The Prosperity Gospel is Bankrupt and Needs a Bailout

Have you ever heard of the “prosperity gospel?” What is that? It refers to the all-American message of success and accumulation, and it is bankrupt and needs a Biblical bailout! Praise God!!!

In our culture, success is usually measured by a lot of education, as in at least a college degree, if not post graduate degree; a good paying job, with benefits; a mortgage; good looks (usually meaning you have a membership at a health club regardless of whether you are healthy or not); two cars, some degree of recognition in the community (not with the police); and of course, storage space, for all of the stuff you don’t need but still hold on to just in case you might need it (we get attached to our things). In our culture “success” means that you do not struggle much; you have plenty of leisure time; things happen easy without delay or much effort. This is the American gospel of the abundant life, the prosperity gospel…and it has just about gone belly-up-bankrupt.

The Bible uses words like prosperous and abundance in a different way. Psalm 1 describes the blessed man as one who is prosperous, “…whatever he does, prospers.”  The Hebrew word for “prosperous” is saleah (pronounced say-lee-ah). It has the basic meaning of being victorious over an enemy. It is built on a root word that means to break through, as in breaking through an enemy’s defenses. This has nothing to do with the accumulation of things. It has much to do with trusting in the strength and provision of the Lord God Almighty for victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil! God says, “…no weapon formed against you shall prosper.” Isaiah 54:17

This is the kind of blessing we need in America, a blessing of victory over sin and the sinful lifestyles that have destroyed the foundations upon which our nation was built. But the blessing of prosperity, of victory over the enemy, does not come without repentance from the way of the ungodly, from associations with the wicked, and from a disrespect of authority that is so prevalent in our country. The break through that is needed will not happen until we meditate on God’s Word and sink the roots of our faith deep into Christ, receive the Holy Spirit as our life and daily nourishment, and present ourselves daily at the cross where the death sentence of the flesh can be carried out.

Another interesting use of this word, saleah, prosper, in the Old Testament is when David was anointed as king, when he was just a boy, by Samuel; 1 Samuel 16:13. It says that at that moment the Holy Spirit rushed upon David. He prospered David.

May the Holy Spirit prosper you in 2012!