10 ERRORS OF PROSPERITY PREACHING By Rev Adegboyega Adejobi

  1. WRONG FOCUS – HEAVEN OR EARTH?
Prosperity preaching focuses on earthly treasures – not treasures in heaven. Remember Jesus already warned us about that in Matt.6: 19-21.

2. GAMBLING WITH GENEROSITY
It makes gain the sole aim of Christian generosity neglecting love, compassion, selflessness and sacrifice (Matt.23: 23). This is more like gambling.

3. POSSESSED BY POSSESSIONS
It focuses mainly on physical gains like money and material possessions and not the true riches of the fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, kindness, goodness, gentleness, humility, self-control, etc. The Bible clearly warns us not to set our hearts on increasing riches (Ps.62: 10; Rev.3: 17-20).

4. MISUNDERSTOOD STEWARDSHIP
It makes our “stewardship” all about “accumulation” and not “distribution” thus replacing generosity with covetousness and greed. It makes “receiving” and “ownership” the prize – not sharing or fellowship. That does not sure sound like what the Early Church did in Acts 2: 44-47. And Jesus, in Acts 20: 35 said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

5. ERRONEOUS CONCEPT OF FAITH
It implies that those with more “faith” have more “wealth” and vice versa. It therefore ignores certain realities of life such as personal attributes, diligence, industry, family and educational background and several other socio-economic factors. This is one major reason why many of those who subscribe to this false teaching are usually corrupt.

6. LACK OF CONTENTMENT
It makes us dissatisfied (1Tim.6: 6-10). Really, God’s provision gives the believer some level of contentment, joy and gratitude but joining the rat race in pursuit of more stuff usually leaves us dry and empty and never satisfied. It is the spirit of capitalist consumerism presented in a deceptive Christian cloak or wrapper. Giving more in order to receive more and having to give more, to have more is nothing but a continuous cycle of greed and deception that chokes true faith.

7. CONTRADICTING JESUS AND THE APOSTLES
If more faith gives us more money and material wealth then, Jesus and the Apostles ought to be among the richest men that ever traversed this universe but we all know this is not so. King Solomon lived centuries before Christ so, we know that the standard of living at the time of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist and the other Apostles was not poor at all yet they chose to live modestly, unlike many of our modern affluent prosperity preachers.

Jesus Christ – the greatest man ever never lived an affluent life. He borrowed Peter’s boat to preach by the seaside (Luke 5: 3). He borrowed a coin to illustrate a lesson (Matthew 22:19). He needed a miracle to pay tax for Peter and Himself (Matthew 17: 27). He borrowed a colt to ride triumphantly to Jerusalem – (Matthew 21: 1-3). He borrowed a place to eat the Last Supper with His disciples (Mark 14: 13-16). And eventually, He was buried in a borrowed tomb (Matthew 27: 57-60). In His own words, He said, “… The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” (Matt.8: 20). Prosperity preachers will make Christians more UNLIKE Christ!

8. THE PROBLEM OF SELF-RELIANCE AND CONCEIT:
God does not always give us because we have more faith than others. Our Heavenly Father is such a responsible Father who provides for our needs, daily loads us with benefits and gives good gifts to all His children whether physical, spiritual or emotional (Ps.68: 19; Matt.7: 7-11). All blessing is from God, belongs to Him, to be used for His purpose and bring Him glory. In His goodness, God even gives the rain and sun to both good and bad people (Matt.5: 45).

9. IT MAKES US SELFISH AND UNCARING
Prosperity preaching is always an easy option for rich, educated “first world” Christians pursuing more wealth but forgetting their responsibility before God to help their less privileged brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are victims of wars, droughts, disasters or even extremely harsh international trade imbalance. What love and life does this type of ‘gospel’ preach?

10. HYPE AND HYPOCRISY
We end up as nothing but hypocrites if we neglect the all important subject of generosity and helping the poor when we already have more than we need and give less than we can afford because we are dissatisfied and pursuing more wealth!

Again, most prosperity preachers crowd themselves around major cities of the world where most of the citizens live above average creating unnecessary hype and claiming to teach them how to prosper. Jesus said only the sick needs a physician and not those that are well (Matt.9: 12). Why empower the rich to be richer? If prosperity preachers are sincere and not hypocrites, they ought to go to the rural areas around the world where people are suffering and languishing in poverty to empower them to prosper and live better lives. At the end of the day, most prosperity preachers are not just hypocrites but charlatans simply enriching themselves at the expense of the people!