The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Date: 23.02.2010
Category: Prosperity Gospel
To facilitate a truly global conversation, we ask Christian leaders from around the world to respond to the Global Conversation’s lead articles. These points of view do not necessarily represent Christianity Today magazine or the Lausanne Movement. They are designed to stimulate discussion from all points of the compass and from different segments of the Christian community. Please add your perspective by posting a comment so that we can learn and grow together in the unity of the Spirit.
“Is anyone here poor? No; surely not! We are children of the King of all riches! But I am poor, you murmur? Then, in the name of Christ, cast away all sin! Claim the blessing God has in store for you and you will prosper!”
Sunday after Sunday, in megachurches across Latin America, hundreds of thousands of Christians sit—or sway—through similar pep talks. Weekday after weekday, radio, TV, and Internet broadcasts harangue believers with a “name-and-claim” theology. Desiring, attaining, acquiring, receiving, and accumulating are the dispositions fostered. In these churches, one is forced to ask: are believers ever challenged to take up the cross and follow a Lord who gave away all he was and had, who renounced his divine prerogatives in order to serve and to reconcile his creation with its maker and people with each other? Renouncing, simplifying, denying self, giving, sharing—all core marks of the community of the King—appear to have no space in this gospel of greed.
The ‘apostles’ of prosperity
If in Africa the holy seal of approval to lust, greed, and consumerism is granted by Neo-Pentecostal bishops and archbishops, in Latin America the prophets preachers of prosperity tend to advertise themselves as “apostles,” and “prophets.” Organized in networks, coalitions, and councils, they name and authorize one another with unction from the Lord and proclaim themselves pioneers of a blessed apostolic reform that will transform our continent. As God’s special emissaries, they name and declare prosperity and material wellbeing to individuals, families, and even entire nations.
Power, success, wealth, and health are all wrapped in a tightly secured package that allows no room for questioning, for pain or suffering, for concern about justice, or for awareness of the needs of other people. Self-appointed apostles are accountable to no one in matters theological, financial, or ethical. These “saintly” men—yes, they are all men!—wear, drive, and live in the signs of success according to the rulebook of a consumer society. They so arrogantly witness to God’s favor and set the bar for their followers who are supposed to take pride in and vicariously enjoy the trappings of power.
Seeds of blessing
Like the African leaders Asamoah-Gyadu describes, and with no regard for context, textual or historic, the apostles of prosperity wield biblical texts in order to legitimize their authority and build the religious scaffolding for the idols of our day. One favorite passage they love to twist is 2 Corinthians 9:6: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
In publicly broadcast “prosperity marathons” believers are cajoled—through word and music—into offering not only tithes and generous offerings, but also jewels, cars, and property titles. These are all “seeds” of self-improvement, of better things to come for the giver. They are deal-sealers of economic covenants with God. Given in faith, these become means to purchase God’s over-abundant harvest of blessing. No allusion is made to the fact that Paul is actually encouraging Christians in Corinth to abound not in material goods but in “good works” (v. 8), to set their eyes on generosity not for themselves but for the needy in Jerusalem (v. 13), to see the use of their wealth as form of liturgy—ministry, public service (v. 12)--and to actively participate in an economy not of accumulation and inequality but of sufficiency and justice for all (vv. 8, 13-15).
Good News for none or for all?
The religious legitimization of the pursuit of prosperity, as Asamoah-Gyadu laments, surely leaves little room for the poor. But I am afraid there is no truly good news in a theology of prosperity even for the “upwardly mobile youth” of Africa, Latin America, or anywhere, regardless of how “expressive and exuberant” their worship styles may be! Truly, a personal and communal Christian ethic that draws people away from destructive practices is liberating: it frees people and their many resources—financial included—for service to others.
Certainly the economic measures God institutes for his people—in the desert, under Roman imperialism, and today—are not ones of deprivation. Our creative God is God of abundance, diversity, beauty, and life! And Asamoah-Gyadu rightly affirms that the Bible does not glorify poverty. But I wonder if in a context in which wealth itself is being deified, we can so confidently assert that the Good News of God’s kingdom is not a gospel of poverty. Let me clarify: I am not advocating for the poverty of deprivation and need, but for the poverty of renunciation. In a culture of superfluous expenditure and waste, in a system of over-production and planned obsolescence, in a context in which people are valued and discarded according to their material goods, and in the face of false teaching and blatant disregard for the values of God’s kingdom and God’s justice, perhaps we would do well to stop cranking our prosperity gears and heed the example of yet another saint—Francis of Assisi. In radical followership of Jesus, this young man of the Italian bourgeoisie stripped himself of his wealthy trappings and lived among the lepers and other poor people in order to share the Good News of God’s love for them. Perhaps, like Francis, we should take more seriously the example of another poor, itinerant teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for our sake became poor, so that through his poverty we could be made rich (2 Cor. 8:9). Perhaps, when we do so, we’ll discover and joyfully celebrate the Good News, the abundant wealth of shared goods and life, and right relations with our Creator and with all our fellow creatures!
