The Porpoise-Driven Life
For my Christmas List...
"Just like Prosperity preaching, the Porpoise-driven life uses all kinds of bible translations to make you feel like it's truly biblical..."
(hat tip to Religion in American History)
The Bible Triumphant
Methoblogger John Meunier posted a week or so ago the parallel between Joel Osteen's creed about the Bible...and the creed of the Marine Corps Rifleman (Get your Bible, Get your Rifle). He didn't know how to respond to it, so I'm offering to do so now! ;-)
If you've ever watched Osteen on TV or in person, the spectators at his parish hold their bibles in the air and recite with him Lakewood Church's Creed.
“This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I do what it says I can do, I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living seed of God, and I will never be the same. Never, never, never. I will never be the same. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”In comparison, the Rifleman's Creed in the Marine Corps has a similar tone (though it is more complex)
“This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than the enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit.What strikes me most is not the violence in the Rifleman's Creed (which is understandable), but the shared imagery of triumphalism.
“My rifle is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.
“Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
“So be it, until victory is America’s and there is no enemy.”
The triumph of Christ is evident in the marketing techniques used by Lakewood. From a white paper on the "business" of Lakewood (PDF):
[Osteen] raises his bible up in his right hand while reciting his creed. The upraised gesture symbolizes victory and championship. The image almost looks as if he won an Olympic metal. This reinforces Lakewood’s slogan that explicitly encourages championshipCompare this to the last line of the Rifleman's Creed:
...
Lakewood’s catchy slogan is “At Lakewood, Discover the Champion in You!”
“So be it, until victory is America’s and there is no enemy.”Creeds and liturgies affirm and state what the community believes. They are descriptive, but in some ways they become proscriptive. By holding a bible up in your hand and reciting a rousing creed, a call to arms, then the bible becomes the tool by which triumph is achieved. In Constantinian times it was conversion by the sword. In contemporary times, it is conversion by marketing.
I am weary of triumphalism (anyone remember the "God Is On Our Side" documentary back in 2004?). While I have no problems with the theological assertion that victory over death is true...the fruits (the effects) of such a way of framing that promise are often anything but humbly listening to the Spirit. From the article linked above:
This is the problem of Christian triumphalism - it sees only success and believes in a God that generates that success. Any troubling evidence that all is not right is ignored. The personal and financial scandals of fundamentalist preachers are conveniently swept under the carpet. This is not a religion that lives by confession and forgiveness: It is a religion that knows that it is in the right, period. Jerry Falwell must be the smuggest man on earth. Instead of God being “other”, the one who is over and against us, God is on the side of the believer to whom he gives an absolute moral stance and a privileged insight into how the world works.My friend Mike Slack has written much about Lakewood seeing only success. Read it here. Suffice to say, a God who wants you to be rich or prosperous definitely wants you to triumph over everyone else, not necessarily live in harmony with one another...especially since we will "win" in the end.
I believe in a God who does give us assurance. But God does not give us faith to rub it in others faces. I believe in a God who wants us to converse with one another, and find shared companionship on our journeys. Manifestations of Christian triumphalism, whether in a huge parish like Lakewood or my small congregation, that sound like a call to arms point more to the sickness in that community rather than the presence of the Holy Spirit.
What do you think?
- How do we walk the line of faith and assurance without rubbing it in people's faces?
- In what ways are the chest-beating assurance turning people away from Christianity more than they are thinking "I want to be a part of that team?"
- If you are not Christian, what role does this kind of triumphilism play in your perceptions of Christianity?
How Great I Am [video]
In honor of John's "Prosperity Gospel Praise " post, here's another one of a similar vein: Songs for the MeChurch
Hilariously biting satire.
In case you missed John's post, here's Prosperity Gospel Praise:
Personally, I'm waiting for the "Intimacy with Jesus" praise songs parody. Any takers (other than Southpark)?
The Prosperity Gospel owes me 700 billion dollars
Time Magazine has a feature article asking "Maybe We Should Blame God for the Subprime Mess?"
Blame God for not making dollars fall from the sky?
Well, not exactly...but they do ask if the Prosperity Gospel had something to do with it.
While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California Riverside, he realized that Prosperity's central promise -- that God would "make a way" for poor people to enjoy the better things in life -- had developed an additional, toxic expression during sub-prime boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe "God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house." The results, he says, "were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers."But the best line is next. This line really drives home the danger of the Prosperity Gospel when tied to greedy unregulated banking practices.
Others think he may be right. Says Anthea Butler, an expert in pentecostalism at the University of Rochester in New York state, "The pastor's not gonna say 'go down to Wachovia and get a loan' but I have heard, 'even if you have a poor credit rating God can still bless you -- if you put some faith out there [that is, make a big donation to the church], you'll get that house, or that car or that apartment.'"
Adds J. Lee Grady, editor of the magazine Charisma, "It definitely goes on, that a preacher might say, 'if you give this offering, God will give you a house. And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy." If so, the situation offers a look at how an native-born faith built partially on American economic optimism entered into a toxic symbiosis with a pathological market.I'm with Andrew Sullivan and Rod Dreher on this one. The Prosperity Gospel is neither. Read on for more...
The Time piece quoted above is a followup to a previous in-depth article they did "Does God Want You to Be Rich?" They outline the current manifestation of Prosperity Gospel here:
For several decades, a philosophy has been percolating in the 10 million--strong Pentecostal wing of Christianity that seems to turn the Gospels' passage on its head: certainly, it allows, Christians should keep one eye on heaven. But the new good news is that God doesn't want us to wait. Known (or vilified) under a variety of names--Word of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It, Prosperity Theology--its emphasis is on God's promised generosity in this life and the ability of believers to claim it for themselves.
In a nutshell, it suggests that a God who loves you does not want you to be broke. Its signature verse could be John 10: 10: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." In a TIME poll, 17% of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while a full 61% believed that God wants people to be prosperous. And 31%--a far higher percentage than there are Pentecostals in America--agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money.There's an element of "risk" that pervades the Prosperity Gospel, making God's blessings like a casino or a high-stakes poker game. If you aren't willing to play big, you'll never win big.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather not play that way. And apparently there are hundreds, if not thousands of Americans, who trusted in this belief system, who interpreted an accepted loan application as a sign from God, and then were unable to sustain it and may lose their home or car or job.
Is that really Good News we can tell people?
Thoughts on the Prosperity Gospel? Or on the article?
Formulas of Wesleyan Grace and Prosperity Gospel
In a preaching class on Tuesday, I figured out the formula for the Prosperity Gospel and how it is the polar opposite to the Wesleyan formula.
Here's the elements:
- (A) = Works
- (B) = Blessings
- If you give money (Prosperity), invoke the name of Jesus Christ (Name it claim it), or change your thoughts to God's thoughts (Joel Osteen), then you will be blessed!
- Given that we already have prevenient grace, we are already blessed people. And we respond to that blessing through justification and sanctification, through WORKS!
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