Sorry folks--my blog entries have been nonexistent this month. Life's been pretty crazy, what with the opening of Elliott St. services (which are going very well) and work has been keeping me hopping. Guess that's a good thing, right?

Did any of you see Time a couple weeks ago? The cover article jumped out at me: "Does God Want You To Be Rich?" For those of you who don't know, I grew up hearing that God did indeed want you to be rich and healthy and have all the good stuff this side of heaven could provide. Prosperity Theology is what it's often referred to as; Name It and Claim It or Blab It and Grab It are some less-flattering descriptions. Apparently the message has softened just a bit since I was hearing it--proponents of it like Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer won't usually go so far as to say God wants you rich, but they will say that God wants you to be happy and have good things in life. The author (who did a fine job on the article) also quoted more mainstream pastors like Rick Warren, who basically think the whole concept is a bunch of bunk.

Here's my major problem with all of this (and I have plenty): Who's at the center of this faith? Is Christ? Well, he's mentioned, and he's the one who makes this stuff possible, but it's not his desires I'm really worried about, unless they are good for me. Other people? Only so much as they have stuff that I think is good. Nope--the center of this faith is me. I want, nay need to be rich! I need to be healthy! I want all the good stuff of this life because I believe that Jesus owes it to me! Prosperity Theology is all about me. And frankly, that's the kind of life I want to leave behind, and that Christ calls us to toss for His sake.

I'm more and more beginning to think that truth and freedom actually lies in the opposite direction of Prosperity. Those who preach this stuff (at least the big names) are often doing so in front of huge, packed crowds, while wearing Armani suits and patent leather shoes. When they're done, they head into their 3000 square foot office with mahogany furniture and oak floors, and then drive their Bentleys back to the 25,000 square foot ranch house they had built on the side of a mountain overlooking a lake. They claim that Christ is their teacher, and that he wants them to have this stuff. Yet Christ, the Son of God, was born in a backwoods barn and was raised in subsistence. When he went into his fulltime ministry, he gave up any semblance of a paying career, and wandered the countryside as a homeless itinerant. He refused the honor (and probable wealth) of a crowd's adoration, choosing instead to tick people off by hanging out with those who had it worse than he did (mind you, this is a broke, homeless wanderer). This is the life we're called to model, and I believe this is the abundant life we're promised--one where we loose everything and gain more.

I could ramble about this for a long time, but you probably don't want to read that.  Maybe I'll write more later if you are so inclined. God in Christ calls us to loose ourselves in the service of Him and the people around us. If and when we start doing that, we won't have time for wealth--we'll be too busy really living to want it, anyway.

(Oh, if you want to read the Time article that sparked this, go here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1533448-1,00.html )