The Devil We Are Most Familiar With

The other day I asked a group of friends this question:  "Are we so turned off by the 'prosperity gospel' that we are unable to accept what the Bible says regarding His provision for us as a whole?'"  The ones who responded indicated a thoughtful 'yes'.

I have taught many years on worldviews, how they are formed, how intrinsic they are in how we perceive and live our lives.  It is absolutely impossible to live separate from our worldviews--they are the lenses through which we see and interpret everything in our known existence.  Everything. 

So when it comes to the Lord's provision I need to ask myself this question:  "what is my understanding of the prosperity gospel that creates in me so much fear that I am unable to receive what the Bible teaches about God's provision?"

In my understanding, the prosperity gospel teaches that it is God's heart that every Christian believer should expect to receive financial wealth to the point that the word 'rich' comes to mind.  Along with that are myriad stories where if someone did not receive that wealth then it was a matter of their faith being insufficient and blame and condemnation was heaped upon the "failed" believer.

I could be off on my interpretation, but that's my point--it's my interpretation that drives my worldview, and I don't think I'm alone in understanding this teaching in this way.

So what does God say?  Dt 28:10-11, "Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.  The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you."

This is only one of literally dozens of passages that indicate that God is concerned about providing material goods to His people.  But I wonder if we are guilty of keeping the area of finance firmly in our 'secualar' world--the world where we work, spend and save, and make sure that that part of our lives remains separate from the spiritual world where the laws of God's Kingdom rule.

I leave you with a question today:  do we allow God to remove our fears--fear of wrong and perverted systems of understanding God's provision, in order for that fear to be replaced with love which is the absence of all fear and is the necessary element that brings us close to God and allows us to really hear Him?  And the second thing is this:  Can we allow God's word to speak through our prejudice and worldviews to such a degree that we are willing to say "yes" to what He wants to provide?

Fear can cause us to reject something like the prosperity gospel, but because it is fear that is our motivation, we are then unable to reject the 'devil we are most familiar with' and in this case it is our acceptance that finance, in some significant ways, is not an area that God wants to bless His children. 

Fear will always cause us to reject God because

                                                             God

                                                                         is


                                                                                 love.

I offer no final answers here.  I am on a journey to understand what is good and true and finaces are part of my world and the world that is described in God's Word.

Lord help us to really hear and say 'yes' to You--there is no other way. 

BT