Dec 29, 2006

the poverty gospel - pt. 5

I did a series of posts in September on the Poverty Gospel. Recently I found these quotes and wanted to add them to the conversation... rather interesting how Christians can fall on two sides of the same fence.
"Who would want to get in on something when you're miserable, poor, broke, and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven?"
- Popular television preacher Joyce Meyer, arguing that God wants us to be wealthy (Time, Sept 18)

"This idea that God wants everybody to he wealthy? There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net-worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty, Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"
- Rick Warren, megachurch pastor and author of the Purpose Driven Life (Time, Sept 18)

2 comments:

Jessica said...

the idea that you are "mudddling" through life if you do not have money, beauty or material possessions contradicts the whole idea of the gospel, in my humble opinion as well as the Gospel Himself who had no place to lay his head and who looked like everyone else. it's also insulting to christians in third world countries - pastors who barely are surviving - are they without faith? how do you explain away Yahweh at the burning bush debunking Moses' excuses by saying "who is it that makes the deaf, the mute?"

isn't faith to be measured by character - how i handle what is given to me whether it be plenty or little - rather than external "things"

Anonymous said...

This prosperity mumbo jumbo drives me crazy. it's easy to build a church of your own charisma if you promise people these things, though