Prosperity gospel and the recession

I read an eye-catching article titled, “Did Christianity Cause the Crash?” in The Atlantic. Hanna Rosin, the author, argues that the prosperity gospel preached to tens of millions of Christians, promoted excess financial risk-taking that contributed to the housing bubble and its inevitable burst.

Here’s the lead into the piece:

“America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it’s still going strong.”

This article caught my attention because I frequently work with patients who have been influenced by the prosperity gospel. And it can be challenging at times to help them see the primary need, or supply, is not money, but spiritual understanding.

The prosperity gospel promises increased material wealth and gain if you follow the tenets and practices of those who preach it.

Millions of people already want the material riches before they ever step foot in a church, so to hear a preacher from the pulpit, supposedly anointed “from above,” tell them they can have their consumeristic heart’s desires fulfilled if they believe in God and have strong faith, is like a dream come true. Pray yourself to earthly riches, fame and success, the message comes across.

Rosin argues in her piece that Christians steeped in prosperity gospel teaching, acted on trumped up hopes and dreams that exceeded reasonable financial expectations. They bought homes they could not afford, believing that God would give them the money they needed to make future mortgage payments. The increased income did not come. Payments were missed, foreclosure took the homes, and millions of dreams were crushed, all contributing to the crash we're all familiar with now.

It can be a stretch to follow all of Rosin’s logic, but her reporting does provoke some serious thought about the theological errors and misrepresentation of true Christianity the prosperity gospel advocates.

Jesus Christ did not teach his followers to pursue or yearn for great worldly wealth and success. He taught them to seek the riches of Spirit and rest assured that their human needs would be met.

To the young man who wanted Jesus to tell his brother to divide his father’s inheritance with him, Jesus replied, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” It seems that Jesus did not care about the extra money and didn’t believe the boy needed to be concerned about it either.

Jesus did not hold out in front of public thought images or promises of worldly gain as a reward for following him. He promised eternal life for faithful followership, and the route to that goal may or may not be attended by much money. But every need will be met along the way.

There is a big difference between seeking spiritual gain first with human needs met as a consequence, and pursuing dreams of material gain through prayer to God. The first puts God first. The second puts mammon first.

It seems that prosperity preaching feeds on humanity’s lust and want of material comfort and gain. If followers put the pursuit of monetary gain first, above listening to the voice of Wisdom, poor financial decisions can result. The voice of Wisdom does not lead one down a path of financial ruin. It leads one down a path of discipline, balance, patience, contentment, and to choices that endure hardship.

The prosperity gospel has led many people astray. Whether Rosin is right or not, in her conclusions, each reader can decide. But reading the article is a wake-up call to anyone caught up into the "Pursue your dreams," type of wishful thinking the prosperity gospel engenders.

The more mental weight we throw into the scale of Spirit, the less we think about worldly gain, money, getting monetarily rich and pursuing earthly dreams. These all fall to the wayside for the greater riches and wealth of spiritual understanding and demonstration.

Prosperity, in Spirit, is not measured in material quantities or by things owned, but by spiritual understanding gained and love lived. There is a big difference!

“Christianity causes men to turn naturally from matter to Spirit, as the flower turns from darkness to light. Man then appropriates those things which "eye hath not seen nor ear heard." Paul and John had a clear
apprehension that, as mortal man achieves no worldly honors except by sacrifice, so he must gain heavenly riches by forsaking all worldliness. Then he will have nothing in common with the worldling's affections, motives, and aims.” Mary Baker Eddy

You are rich

Count your blessings! It’s been said innumerable times when lack and shortage stared one in the face.

In these changing economic times, it’s imperative to take inventory of the vast wealth and riches we have coming from God that meets human needs.

The financial pages of the media would have us measure wealth in a material way, as dollars in the bank or as value of a stock portfolio. But these temporal measurements of wealth inevitably lead to a feeling of insecurity, uncertainty, and even fear over whether our wealth is sufficient, intact, or even existent!

True wealth is spiritual. It really is! And you have it in abundance, coming from God, and without limit, this very moment.

Forget about your checking balance and credit card bills for a moment, and take stock of how wealthy you are.

Wealth is God’s goodness evident in the minutiae of life. It’s the smiles of friends and neighbors, the cheer and expectancy of children who greet you in the classroom, the order of a day, the capacity to think and reason, the ability to love, the freedom to pray, the opportunity to lend a helping hand to another in need.

Wealth is not a material thing that can be taken from you. Wealth is the spiritual richness and goodness of God all around to be honored, acknowledged, valued and lived!

We live in a universe of omnipresent good. God is everywhere, and God’s good is everywhere to be seen and benefited from.

