David Van Biema AND Jeff Chu of Time Magazine write an engaging cover story on the resurgence of prosperity theology among evangelicals. The authors claim the (aberrant) teaching has spread beyond its Pentacostal base:
“In a Time poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%—a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America—agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money.”
The theory proposed is that Prosperity Theology fell upon hard times in the 1980s with the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. But it reemerged in a format specifically calibrated for the common man, with the heavy self-help emphasis of men like Joel Osteen–a “Prosperity Lite” teaching, some would claim.
“Gone are the divine profit-to-earnings ratios, the requests for offerings far above a normal 10% tithe (although many of the new breed continue to insist that congregants tithe on their pretax rather than their net income). What remains is a materialism framed in a kind of Tony Robbins positivism. No one exemplifies this better than Osteen, who ran his father’s television-production department until John died in 1999. ‘Joel has learned from his dad, but he has toned it back and tapped into basic, everyday folks’ ways of talking,’ says Ben Phillips, a theology professor at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.”
The Time writers do a good job of showing how prosperity thinkers attempt to build their theology from passages such as Malachi 3:10: “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby 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.”
The article talks a lot about Osteen but also mentions T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House in south Dallas as well as Creflo Dollar’s World Changers near Atlanta. Happily, I do not think Osteen is conveyed in a positive light. Toward the end of the article, they say: “And Osteen’s version [of Prosperity Theology]…..may strike some as self-centered rather than God centered.”
As detractors of Prosperity Lite, Rick Warren, Ben Witherington, Ron Sider, and Michael Spencer are all mentioned if not quoted. The point is made that critics of prosperity thinking can be found among conservative and progressive evangelicals. But more space is devoted to pastors who advocate prosperity thinking, at least some degree, with details of their philanthropy also discussed. For example, Houston’s Methodist megapastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, who gave the benediction at both of George W. Bush’s Inaugurals, recently oversaw the building of Corinthian Pointe, a 452-unit affordable-housing project that he claims is the largest residential subdivision ever built by a nonprofit. Most of its inhabitants, he says, are not members of his church.
On a whole, I found the article fair and balanced, though I would have liked to see someone like a John Piper quoted. Piper has written eloquently on evangelicalism’s capitulation to worldliness in loving God’s gifts more than The Giver in God is the Gospel (among other works). Though the article left me feeling embarrassed, I am thankful for the sober reminder of the way many in our culture view evangelicals. Read the whole thing (only members can log in). If you don’t subscribe to Time, here is a summary from CNN writers (who are under the same management as Time-Warner).
Update: Dr. Albert Mohler weighs in on the issue.