Prosperity or Poverty – What Does the Bible Really Say
I have never been so determined to keep an article short. The point here is so important that I would not want it to be buried in a
lengthy diatribe that only added more confusion to the abounding controversy that has already arisen.The saddest thing about the whole controversy is that it may become yet another reason for unbelievers to remain just as they are. Christianity should be known for its presentation of the immutable gospel of Jesus Christ not a series of constant controversies and disputations. It strains the credulity of any reasonable man to read about the horrific persecution of believers in over fifty countries while the big question in America is whether Christians should all be floating in God given riches.
Today thousands of Christians in Islamically controlled countries are facing the very loss of life and limb while American Christians are debating whether God is supposed to be giving them all untold riches, houses and lands. Sound silly, it is but that’s exactly what one proponent of the goody gospel espouses. In the Time magazine article “Does God Want You to be Rich” Kirbyjon Caldwell said “God wants you to own land. The entire Old Testament is all about land. Land represents that God is with you and God has blessed you.”Between the recent interview of Joel Osteen by Barbara Walters and the September 18, 2006 issue of Time on the same subject one question comes to mind. Why is America so engrossed in this question about Christians seeking wealth or resigning to poverty? More importantly is the question, does the Bible really present a conflict on the issue or is it yet again, man meddling with the message?
Time, a largely secular news outlet gave a fair presentation of both sides and included the scriptural proof texts used by each side. They quoted such Christian notables as Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer, Kirbyjon Caldwell and Ron Sider. They gave a fair breakdown of the general views of others on the subject as well such as T. D. Jakes and Creflo Dollar. How I wish they might have attempted to balance it all with a quote from the late Kathryn Kuhlman.
I will have to paraphrase the statement I once heard on Kathryn’s radio program because it was so long ago that I heard it. But forget it I never will, I hope no one else will ever forget it either.What she said is that we should never isolate and amplify any verse of scripture to the exclusion of other verses that also speak to the same subject. Simply put this means, don’t teach or make a big deal out of one verse and forget the other verses that also talk about the same thing.
The verse of scripture I will quote here gives support to neither side of the argument and yet it is the final and consummate answer to the whole matter. The verse takes its authority as final in the matter not from me, but rather from a sovereign God who decides each mans destiny, and each mans wealth or the lack of it on a one to one individual basis.
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