Six Keys to Detecting the Prosperity Gospel

00:00:00.000 | [Intro]

00:00:05.320 | Pastor John, you are an outspoken opponent of the prosperity gospel and you have been

00:00:09.440 | for many years. In episode 231 of this podcast series, it's aptly titled, "Why I Abominate

00:00:15.820 | the Prosperity Gospel," and that sums up your position pretty well and your words there

00:00:19.900 | are very strong. Podcast listener Derek recently wrote in to ask a follow-up question, "Pastor

00:00:25.520 | John, how do you recognize prosperity theology when it's not blatantly obvious? What are

00:00:30.440 | some key indicators to discern a soft prosperity theology?"

00:00:35.880 | I really appreciate this question. I'm eager to give some things to look for and I don't

00:00:42.080 | think it's all that difficult. Anybody could probably sit down and come up with these.

00:00:46.440 | I thought of at least six that I jotted down, six things to look for. If you see them, the

00:00:57.000 | likelihood is that you may be dealing with incipient prosperity theology or soft or beginning

00:01:05.640 | prosperity theology.

00:01:07.120 | Number one, the absence of a serious doctrine of the biblical necessity and normalcy of

00:01:16.560 | suffering. The absence of a doctrine of suffering. Acts 14.21 said that basic discipleship, as

00:01:26.000 | Paul went through the churches, was to teach them, "Through many tribulations you must

00:01:30.880 | enter the kingdom." Is this basic doctrinal teaching in the church? Tribulations are necessary

00:01:38.560 | and there are many and you must walk through them. Is Romans 8.23 essential in dealing

00:01:46.520 | with sickness and calamity? We, we who have the Holy Spirit grown, waiting for our adoption

00:01:54.920 | of sons, the redemption of our body. Is there a strong note that Christians full of the

00:02:00.960 | Holy Spirit get cancer and grown under the calamities and the miseries of the fall? John

00:02:10.360 | 15.20, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you." Is there a strong note that a faithful

00:02:17.940 | Christian will be persecuted? Hebrews 12 and 2 Corinthians 1, "God is sovereign over all

00:02:25.160 | of our pain and ordains it for our holiness." So that's the first one. Is there a serious

00:02:32.200 | doctrine of the necessity and normalcy of suffering?

00:02:37.600 | Number two, the absence of a clear and prominent doctrine of self-denial is a tip off that

00:02:45.760 | something's amiss. An absence of a clear and prominent doctrine of self-denial. Jesus said,

00:02:53.480 | "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

00:03:00.240 | Paul said, Romans 8.13, "If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the

00:03:07.040 | Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Philippians 3.8, "I count

00:03:14.040 | everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." In

00:03:20.520 | other words, normal progress in the Christian life comes by saying no to lesser values and

00:03:30.760 | yes to Christ. And many of those lesser values are the kinds of pleasures that prosperity

00:03:37.320 | preachers don't like to say no to. So is there a good doctrine of self-denial?

00:03:44.380 | Number three, look out for the absence of serious exposition of Scripture. Does the

00:03:52.200 | preaching take the Bible seriously by explaining what is really there in texts? Does it work

00:04:01.640 | through passages of Scripture explaining the flow of the thought? Or does it feel like

00:04:08.880 | the pastor has his favorite topics, he circles around to them over and over, making a few

00:04:15.880 | texts serve his purpose? So watch for a careful and continuous handling of the Scriptures

00:04:25.580 | in an expository way, and be suspicious if all you ever get is topical preaching with

00:04:33.480 | a few pastors' favorite topics that lean towards prosperity—the mark.

00:04:41.000 | Number four, watch out for the absence of dealing with tensions in Scripture. That is,

00:04:50.400 | does the preacher bring up passages that seem like problems with the ones he's dealing

00:04:58.240 | with and then give careful explanations to show how they really fit together? Or is he

00:05:06.240 | content just to say what seems to be in one text and never even raise the question there

00:05:13.600 | may be ten other texts that seem to say something else? I think that's a bad sign. If we

00:05:20.220 | week after week, you get the impression, "Doesn't he realize what he just said from this text

00:05:26.000 | is contradicted in a few other places in the Bible, and he doesn't seem to know that or

00:05:30.800 | care about that?" That's a serious problem. Number five, do the church leaders have exorbitant

00:05:37.560 | lifestyles? Do they drive cars, live in houses, wear clothes, travel to places that only the

00:05:45.400 | very wealthy can go or only the very wealthy can possess? Is the pastor living above the

00:05:53.380 | average person in his parish? Now, why might that be? And I know that there may be cultural

00:06:00.560 | and traditional reasons for it, but are there biblical reasons for it? Try to sniff out,

00:06:08.680 | "What makes this pastor tick? Why is he so concerned with the clothes he wears and

00:06:14.560 | the car he drives and the neighborhood he lives in and the way he travels and the accommodations

00:06:21.360 | he gets on his traveling?" This just doesn't smell like the Jesus who had no place to lay

00:06:27.520 | his head. Number six, last one, is there a prominence of self and a marginalization of

00:06:35.920 | the greatness of God? Does the preacher seem to parade himself? Does he figure into the

00:06:43.400 | talk too much? Is the greatness and majesty and glory of God the centerpiece of all he

00:06:51.760 | says and does? Is the preacher in love with the glory of God in the gospel? Is he brokenhearted

00:07:01.040 | for his sin? Is he contrite and humble? Is he publicly self-effacing? Does he repent

00:07:09.880 | of his sins and model how to appropriate daily the sweetness of what Jesus did for

00:07:18.040 | us on the cross? Or is the majesty of grace marginalized while he exalts himself? So those

00:07:28.240 | would be some of the things I would watch out for in trying to discern where a church

00:07:33.460 | may be going off in relationship to the prosperity gospel.

00:07:39.240 | Excellent. Thank you, Pastor John, for those six gauges. For more on the prosperity gospel,

00:07:44.560 | see that episode number 231, "Why I Abominate the Prosperity Gospel." You can find that

00:07:50.120 | episode in the Ask Pastor John archive. And if you have a question on the brain that you

00:07:54.240 | would like to ask Pastor John, please email it to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.

00:08:00.420 | Next time, we return to talk about food. Specifically, what does the Bible say to us about food?

00:08:05.920 | Pastor John, I think, is up for offering us a little bite-sized theology of food. That's

00:08:10.200 | tomorrow. Until then, I'm your host Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening.

00:08:13.200 | [END]

00:08:14.700 | 1

00:08:14.700 | 1. What is the presence of the Lord? A. The Lord is the presence of the Lord. He is the

Six Keys to Detecting the Prosperity Gospel

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