A New Gospel

Within the past 50 years, a virus has infiltrated the body of Christ which has caused many to fall into ruin and destruction, known as the prosperity gospel. This false gospel has become anathema to the spiritual life of the American church; it is as heretical as Gnosticism yet it is accepted as face value as new revelation from God. However, if we analyze the foundation of its beliefs and see its effect, we will recognize that this is nothing more than worldliness with a whitewash of religion.

As a whole, the American church has become a shallow husk of Christ's original intentions. There are churches on virtually every corner in major cities, yet the cities remain filled with deep darkness. If we take a panoramic view of the American church, we see grand cathedrals around the country, filled with millions of people every Sunday. In the church, we hear millions sing praises to God, as the music brings many to tears. A casual observer would conclude that the growth of membership in the Church is a sign of God's favor on this new gospel, but those will discernment will declare the same words that Amos stated:

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria... Those who recline on beds of ivory and sprawl on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall... who drink wine from sacrificial bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, yet they have grieved over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles”. Amos 6:1-7

Jesus echoed these sentiments in Luke 6

“But woe to you who are rich, for you already are receiving your consolation and have taken and enjoyed your comfort in full. Woe to you who are full now (completely filled, luxuriously gorged and satiated), for you shall hunger and suffer want! Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep and wail! Woe to you when everyone speaks fairly and handsomely of you and praises you, for even so their forefathers did to the false prophets.” Luke 6:23-26

Despite the increase in membership and grandiose display of religiosity displayed in churches around the country, this message has caused the American church to become too attached to their wealth, and for this reason, the Church remains in shambles. Christ stated quite clearly that there are two masters in this Earth: Christ or riches. The heresy that many believe is that you can lay your affections on both and still claim to be a genuine believer. Nothing can be further from the truth; Christ stated quite clearly that there are only two choices: to love God and despise money or to love money and despise God. The reality that the American church is facing is that we are mirroring the pattern of the lukewarm church of Laodicea in Revelation. Because God has not exacted judgment on the false teachers of this heresy yet, many remain comfortable by the direction of the church. Religious devotion can be manufactured and contrived for an entire person's life, but the spirituality and character of a person will always reveal itself. If we simply take a casual examination of the life of Christians in this country, we will see that this gospel has produced masses of superficial, half-converted believers.

The testimonies that we hear from believers these days are pitiful to say the least. In churches around the country, we hear people testify how God gave them promotions, new houses, new cars, and new clothes, yet they don't realize that material blessings are nothing in comparison to victory over sin. Where are the testimonies of men and women who say that they have defeated anger and depression? Where are the testimonies of those who say that they have learned the secret of contentment? Where are the testimonies of those who say that they have victory over the fear of man? The gospel of prosperity is a repetition of the Old Covenant way of life: a life of material blessings without victory over sin. It is a gospel that washes the externalities of man while leaving the inner man dead. This is the reality of many churches around.; many do not examine their spiritual lives because their focus on wealth has blinded them. They do not realize that although they are materially well-off, they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

The effect of this insidious gospel has been immediately evident in the current economic crisis. The response of the Church to this has been virtually identical to the response of the world. Like the world, many in the Church became anxious, worried, and mourned about their future. The response of pastors have been even worse; there are programs on Christian television where famous pastors are telling other pastors to preach more messages on hope and God's restoration of their finances over other fundamental issues. This worldly wisdom continues to illustrate how attached people are to their riches and way of life; the Church mourns more over finances than sin! Isn't this the most obvious example of a compromised Christianity? When was the last time that the believers were grieved in their heart because of the sin in their life? When the Church mourns more over houses and cars than a revival of souls in the Kingdom, then we know that the Church has been hopelessly corrupted. Before faith can be applied to hope, repentance must come to the Church. Another result of this gospel is the wide-scale compromise of Christians. The distinction of character between Christians and unbelievers is quite negligible simply because this gospel ignores the development of godliness. Instead of walking the narrow path of godliness, humility, and faith that leads to life, this gospel has produced a generation of believers who do not have a radical hatred or sin and seek comfort over the will of God. When these conditions exist, it becomes impossible for a person to live a godly life since persecution and trials create a godly life. As a result, we see anger, bitterness, depression, strife, gossip, fornication, and a host of other sins as prevalent in a believers' life as with unbelievers. However, since many are comfortable because of their attachment to their wealth, they are blind to their lack of spiritual maturity and remain children.

