Comments on: From sackcloth to riches

By: Oxford Huguenot

Oxford Huguenot — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:40:24 +0000

Yes indeed. The verse I quoted actually continues: “but give me only my daily bread”. This is what it means for Solomon to be neither rich nor poor. It is not abnormal to re-evaluate this somewhat in our societies; but the fact that so many Christians would never regard themselves as rich might be even more worrying than the fact that they actually are.

Mr. Booth has the right perspective: start not from the average, but from nothing — and so see everything that you have as a gift to be received with gratitude, rather than a step to close the gap with what you believe yourself to be entitled to.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:32:18 +0000

There is a helpful discussion on Witherington's 'blog; one commenter observed:

"But I am rich. My family lives in an 1,800 square foot condo. We have running water, air-conditioning, and two cars! From a human perspective, there is zero prospect that we will not have food to eat, clothes to wear, and adequate medical care for the rest of our lives." --- David Booth

By: Oxford Huguenot

Oxford Huguenot — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 18:36:40 +0000

Absolutely. As always, the Bible has it all; you just need to look it up!: “give me neither poverty nor riches” (Proverbs 30:8). This said, the emphasis in the Western world ought to be seriously laid on the “nor riches” bit, I reckon.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:17:14 +0000

Thank you, Rosie, for your thoughts. I think you may have the right of it. I was certainly confused by Witherington's statement that the prosperity gospel "really does not preach well in impoverished countries like Zimbabwe where I go to teach and preach from time to time." I think there is much that is not right in what Witherington said. For example, he lists ten reasons why God doesn't want Christians to be wealthy. But, as others have pointed out, we must be careful not to steer so far away from the reef of the prosperity gospel that we are caught by the rip-tide of intentional poverty. Wealth can be a blessing from God. But the core of Witherington's point is a good one, well encapsulated in these words from Rich Warren, quoted in the Time article:

"This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?", [Rick] Warren snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It’s creating a false idol. You don’t measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn’t everyone in the church a millionaire?"

By: Rosie

Rosie — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:25:03 +0000

Have been enjoying reading your blog – very thought-provoking. However I’d take issue with the assertion that prosperity gospel is not appealing in places of abject poverty – I came across the most extreme version of it I’ve ever encountered in Liberia, currently too poor to even make it onto the UN rankings of comparative national affluence. I winced through sermon after sermon of promises of material gain, and freedom from sickness (even freedom from rain!) if only we would claim it in Christ. I particularly remember one scene of being told to recite with the pastor “I’m the head, not the tail!” repeatedly whilst miming the actions… Needless to say we didn’t. However it might be worth blaming all this on the lack of theological training available in the poorest nations, rather than any particular economic appeal of the prosperity gospel.