What About Those Goofy Preachers?

I probably should have written this blog some time back, but kept hoping things would improve. Of course, they haven't, so I've decided to give the thought a whirl.

Among friends, nominal Christians, usually; but also among those who take their faith very seriously, eventually the subject will come up in the form of a question: "Well, Pastor, what do you think of those television evangelists?"

Well, of course, I know that they are not talking about Billy Graham and the likes; but rather those with the fancy hairdos and 'get rich quick' faith formulas (usually meaning that you send money into them) type of preachers.

My general response is: "Not much!" Translated: I really don't spend a lot of time thinking about them. But, when I do think about them, I continue to be amazed that there are so many gullible people that fall for their sells pitch.

So, I've devised a formula of my own. The first ingredient is God's word. Now, when I say, 'God's word,' I mean all of his word, not just a few bits and pieces of Scripture taken from here and there and pasted together to prove a point, but the total theme of Scripture in regards to finance. And, you know what? When I do that, I find that there is nothing  there that promises to turn us into 'faith generated' millionaires. The Bible's scheme is for you and me to work hard, make the right decisions, pay our tithes and offerings, and be satisfied and content with the results.

If you have problems with that, may I suggest that you quit reading the Bible in bits and pieces and start reading whole books of the Bible. Because, if you do, you will find that God is not some kind of cosmic Santa Claus hanging over the banisters of Heaven just waiting to give you a financial blessing out of his bag of goodies. No, as far back as Genesis, God decreed that we were to earn our living through sweat and toil.

My second ingredient is to put the preacher's life through the litmus test of what I like to think of as a lifestyle evaluation. Right away that eliminates those with the  Rolls Royces and the 10 million dollar homes. And, believe it or not, that whittles the number down considerably.

Then, lastly, I ask myself if the man or woman shows any of the fruits of the Spirit~not gifts, which can many times be fakes; but fruits which are demonstrated by a consistent Christlike lifestyle.

Here is what http://www.gotQuestions.org has to say about it:

In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word of Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will. The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them.

Paul warned Timothy about such men in 1 Timothy 6:5, 9-11. These men of “corrupt mind” supposed godliness was a means of gain and their desire for riches was a trap that brought them “into ruin and destruction” (v. 9). The pursuit of wealth is a dangerous path for Christians and one which God warns about: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (v. 10). If riches were a reasonable goal for the godly, Jesus would have pursued it. But He did not, preferring instead to have no place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20) and teaching His disciples to do the same. It should also be remembered that the only disciple concerned with wealth was Judas.

Paul said covetousness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5) and instructed the Ephesians to avoid anyone who brought a message of immorality or covetousness (Ephesians 5:6-7). Prosperity teaching prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all because He cannot work until we release Him to do so. Faith, according to the Word of Faith doctrine, is not submissive trust in God; faith is a formula by which we manipulate the spiritual laws that prosperity teachers believe govern the universe. As the name “Word of Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts.

A favorite term in the Word of Faith movement is “positive confession.” This refers to the teaching that words themselves have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus, God's ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith. James 4:13-16 clearly contradicts this teaching: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Far from speaking things into existence in the future, we do not even know what tomorrow will bring or even whether we will be alive. 

Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). The irreconcilable contradictions between prosperity teaching and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24; “You cannot serve both God and money.