Christians and "The Prosperity Gospel"

Last night I watched an episode of the new History Channel program Vikings. In this episode the priests convince a man to become a human sacrifice in order to keep the gods happy so that the gods will continue to bless his family and friends (not a part of the Verizon “friends & family” plan). As offensive as we might find this idea today, we are still not far removed from this kind of magical thinking.

I then went over to CBN (The Christian Broadcasting Network) and listened as a woman gave her pitch for why viewers should give money to CBN, even if they are experiencing their own severe financial problems. The main point she made is that you have to show Faith by contributing to The 700 Club first, before you can get your miracle. Her example was a family that recently was deeply in debt and nearing bankruptcy. The family contacted CBN & The 700 Club, and they all prayed over this financial debt. They also got credit counselors to contact their creditors to ask for more time, a discount on the amount owed, etc.

Needless to say, the family’s support of CBN was rewarded the very next day when the family got a letter from the bank saying that the bank was dropping its attempt to collect on their second mortgage. Thanks to God’s help (and the amazing charity of this bank) the family saved over $100,000!!!! Yes God does work in mysterious ways.

I won’t be so crass as to suggest that the letter from the bank had to be already in the mail when the family sat down to pray. The Rev. Jerry Falwell once claimed that God did not perform such chronological magic, but I am inclined to believe that God has power over time & space and absolutely He can do whatever his followers believe He can do.

However, I am more inclined to believe that the bank decided, for its own reasons, that the debt could not be collected and that “forgiveness” was its only legal option, as going to court was both expensive and pointless. You can’t get blood out of a turnip — even a Christian turnip.

I might be inclined to ignore The 700 Club’s crass shakedown of its viewers. Except that, some years ago, The 700 Club contacted my mother-in-law to talk to her about healing her heart problem. They promised to prey (oops, I meant pray) over her and got her to contribute a check to support their ministry. A few years later she went in for surgery to perform a heart bypass and her heart, quite literally, fell apart in the surgeon’s hands. She died in terrible pain a few days later.

She was a wonderful woman, and we all loved her very much. Of course she’s not around to say how prayer failed her, in part by causing her to delay getting the medical help she needed, back when it might have saved her life.