So, Do Health & Wealth Preachers Want You to Go to Hell?

I know this topic has been covered by some of the greatest writers and most eloquent speakers, but I just have to ponder the sheer absurdity of the Prosperity Gospel.  In the DFW area, I'm surrounded by churches, many of which are truly wonderful gatherings of believers, who truly desire to worship and serve.  But, then there are those...

That's right.  You know what I'm talking about.  The "Health & Wealth" churches.  Those "plant your seed of faith" churches that want you to somehow believe that God is some sort of cosmic mutual fund with dividends and returns in the 10,000% range.  Those "feel-good, ear-tickling" churches that want you to think that the greater your faith, the more car and house you can afford.

Of course, this is all complete nonsense.  There isn't a single verse in the Bible, when read in its appropriate context, that indicates that God's plan for His people is fabulous wealth (this side of Heaven, at least).  But, I think there is something even more invidious about these charlatans that present themselves as preachers of The Word.  Let's look at Mark 10:17-27.

¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁸ “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good but One—God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments:

Do not murder;
do not commit adultery;
do not steal;
do not bear false witness;
do not defraud;
honor your father and mother.” 

²⁰ He said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

²¹ Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²² But he was stunned at this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
²³ Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁶ So they were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?”
²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.” (HCSB)

So what part of this passage of Jesus's own words indicate that it is part of God's grand plan for His faithful followers to amass great worldly wealth?  It would almost seem to me that "Health & Wealth" ministers, in fact, want their followers to have an even more difficult time entering the Kingdom of Heaven.  Or, to put it another way, these purveyors of the Prosperity Gospel want to increase the probability that their followers end up enduring an Eternity of Hell.

All right, maybe that's a bit extreme, but in effect, if you believe the above passage to be true, you have to wonder what kind of enormous disservice they are doing to their congregations.

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