I have to say this is long, but i really feel that God was teaching me so much, so please read, there is so good stuff and a video at the end! Please, feel free to comment
It's funny how God reveals himself. For quite a while i have had a real problem with the prosperity gospel, and as a result Joel Olsteen. I don't have a problem with him because i dislike what he has to say, i have a problem with him because God's word is in direct contradiction to what he 'preaches'. But the kicker for me has been trying to explain to others that what he teaches is not the God of the Bible, but in fact it is false teaching, because if it is not 100% truth then it is no truth at all! So usually the conversation will go like this;
guy #1 'So what do you think of Joel Olsteen?'
guy #2 'Oh, well he has a big church, and i've seen his book, i've even seen him on t.v., he's got the bible in the air, and he's always smiling and talking about God.'
guy #1 'Yeah, he's real positive, always saying how God wants us to be happy and wants the best for us.'
me 'Yeah, but what he's saying isn't really the truth, God didn't create us to give us good lives, thats not the gospel. He says that if you believe then God owes you an easy, rich, and healthy life'
guy #2 'Well, at least he teaches about God, and look at all those people at his church, at least they're in church.'
guy #1 'yeah, whats wrong with what he's saying, he uses the bible?'
So to that, here is my response, . . . .
The story is that a little girl wants to go see her grandmother, before she leaves, her mothers tells her to go straight to grandma's house, she warns her that the woods are dangerous and not to doddle. As little red riding hood is going through the woods, she sees the flowers and is tempted to go and pick them. Forgetting what her mother, who cares and protects her, told her, she stops and picks flowers. While her guard is down, the wolf appears. The wolf asks her what she is doing, and lrrh tells him that she is going to grandma's house through the woods. Suddenly, lrrh remembers what her mom told her and she runs off to grandma's house. But it's too late, the wolf knows how to trap her, he knows her heart, and what makes her vulnerable. So, the Wolf eats grandma and disguises himself as her. Then lrrh comes in and knocks on the door, the Wolf, disguised as grandma and knowing how to temp lrrh, answers with sweet words as the trap is set. In walks lrrh, she notices something doesn't look right, but she can't figure it out, because after all, it's dressed like grandma, it doesn't completely sound like her, but she is sick. So lrrh says, 'what big ears you have!' What big eyes you have! and to both the Wolf replies with answers, which don't seem like lies unless lrrh knew the truth. Finally, she says what big teeth you have, and then the Wolf pounces and attacks. Lrrh realizes it is not grandma, but in fact the wolf, and she screams for help because she cannot save herself. So in comes the local woodsman, brave and strong, forces the wolf to spit out grandma and then he goes he kills the wolf deep in the woods so that it can never deceive people again.
Sound familiar?? I hope so. The part of the story i want to focus on is the wolf disguising itself. Lrrh, knew her grandmother, it says she had visited before, but it had been a long time so she didn't recognize her like she should normally. The wolf uses this to draw lrrh in to his trap, not with lies, but with little twists and half truths. Like the wolf and lrrh, so satan does with us. (1 Peter 5:8-9) So whether, flowers, wolves, or smiling preachers, satan disguises himself and waits for the vulnerable.
I know this long, but one more...
This is what i feel is a good metaphor to better explain Joel Olsteen and the posterity gospel.
Imagine, you have heard of dogs and cats but have never seen one. So you ask me, 'Mike, what does i dog look like?' So i show this picture,
See, its labeled Dog. Oh, and look again...
See, its got four legs and a tail...
OH, and look at the fur and whiskers and paws!!
If you had never seen a dog or cat before, but know some basics about dogs, i could probably convince you that this is what a dog is, i used facts, right? If you believe me because i could show these things, you would go on think that you knew dogs. You could talk about them a bit, you might describe some of its characteristics. However, if you know the truth and you know what a dog is because you spend time with one and read about them etc..., you would call me a mad man for trying to tell people that a cat is really a dog! I think though, this is the scariest part, if for years you believe that a dog is really what a cat is, because i said so, when someone finally comes to you and says, 'No, thats nothing like a dog, it might have some similar attributes, but thats no more a dog then i'm a tree.' I would imagine, you would respond with outrage, or disbelief, or convince yourself that it's really the same thing despite the differences, but what matters is you believe you know the dog. In the same way, i say, the Bible says, this is what is happening now. In the same way the prosperity gospel is no gospel at all!!
There are so many verses which speak about what i wrote about so i will try to throw down just a few...
1 tim 6:20-21 - Turn from false knowledge
1 Cor 2:17 - There are false teachings, with impure motives
1 Cor 4:4 - evil will deceive you
John 8:44 -Deceit is satans native tongue
1 tim 6:3-5 -about false teachers
Eph 6:10-18 -Arm yourself with the truth of God to protect against the devils schemes
and there are many many more, i want to finish by sharing a video clip of Mark Driscoll and sharing the differences between the Gospel and the prosperity Gospel...video
