I must start by making one point very clear: I am thoroughly
and adamantly against the teachings of the “Prosperity Gospel” ( aka The Health
and Wealth Gospel). This is a message that tells us God is akin to a big
vending machine and that if only we would change our thought patterns and have
more faith He will begin raining down bigger houses and fancier cars etc. It is the idea that we are the centre and God
exists to serve us. This “gospel” is not to be found in the New Testament and is
theologically void – it is a false gospel.
Having said that, there is another type of false gospel I am
against and, more importantly, that the Bible refutes. That is “The Doom and
Gloom Gospel”. This message and pattern of thinking is characterized by fear,
guilt, legalism, self-loathing and a general feeling of walking around in
chains. It is something I’ve struggled with most of my life.
The thinking of the Doom and Gloom Gospel is fatalistic and
I fear that many who have experienced it, in a knee jerk reaction, go running
to the opposite extreme of the Prosperity Gospel.
Here are some Bible verses that define and teach against
this unhealthy doom and gloom gospel:
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made perfect in love.
2 Timothy 1:7 For
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which
Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit.
Romans 8:3-32 What then shall we say to these things? If
God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?
And when I spoke of self-loathing above what I mean is that,
although we may hate our flesh (
Romans 7) , we are not to hate our very being.
Although we are commanded to die to self,
we are not to hate ourselves – for that
would be in direct contradiction to God, who loved us so dearly that He sent
His only begotten Son to die for us.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message, the “good news”,
that we must seek. It is the only gospel that will deal with the harsh
realities of life and still fill us with hope and joy and peace for present and
eternity. This Gospel is set against the backdrop of our sinful, broken natures
and world. It is the story of Jesus the Messiah, Son of God incarnate, who died
as a substitutionary death for each of us, was buried and rose again on the
third day as was attested by many witnesses and evidences ( 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8)
As the oft referenced John 3:16 so simply and eloquently puts it:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.
Let us flee from the fallacies of both the Prosperity and the
Doom and Gloom gospels and cling to the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ as clearly
laid out in Scripture. Only here can we reconcile the martyrs of Mosul, the poor
and persecuted around the globe and our own deep heart aches with the essential
human needs for a lasting love and hope and joy.
