My news feed has seen an uptick in the
number of articles, mentions, and comments of some popular televangelists. A
few weeks ago I watched as John Oliver, on his show Last Week Tonight, skewered
some of these preachers for the use of private jets. Oliver was mocking the
justification that these preachers used to validate their use of private jets
as “preaching machines” and questioning the tax-exempt status that these
ministries enjoy, as the jets were purchased with money that came in from
donations to the ministry. The evangelists that were profiled would typically be identified as “prosperity gospel” adherents, which is a term used to describe
preachers who spend the majority of their instruction on convincing the
listener that God wants them to be financially blessed and prosperous, and that
God is willing to provide these blessings to those individuals who “sow” into
the Lord's work a certain dollar amount.
It is not my intention, at least not
right now, to go point by point through the theological and biblical issues of
this particular brand of preaching. So, for the sake of argument, let’s assume
that the theology is sound, and that individuals can receive God’s financial blessings through a faith-empowered
giving of money to a ministry. Let’s assume that there is a direct financial benefit to
those individuals who decide to give their money, in faith of course, to the
ministry that these men lead. So if it is true that God is ready and
willing to return a financial benefit to those individuals that give, in faith,
to the work of God, then it follows that this benefit would come regardless of
which God-honoring ministry receives the donation. Now, while I am sure that these pastors have a healthy self image, I doubt that they would be willing to go as far as to say that theirs is the only ministry that God has established as valid and worthy of financial support. The work of God is not bound
by the size or location of the ministry, but you would be excused for thinking
otherwise by the rhetoric of the some of the televangelists.
When we look in the context of the giving
of financial resources in the early church we see that it always took place in
the local community of believers. There does not appear to be a significant
amount of financial resources being sent by individuals who were members of the
church in Ephesus to the church leaders in Philippi. Paul’s instruction to the
early church regarding offerings and giving was always in the context of local
ministry and local needs. This doesn’t mean that we should only give to our
local church, but it does imply the prioritization of local ministries
Therefore I would like to challenge the
televangelists to begin to encourage those who listen to their teachings to
“sow” into their local church or a ministry that directly impacts the
neighborhood in which the giver lives. This course of instruction would serve to not
only show that the teachers do not think themselves more special or deserving
of financial support than other God-ordained ministries, but to also allow the
sowing and reaping of financial resources to impact those with whom the giver
is more likely to have personal influence. I would also encourage those that follow
the teachings of these preachers to ask themselves, “Does this teacher ever
encourage me to give to my local church or ministry?, and if they do not, is it possible,
that the preacher is more interested in your money than in your blessing?
