A Psychological Prosperity Gospel

October 21, 2018

My church and most Christians I know do their best to avoid the pitfalls of the Prosperity Gospel, a distortion of Christian belief that promises material prosperity for those who keep the faith (1). But I wonder if there is another Prosperity Gospel that we fall into- one that preaches health and wealth not of material things, but of our internal emotional, mental, and spiritual life. Both false gospels can sneak into our thinking undetected until it is exposed. As the Prosperity Gospel fails because it is not robust enough to give life during times of physical suffering, the Psychological Prosperity Gospel fails during times of internal struggle and anguish.

The Prosperity Gospel at its core preaches that God wills for all his people to prosper materially in this life, and it says that the one key to unlocking that prosperity is faith in God (2). Therefore, if you find yourself not prospering, the reason is that you don’t have enough faith.

The Psychological Prosperity Gospel says that God does not will for all his people to prosper materially. In fact, it says that God wills for his saints to suffer (2 Timothy 3:12). However, the Psychological Prosperity Gospel says that even in suffering, God wills all his people to always have joy, peace, and a sense of purpose. The one key to unlocking this internal thriving is faith, an intimate relationship with God, prayer, etc. Therefore, if you find yourself struggling internally, or depressed, or apathetic, or fearful about the future, the reason is that you don’t have enough faith, or haven’t prayed enough, or are otherwise disconnected from God.

Both gospels are about “this side” of eternity- that is, they are about the current life (since nobody would deny eternal prosperity in the coming Kingdom of God 😀)

Both gospels seem to have biblical support in some places, usually promises of God:

Put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Malachi 4:2)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3)

…but then are refuted by other places which make clear that the promises do not apply unconditionally, even for persons who are sufficiently “spiritual”:

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12)
A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

And both gospels are fatally refuted by the example of Jesus himself when he demonstrates that external and internal struggles can both be God’s will for us:

Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. (John 12:27-28)

It’s interesting that when we study the bible, sometimes we will try to escape prosperity-type interpretations of verses by substituting in a psychological-prosperity-type interpretation. e.g. for Malachi 4:2, we might say, “Well, we know God doesn’t promise to give us everything we want, but he does promise to give us everything we need, and he promises to be with us and to give us peace even in the midst of hardship.” But by doing this, we may have stumbled from one false gospel to another. The fact is that losing our joy and purpose and otherwise struggling internally is part of every Christian’s journey, and it is not always because they have done something wrong. Therefore, having internal struggles large or small does not necessarily mean that we have gone outside God’s will or otherwise displeased God.

The Psychological Prosperity Gospel harms us by giving us false expectations of God, and false expectations of ourselves. Like the Prosperity Gospel, it reduces God (and human experience) into a simple if-then, where if we do everything right then God has to give us joy and peace. It makes us think that if we don’t have peace even when we’re faithful in praying, then God has abandoned us. When we struggle to see the “good effects” in bad things (often equated with having joy), or feel apathetic, it makes us immediately think that we’re disconnected from God due to sin or not keeping up on our spiritual disciplines. Ultimately, it makes us assume that weakness in motivation, weakness in love, weakness in conviction, weakness in mental fortitude, weakness in being able to “hear the Spirit”, weakness in having joy, weakness in perspective, that all these weaknesses have no place in the Christian life, and are never God’s will for us.

But read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 again. “My power is made perfect in weakness!” What kind of weakness? Physical weakness only? Material weakness only? May it never be! When we obey God in the presence of external struggles, God’s power is made perfect in our external weakness, and when we continue to make choices in accordance with our allegiance and trust in God during our time of internal struggling, God’s power is made perfect in our lack of joy, perfect in our lack of a sense of direction, and (dare I say?) perfect in our weakness of faith.

So let us not stigmatize these kinds of weaknesses in Christian community. Let us not assume that these kinds of weakness are always indicative of a flaw in character or in practice. Let us treat all weakness as an opportunity to fight to glorify God, whether the weakness ends up going away or not. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities, boredom, purposelessness, loneliness, depression, restlessness, and uncertainty of the future (3). For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Footnotes

(1) Tenuously related, but if you like to laugh and cringe at the same time see (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxlS79Q3EXk). I can’t watch the whole thing at once.

(2) Faith in God for what, or of what? Probably faith that God is the kind of God that gives whatever you want and that you are the kind of person that deserves whatever you want.

(3) More nuance is necessary here of course 😀, and I do not mean to say that being “content” with depression or other unfortunate mental or emotional conditions is a good thing. But if we have asked God to heal, and have pursued wellness according to the best knowledge of the world, and it still persists, may we honor God in our weakness.

6:40pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/Z86Uhw2c_gm0P