The prosperity gospel, a hoax or truth

Sermons about getting loads of wealth, posh cars, and ‘sowing a seed’ are among the most popular subjects preached about in most churches today. These topics happen to be a favorite to many of the flock and it is thought to be among the reasons why the number of Pentecostal church congregations has enormously grown over the years. Out of curiosity, I visited one of the churches that is said to be prevalently known for those kinds of sermons to have my own experience. Not that I hold anything against this gospel but its popularity got me baffled and I later discovered many folks that were quizzical as well. “God is going to make you prosperous. Thou shall drive Hammers, Lamborghinis and all the posh cars. You will own pounds, rands, dollars and francs. He will shame your enemies and they shall be jealous. But you have to sow a seed. The bigger the seed, the bigger the blessings he shall bestow upon thee, thou sayeth the Lord,” emphatically spoke the pastor. The congregation got ecstatic at the mention of these words. They gave him rounds of applause and a standing ovation. Some got off their seats and started running around the church with their chairs lifted high. The next phase was for the flock to ‘sow the seed’.However, they or we were supposed to follow protocol. The ‘man of God’ as they refer to him, calls out those who have above fifty thousand to move forward and put it in the offertory basket, then stand on the side after. He then calls forward those than have between forty and twenty thousand to do the same and also stand besides the other group. Those that have below twenty thousand go through the same procedure and then also stand alone. Then came phase three which was dubbed ‘special anointing’ for those who have sowed the seed. So those that gave in the amount called for, were prayed for and anointed unlike us who had so little to give. You can’t imagine how bad and shameful it feels not to partake of the special prayer and anointing like those that sowed a big seed. My prying made me a culprit of many churches that I found inadvertently alike or could it be that so many churches are obsessed with this kind of gospel!!!! Well, if you ask, with all this inflation and poverty around, so many people would gladly listen if you tell them that they are going to get rich and drive the latest cars even when you don’t exactly explain how it’s bound to happen. Could it be that some of us are easy to fleece? Are the men of God taking advantage of the situation at hand? Could they be preaching these sermons over and over for their own selfish reasons? Or could it possibly be that this whole prosperity gospel is actually genuine? Pastor John Nsengiyunva who doubles as a theology teacher says that the prosperity gospel would be tolerable if balanced and genuine. He however notes that some preachers dwell on only that and never teach their congregation other subjects that feed the soul and spirit such as holiness and love among many others. “Some preachers stretch the truth and use it to manipulate their congregation. If it keeps emphasized too much without preaching about other subjects then it portrays God as a vending machine where you sow a seed, put in faith and then he pops out the cars, money and all the other wants,” Pastor Nsengiyunva. He adds that God is not against these kinds of teaching but he also doesn’t guarantee that if you Christian you will necessarily be rich or have all your dream luxuries. He states that no doubt God will provide our needs but not al our wants for reasons best known to him. The theology teacher says that sometimes we may pray to God but fail to get all that we want. The Bible tells us that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord so at times God might not give you all that you desire but for a good reason. “For instance, one might ask God for a car but might deny him one because he knows that once he gets it, he might be taken up and lose his relationship with Christ which is the most important,” says Pastor. Patricia Umutoniwase, a member of True Vine church, Kabeeza says that so many Christians are taken up by the love of wealth. They come to church with a shopping list as if they have gone to a supermarket. “It is right to ask God for all that one needs but it is wrong to ‘de-tooth’ God. If one’s relationship with God is all about getting riches and wants from him then there is a big crisis,” says Umutoniwase. She also says that the church today might have a lot of needy people but they are so many that are spiritually poor and hungry as well. Preachers should also feed the souls and teach about other relevant issues like forgiveness, purity, working hard instead of revolving around the prosperity gospel. The Bible doesn’t say that money (riches) is evil but it says that the love of money (riches) is. The prosperity gospel could be somewhat helpful but it should be balanced. Our spiritual leaders should teach us more than money but the whole word of God. Ends