Ruth Padilla DeBorst is the General Secretary of Latin American Theological Fellowship, director of Ediciones Certeza Unida (the Spanish-speaking publishing house of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), and team leader of Christian Reformed World Mission’s work in El Salvador. She has a master’s in interdisciplinary studies from Wheaton College Graduate School and is pursuing a doctoral degree at Boston University School of Theology.
Keywords: Prosperity Gospel, Latin America, accountability, manipulation, materialism, renunciation, wealth, poverty
Views: 16559
Comments: 28
Recommendations: 3
Conversation Post Comment
Ecuador
On a recent trip back to the United States, I had the opportunity to vist one of the largest American Indian reservations. I spoke with elders and community leaders about the demise of Christian faith on the reservation. Twenty years ago there were 20% of the population who claimed a relationshi with Christ. Now there are less than 4%. When various leaders were asked why they thought this was so, almost all fo them said it was due to the entrance of the prosperity gospel.
18.10.2010
United States
@ Miguel:
I think the prosperity gospel has indeed had a tremendously negative effect on evangelization. Those who are poor often see Christianity as a “rich man’s religion” that is inaccessible to the poor. Those who struggle to overcome poverty must wonder why God has abandoned them because despite their efforts, they are unable to gain material success, therefore, they are not in God’s favor. The prosperity gospel is providing false hope for those who believe the promise that once they accept Christ, they will gain material wealth. Instead, it is only creating another avenue for people to reject Christ based on financial experience instead of Spiritual trust.
21.11.2012
United States
@ Miguel:
It is sad and disappointing to hear that this may be the reason for the decline of Christianity on the reservation. The prosperity Gospel, in my opinion, is offensive, a lie and simply not very Biblical. I find it disturbing to think that there are people inh this world who are not satisfied to know that Christ has given them the greatest gift ever, salvation and eternal life. Now there are people who expect Christ to give them health, wealth and happiness. Perhaps I am missing that in the Gospels. I think that these prosperity Christians are a cancer that is destroying genuine faith in Christ.
02.05.2013
United States
@ dg8074:
I totally agree. The poor who hear this message must wonder why God has abandonded them to their fate. Or perhaps why their prayers have gone unanswered. I find myself wondering whether or not this mistaken and poor theology can be eradicated. Is there any way that we can counter this epidemic that seems to be spreading throughout Christianity? Surly we can open the eyes of some of these people to what the Bible really says.
02.05.2013
United States
You bring up a very thought provoking possibility. What would it be like if those who maintain a gospel of prosperity actually heeded the words of Jesus to go and sell what they have, give to the poor, and then come follow Him (Matthew 19:21). I am afraid there would be a lot less people who claim to be followers of Jesus. Then again, there may be many more, as it would not be seen as exclusive to the wealthy.
21.11.2012
South Africa
Community farms: (Kibbutz)
4 land & wealth redistribution, to evangelise the community: To train, educate, work, live and have a base from where to launch missionaries into the community. A community farm is where the Christians in the community corporately owns the property. Our corporate finances provide 4 cost of the farm, infrastructure & accommodation for those working on farms while they are discipled. Investors, invest directly in the crops to secure food and jobs for the people. Thousands of jobs will be created where people could be evangelise, reconciled, unity restored and worldviews changed to a Biblical one. Farms will act as a place of employment, a basic income, a missionary training School, an orphanage and launching pad to send trained missionaries. Here Christ Jesus will be a way of living where the community will see what we preach!
Three legs: (Operating separately)
1. Accommodation and employers Lodges/Hostels on farms with infrastructure:
2. Education, “Skills” development, Discipleship training & orphanages.
3. Agricultural projects – investment arm. (Project financing). Outside investors.
Full scale business to create a holistic cosmos to the missionary to have the infrastructure needed to live and operate in without lack or limitations.
