The Prosperity Movement

Read an excerpt from CRISIS IN THE VILLAGE: RESTORING HOPE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES by Robert M. Franklin (Augsburg Fortress, 2007):

I am convinced that the single greatest threat to the historical legacy and core values of the contemporary black church tradition is posed by what is known as the prosperity gospel movement. That movement, however, is only symptomatic of a larger mission crisis or "mission drift" that has placed the black church in the posture of assimilating into a culture that is hostile to people living on the margins of society, such as people living in poverty, people living with AIDS, homosexuals, and immigrants.

I regard this to be the fundamental challenge for the church. It is not a new challenge. Christians have grappled with their relationship to material goods and opportunities in this world since the first century. But in our era something new and different has emerged. Today, prominent, influential, and attractive preachers and representatives of the church now are advocates for prosperity. Perhaps this could only occur at a time and in a place where two conditions exist. First, Christianity is the dominant faith tradition; second, the nation permits and rewards extraordinary inequalities of wealth and power. This new face of an old problem constitutes the crux of the church's mission crisis.

The gospel of assimilation provides sacred sanction for personal greed, obsessive materialism, and unchecked narcissism. That distorted gospel dares not risk a critique of the culture and systems that thrive in the presence of a morally anemic church. This is more than a concern about the encroachment of the prosperity gospel movement that receives so much negative attention. Rather, this is a more thorough and comprehensive distortion of the religion of Jesus.

To be a successful (different from faithful) pastor in today's world is to confront the ever-present temptation to sell one's soul, compromising one's vocation and ethical responsibilities, in exchange for or access to wealth. One Houston-based minister observed that when the church gets a mortgage, poor people become just another church program. Poor people were central to Jesus' own self-definition, but they are often relegated to one of many service programs of today's corporate church, simply another item on the services menu.

Most pastors are under pressure to become large figures, people of importance. Many religious leaders are preoccupied with establishing a large footprint in the soil of history. They are expected to build great sanctuaries and establish great works that will outlive them. Biblical scholar Michael Joseph Brown observes, "We live in a society that evaluates success on the basis of numbers. Many denominations and congregations have adopted a corporate mindset. I liken it to the fast food industry where the number of patrons served is the measure of success. In my more cynical moments, I expect to be driving down the street one day and pass a church sign that reads: 'Over 2000 Members Served.' Congregation size, income, number of services are possible byproducts of ministerial excellence. They do not constitute excellence in themselves."