Getting rich for Jesus?

I would like to present an open challenge to those people who acknowledge, propogate and claim that the prosperity gospel is the gospel that Jesus brought us. This is because im pretty sick of observing and speaking to 'Christians' who seem to think Jesus primary goal other than atoning for our sins on the cross was to provide a way for his followers to live succesfully and prosperously. Any divergence from this such as poverty, the loss of a job or failure to recieve your miracle should be seen as being out of Gods will. It certainly couldn't be Gods will for his people to suffer in poverty or in persecution could it? Yet the majority of the worlds Christians live in poverty and millions suffer constant persecution, what about the 70,000 christians currently doing forced labour in North Korea or the Ministers in Columbia who are regularly murdered for sharing the gospel with terrorists?

Well perhaps we should actually look at what the Bible says as this seems like something alot of these preachers, self-proclaimed prophets and part-time charlatans seem unable of doing. Im pretty sure its because if they did they would be unable to find anything to legitimately support their unscriptural, greedy and selfish doctrines. I challenge anyone, anywhere to show me otherwise!

The worldwide Church is full of this rubbish from Africa to Brazil, Argentina to the UK and Germany to the USA its everywhere and Christians aren't doing enough to combat this most obviously dodgy teaching.

Why is it that the people outside the Church can see that the people in the Church have had the wool pulled over their eyes? Even non-Christians know that Jesus wasn't about nagging people for money so they can get blessed and making them feel guilty if they can't give enough, anyone remember the widow and the (Mark 12:38-44, Luke 20:45-47) mite?

So if this is the gospel Jesus taught, where did he teach it? Did he really want us to be selfish disciples who care far more about tithing and lining the pockets of preachers than we do about justice for the poor, widows and orphans? I've seen it myself, this sought of Gospel can only produce people who are interested in what they can get out of God rather than what they can do for God. It just leads people to look inward rather than outward. Lets be honest prosperity churches aren't interested in making disciples who are like Jesus. They are however interested in making disciples who'll tithe every sunday so they can get richer and therefore be more like the succesful and prosperous disciple he's teaching that you can be one day!

The 12 Disciples/Apostles and other early believers


So if the prosperity preachers are right surely those closest to Jesus while he was here on earth would obviously imitate and live out Jesus' plan for a rich and prosperous life as one of his faithful disciples. So what exactly happend to some of Jesus' closest followers after Jesus' ascension?

James - Beheaded
Thomas - Murdered in India
Simon, brother of Jude and James the younger - Crucified in Egypt
Simon Peter the Apostle - Crucified supposidly upside down
Mark - Burned alive
Bartholomew - Beaten, crucified and beheaded in Armenia
Andrew, Peters brother -Crucified in Archaia
Matthew - Speared to death
Philip - Stoned and crucified

Hmm doesn't seem to be either succesful or prosperous in the sense that the many prosperity preachers would have us all believe! It would seem that being a follower of Jesus is actually a pretty hazardous lifestyle, but I guess it would be harder to get a good sized offering if people talked about this sought of thing to much on sunday mornings.

Oh and then there was Jesus himself who was beaten, mocked, whipped and crucified (Mark 15:15-37, Mat 27:26-46, Luke 23:18-49, John 19:1-36). So Jesus wasn't rich and succesful in the worldly sense either, so maybe it was Paul who lived and taught that we should get rich for Jesus. Well after trawling through Pauls writings I've come up empty handed once again he just doesn't mention tithing or having a rich, prosperous life anywhere. This is truely baffling, now if I was going to make a snap judgment from what I've seen so far I would have to say it would appear that many christians around the world are being fed lies straight out of the hands of wolves dressed in sheeps attire.

So what does Paul say about life here on earth? Are we guaranteed a safe, wealthy, succesful trouble free life?

So what happened to Apostle Paul while he lived and preached, surely he must have travelled around on the first centuries equivalent of Kenneth Copelands private jet, whilst wearing the finest Judean garments and staying in the finest hotels in the middle east!

Romans 8:35 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Is Paul suggesting as Gods ambassadors here on earth that we should have to possibly suffer such things because we follow Jesus!

Pauls Life

Acts 9:23-25; 2Cor.11:32-33 - Has to be lowered down in a basket out of the city walls because people want to murder him for talking about Jesus..very sophisticated!

2Tim.4:11 - Locked in prison awaiting execution, just like many Christians around the world today who are persecuted for following Jesus!

2 Corinthians 1:8 - In despair after suffering more persecution for Jesus' sake.

2 Corinthians 11:24-30 - Paul has been whipped, beaten with sticks, stoned, cold, hungry, thirsty and shipwrecked. Yet through all this would you dare say he was outside of Gods will because this is what many christian leaders are saying and preaching today, that if you are suffering or in poverty you must be outside of Gods will! Listen to what Paul has to say about his sufferings:

2 Corinthians 12:10 - For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong'and how many times have you heard this preached on sundays or on Christian TV stations:

2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Oh I guess some might be wondering what happend to Apostle Paul.. well he was beheaded in Rome, another failure by the Prosperity gospels standards because he should have died peacefully with his family around him, if only life were this simple.

So the the proponents of the prosperity gospel say the more succesful and prosperous you are the more likely it is that you are pleasing God and are within his will for your life, yet the Bible states CLEARLY that if you are living a godley life you will at some stage be persecuted. Now this is not to say that we will not have money, but what it does mean is that getting rich shouldn't be our lifes priority or what is talked about in every meeting, why not challenge your minister about where all the money goes? Why not ask him why he teaches you to be under Jewish law by tithing? (For a explanation of what Old Testament tithing actually is and why its impossible to tithe biblically today, see below)

- http://martyro.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-exactly-is-biblical-tithing.html
- http://martyro.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-exactly-is-biblical-tithing_26.html


The early church was a persecuted Church and millions still today are persecuted worldwide just take a look at http://www.opendoorsuk.org/. If we're going to persecuted let it for talking about Jesus too much, or living sacrificially, or giving to much money to the poor, or healing the sick not for fleecing the poor out of their cash so ministers can live a life of luxury, fast cars and private jets. Because thats a life Jesus must be sorely ashamed of as his representatives here on earth.

Christians have been far too influenced by how the world thinks and uses money, the world says store up money and spend your money how you like. Yet Jesus says "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal."(Matt 6:19). We are considered stewards of Gods money and as much as we don't like to hear it our money is not ours to spend as we like, because we have a responsibility to use Gods resources well.

We should be the greatest givers in the world materially but lets make sure our cash actually gets to the poor rather than paying the petrol bill for someones private jet. I want to make this clear on every post, yes christians should give and give lots but as Paul says (2 Cor 8:5-12, 9:5-13) it should be of our own free will, not grudgingly, not under pressure, not out of guilt and in proportion to what we have! Tithing is simply not commanded to us as Bible following Christians and it is so sad that many poor people or struggling even more because their Minister or a Tele-evangelist makes them feel guilty for not doing so. Old Testament tithing was good news to the poor not making their already torrid position even worse.

Try http://www.heavensfamily.org/ just for starters, because whatever you give will actually go where you want it to and the financial records are there for all to see. I personally know many of the people involved with this ministry and I know that they are passionate about helping and caring for others.