Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 15:2 (Fall 2011)
Article: Does God Want You to Be Rich? A Practical Theologian’s Response to the Gospel of Prosperity
Author: Gregory K. Hollifield

JMAT 15:2 (Fall 2011) p. 25

Does God Want You to Be Rich?
A Practical Theologian’s
Response to the Gospel of Prosperity

Dr. Gregory K. Hollifield

Associate Professor of Christian Ministry
Victory University, Memphis, Tennessee

Introduction1

By training, trade, and temperament I am a practical theologian. In a lighter moment I will explain that means that I am a “jack-of-all trades and king of none” in a department devoted to the study of the Bible and theology. In a more serious vein I will suggest that my discipline concerns itself with the practical application of Scripture and theology in the local church. Put another way, we practical theologians are constantly analyzing the practices of the church, questioning whether they are biblically and theologically sound.

To be more precise, I am a practical theologian whose terminal degree concentrated on the study of homiletics. Consequently, I am most concerned about the church’s preaching. Sound biblical preaching is a primary contributor to and indicator of any church’s health.

Knowing my background explains why my attention was arrested by the September 18, 2006, edition of Time magazine with its provocative cover question “Does God Want You to be Rich?” The accompanying article reported:

Of the four biggest megachurches in the country, three—[Joel] Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston; T. D. Jakes’ Potter’s House

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in south Dallas; and Creflo Dollar’s World Changers near Atlanta— are Prosperity or Prosperity Lite pulpits. … While they don’t exclusively teach that God’s riches want to be in believers’ wallets, it is a key part of their doctrine.2

Here is a teaching that has presumably contributed to the growth of these congregations. A practical theologian such as I must ask, “Is this a good thing?” Is the Prosperity Gospel, a.k.a., Word of Faith Movement, Word-Faith Movement, Health and Wealth Gospel, and Positive Confession, a biblical message that God has blessed with significant church growth, or is it a modern-day fulfillment of Paul’s warning to Timothy—”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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim 4:3-4)?3

Is the Prosperity Gospel theologically so...