What Glenn Writes

Just as my readership seems to be picking up, I come up with an edgy article I find myself in an internal debate about posting. This post may offend a few readers, which means I may lose a few readers. However, if I am careful to clearly separate my opinions from truth, perhaps we can weed out the ugliness from my opinions and allow me to apologize for them. If the truth offends, then no matter how carefully I present it, the truth is still the truth and requires no apology.

Let’s begin with some opinions. Since this article is regarding money, let’s start with my opinion on money:

America really has some of the most ugly money in the world, but at least it is serious money. When you look at American dollars, we’re looking at currency that clearly means business. A quick look at some currency from other countries and we have color, style, and unique looking bills, but I’m not sure they are as serious as the US dollar.

When the US dollar goes into a meeting, right away you know it is a business meeting and not some frilly meeting about climate control or whether to have mauve colored napkins at the next banquet (although nothing is near as appealing than teal colored cloth napkins on a white tablecloth with fresh flower centerpieces, or so I am told). There is just a plain seriousness about the look of the American dollar, even if some of the pictures include men wearing wigs. Yet, seriousness aside, it is still ugly.

Now I know I have some readers from Russia, Germany, Canada, and a few places I cannot pronounce, for which I apologize in advance. I guess I could “tell you” I can pronounce your country’s name, but I would be lying and I don’t think that would be good for our relationship. And, since I’m trying to build readership, I’m not out to start our relationship on the wrong foot, so I’m telling you I’m just being honest. And, I’m also kind of saying your money doesn’t look like it is as serious as American money, but at least it’s cute.

Yes, you have cute money. Now, that’s a compliment because I’m also sharing an opinion about my own country’s money, which is very ugly money. So, I think this sort of makes us even.

Funny though, when you think about it: Why do so many people work so hard to collect something as ugly (or cute) as money? Why are people willing to work so hard for it, lie for it, cheat for it, go to prison for it, fight for it, kill for it, give up their children for it, and even marry Donald Trump for it? Why are people willing to go to war over it? Come on people, it is nothing but ugly paper! (…or cute paper, but still paper!)

This is where I am being careful to separate my opinion from the truth. My opinion is the American dollar is ugly, but serious. My opinion about the currency in other countries is quite a few countries have cute money, but not near as serious. If these opinions offend you, then please allow me to apologize.

Now, let’s look at some truths. This is where I’m not going to apologize so much… actually, I’m not going to apologize at all. 

The cold hard truth about money is not only will people lie, cheat, steal, kill, fight, and give up so many other things for it, there are also people willing to distort the gospel over this piece of ugly business.

Ok, here we go for the offensive truth: The prosperity gospel is false.

Did you just hear that sound? That was my readership hitting rock bottom as email deliveries are canceled and blog subscriptions are deleted.

Some folks may not know what I mean when I refer to the prosperity gospel. Simply put, the prosperity gospel is the religious belief centered on the notion that God provides material prosperity for those He favors, and furthermore that believers have the right to these “rich blessings” through their positive confessions of faith, tithes, and offerings.

Let’s note the above description, as defined by Wikipedia, identifies the prosperity gospel as a religious belief; religion being the methods or practices of man that may or may not be Scripturally based. This is an important distinction. Religion is of man; faith is of God. There are baseball players with the religious belief that wearing the same socks throughout the season helps them win games – clearly a practice not Scripturally based, but classic religion.

In truth, and here is where we lay out the real truth, Scripture speaks against the prosperity gospel (although it is fairly silent on the baseball sock religion). Paul addressed this very controversy and warned against it in his letter to Timothy. 

1 Timothy 6:3-5

If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

Paul is warning Timothy about men of a corrupt mind “…who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” In these three verses, he explains why the teaching of this false doctrine is so wrong, as it results “… in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men.”

Think about it: If someone continues to hear the prosperity gospel taught each week and focus on the expectation of money and wealth, this will eventually lead to envy and strife when the perceived expectations are not met. This challenging situation is a result of concentrating on the external instead of the internal. 

This false doctrine is taught by taking select verses of Scripture and twisting the meaning, manipulating God’s Words. This is a very real and serious problem. This dangerous practice can turn Scripture away from faith and toward religion where man controls the rules and the law, where even suicide can be justified. As an example, if you take a portion of Matthew 27:5, “So Judas… went away and hanged himself” and combine it with the numerous verses where we are taught to “…go and do the same…” and the problem becomes more evident. This, byt the way, is an example of twisting God’s Word to mean what you want it to mean and in no way should be construed as suggesting Scripture supports the idea of suicide (that’s a subject for another article).

Typically, the vicious circle created by the lies of this doctrine provide a paradox where the very people preaching are the ones who benefit and portray the results on the backs of those entrusted to their care. To the extreme extent, “Send me your money so God will bless you” is not a common cry, but the underlying flavor of each of their teachings. In a land where we want to get rich quick, gain wealth without work, and want to find the easy path, these sort of teachings are willingly accepted in anticipation of the false promises or unreachable rewards.

Why? This is also addressed in Scripture. 2 Timothy 4:3 explains:

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Forget about the sound doctrine that forces me to address my selfishness, grudges, and forgiveness issues; forget about the sound doctrine that builds relationships and the strength of relationships; and instead, tell me what I want to hear to make me feel good about myself and my focus on money. Give me what I want and make me feel good about it.
 
Ah… the ugly truth, and most likely not a very popular truth. You may not agree with my opinion regarding ugly and cute money, which is fine as this is only an opinion. However, if you do not agree with the truth, not matter how unpopular it may be, it remains the truth.

Just because a million people like a bad idea, it is still a bad idea – just a very popular bad idea.

I do not and cannot find truth in the prosperity gospel teachings. What about you? What do you think? Add your comments below.

Glenn Sasscer

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www.glennsasscer.com