Shammah Foundation: Marius Brand: Cell 082 9210 275, e-mail - mariba@zsd.co.za. www.koevoet4christ.co.za
20.10.2010
Costa Rica
To Ruth in Heredia, Costa Rica, from another Ruth in Heredia (Sarapiqui), Costa Rica
Muchas gracias por lo que ha dicho.
It was a rude awakening for me when I first came to Central America (to teach stewardship seminars in poor, rural, churches of the Sarapiqui) to find just how pervasive the prosperity perversion of gospel is here. I’ve written about my experiences in comments to the article entitled "From Calvary to Harvesters International" (pardon me if I don’t have that title 100% correct), so I won’t repeat them here.
The proliferation of the prosperity gospel has resulted in my feeling quite isolated from my fellow brothers and sisters in this part of the world. Mercifully, in the jungle where I live, the PG hasn’t taken hold--yet. I guess there’s not enough money here to attract the "apostles." There are advantages to living in an isolated, hard-to-reach region! However, I have friends "outside" (on the river, we have three possible destinations--’abajo,’ down river, ’arriba,’ up river, and ’afuera,’ outside, which is everywhere else in the world). I have attended their encuentros.
So, while the proliferation of PG and its infiltration into this area caught me by surprise, I remain puzzled as to how to respond to one particular element of it. That is, the phenomenon of being "slain in the spirit." The ’apostles’ quote the verse about "when Jesus said to them, "I am here," they stepped back and fell to the ground" (Jn. 18.6). This is the only biblical support I have ever heard. I say, they fell back in front of Jesus, not one of his disciples, and they were not Christians (followers of Jesus) who did the falling. Yet, to a person, at these encuentros, they all obediently fall back. On TV, the apostle waves his hand and the people fall down in unison in the back row. It’s a phenomenon I can’t understand. I say, an encounter with the Holy Spirit of that magnitude would be a life changing event, so where’s the change?
The other thing that took me by surprise when I came here is how little the theologies of liberation (LT) that had swelled from the ground up in Latin America (and in Africa, and from other marginalized, oppressed groups around the globe) seem to have influenced the church. Liberation theology has been blackballed in many circles in the USA, because of political overtones associated with it, and I have seen no serious discussion here in the Global Conversation regarding it either.
However, I believe that the core of LT is true, that God is fundamentally on the side of the poor and oppressed, and that God’s saving acts throughout history are acts of liberation, not just ’salvation of the soul.’
So, from what I have read in these conversations, we have two strains of theology ... the prosperity gospel (that is, mostly what is wrong with it) and the predominant euro-western-minority world theologies and its variations. Where are the alternate voices? I am a bit disappointed to not find them being debated here (okay, maybe they are not in English, or Spanish, or Portuguese, the 3 language I can read).
Que Dios le bendiga,
Ruth
05.10.2010
United Kingdom
@ Ministerios_SIGA:
Thanks for a wise and balanced response - it shows the importance of good theology. I appreciate you may not have easy access to communication tools, but do you have a blog to follow or tweet atall?
06.10.2010
Costa Rica
@ Ministerios_SIGA:
Ruth,
Glad to hear your thoughts! I’d love to hear more about you, your life, your work... Sarapiquí... Why don’t you check out the website or Facebook of the Latin American Theological Fellowship (ftl-al.org)?... You could also e-mail me.
06.10.2010
Costa Rica
@ carlodotcom:
Yes, communications are a bit difficult here, but not impossible. I don’t Tweet, but SIGA Ministry Partners has a Facebook page and I usually update it about once a week.
I don’t blog, but we do have a website, which is
www.sigaministries.org
The website isn’t exactly as I would like yet, but most relevant information is there. I send a e-newsletter about every other month, which I also post on the website.
Bendiciones,
Ruth
ruth@sigaministries.org
07.10.2010
United Kingdom
@ Ministerios_SIGA:
Gracias! I have signed up to your facebook page. You guys are doing a great work - I’ll pray for you!
11.10.2010
Nigeria
@ Ministerios_SIGA:
I sincerly feel your pulse and ask similar if not exactly the same questions. It seems to me that "the gospel of greed" is probably the last illegitimate son of LT. more comments latter, I have to go now...
15.10.2010
Costa Rica
There are many promises in the Bible about prosperity. I guess one problem is how we define it. According to one dictionary I consulted, to “prosper” means to be fortunate or successful; to thrive; to flourish. Yet when we say that someone is prosperous, we usually mean that he is financially well-to-do. One can prosper and have very little money at the same time.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10, NKJV), so what about “abundance?” Jesus promises an abundant life, not an abundant income. His own life reflects a complete lack of concern about financial prosperity. If we are to be his disciples, if we are to model our lives after his, then it should not be our focus either.
