Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world

(1 John 4:1 NIV)

Before we can give serious attention to this statement, we must first define the term prosperity preachers. Different ministries have different approaches to presenting the gospel. For example, relief organizations meet the physical needs of the destitute while giving the credit to Jesus. Some could interpret that approach as preaching prosperity, because many impoverished people equate Christianity with Western prosperity.

They may respond to the gospel message while their real motivation is to be prosperous. However, for most relief organizations, meeting physical needs is merely a part of ministering to the whole person. It is a means by which Christians earn the right to speak to the spiritual needs of hurting people. But in prosperity preaching, Jesus is presented as a ticket to perfect health and financial wealth. The true gospel is stripped of its focus on eternity and reduced to a means by which everyone can experience his or her best life now. It is that message we will address.

In the Old Testament, God speaks a lot about blessing His servants with earthly health, wealth, and honor. For example, Genesis 13:2; Leviticus 26:3-12; Deuteronomy 7:11-15; 1 Kings 3:11-14. Material blessings were part of the Mosaic and Land Covenants for Israel. However, the New Testament focus is on eternal, not earthly, rewards.

Not every preacher who teaches the joy of blessing is a prosperity preacher. God does promise blessing to those who serve Him faithfully and follow His statutes. “For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good” (Psalms 107:9 NASB). And take a look at this verse: “Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life’” (Mark 10:29-30 NASB).

But a preacher who presents God as a means by which we can obtain earthly wealth is a prosperity preacher and a false teacher. This teaching portrays Almighty God as a type of jolly Santa Claus whose primary purpose is to prosper human beings and make their dreams come true. In prosperity preaching, man, not God, is the real star. Prosperity teachers use terms such as faith, positive confession, or visualization to “release” the abundance God has in store. Often such preachers will entice listeners to “sow seeds into this ministry,” promising abundant returns on this investment. The gospel becomes little more than a repackaged get-rich-quick scheme, with the ministers becoming richer than the listeners.

Often, an invitation to accept Christ is given at the conclusion of a service that has been based solely around blessing and positivity. Despite the overwhelming responses to the invitation, one has to wonder: are the responders surrendering to the Jesus of the Bible or to a new and improved version of themselves? The shift from truth to error can be subtle, and some well-meaning preachers have been caught up in it. We must be careful not to judge a preacher’s entire message by only one or two sermons. However, when blatant prosperity preaching dominates a speaker’s platform, this is merely an attempt to make greed and materialism sound spiritual. “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5 NASB).

This should be a wake-up call with strong words for greedy people. While we should ask God to provide for our needs and expect Him to do so, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NASB), Jesus warned us not to stockpile earthly wealth. Rather, we should “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys” (Luke 12:33 NASB).

The imbalanced focus of prosperity preachers on earthly treasure is in direct contrast to the many passages that warn us not to desire riches. “A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him” (Proverbs 28:22 NASB). First Timothy speaks directly to this kind of teaching: “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:8-10 NASB).

When earthly wealth is our focus, we are not following the teachings of Scripture. If the quest for prosperity dominates a preacher’s message, he or she may be someone about whom Scripture warns. The following are some common traits of many prosperity preachers or false teachers. The core of his or her messages is always God’s desire to bless everyone. There is little, if any, mention of Jesus’ words about the denial of self. Self-denial must always take up our crosses, a profound statement of dying to the flesh. “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me’” (Luke 9:23 NASB).

There has been a subtle shift within Christianity toward a version of the gospel that the apostles would not recognize. People are becoming biblically illiterate and are thus easily swayed by preachers who appear to know Scripture but who are perverting it to make it sound more appealing. These are the preachers who attract huge crowds, just as Jesus did when He fed the thousands (Matthew 14:21) and when He healed the sick. “And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was” (Mark 1:34 NASB). And we know that He performed miracles (John 6:2).

But when Jesus began to teach the hard truths of the gospel, “As a result of this many of His so-called disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66 NASB). Waning popularity did not cause Jesus to water down His message. He continued to teach the truth whether people liked it or not. “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (John 8:29 NASB).

Likewise, the apostle Paul exonerated himself before the Ephesians with these words: “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:26-27 NASB). If today’s prosperity teachers would follow the patterns of Jesus and Paul, they could be confident that their works will not be burned up on judgment day. “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NASB).

Obedience to God’s commands is rarely mentioned as a prerequisite to His blessing (Jeremiah 18:10). The prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all. It is a perversion that makes much of man and little of God. It promises health and wealth while ignoring the call to take up our cross. It attracts crowds while producing shallow converts. It enriches the teachers while impoverishing the hearers spiritually.

We must test the spirits. We must know the Word well enough to recognize when it is being twisted. We must be willing to follow Jesus even when the hard truths He teaches cause the crowds to walk away. The true gospel does not promise ease and prosperity in this life. It promises persecution, self-denial, and a cross to carry. But it also promises something far better than earthly riches: eternal life with Christ, treasure in heaven that neither thief nor moth can touch, and the approval of God on the day when all works are tested by fire. That is a gospel worth preaching, and a gospel worth believing.