Psalm 35:27 *Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant*
*THE EXTREMES*? (D)
Teaching or preaching against what is termed prosperity gospel, doesn't mean I hate prosperity. No right thinking loves poverty. I hate it for many reasons. However, what I am against is a distortion that has promoted greed, manipulation and transactional dealings with God instead of love and genuine worship.
The extremes that comes with the prosperity gospel have so many fault lines that are anti bible and anti apostolic doctrine. They say things Jesus would never say and do things the apostles never did.
*4#. Mocking the poor*
It may surprise you that another extreme of the prosperity gospel is mockery against the poor. In a bid to justify their message for wealth, they subtly or openly mock the poor.
I heard a prosperity preacher say, "Jesus did not visit any poor person. God hates poverty. He hates the poor."
I was not told, I heard and watched a preacher make the statement above. I was surprised such could come out from the mouth of a preacher. The unfortunate thing is that he termed it a revelation. For me, that is mockery& insult against the poor.
Proverbs 17:5 says, *"Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;...*".
If Jesus never visited any poor person or hates the poor, we need to ask If it is the same Jesus that was born in a manger&whose father was a carpenter? Himself did not come from a wealthy family. The wealth of that day was mostly in the hands of the Sadducees and merchants.
In fact, the disciples of Jesus whom he related with were not famous nor wealthy men. They were lowly men(may be except Matthew) and he related with them closely. Peter, Andrew, James, John were into fishing business but they weren't big business men.
In their day, fisher men were employed by wealthy merchants. The fisher men only got a minimal margin of profit. Those kinds of men were the people Jesus related with closely for three and half years. He even visited the mother-in-law of Peter. I don't think she was a wealthy woman.
*Everyone Jesus visited in the bible was for a specific purpose. For Zaccheus, it was Salvific not because he was wealthy. To make our saviour look like hater of poor people and lover of the wealthy is a gross misrepresentation of his personality*.
God loves everyone (poor and rich) equally. His love is not selective regardless of status. If it were, salvation will be for the rich alone. Thank God salvation is free. If it had a price tag, only the rich will be saved.
As a missionary whose evangelistic focus is among rural people most of whom are peasant farmers and poor, If I don't love them the way Christ did, I won't win them to the Lord.
*If a man doesn't love poor people or think they should not be visited or related with, even If he spends his all on the poor as charity, he is still mocking them subtly because his giving is not borne out of love*.
This is Paul's admonition to the rich and wealthy wearing the cloak of arrogance:
Timothy 6:17-19 (NLT)
[17] *Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment*.
[18] *Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others*.
[19] *By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life*.