It is better to be trustworthy with what we have been given rather than obsessed with gaining more. An obsession with increasing our wealth ignores our call to be faithful stewards of what we already have. Are we faithfully managing God’s resources in a manner pleasing to him? Jesus put it this way: “how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?” (Mk. 8.36).
The other problem with the prosperity gospel is it assumes that prosperity (in the materialistic sense of the word) is a sign of God’s blessing and approval. During the Prophet Amos’ time, the people of Israel were living in an era of peace and great prosperity. They assumed that all of this was because God approved of them, all the while ignoring God’s own commands to be honest and merciful and generous. They saw what they wanted to see and were blind to the truth. God sent Amos to warn Israel that disaster would be on its way, unless they mended their ways. The Israelites scoffed at Amos. They had both summer and winter homes, homes of ivory, vineyards and all of the luxuries they could acquire. Their rationale was that their opulence was a sign that God was pleased with their religiosity. Amos sounded the alarm, but they ignored the warnings because they didn’t want to hear it. I suspect that they knew that if they listened to God, it would have cost them something. Instead, it cost them much more. God allowed them to be conquered and taken into captivity.
Another problem with the prosperity message is that it assumes that God actually wants us all to be wealthy. What does God say he wants? He wants us to “not worship any other gods” (Dt. 5.7). He wants us to “live for him and make the Kingdom of God [our] primary concern” (Mt. 6.33). He wants us to want whatever it is that he wants for us. When we get away from that, we get into trouble.
While there is nothing wrong with wealth in the sense that, if God provides it (which would mean that it was not gained by exploiting the poor, using ’dishonest scales’ in business dealings, etc.) then one should be humbled by it, but not be ashamed of it. To be humbled by it means that we realize it all belongs to God (Ps. 24.1) so our job, as stewards (administrators), is to use whatever resources that God has given us according to the wishes of its rightful owner, to further his kingdom on earth, and not for our own self-indulgent purposes.
For fear of being criticized, I guess, most churches fail to teach about stewardship in the holistic sense of the word (that is, stewardship involves who we are, what we do with our time, our relationships, our talents, as well as our economic resources and possessions), so many are completely ignorant of what it means. It means, when it is all summed up, being and living faithfully.
09.10.2010
Lebanon
I think both directions are wrong,when christian talk about rich and wealth and also wwhen they talk about sickness and poverity....most of the christian leader today who take one of these direction ..they do it for commercial,or emotional motivations....if we look carfully to the bible and specifically to the life of christ we will discover easily that never an issue...God is concern mainly to our hearts and our relationship with Him...
As a christian ,yes we need to have a mercfully heart as the samertain..to help any one as God put us in his that mans way..As a christion we need to think of other too not to be selfish or greedy..we need to help as much as we can and we need to have balance in our lives and alwys remmber we are jusst stwards for Gods money
In all that we must concentrat in our main mission .."message of reconcelation"..invit people..the rich and the poor..to reconel with God ..we need to be balance...as it is very easy to concentrate of secial and humen activities and forget our main mission
06.10.2010
Costa Rica
@ samimorg:
Dear brother,
I don’t think it’s a matter of "Either-or". A reconciled relationship with God necessarily leads to and demands a reconciled relationship with other people and with the entire creation. The Good News of Jesus Christ leaves no area of life untouched!
06.10.2010
Lebanon
@ rpadilladeborst:
I agree with you ,as a christian we must be mercfull,reflecting Gods heart toward needy people...bur we need to be balance doing that by helping needy people to be reconcil with God and dont let the greed,jealousy or bitterness control thier heart and help them to accept what they have ,working hard to change it with peacful heart,surrending all to God who knows heart of people
07.10.2010
Lebanon
@ rpadilladeborst:
Ruth ,Romeo...just like to share with you what Thomas McDill wrote in an article in the Evangelical Beacon many years back "" Jesus put it well when He said "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ We may feed the hungry,care for the sick,minister to the lonely,devise social programs to meet some of the social ills,and all of this should be done.but unless spiritual needs are met,people will chase after "false gods" and follow false messiahs to try and fulfill the deep longings of the human heart"
the failure of the church to consistently and adequately provide spiritual food to meet man.s needs is one of the biggest tragedies of our times.On the one hand,there has been a decline of expository preaching in the pulpits of our churchs.On the other hand,many churches have moved away from the Biblical principles and traditional values that are so essential to man,s spiritual hunger and psychological needs.
