Prosperity “gospel”

The final comment on Oral Robert’s website (https://oralroberts.com/teaching/seed-faith/) is telling:

So, give God something to work with. No matter how little you think you have, sow it in joy and faith, knowing in your heart that you are sowing seed so you may reap miracles. Then start expecting all kinds of miracles! Remember, God always sends the right answer at the right time, in the right way. His timing and methods are always exactly right for our lives!

So how do we summarise this keystone to the “seed faith” movement and the upside-down-gospel that flows from it (also known as the prosperity gospel)?

Basically, it is one man’s “discovery of a divine formula for prosperity” and the goal that he set himself to build up a plausible Biblical narrative to support this. Let’s face it, Oral Roberts has been successful in this; he has birthed a whole generation of faith/prosperity teachers, who have built very impressive kingdoms and power bases on the back of this teaching.

The true Gospel is from God. The upside-down gospel is from man. It is yet another symptom of the Greek understanding of the things of God, placing human agendas at the heart of one’s thinking, then plundering Holy Scripture to convince the World that God’s on their side.

So you turn on your TV and just happen to watch a fundraising broadcast from one of the Christian stations. The presenter will almost certainly be using the seed faith concept in his presentation, though many different routes may be taken to reach the bottom-line. Some of them can be quite imaginative in their meanderings, but the punch-line is always the same.

“Sow your seed now … and you will receive your reward”.

Why is such manipulation needed? Why can’t they just explain their needs and rely on the generosity of their viewers? This is the route taken by various Christian media stations in the UK and it both gets results and treats their supporters as mature Christians, emphasising the joint enterprise in the work of providing the Gospel message on the media, without pandering to basic human greed. “Seed faith” is a travesty of God’s word and it is why I opened up the previous article with a spiritual health warning.

Here’s a “gift” that’s just dropped into my lap today. One of the World’s foremost “faith preachers” has just posted a request for his followers to send in $2.5m over the next 90 days, so that he can get out of debt! The incentive to these “cheerful givers” is that they will supernaturally get a 100% return on their investment. Here’s a quote from his website:

“This is an appointed hour. Imagine: Your $100 gift immediately doubles to $200. Your $500 seed literally becomes $1,000. If God leads you to plant $10,000, it instantly grows into a $20,000 seed! And your double seed, sown bountifully, will reap bountifully through the supernatural law of multiplication! Only God could provide something like this—a double harvest for you. And the more you plant, the more you will reap! The anointing for biblical abundance is being released. As you step into this miracle by faith, it will be poured out upon you, too! Your giving is literally the weapon that breaks the bondage of debt in this ministry and in your home during the next 90 days.”

You couldn’t make it up! Christians wake up!

For the previous article in this series, click here.

To find out about MY NEW BOOK, “Hope”, click here.

You can reach Steve with any comments or questions at the Saltshakers Web Community website.

How to manipulate Christians in one easy lesson.