The Health and Wealth Gospel Perversion

In today’s post, we look at chapter 36 of the book titled If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn. This chapter looks at how the health and wealth gospel perverts our view of evil and suffering.

I hope this book study has been beneficial and gives you the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (see Philippians 4:7, MEV). Previous chapters are listed under the heading Bible Studies in the menu above. Unless otherwise noted, the Scriptures Alcorn uses are from the NIV Bible.

Prosperity Theology

Prosperity theology teaches that God will bless with material abundance and good health those who obey him and lay claim to his promises “We don’t have to wait for God’s blessing in the life to come,” it promises. “He’ll send it to us here and now.”

This popular “name it and claim it” teaching, also called the health and wealth gospel, is not limited to certain congregations. This teaching has worked its way into mainstream evangelical churches where it gets subtly woven into many Christians’ worldviews.

The author of Total Life Prosperity writes,

“Biblical prosperity is the ability to be in control of every circumstance and situation that occurs in your life. No matter what happens, whether financial, social, physical, marital, spiritual, or emotional, this type of prosperity enables you to maintain control in every situation.”[1]

The author of another book writes,

“Poverty is so unnecessary. Loss is so painful… I hate pain. Your pain can stop. I want you completely healed. That’s why I wrote this book.”[2]

This false worldview breeds superficiality and seriously misrepresents the gospel. Moreover, it sets people up to believe, when evil and suffering come to them, that God has been untrue to his promises.

Shamed into Silence

Prosperity theology has poisoned the church and undermined our ability to deal with evil and suffering. Some churches today have no place for pain. Those who say God has healed them get the microphone, while those who continue to suffer are shamed into silence or ushered out the back door.

Paul had a much different viewpoint.

“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” – Philippians 1:29
Jesus Said: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
– John 16:33, ESV

We should count on these promises as surely as we count on John 3:16.

Suffering Due to Righteousness

The first story of the post-Fall world is Cain’s murder of Abel, a righteous man who pleased God and suffered as a direct result. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and nearly all the prophets weren’t just righteous people who happened to suffer. Rather they suffered because they were righteous.

Continuing in the New Testament, Jesus is the prime example of suffering. Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest of men (see Luke 7:28). Soon thereafter evil-doers imprisoned then murdered John and mockingly displayed his head on a platter (see Matthew 14:6-12). What could be more utterly contradictory to the health and wealth gospel?

Likewise, the Holy Spirit had hardly descended before:

• Wicked men stoned Stephen to death.
• Agrippa beheaded James.
• Nero beheaded Paul.
• Traditions say Peter and Andrew were crucified.
• Matthew died a martyr.
• A lance killed Thomas.
• Pharisees threw James the son of Alpheus from the temple then stoned him and dashed his brains out with a club.
• First Peter is an entire book devoted to Christian’s suffering injustice for the sake of Christ.

Larry Waters writes,

“Blessing is promised and experienced, but suffering is never eliminated. In fact, the normal life of a person who follows the Lord involves both blessing and suffering.”[3]

Even at its best, the ancient world offered a hard life. Christians routinely suffered. They still do. Even Christians who don’t suffer persecution still pull weeds, experience pain in childbirth, become ill, and die, just like everyone else.

The health and wealth gospel’s claims are so obviously opposed to countless biblical passages that it is difficult to imagine, apart from the deceptive powers of Satan, how so many Christians could believe them.

God Promises Suffering

In some cases, pleasing God results in suffering. God promises suffering to Christians in general and to those who honor him. Consider one of the great, unclaimed promises of scripture:

“Indeed, all who delight in pursuing righteousness and are determined to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be hunted and persecuted [because of their faith].”
– 2 Timothy 3:12, AMP

The most notable early Christians “Conquered [Satan] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; For they love not their lives even unto death.”
– Revelation 12:11, ESV

We overrate health and underrate holiness. Yes, we should steward wisely the bodies God has entrusted to us; Yet he sometimes calls on us to sacrifice our preferences, sleep, careers, vacation plans, and health to say yes to him. Does this sound demanding? Christ’s words leave no room for equivocation.

“Be on your guard against men; They will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the gentiles….
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.…
Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
– Matthew 10:17-18, 21-22, 38

Suffering Shouldn’t Surprise Us

We should see our suffering as God keeping his promises not violating them.

 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
– 1 Peter 4:12-13

Suffering whether from persecution, accidents, or illnesses shouldn’t surprise us. God has promised it. One of the great tragedies of the health and wealth gospel is that it makes God seem like a liar. When people believe that God promises to keep them from suffering, God appears untrustworthy when suffering comes. However, God’s Word is true.

A woman who had based her life on the health and wealth worldview lay dying of cancer. She looked into a camera during an interview and said, “I’ve lost my faith.” She felt bitter that God had “broken his promises.”

She correctly realized that the “god” she followed did not exist. She incorrectly concluded that the God of the bible had let her down. He hadn’t; Her church and its preachers had done that. God had never made the promises that she thought he’d broken.

When hard times come
people should lose their faith in false doctrine,
not in God.