08.10.2010
Guatemala
Our God is not a God that treats people in one area of their life alone. He is a God that wants us whole.
Having said this...
We have to know what prosperity really means...to some prosperity is somethings to other other things!
What I know is that if we obey the Word of God the result has to be prosperity... not half way obey it... but Obey it... Everything we do will be prospered... In our relationships we will have prosperity, in our health we will have prosperity, in our family we will have prosperity, in our finances we will have prosperity, etc....
The result of not only listening but being doers of the Word is that...
I don´t have to be thinking about money, health, etc..., I just do what the Word says to do and the Result is Prosperity!!!!
Anybody can say anything they want or have their opinion!! But the thruth is The Word of God is The Word!! is the final Word
Everytime we want an answer... Lets go to the Word!
Can anybody argue againts the Word of God!
Romeo Estuardo Guerra
Guatemala
07.10.2010
Lebanon
@ Romeo_Estuardo_Guerra_Lemus:
Hi Romeo
Sorry but i have a big problem with your statment...or correct me if i didnt understand it correctly
You said ..if we obey Gods words we will have prosperity in all areas of our lives..our relationships,our family life,our health and our financial too..i cnat find any thing like that in my bible"The word of God"..i didnt see it in the life neither words of Jusus Christ,i didnt see in the life of the Apostles..or in the life of the saints in the church history or even today
Ruth..in that subject i have one observation and two concerns and three assurances
Observation:: life of Christ...His main concern was to change people heart... Jusus did few mircales to change people health or financial issues...but not musch ..i wonder why???
Two concerns: 1-If the church today concentrate on that issue (of prosperity and health) ..it can be easly miss its main goal and mission of inviting people to reconcil with God throu Jesus
second concern : those who we try to serve them will have disappointment..because the results will never met thhhhier expectations..and they will never care about right relationship with God...we will make them selfish..thinking only how we can serve them to meet thier needs
3 ausserances
first aussarance; God knows...He knows everything about everybody..his health,wealth,poverity,marriage and family life..he knows
second assurance ; Gods wisdom....so all His choices..what He does and what he doesnt ...when He does things and when He doesnt ...all under His control and his eternal wisdom
third assurance ..the most important one as it is clear in the Bible and as He promise....one day he will make everything right...one day under the new heaven and in the new earth ,nobody will have a need..no health problem neither financial problem
07.10.2010
United States
Ruth, I am Sam Bandela, a missionary too to unreached or to least reached or the most neglected groups of people in India. I want you to know that, I truly enjoyed reading your article. God bless you and your mission efforts. If Christians remains as "Christains" it says a whole lot to the communities. There are those who JUST like to preach but DON’T LIKE TO PRACTICE what they preach.
10.09.2010
Costa Rica
@ samuelbandela:
May God be with you, dear brother, and encourage us all to live what we preach so that the people may know God’s love and good purposes for the whole of creation!
06.10.2010
Kenya
I tried to post what seemed to explain this phenomenon,in part at least, in another conversation. That is - related to the African context.
That is, that in Africa there is a very widespred ethic of equality. This means that who-ever has, must share. This ’ethic’ causes a lot of difficulties in modern times. It really ’worked’ at the time when there were no surpluses or consumer goods. But, people hang on to it, as it is kind of what defines it to be human.
According to the above ethic, no one should ever become more wealthy than anyone else. In practice, those who acquire(d) wealth would take out ’protection’ to stop ’attacks’ (such as evil eye, i.e. of witchcraft; of jealousy) from impinging on their wealth.
Christianity has come hand in hand with massive increases in wealth. This has brought people a lot of heartache, and challenged the old ethic of ’equality’. One solution has been simple - to ’make out that’ having wealth produces wealth. Then, someone need no longer feel guilty at ’having wealth’, as it has become a means of getting wealth to others. To an extent of course, it works. That is - the pastor who has a car is the one who will receive a visit from a wealthy westerner, and who will get more money, and that money will ’filter down’ to others in some ways.
Hence prosperity gospel. It arises from the impact of the Gospel on a particular context. It must be resolved from within that context.
