I have one problem with prosperity gospel- some people equate it with getting rich. The worst I heard from the lips of a prosperity believer is that if you are a Christian and still not rich, then there is something wrong with your faith. You might as well be an unbeliever. They quote verses from around the Bible to prove their point and the damage they inflict on other believers simply appall me.
Try to reason with them and they’ll say you lack the vision and the drive to succeed, that you’re far too accepting of your present condition, that you are not fully realizing your God-given potential and that you don’t have what it takes to be on top. You’ve probably heard all that before and believed it to some extent. Don’t. It’s time to wake up to the truth.
The Bible says that God will meet our needs (Phil. 4:19), that He will make us rich in every way so that we can be generous (2 Cor. 9:11) and bless others as a result (Gen. 12:2). But nowhere does it say that our bank accounts should be the yardstick of our spiritual lives. The prophets Elijah and Elisha both went through periods of famine, Jacob’s family had nothing to eat that they went down to Egypt and became servants after Joseph died. If the modern prosperity preachers are to be believed, these mighty men of God would be spiritually deficient.
A balanced understanding of God’s blessings and sovereignty is necessary to understand financial issues in the lives of Christians. God does bless us, but He also allows us to be tested spiritually, relationally, financially. Your financial condition today is not the thermometer of your relationship with God.
Jojo Agot 