A major tenant of the prosperity gospel is the teaching that Jesus and his disciples were men of considerable wealth and standing. To me, this is the most irksome aspect of the doctrine. It completely distorts the biblical record. There's no evidence of Jesus being wealthy (or even what we would call "middle-class"). Jesus had something far more substantial than material wealth... he had the Father's favor. You have to misread the record to conclude that Jesus owned a house (which prosperity gospel proponents have done); why would he need one when believers in every town lent out their own to him. Peter's mother-in-law actually let them tear up her roof to lower down a paraplegic. After having been healed by Jesus, what wouldn't she have sacrificed for his ministry?

Why would he need money for groceries when Jesus could borrow a child's lunch and multiply it to feed thousands. He didn't even need money to pay tribute, since he call forth a fish with coin in its mouth. Jesus was moving his believers towards a complete trust in God that meant they were no longer obsessed with possessions. "Give us this day our daily bread," he taught them to pray. Do the kingdom work, and God will meet all your needs.

Anything Jesus needed, the Father supplied. This is what makes the prosperity gospel's speculation about monetary concerns (e.g., how much money he might have inherited from Joseph, how much money he earned as a carpenter before he began his ministry, how much money the twelve disciples brought with them) so utterly insignificant.

Jesus instructed the disciples about this when he sent them out to proclaim the coming Kingdom: "And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse..." The disciples didn't need to bring money...they didn't even pack a lunch... because the favor of God was resting upon them throughout their mission. Everywhere they ventured, the Father had already made provision for them. Jesus asked after they returned, "When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing?" and they had to confess "Nothing."

When you are serving the Lord, submitted to his will and carrying out the mission he has given you, you will not experience lack. You don't need a background of privilege, You don't need to have an employment history, you don't need a white-collar job, you don't need a bulging bank account, You don't need to be swimming in material resources. By consequence of your relationship to Christ alone, you will have access to anything you need. You will lack nothing.

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Luke 9:57-62


"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.


And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."



The best way to understand Jesus' statement is to see it in its immediate context. Gospel writers collected it together with two other statements to prospective disciples. In those other statements, Jesus indicated that familial responsibilities are secondary to becoming a follower of his (one man he discourages from staying at home until his father dies--the likeliest meaning of "let me bury my father"; the other he discourages from even returning home to say goodbye). In this regard, then, we see that attachments that distract from service to God is the theme of the passage. To get the best understanding, we must see the first quotation--"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head"--within this overall theme. Jesus is explaining how, if anyone would follow him, they must not be like the bird feathering his nest, or the fox digging out a den. The follower must be relatively detached from material concerns.

Another good one; thank you for standing for truth on this subject!!!!!! Bless you!
Good post! I see too many preachers tears others down who are sent out and told to leave things behind.

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