The Problem With Prosperity Messages

However, the problem lies in the definition of prosperity, the time, the manner and the frequency with which prosperity messages are preached at the expense of the salient sermons which encapsulate the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, the commandment to love God and fellow man (Matt 22: 37-40), the end of the times and the need to keep on the watch  as Jesus admonished (Mark 13:35-37), the Kingdom of God (Matt 24:14) and persistence in good works that truly identifies Christians as true representatives and ambassadors of Jesus Christ and God in the earthly realm.(2 Peter 3: 11, 14, 2 Corinthians 5:20)

Perhaps, the message of salvation through Christ and good news of God’s kingdom has been relegated to the background simply because it is regarded as an elementary teaching which matured Christians must leave behind to pursue the more solid spiritual food like prosperity and what begets it.  Why? Because Christians do believe they worship the living God and should therefore be the head and not the tail.  Sadly, they narrow down true divine blessing and being “the head and not the tail” to mere material riches.

 Prosperity-centred Christians would be quick to point to the success and prosperity of the patriarchal fathers - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - as ample evidence to justify why all true believers should enjoy much prosperity as possible.

True, they were indeed blessed and prospered materially. But it does not mean divine blessing is all about material things. No wonder Satan continues to use materialism as a snare to trap Christians to lose sight of the love of God and the unseen realities of the glories to be revealed.

 A point worthy of note is the fact that these patriarchs did not desire the material things but with faith lived as alien residences awaiting the real blessing of God since they knew that earthly riches were nothing more than mundane and vain compared to unseen heavenly treasures. They loved God and desired to do his will more than anything else whilst awaiting the city of God.

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