We see the effect of this gospel in contemporary Christian music. The reverence of God has virtually been eliminated from music because the gospel of wealth permeates through this music. Instead of music that pushes people away from the idol of riches, Christian music continues to chant the accumulation of wealth as the inheritance of believers. Because of this clandestine pursuit of riches, is it any surprise that many believers are incapable of true worship, since they are serving another master? Is it also a coincidence that the musical artists that preach against this era of materialistic Christianity, such as those in Holy Hip Hop, are largely rejected from most churches? In today's gospel, money has replaced the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. When a man receives the fullness of the gospel of God, instead of the counterfeit produced by this new gospel, you will hear Christian music like this:

Truth of the matter is we're arrogant, spoiled
America's soil has soiled us, sort of
And pastors insist on declaring us royal
And it's true that we are but we take it too far
To the point where we break and we take down the bar
And forsake all the parts of The Faith that are hard
To embrace after all we've outsmarted the martyrs
We race up the charts- if you trace it to the start
You will find that the way to escape from the dark
And your wake is to carve off the weight and the heart
Of the truth, until everybody loves you
Jesus said woe to you old and new saints
That hold a view that you can go through The Faith
With nobody loathing you, that's a view
That you only can hold when your home is the states
So, don't think it strange if a change might occur
If it does, are you ready and prepared for the curve
And a turn for the worst- would you fight, would you fall
Would you die for the Christ, that's the price of the call

When you have accepted this new gospel, you hear music like this:

It's yours; it's yours
Get your inheritance
The head, not the tail
Above, not beneath
A lender, not a borrower
Get your inheritance
Get your inheritance
You are the seed
by faith receive
the blessings of Abraham
the blessings of Abraham
get your inheritance

We observe the effect of the prosperity gospel in the presentation of the gospel. Instead of preaching to others to repent of their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of their sin, we preach another gospel where we simply believe on His name and He will begin to bless us. We preach of a Jesus who is an accessory to our life that will help us pursue our own selfish ambitions, instead of preaching the biblical Jesus... One who gave up the riches of heaven to descend to our level and bring us redemption. The cross of Christ is no longer preached in this gospel because it undermines its message. When a believer truly understands the wrath that should have fallen on him and the penalty that Christ took as a substitute on the cross, he will no longer live for himself, but his life will be radically centered on God. This man will regard gold and earthly riches in the same way that heaven regards them- under his feet and out of his heart. However, the man that came to Christ based on this new gospel will serve God joyfully when God blesses his labor, and will make demands upon God whenever his wants aren't satisfied. Truly, this is a man-centered gospel and any gospel where man is exalted above the sovereignty of God is earthly and demonic.

Christ has made it very clear: choose riches or choose Me. To desire both in the heart of any believer is akin to spiritual adultery- anyone who is a friend of this world makes himself an enemy of God, no matter how many pastors declare the contrary. If you have been a believer that has fallen pray to this deceitful gospel, it is imperative that you repent of this sin and give your heart fully to Christ. Remember that anyone who doesn't give up everything to follow Christ is not worthy of Him, but also remember that the riches of Christ Himself outweighs every counterfeit that this world has to offer. This is not mere philosophy; the apostles experienced this, the 1st century Church experienced this, multiplied millions of genuine believers who have passed on experienced this, as well as millions of people living today has experienced this. The spiritual harlotry that we see in America produced in part by this gospel will lead a person to becoming part of spiritual Babylon. If you are convicted by this, you have a chance to escape the judgment that will undoubtedly fall on Babylon. Repent from your attachment to your wealth and material things and receive with all of your heart the Lord Jesus and you will realize what A.W. Tozer realized:

“The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.”