The Old and the New Prosperity Gospel
The Old and New Prosperity Gospel
Have you ever heard a TV preacher say that God wants you to have wealth, success, good health, and favor? This preacher goes on to say that the secret for such blessing comes from seed-faith giving. Here’s the idea. Your financial giving to a ministry plants a seed that will eventually grow into a harvest of blessings: wealth, health, success and more.
This teaching is referred to as the prosperity gospel, sometimes called the wealth and health gospel, or name it and claim it theology. The prosperity gospel is an old teaching that goes back to the New Thought Movement in the late 19th century. The movement focused on the power of positive thinking, the law of attraction, and visualizing your blessings.
The basic message of the prosperity gospel states that God wants you to have financial blessing, guaranteed health and healing, and earthly prosperity. All one needs to do is to practice seed-faith giving.
The looming danger of this archaic and non-biblical messaging is the burden it can place on believers who do not receive the desired material or physical outcomes. Those who do not receive the promised blessings may feel condemned or guilty for having weak faith.
Another danger of the prosperity gospel is that it distorts biblical generosity. Our financial giving to the Lord’s work is an act of worship. Biblical stewardship declares that God owns everything. Our job is to steward whatever blessings He allows us to have. We give to show our compassion for others and our love for God.
In current times a new prosperity gospel has arisen. This new prosperity gospel is affecting mostly persons born between 1997 and 2012 (Generation Z). Perhaps you have a child or grandchild in this age range.
It would be typical if your Generation Z child or grandchild opened their TikTok cell phone app and watched a video of a young adult explain how they quit their job, started an influential blog or website, moved into their dream season, built a six-figure personal brand, and now spend mornings in their luxury apartment.
Remember the old prosperity gospel? If you had enough faith and gave generously God would reward you with money, health, and a really nice house.
But Gen Z Christians aren’t buying that version of the prosperity gospel. In fact, they don’t even use the word prosperity. Why? They grew up with economic instability and sky-rocketing housing costs. Many are shouldering enormous college loan debts. They think that a term like financial security was something their grandparents developed. But the prosperity gospel did not disappear; it adapted itself.
This new prosperity gospel, rather than promising wealth, promotes a personal platform that gives you visibility. The old prosperity gospel promised wealth; the new prosperity gospel promises fame and personal influence.
Television promoted the old prosperity gospel; smartphones promote the new prosperity gospel. The old prosperity gospel advocated the message that God wants you rich; the new prosperity gospel promotes the message that God wants you seen, He wants you to be an influencer.
How should we respond to both the old and the forms of the prosperity gospel? I think the words of Pastor Ray Ortlund help us: “Christianity shows us something profound. Moment by moment, we are either centered on God or we are centered on ourselves. There is no alternative.”
To believe and follow either version of the prosperity gospel is to place ourselves, and not the Lord, as foremost in our lives. To follow Jesus is to deny ourselves (see Matthew 16:24) rather than to seek our personal elevation.