In contrast to jewelry-flaunting televangelists, Paul said,

“We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”
– Acts 14:22

If you follow Christ, God will deliver you from eternal suffering. And even now he will give you a joyful foretaste of living in his presence. That’s his promise.

Christians should expect to suffer more, not less, since they suffer under the fall and as followers of Christ. If your goal is to avoid suffering in this life, then following Christ will not help you. Jesus himself said:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first…. if they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”
– John 15:18, 20

Health

Medical and scientific advancements and spiritual claims of healing may convince us that suffering can and will be eliminated.

---

Note: We need to remember Alcorn’s book was published in 2009. Consider how fast AI has developed. Here are just 3 of the many articles I found that you may want to read.

1. AI Can Now Make You Immortal – But Should It? – Forbes
2. This AI can prevent your death 10 years from now. So how does THAT work? – Fast Company
3. When Artificial Intelligence Can Revive the Dead – Medium

Didn’t I read in Genesis…

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” – Genesis 3:4-5

Fast forward to today. Satan is using the same old lie he told Eve only with a modern twist.

---

It’s All About Me

In an “it’s all about me” world, we don’t accept answers that entail our inconvenience, much less our suffering, and death. We assume faith healing or medical breakthroughs can eliminate suffering and cure all diseases.

According to prosperity theology, we can declare our way out of diseases. Pastor Joel Osteen writes:

“Maybe Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family genes, but don’t succumb to it. Instead, say every day, ‘My mind is alert. I have clarity of thought. I have a good memory. Every cell in my body is increasing and getting healthier.’ If you’ll rise up in your authority, you can be the one to put a stop to the negative things in your family line…. Start boldly declaring, ‘God is restoring health unto me. I am getting better every day in every way.’ ”[4]

Of course, we should seek to be healthy, both physically and mentally. But we miss out on a great deal if we fail to see God can also accomplish his purposes when we lose our health, and he chooses not to heal us.

Julia’s Remarkable About Face

Julia was a powerful woman who flaunted her beauty and wealth. Her volatile temper and sharp tongue put people in their place and left a trail of damaged relationships. Then, in her mid-40s, Julia was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Despite treatment, the disease progressed. Doctors said she had less than a year to live.

As this unfolded, Julia underwent a remarkable change. Her diagnosis frightened her; she sought spiritual counsel, started reading the New Testament, confessed her sins, and gave her life to Christ.

She wrote letters, made phone calls, invited people for coffee, and sought forgiveness from the many she’d hurt. She did all she could to restore relationships with family and others. She made peace with her ex-husband, grew close to her children, and developed a loving circle of Christian friends.

Several weeks before she died, Julia told her pastor that she considered her cancer to be a love gift from God. She believed the Lord had used her disease to draw her to himself. Julia said she would gladly exchange all her years of beauty, wealth, and influence for the two years of illness that taught her the unspeakable joy of loving Jesus and loving others.[5]

In Contrast Many…

In contrast to Julia, however, after a terminal diagnosis, many people spend the remainder of their lives searching for a scientific cure or spiritual healing, or both. Alcorn doesn’t, of course, fault sick people for seeking a cure! But, like Julia, Alcorn believes we should focus our energies not simply on avoiding death, but on investing our time in preparing for it, getting right with God, and ministering to others.

Randy Alcorn also stated that he wanted to share some bad news; he said,

“I have a fatal disease. I’m terminal. I’m going to die. But the news gets even worse. You have the same fatal disease, mortality. You’re going to die too.”

The Idolatry of Trying to Avoid Death

We do a disservice to ourselves and to others when we turn the avoidance of suffering and death into an idol. Even if we don’t end up dying from a particular disease or accident, all of us will die unless Christ comes within our lifetime. Have you noticed there are no 120-year-old faith healers?

It’s healthy to think about death and prepare ourselves for it. Well-meaning people say to the terminally ill, “You’re going to be fine,” and, “You must have faith for God to heal you.”

This can divert the dying from God’s gift to spend their remaining days cultivating an eternal perspective, preparing to meet him, healing and building relationships, and redeeming the time to serve him wholeheartedly.

While resisting death and fighting for life can be virtuous, it can degenerate into idolatry if staying alive here becomes more important than anything else. Paul had it right:

“Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
– Philippians 1:20-21

All Healing is Temporary…

In the early church, committed Christian leaders routinely endured diseases and other sufferings. If God has healed you, rejoice! God can and does heal, and we should celebrate his mercy. Alcorn stated that he has often prayed for healing and sometimes witnessed it. But if you’ve prayed for healing and not received it, take heart, you’re in good company!

Like many of God’s servants in the early church, Paul had neither constant health nor significant wealth. When soldiers took Paul in chains from his filthy Roman dungeon and beheaded him at the order of Nero, two representatives of humanity faced off, one of the best and one of the worst. One lived for prosperity on Earth. The other one now lives in prosperity in Heaven.

The work of Christ on our behalf guarantees for us, in the resurrection, never-ending health of mind and body.

All healing in this world is temporary. Resurrection healing will be permanent. For that, our hearts should overflow with praise to our gracious God.