16.07.2010
Nigeria
@ Jim_Harries:
It still beats my imagination what part of Africa has this "ethic". This is completly untrue and unreal. There is rather a communual responsibility where ones strength is displayed in bringing up the community (matri-lineally or patri-lineally). Yes, those who have are required to share but not to create an equality or a communism or commonality. Even in communual land ownership, the stronger still get larger portions according to their strength (ability to cultivate). Your view of Africa does not exist either historically or contemporarily.
While lamenting the evil in the prosperity gospel with its AmericOriental instant mentality and brainstorming to minimize or eliminate its impact. It seems to me as if focusing on it is an unnecessary distraction that could be avoided, especially because the people involved are not being addressed as they are NOT here.
20.07.2010
Kenya
@ besoman:
I think Mbah has an important point here. The prosperity gospel, as (I think) I have tried to point out in other places, is an ‘internal’ issue to Africa, understood from the inside etc. In that sense, ‘outsiders’ will not ‘understand’ it, and thus not be able to resolve it?
Except, that there are some simple ways of attempting to ‘tackle it’, such as not practicing it. This is where what we are calling ‘vulnerable mission’ comes in; in which we are encouraging WESTERNERS involved in mission to ‘subdue’ the link between prosperity and gospel by having some of them actually engage in mission in the Third World without using foreign languages and resources. This is at the moment (I believe) very difficult to find, and results in Western mission efforts frequently accentuating the prosperity Gospel.
Mbah says he does not see the ‘ethic’ that I describe. Perspective here is all important. I am in some ways not surprised that Mbah doesn’t see it (although in other ways I am surprised). But, this discussion is being engaged in English, and therefore I assume that the presupposed context is that of USA / UK. From that context, I think it is helpful to say to Brits / Americans that there is an ‘ethic of equality’ in much of the continent.
Maybe my mentioning ‘contextual truth’ is not clear? Let me try to explain this in a simple way. John’s children all like reading, and spend 2 hours per day reading books. David’s family do not like reading, and only one of their family called Peter reads books, then for only 15 minutes per day. David could rightly say that ‘Peter reads a lot’, but John would not say this of Peter. So it is very difficult to speak across cultural gulfs.
This difficulty calls for an authentic discussion to occur in each ‘context’. It is not very legitimate for people from Germany (for arguments sake) to tell the church in Ghana what to do, or vice versa. This will result in confusion. This communication issue is obviously a big one for the global church as a whole. This is one reason I have already advocated elsewhere, that ecclesial discussions outside of the West not be in Western languages.
But the church IS a global body. The Lausanne conference itself indicates this, as does the fact of the dependence of the African church (as the African continent as a whole) on Western money. This needs much wisdom and humility and is a very delicate situation to be in. I think that powerful players need to be especially careful so as to not to unintentionally monopolise.
20.07.2010
Nigeria
@ Jim_Harries:
Thanks Jim for acknowledging, "But the church IS a global body" and turning round to talk obout dependence. Why don’t you examine the ’dependence’ in your physical body and brainstorm on how to apply ’vulnerable principles’ on your person. On the equality ethic that you want to West to swallow without showing how or where it operates, there is an almost universal principle that says "all fingers are not equal". This is a maxim even in Africa. We have kings and servants and even caste systems where some people are regarded as less than human.
You suggest that the local expressions of the Church should be independent. Okay, but we must watch the body dynamics. I wonder what will happen if the hadns stop taking DIRECTIVES from the brain (I hope I’m right there). Remember BABEL.
21.07.2010
United Kingdom
I didn’t realise how endemic it was in Latin America. And what makes me sad too is that we in the West are probably guilty of exporting this gospel to the region.
Perhaps to balance this there is space for an article sharing about the good things that are happening in churches in the region too? Where is a more Christlike gospel being preached?
16.07.2010
Ireland
Thank you for your article, which shows the sad reality in many places in Latin America. In my last visit to Buenos Aires, I was saddened by how the poor are abused not only by those who do not know the gospel but by those who claim to proclaim it. A friend of mine, who is not attending any church was sharing with me how she, with limited financial resources, trying to look after an elderly mother would go to church only to see her pastors arriving in the latest car models, living in very comfortable homes while most of the congregation are finding hard to make ends meet but they are asked to give more money to church.
Something is definitely wrong.
By the way I had the privilige of having lunch with your parents a few years ago, it was a blessing.
13.07.2010
Kenya
Hi Ruth, A great post. Important challenges. It is indeed amazing how the prosperity gospel is spreading ... Thanks.
24.06.2010
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