My Way News - Questions Surround TV Preacher Inquiry
AP reports: "All the ministries preach a form of Word of Faith theology, known as prosperity gospel, which effectively teaches that God wants believers to be rich."

Comment: I've filed this post under the False Christs and Persecution labels because it's arguably an example of both. It's persecution because the government should not be singling out certain religions for special treatment. Why are the politicians only going after Christians? Are there no suspect Buddhist, Islamic or Jewish groups that may fall under the purview of this Senate investigation?

I've also filed the post under the False Christs label because these ministries are preaching a false image of Jesus. The Bible teaches two important things about wealth: wealth is a gift from God that should be used with wisdom to help others, as a good steward would use the property entrusted to him by his master, it is not for hoarding or for self-aggrandizement; and, wealth is a spiritual snare that can trap you and cause you to become too concerned with the things of this world and distract you from thinking about more spiritual matters. Wealth is a tool, it can be used for good or ill, but the lust for wealth and the love of money is always evil, and these prosperity theology teachers tap into that lust for wealth to sell their religious product.

Does Jesus want you to be rich? Let's use the word of God (Matthew 19:24, NIV) to answer that question:

24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

And don't forget Matthew 6:24 (NIV) which is equally as clear:

24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

There are many other scripture passages I could quote, but I think the point is made, tapping into the human desire for wealth in order to preach the Gospel is a duplicitous move on the part of these ministries, they should know better, and when they don't disavow prosperity theology and warn their followers of the spiritual dangers of wealth then that is a tacit acknowledgment that they are bent more on enriching themselves rather than the Kingdom of Heaven.