God’s Timing, Not Ours

Disease, suffering, and death are part of the Curse; One day Jesus will reverse the curse… but not yet.
Health and wealth preachers often say, “There is healing in the Atonement.”

Yes, Jesus came to reverse the Curse.
Yes, Jesus will remove all disease, disability, and death from us, but in his time not ours.
He will rescue us from suffering when he returns to set up his kingdom or when we go to him in death.

He also promises that one day, leopard and lion and lamb and goat will lie down together in safety (see Isaiah 11:6). If you fail to understand God’s timing, however, you might feel tempted to put them all in the same pen now.

Wealth

Prosperity theology encourages us to spend on ourselves the unprecedented wealth God has entrusted to us to relieve world suffering.

A reporter asked Mother Teresa,

“When a baby dies alone in a Calcutta alley, where is God?” Her response? “God is there, suffering with that baby. The question really is where are you?”[6]

As God laments over the suffering child, so should we. God’s heart is stirred to bring help to the needy, normally by providing his people with the means to help.

The poverty-stricken Macedonian Christians considered it a privilege to give sacrificially to help the needy in Jerusalem (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-4). Paul called upon the Corinthians to give generously to the needy (see 2 Corinthians 8:13-14). And he added,

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.”
– 2 Corinthians 9:-11

God has entrusted us with wealth that we may voluntarily distribute to those who need it most. Never have so many been in need. Never has God showered such abundance on Christians.

When will we learn?
God doesn’t give us more
to increase our standard of living,
but to increase our standard of giving.

When we stand in his presence, Christ can show the scars on his hands and feet and say, “Here’s what I did about evil and suffering.” What will we say when he asks, “What did you do?”

Health and Wealth Circles

Some Christian leaders think living comfortably gives them credibility, but the Bible equates good leadership with perseverance and suffering. In health and wealth circles, leadership credibility is measured by jets, jewelry, and invitations to the White House.

In contrast to the prosperity preachers of his day, whom he mockingly called “super-apostles,” Paul argued for his own credibility as God’s servant based on his “troubles, hardships, and distresses, in beatings. Imprisonments. and riots, in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger.” – 2 Corinthians 6:4-5

Our national or familiar familial financial struggles bring hardship but also give us the opportunity to repent of past greed and foolishness. Neither Christian leaders nor lay believers should expect God to continue making us affluent.

If we don’t follow God when He prospers us,
He may take away
our national and personal prosperity…
to bring us to repentance and dependence.

“Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.”
– Deuteronomy 28:47-48

Take Up His Cross

We should not embrace that theology of triumph and healing without a theology of the cross and suffering. Fear of suffering motivates us to distance ourselves from Christ and his people. But unless we are willing to be hated for Christ, we are not his disciples (see Luke 9:23-24).

Christ’s followers should resist attempts to solve the problem of evil by misrepresenting God and redefining the gospel. Alcorn stated:

“I don’t like suffering. Nor am I called to seek it. But when we bend over backward to avoid it, and value comfort over commitment, we do not live as Christ’s disciples. It’s not our job to be popular. We exist solely to please an audience of One.”

Two Christian Perspectives

In America

A sharp-looking businessman stands up at a luncheon to give his testimony:

“Before I knew Christ, I had nothing. My business was in bankruptcy, my health was bad, I’d nearly lost my family. Then I accepted Christ, he took me out of bankruptcy and my business has doubled its profits. My blood pressure has dropped to normal, and I feel great. Best of all, my wife and children have come back and we’re a family again. God is good, praise the Lord!”

In China

A disheveled former university professor gives his testimony:

“Before I met Christ, I had everything. Then I came to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. As a result, I lost my post at the university, lost my house, and now work for a subsistence wage at a factory. My wife rejected me because of my conversion. She took my son away and I haven’t seen him for five years. I live with constant pain from injuries when police dragged me away from our unregistered church service. But God is good, and I praise him for his faithfulness.”

Both men are sincere Christians.
One gives thanks because of what he’s gained.
The other gives thanks despite what he’s lost.

We should give thanks for material blessings and restored families. The brother in China would enthusiastically thank God to have them again; indeed, he gives heartfelt thanks each day for the little he does have. And while the American brother certainly should give thanks, he and the rest of us must carefully sort out how much of what he has is part of the gospel and how much is not.

ANY gospel,
that is more true in America
than in China,
is not the true gospel…

Therefore, let me ask a most important question.

---

Sources

• [1] Creflo A. Dollar Jr., Total Life Prosperity (Nashville, Tn: Thomas Nelson, 1999), x.
• [2] Mike Murdock, 7 Keys to 1000 Times More (Dallas: Wisdom International, 1998), 13.
• [3] Larry J. Waters “Missio Dei in the Book of Job,” Bibliotheca Sacra 166, no. 661 (January-March 2009): 32.
• [4] Joel Osteen, Become a Better You (New York: Free Press, 2007), 45, 114.
• [5] Adapted from Alice Gray, Treasures for Women Who Hope (Nashville: W Publishing, 2005), 51-52.
• [6] John G. Stackhouse Jr., Can God be Trusted? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 67.