This morning, one of my friends who is a seeker has been asking for advice about where to attend church. He has personally been burned by fundamentalist Christianity (and I personally know the churches he got burned at had questionable practices since I used to attend one of them). He post a facebook note asking if the Unity Church would be a good fit for him. Immediately, I gave reasons why he would not be a good fit for UC, and among one of the disagreements I have with their teaching is their emphasis Positive Thought, with the mind being the source of illness and evil.
New Thought positivism is nothing new. In fact, it has been around for a while, since the mid 19th century in the United States. Americans in the early twentieth century witnessed a rise in new religious movements that all clung to the notion of the impeccability of the human mind. According to theologian Stephanie Mitchem, “Many religious movements influenced the American public, including African American. […] In the 1840s, inventor Phineas Quimby began the New Thought movement, which involved the use of the mind to cure the body. Mary Baker Eddy, one of Quimby’s students, added a spiritual component and began the Christian Science organization, “that tuning into God’s inner-dwelling presence and achieving oneness with his spirit restored health and well being” (Mitchem, 52). Mitchem goes on to note that the religious movements in the northeast United States, including Mesmerism, Spiritualism, and Transcendentalism made a profound impact on the religious lives of African Americans who were just beginning to migrate northwards.
Today, New Thought philosophy has been mixed in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles to become the Word of Faith movement: If you believe it, you receive it. This country is going through a recession, and despite the immense poverty and joblessness people are experiencing, prosperity preachers refuse to acknowledge the pain people are feeling while asking for laypeople’s “seeds of faith.” In some circles, the prosperity gospel is a message for the rich. Church life, no matter if the church is mainline or evangelical, center around the wallets of the monied, and their interests. Want to make changes to worship? No, we can’t, silver hair donors will stop giving. Want to reach out to the married couples in our neighborhood? Ask why is that important. Because, the church wants more tithers for more programming to reach more tithers! Does your youth minister make a group of steady tithers in church feel uncomfortable? Put her on the hot seat! A candidate needs a few votes to get over the top? Let him say a few words during the service.
The church’s life already centers around the wealthy and those with influence, those at the center on our society. Seminaries that cooperate with prosperity ministries remain complicit in working against the spirit of Christmas. Christmas, the Holidays, Thanksgiving, these are not just times to be giving charity. Charity is the last thing on Luke’s and Matthew’s mind when they told the birth story of Yeshua the Messiah. In Luke @, when our Jewish Savior was presented at the temple, his family was so poor, Mary and Joseph had to give two doves or pigeons, according to the law of Moses (Luke 2:24). The author of Luke had in mind Leviticus 5:7 (NIV): “Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.” Mary and Joseph could not even afford one of the lambs that was probably in the manger with them the night Mary the Theoktos gave birth to our LORD.
What does this all mean? It means that God Incarnate refutes the logic of Prosperity gospel, New Thought heresy, and even Tither-Driven churches. The Incarnation of the Word de-centers the existences of the wealthy as the masters of our world and elects the poor as God’s missionaries in the world. It is this very election of the poor, the Tiny Tims in this life that the spirit of Christmas is all about; our theological education institutions and churches should respond likewise, by denouncing the heretics who preach the Prosperity non-Gospel, and declaring that little Baby in a manger as LORD.
Works cited:
Mitchem, Stephanie Y. Name It and Claim It?: Prosperity Preaching in the Black Church. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2007.
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Very well said. I would also like to add this.
The Prosperity Gospel is hurting the body of Christ for the following reasons.
!). It shames and blames Christians who suffer. Jesus said his people would not only suffer but be persecuted or even put to death this is already happening in some parts of the world. Goggle the Voice of the Martyrs blog for information also read John 15:20, Matthew 10:17.
2). The teaching justifies why the poor should not be helped. It accuse them of not having faith or not making positive confessions. However the bible defends the poor and commands us to help, not hurt the poor.
“When you help the poor you lend to God” Proverbs 18:17.
I’d also like to see the Word of Fakes, uh Faith explain this one “God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith in James 2:5.
3). The Prosperity Gospel is tied to sowing a seed in money. You will hear them say “Don’t Eat the Seed, Sow the Seed (translated as sow cash it to my ministry for a return money harvest) Here’s what God really had to say about eating the seed . Deuteronomy 14:23 “And you shall EAT before the Lord, in the place where He chooses to make His Name dwell, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and of the firstlings of your herds and your sheep, so that you learn to fear God always.
4). Many Prosperity teachers wrongfully use the Old Covenant Malachi 3:8-10 curse New Covenant redeemed Christians. Malachi was not talking to redeemed from the curse of the law Gentile Christians under a New Covenant called grace through faith in Jesus.
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree (wood from the cross)”
5). They promise the Lord’s favor by paying ten percent in cash or for ignorant and gullible people who think they can buy a blessing from God by sowing a seed when the bible declares Christians already have the Lord’s favor Paid in Full by Jesus on the cross.
It is called Grace and the definition of grace is unearned and unmerited FAVOR.