Gratitude and a generous spirit keep thought open to seeing the wealth of Spirit all around and participating in its blessings.

It’s important that we not get mesmerized by a temporal belief of lack. In a conscious awareness of God’s omnipresent goodness, any sense of lack disappears. And what appears to be lacking materially, is more than made up for by what we discover spiritually.

A few months ago, I decided it was time to fix-up a messy corner of our yard and get it landscaped properly. It would require some machine work, equipment we did not have.

The bids that came in to do the job were very expensive—at least by our household standards. The project was put on hold. After a few weeks of prayer and listening as how to proceed, God answered our prayer.

One day, while driving by a rental yard, I saw a piece of equipment that I knew I could operate. It suddenly occurred to me how we could do the job ourselves and rather effortlessly without hiring a contractor.

We rented the tractor, and for a few hundred dollars, saved thousands. The corner is looking terrific today.

It wasn’t more money that we needed, but more humility and better listening.

Wealth is wisdom, ideas, inspiration coming from God, and it meets human needs.

God is an infinite source of inspired ideas that solve problems, resolve difficulties and open doors to opportunity. Money is not the primary need. Prayer, listening, discerning, being grateful and seeing what is already at hand are typically the leading issues to be grappled with.

You are wealthy, incredibly wealthy today! Count your spiritual blessings.

There is no need to wait to claim your rich inheritance coming from God. Look all around. It’s present. You have it. Honor it. Acknowledge it. Look for it, and you’ll be amazed at what treasures you find staring you in the face that you didn’t even realize existed yesterday.

"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Proverbs

Supply all around

One reader commented to me that discovering God’s supply is like standing in a huge dark vault filled with massive reserves of gold, coin and cash and not seeing any of it until the light is turned on.

The belief that supply is material—in the form of money, stocks and bonds, real estate, and more—is mental darkness that causes people to fear when the value of their portfolio sinks. Real supply is not matter-based, but Spirit-based.

Wisdom, love, intelligence, creativity, patience, joy and their kin are Spirit-based supply, and they meet human needs. They exist in abundance. They are infinite, without end. Understanding this truth is the light that illuminates consciousness with enlightened perspective that sees God’s supply at hand.

Jesus did this with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Through gratitude, understanding and faith, he opened the hungering crowd’s thought to supply at hand, and they saw it. It was there all along, but required a higher view to reveal it.

You are standing in God’s vault of superabundance right now. Enjoy use of the vast riches in your grasp!

Wealth is wisdom

With a hurricane of turbulence on Wall Street this week, many people have been concerned about the safety of their investments. I too, have spent time in prayer over this issue, listening for God’s guidance on any changes my family should make to protect ourselves from potential loss. We own some stocks, and any time the Dow falls mortal mind whispers, or hollers, “You’ve lost some wealth!”

Honestly, though, a falling Dow doesn’t worry me much. Experienced experts, including Warren Buffet, counsel over and over that if you make sound investments for the long run, you don’t have to worry about short term aberrations. The integrity of your investment will prevail and reward you for sticking with it. I know this to be true and I’ve seen it many times.

But I have many clients who do worry about their investments and financial future, so I’m always listening for ideas and spiritual truths that dissolve their fears and bring calm. And the fear has been severe for some recently.

As I listened for inspiration this morning, I had a great Aha! moment.

“Wealth is wisdom!” an inner voice proclaimed.

I thought it through...

People fear for their wealth when they believe their riches are material. And this would be naturally so, because anything material is not reliable or dependable. It can disappear, be stolen, eroded, or gone in a puff of smoke as we seen recently with major financial houses toppling into bankruptcy in a matter of days. Material so-called wealth is not reliable at all. What is reliable is wisdom.

Wisdom comes from God, the all-knowing, all-wise Mind that has a solution for every problem we ever face. The exercise of wisdom builds portfolios and protects them. A lack of wisdom loses control and leads to diminution and decline.

Its wisdom that protects assets, preserves portfolios, stays out of dangerous debt, and prepares for tomorrow. Without wisdom, investors can be given large sums of money and lose it quickly because of poor decision-making. We've seen too much evidence of that. With wisdom, investors can make sound decisions and avoid the pitfalls of ignorance, greed and short-sighted goals.

The substance of true wealth is wisdom, and it should be the first item we seek when striving to demonstrate financial solvency and supply.

A lot of poor decisions have led to the banking crisis our economy faces today. These strenuous times are healing times really. An adjustment in course was needed. It’s a time for honest self-examination and a re-ordering of priorities from the crass and mindless pursuit of profit to constructing an economy that is guided by sound moral and spiritual principles.

