(The QVB Christmas tree decorations are shaped like viruses this year!)
“God wants all people to be happy, healthy, prosperous, and successful.”
“If you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money.”
“Give $10 and receive $1,000; give $1,000 and receive $100,000. . . . In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal.” (Gloria Copeland)
“Being a living testimony for God means to letting others see how successful your life is. When people see how successful you are, they will also want to become a Christian.”
“When we pray, believing that we have already received what we are praying, God has no choice but to make our prayers come to pass. . . . It is a key to getting results as a Christian.” (Creflo Dollar)
“God will make you become a better you.”
“Stay focused on God and wait patiently. Mr or Mrs Right will definitely come along and make you smile.”
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to hear sermons and teachings in the church like some of those quotes just mentioned, spoken by fired-up pastors with a big grin plastered on their faces. Or church friends making comments/testimonies that sounds somewhat similar to the above. Sometimes, hearing these things can make us feel really fired up and high!
It sounds like, if you could correctly channel your mental energy, you could harness its material results. It is as if they’re saying “positive thinking” will most certainly lead to success!
The “name it and claim it” gospel, the “blab it and grab it” gospel, the “health and wealth” gospel, the “prosperity gospel,” and “positive confession theology.” Whatever you want to call it.
Is this how things work in a fallen world?
Is the type of “faith” described above a “God-granted, God-centered act of the will”. Or is it far removed from praying “Your will be done”?
Jesus taught his disciples to “give, hoping for nothing in return” (Luke 6:35), while prosperity theologians teach their disciples to give because they will get a great return.
Did Jesus say, “I come to this earth to become a ‘better me’”? Or is the following link a better depiction of what Jesus came on earth for?
https://www.kevinhalloran.net/christmas-bible-verses/
Is “being happy, healthy, prosperous and successful” how all Christian lives ought to be in this fallen world? And that whatever you encounter, “God will always make everything turn out fine”?
Is the "name it and claim it" formula even biblical? And is it a rigid formula that applies to all situations?
Far from it.
One of my middle school classmates, a beautiful empathetic woman whose life had been greatly transformed by God, still passed away from leukaemia, despite her strong desire for healing to happen. She never ended up having the chance to get married to a Mr Right who will make her smile. Sure, from an eternal perspective, everything turned out fine, as she is now with God in a place where no tears will ever be shed again. However, from an earthly perspective, things did not turn out prosperous or healthy at all.
Some Christian couples I know never ended up having children, despite their strong desire to do so.
And there are some Christians whose families got wiped out by natural or man-made disasters.
Some single Christian ladies I know who believed that Mr Right will just drop from the sky remained single despite having reached menopause had told me that if they could turn back time, they would have been more proactive in trying to find a mate, and not to expect men to reach the “high standards” they had set for them. After all, in this fallen world, there is no person in the world who will meet everything on God’s checklist. I mean, if a man is a saint so perfect and self-sufficient, does he even need a helper?
Some people in the Western nations seem to have an inflated sense of entitlement. Here is a question I'd like to put out to those who believe that the "name it and get it" formula rigidly apply to everything: Are you more entitled to receiving health and wealth and a perfect Mr/Mrs Right from God than say a girl born into poverty and forced into child prostitution? Or a woman who died at a young age from cancer? Or a boy who grew up orphaned?
And I’ve also seen some people who only want to focus their mind on the positives and ignore the realities of life. Some believe that “achieving happiness” is their ultimate goal in life. Eating good food, travelling to exotic places, having fun and being happy is what they showcase to others in their social media. Or, for the more “pious” ones, just focusing on praising God and doing nothing, getting high on “worship”, and God will eventually make everything turn out alright. However, I see this as the “ostrich mindset”. It is like, when the fire alarm had sounded, and you keep your ears covered up saying there’s no danger because you don’t hear the alarm. It is like, some financial difficulties or potential dangers are coming your way, and instead of facing reality and dealing with the problems one by one, you just escape on multiple vacations hoping everything will turn out fine without you having to do anything. Or, you are in a failing relationship, but instead of self-reflecting and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what could be causing recurring problems in your own life, you put the blame on to others and believe that someone better will come along without you having to do anything.
Some “health and wealth” people even bring Ponzi-schemes and Pyramid-schemes into the church, making outrageous claims about the magical effects of the health products they sell. An even more extreme case I know is a Chinese church in Sydney that is preaching about how the seven year tribulation is coming very soon so the church has to prepare a place for “safe refuge” and encouraging church members to contribute a certain amount of money for a rural NSW land the church is buying for “refuge”, so they will get a small piece of land to park their caravans and plant food when the seven year tribulation comes. But in John 2:14-16, Jesus tells those selling things for money in the church to “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
The irony is, some people are focused with making themselves appear successful and/or running what looks like “a successful church” but at the same time are totally out of touch with the needs of the community, totally lacking in awareness of the difficulties that the majority of the world population is facing currently.