John 1:16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace
6). The slippery slope of this message is it slides into what some of these Prosperity Pimps are now doing, some are promising salvation and God’s free gift of grace by what you pay in cash. To you Prosperity Pimps, God’s blessings are not for sale and you have no right to sell what is not yours in the first place!
7). They twist the scriptures to confuse and confound bible illiterates. Example: Abraham had faith because he gave a one time tithe to Melchizedek (a typology of Christ).
If you read the entire text you will discover Abraham did not practice the same kind of Tithing being taught in most Modern American Churches today. If Christians gave tithes like Abraham they would first fight a war against enemies of the Nation of Israel, win the war, take ten percent from the stuff from the war then tithe one time on it. Abraham tithes were not from his own personal possessions but from the spoils of war.
8). There are plenty of Christians Sowing seeds and tithing but still broke Christians. I know a few and had to help them out financially. I was one of them for years, till I learned grace and liberty in the free grace of God. Gal.5:1-4.
Anyone can look around and see the evidence of all the rich godless people who God has given daily talents, riches and gifts to and they don’t even serve him. It is called the mercy of God. The Lord said He will have mercy on whomever he wills. Bad things can still happen to God’s people who tithe faithfully. We live in a sin sick fallen world and can be adversely affected by the sin and the bad behavior of others, no matter how much love for the Lord and faith one has.
Example: A drunk driver gets on the road and killed a good Christian and her 3 kids. Are we to blame the victim? On 9-11 Christians got on planes or went to work and did not make it back to their earthly homes but went home to be with the Lord. Did they lack faith or were somehow to blame. The Word of Faith doctrine has no other explanation but to place blame on victims for lacking faith or accusing these people of not making positive confessions when God has a set time for the precious ones he calls home see.Psalm 116:15
9). God’s grace is not for sale for any price and no scam artist has any right to sell what Jesus paid in full for on the cross. Unless the Holy Spirit guides you to give then it may be a sin to give to keep a false teacher, prophet or church in business.
10). The seed is the word of God they have changed it to mean just money Luke 8:11
11). This doctrine has no mercy. One Prosperity Preacher thinks all non-tithers should be shot if he could get away with it and if it wasn’t for the grace of God. True story. Goggle it, his last name begins with Dollar (I could not make this stuff up if I tried).
12). They steal the payment Jesus made and replace it with the money people sow to their ministry as the cause for any blessings the person may receive after they send in their money.
The real God robbers are the ones who are robbing the Lord of the credit and praise for their daily grace and boasting in their tithe record and giving what they paid the credit.
Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.( Not Proverbs 18:17 must have been a typo?)
OOPs I meant 1 Peter 1:18 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers but with the precious blood of Jesus WITHOUT spot or defect”, WITHOUT SPOT OR DEFECT!
Acts 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
Sadly most Christians think they are Jews living under the Old Covenant when in fact Gentile Christians have Never Replaced the Jews but were grafted into a separate New Unconditional Covenant called Grace (Unmerited Favor) paid in full by Jesus What do you people think “Paid in Full as in It is finished means”. Only an idiot keeps paying a bill stamped “Paid in full” cause it mean zero balance= Debt Paid
Interestingly enough many Christians never call an Orthodox local Synagogue to ask to speak to a Jewish Rabbi. If they did they would be shocked to discover that Jews no longer Tithe since the Old Covenant had specific commandments from Moses
(from God) that only the Tribe of Levi could collect the tithes and only from Jewish Tribes who owned Land. Since the Temple in Jerusalem no longer exist with a priestly order of Levi’s or animal sacrifices Jew to date do not tithe but give free will offerings. Call an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and check it out.
God told the Jews to keep Religious Holy Days (Feast) forever. How many Christians even know what day they are on or can name them all, How many Christians eat pork (a Jewish No No) or keep the Saturday Sabbath, in other words EVERYTHING God told the Jews in the Old Covenant is not always a mandate for us Christian Gentiles. It is deception to compare the tithe Abraham and Jacob gave to Christian tithing. This was not the practice of tithing but Abraham gave a one time tithe to Melchizedek and the stuff was from a war he won not from his personal property on every increase.Neither did God demand it till the Mosaic law was given. However God did demand the circumcision as a sign of the Covenant so how come preachers are not demanding that? Christians need an understanding of Old Covenant vs New Covenant and who God was talking to under what Dispensation.
The Old Covenant is gone and the Jesus promised perilous times in the last days not riches and good times. He called it the beginning of sorrows.
Preachers need to be teaching on the book of Revelation. This verse describes the Prosperity message of sow a seed and buy a blessing which is a lie. Jesus is not for sale here is what he said to a church who thought money bought his favor in
Revelation 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
The answer can be found in the scriptures below:
Hebrews 7:12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.
Galatians 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Bottom Line NO one has any business selling the free blood of Jesus and Gift of Grace. It is not theirs to sell and I don’t care what amount of money Mike Murdock or Todd Ko Ko Coontz tells you to send in to try to buy God’s favor. Jesus gave you favor and access to God the minute he saved and redeemed you from the curse Gal.3:13-14