Walk in Simplicity, Rejecting the Idolatry of Greed

Opening Prayer:

Prince of Peace, we believe that the widespread preaching and teaching of the ‘prosperity gospel’ around the world raises significant concerns; defining the prosperity gospel as the teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the ‘sowing of seeds’ through financial or material gifts. Prosperity teaching is an evil phenomenon that cuts across many denominations in all continents. We affirm your miraculous grace and power, and we welcome the growth of churches and ministries that lead people to exercise expectant faith in you. We believe in the power of your Holy Spirit. However, we deny that your miraculous power can be treated as automatic, at the disposal of human techniques, or manipulated by human words, actions, gifts, objects, or rituals. Amen.

Reflection:

We affirm that there is a biblical vision of human prospering, and that your Bible includes material welfare (both health and wealth) within its teaching about the blessing of God. However, we deny as unbiblical the teaching that spiritual welfare can be measured in terms of material welfare, or that wealth is always a sign of God’s blessing. The Bible shows us that wealth can often be obtained by oppression, deceit or corruption; and we also deny that poverty, illness or early death are always a sign of divine curse, or evidence of lack of faith, or the result of human curses, since your written word rejects such simplistic explanations.

We accept that it is good to exalt the power and victory of God. But we know that sometimes we, as Christians, misunderstand God's provision in a way that doesn't reflect a full biblical view. Some might vigorously promote the prosperity gospel and distort the message of the Bible. Their practices and lifestyle are often unethical and un-Christlike. They can replace genuine evangelism with miracle-seeking, and replace the call to repentance with the call to give money to the preacher’s organization. We grieve the impact this perspective has had within the Church. We gladly and strongly affirm every initiative in Christ’s name that seeks to bring healing to the sick, or lasting deliverance from poverty and suffering. The prosperity gospel offers no lasting solution to poverty, and can deflect people from the true message and means of eternal salvation. For these reasons it can be soberly described as a false gospel.

Closing Prayer:

We urgently pray that the church and mission leaders, in contexts where the prosperity gospel is popular, reject its teaching with careful attention to your teaching and example, Jesus our Christ. Particularly, help us to interpret and teach those Bible texts that are commonly used to support the prosperity gospel in their full biblical context and proper balance. Where prosperity teaching happens in the context of poverty, help us counter it with biblical teaching and with authentic compassion and action to bring justice and lasting transformation for the poor. Above all, help us to see these tendencies in our own hearts on how we may use this type of thinking to serve our temporary pleasures. Help us to form a more biblical perspective when things in our lives are grim. Remind us to deny ourselves by living generously, which are marks of true discipleship. Amen.

Ask God to pour out his Spirit to stir us with a vision for Kingdom impact in every sphere of society.

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Let’s continue praying and working together for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The next daily plan we recommend is Partnering In The Body Of Christ For Unity In Mission.

Learn more about this series and receive other free, handpicked missional resources from the Lausanne Movement by visiting www.lausanne.org/devotional-plan-ctc.

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