it wasn't preached every Sunday, the prosperity message somehow managed to make its way into most of the sermons one way or another. Thankfully we made our way to a reformed church and regained our religious sanity.

[Christian Engineer Mass]

“It’s not much different from someone saying that God wants us all to be healthy. It sounds nice — until you have someone show up with a Down’s child, asking why you are saying they aren’t under God’s blessing.”

The answers to questions like that are in the Bible. I haven’t time to explain that one to you right now. It takes a good while, not a few short soundbites and emotional pleas. And I suspect you wouldn’t give two shakes anyway, and would find a way to avoid any uncomfortable cognitive dissonance.

“All of this is for God’s purpose” is essentially saying “inshallah”.

[rob777]

I was the religious equivalent of being home schooled. When I do attend a Church service, it is at an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church. The Reformed tradition is another that does not look too kindly on phenomenon such as the prosperity gospel. That was a good choice.

[Leisler]

"Unofficially, though, we were there to satisfy our curiosity and maybe even find a little Sunday morning entertainment.

Christian service=Clown circus. ( Mormon think )

[rob777]

What lies? You are making an assertion about his observation of the service when you were not present. Unless you were there, or have a tape of the service, you are in no position to make such a claim.

[Christian Engineer Mass]

I am in a position to do so, because I have seen the services before, and I know that is not what they believe.

The MP3s are available online if anyone really cared to find out for themselves.

[greyfoxx39]

I saw all of this unfold to one degree or another on my mission, among the poorest Pentecostals in South Dallas and the richest Baptists in Plano.

Methinks McKay ought to take a look at "mormon royalty" some day.