“Be wiser than serpents,” Jesus Christ instructed. The serpent of greed and lust has taken a big bite out of our economy of recent. But we can be wiser. We can be wiser than the serpent. Through compassion, patience, understanding, unselfed love and wisdom, the economy will be rectified, and everyone will come out stronger and better for it.

Wisdom is wealth. When you have wisdom, you have the greatest riches of all, and human needs will be met through putting that wisdom into practice. There's enough of it to go around for everyone, and we all can be enriched by it.


II Chron 1
7 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee.
8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.
9 Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?
11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:
12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

What's worth pursuing?

I got a chuckle out of reading this little ditty today.

We squander Health
In search of Wealth
We scheme and toil and save;
Then squander Wealth
In search of Health,
And all we get’s a grave.
We live and boast of what we own
We die and only get a stone.

~ Anonymous

Spiritually speaking, we do not die and end up with a stone. We continue to grow spiritually, lose a material sense of self and gain eternal life. But the poem puts the relative experience here on earth into perspective. It’s not the material gains that amount to much in the end of the earthly experience. It’s what we gain spiritually and take with us that has substance.

“Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.” Mary Baker Eddy

When we realize Life is eternal, we don’t spend time pursuing temporal ideals that eventually are all for naught. We focus on seeking eternal riches that are forever ours. And this type of gain is worth pursuing for it can never be taken from us. Hooray!

Who is the richest?

Forbes magazine came out recently with their yearly list of billionaires around the globe. It appears that fascination with wealth and adoration of riches ranks high on the interest list of many readers these days.

After briefly reviewing the roster of mega-wealthy individuals and some of their business accomplishments to accumulate such wealth, I wondered when a top-selling magazine would someday publish a list of the spiritually richest people around the globe.

Wouldn’t that be a change—a recognition that possessing the treasures of Spirit ranks above the accumulation of temporal things!

I mused about who might be listed as the spiritually wealthiest in the world, but soon quit for I realized that the riches of the Spirit belong to all of us. No one has anymore of the wealth of Spirit than anyone else.

In Christian Science we are to see everyone as a child of God, as fully endowed with the riches of Spirit without limit. We are to see past the outward picture of materiality to the spiritual reality in Mind, and there we find the truth that lasts forever.

And in Truth, we all are equal benefactors of God’s infinite grace and love!

From a human point of view, the observing eye may see people who do good deeds and spread love as being spiritually wealthier than others who live a self-serving life. And this is true, from an outward point of view. But Christian Science takes us deeper, into Spirit, where every man, woman, and child is the offspring of God, and not the product of an earthly environment or worldly past.

When we look beyond material appraisals to the spiritual truth, every single one of us is as equally wealthy as another. There is one God, and one reflection of that God—the perfect man.

The wealthiest person in the world is the one Person, God, of whom we all reflect in our own individual unique way.

So, rejoice in your birthright. You are rich! You are wealthy! As a child of God, you possess greater wealth than the world can ever offer—the wealth of Truth and Love coming from God, and eternally yours.

You are richer than billions of dollars can ever offer, and wealthier than Forbes magazine could ever measure.

We don’t have to wait for a magazine to publish this good news to be assured of it. We can each live out from it today.

Alleluia!

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.” Jesus Christ

What is true wealth?

One day, the father of a proud and very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how people with little money lived.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On the return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"So, tell me, what did you learn from our visit?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us. They have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "I always thought that we were the wealthy ones, but I think they might be far richer."

Affluenza virus

Excellent article on Yahoo today…

“Beware the Affluenza Virus. An epidemic of mindless consumerism is sweeping the world with the compulsive pursuit of money and possessions making people richer but sadder….”

"We have become addicted to having rather than being and confusing our needs with our wants," said Oliver James, author of a new book coming out titled, “Affluenza.”

Does God want us to be rich?

It’s the feature article in Time magazine this week.

Many popular preachers in mainstream America today preach a prosperity gospel, the lead article claims, promising health and wealth to those who follow their church’s teachings. The reporters query as to whether God intends His followers to be wealthy or not as a reward for faithfulness.

I sighed when I read the article for its premise implied that wealth is measured materially and spiritual success is defined by a worldly status quo.

Are true riches material? I don’t think so.

I find relief in knowing Jesus Christ did not focus on worldly gain and social stature in his ministry. He focused on spiritual growth and commitment. True wealth to Jesus was heavenly, not earthly. It didn’t make any difference to him how much money someone possessed if their heart was in the right place. He loved the rich and the poor.

Perhaps a better question to ask would be, “Do you realize how rich you already are?”

God made us all rich from the beginning—rich with eternal life. Materialism cannot give us anything better.