The Opposite of the Health and Wealth Gospel

One of the major problems in the charismatic movement at the moment is what is variously referred to as ‘The Health and Wealth Gospel’ or ‘The Prosperity Gospel’. These phrases are essentially synonymous. But what does this kind of teaching actually consist of, and why do I and many others within and without the charismatic movement think it is such a problem?

The health and wealth gospel comes in a variety of forms and in a spectrum of severity from mild and subtle to overt and egregious. The ‘health’ side of things usually revolves around the teaching that God always wants to heal every individual of every health issue all the time, and that we have immediate access to this healing and need to access it by activating our faith in some way. The ‘wealth’ side of things teaches that God wants all of his people to have large amounts of money at all times, and that, again, we already in some way have this blessing, we just need to access it by activating our faith. Mild and subtle examples may sound like “God wants everyone to always have more than enough so that they can be generous and live well.” In many ways this sounds reasonable, God is after all a good father who cares for his children. But, as I will explain below, these kinds of teachings make unbiblical assumptions and mischaracterize the gospel in not only incorrect, but dangerous ways. Overt and egregious examples oftentimes consist of well known Christian leaders with Instagram accounts charting their high end dining, land rovers, first class plane tickets and massive homes.

One way to tackle this biblically and theologically is to look at specific verses, such as Philippians 4:13. This famous verse “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (ESV) is not a one-size-fits-all declaration that Jesus will help us overcome anything and everything. Contextually Paul is specifically discussing the fact that Christ enables him to be content whether he has enough food, money, clothing, shelter etc or whether he does not. Paul doesn’t say here, ‘God will always make sure I will be overflowing with financial provision.’ In fact, he advocates contentment when not having enough! This of course does not mean that we shouldn’t work to relieve those suffering in poverty, but it does mean that Paul has a much bigger view of God and his gospel than his own personal comfort.

So, to finally get to the title of this blog post, what is the opposite of the health and wealth gospel? Why is it so dangerous and what is the correct biblical alternative? My personal answer to this question is: mystical union with Christ. What on earth do I mean by that? Let’s start by looking at Galatians 2:20 in the ESV: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Many biblical scholars now suggest that union with Christ, oftentimes described as being “in Christ” is one of Paul’s key motifs. When a person comes to Christ they do not necessarily receive the blessings of immediate physical health and financial prosperity. Instead, we start by being co-crucified. Ouch, that sounds painful! It is one Greek verb that is translated “I have been crucified with”. The Greek grammar makes it clear that this is not an in-the-past-only event. When we come to Christ we are spiritually included in his death on the cross, our old sinful self is killed, and each and every day from then onward we continue to live in the state of having been co-crucified with Christ. The result of this is that the risen Christ comes to life within us. Each day we suffer Christ's death, and enjoy his resurrection life. The former leads to the latter. This is what Albert Schweitzer, the great German polymath, called Paul’s theology of mystical union with Christ.

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God is certainly a good father who wants to heal the sick and provide for our needs, and he does certainly want to bless us, but he has a very different idea of what will truly bless us and what will ultimately destroy us. When we make God’s character and his gospel primarily about us having lots of money and being physically healthy all the time, we turn God into another human method of obtaining more pleasure and comfort, rather like a good career or a close human friend. The problem with this is that it makes God's existence about us rather than our existence about God. The health and wealth gospel also inverts God’s redemptive strategy for saving, sanctifying and blessing us. It is only when we submit to a life of continual co-crucifixion with Christ, to dying to ourselves, to making our lives not about ourselves but about Christ and other people, that we actually obtain contentment and peace and joy. We can only share in Christ’s resurrection life in this life and the next if we first submit to joining him in his suffering and death. It is another example of the ‘upside down kingdom’. Jesus didn’t say in Matthew 16:25 (ESV) and elsewhere “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” because he enjoys making us miserable! He said it because this is the path to true blessing! If the old us isn’t continually being crucified with Christ, there will not be as much experience of Christ’s resurrection life within us. Death leads to life. The health and wealth gospel is an attempt to save our lives and a refusal to lose them for Christ. It gets God’s pattern of death to life the wrong way around, it contravenes Gods’ cruciform or cross-shaped plan to truly heal us and truly make us ‘wealthy’. Consider Paul’s stunning language in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” Isn’t it interesting that one of the things that secular psychologists sometimes encourage people experiencing depression to do is to volunteer with a charity? God created human beings to be flourishing when they are not focused ultimately on themselves but on Him and other people. This doesn’t mean we don’t show kindness and compassion to ourselves, but it does mean that we resist the Genesis 3, fall-of-humanity impulse to live primarily for our own appetites. Before the fall, selfishness was an unnatural thing for a human being to do, because to worship God and love each other was known to be the self’s highest good. It is only after the fall that selfishness becomes the norm.

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To conclude: None of this means that we stop believing and asking God to heal the sick and to provide for our needs. This is not a pro-illness or pro-poverty blog post! I am a full-on charismatic who believes that Christ heals today! It is, however, a call to understand and accept the cross-shaped, death-to-life shape of a gospel that is more about God, his glory and goodness, than our desire to be comfortable and ‘happy’.