Prosperity Gospel

The Covenant of Increase, also called the "Prosperity Gospel," broadly refers to an understanding of the covenantal relationship between God and individuals as one that will bless believers insofar as they have faith in God and give to God materially and spiritually. The movement is also referred to as “positive theology” by scholars and authors like Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bright-Sided: How Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (2009). It is difficult to provide a neutral definition of the Prosperity Gospel because it has been defined and defended in many different ways. The emphasis on prosperity and increase finds a good deal of modern expression in evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic churches.

These teachings are also embraced today by members of the Faith Movement, also called the Word of Faith movement. Earlier roots of the movement point to preachers of the North American healing revival movement, including Oral Roberts and Dwight Moody. In the 1950′s, Roberts published a book titled God’s Formula for Success and Prosperity, which developed Biblically-based reasons for gaining materially and spiritually through faith and giving.¹ In the 1970′s, Roberts focused on the idea of achieving material welfare through “seed faith…you sow it, then God will grow it.”² Today, the Lausanne Theology Working Group defines the movement as “the teaching that believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the “sowing of seeds” through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings.³

Offering Plate Attribution: Bill Nicholls, via Wikimedia Commons

The movement today is championed by such preachers as Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen of Texas, Creflo Dollar of Georgia, Joyce Meyer of Missouri, and Paula White of Florida. Living Word’s Pastor Mac Hammond also preaches the Covenant of Increase. One of LWCC’s associated ministries is Kenneth Copeland Ministries, which lists LWCC as the only “Bible-Believing” church in Minnesota in its “church listing” webpage.⁴ Pastor Mac speaks eloquently and at length about the Bible as the backbone of his personal faith and actions, and this extends to his teachings about prosperity. In January and February of 2011, the Pastor launched his annual Stewardship Campaign, which included Sunday sermons about the fundamental importance of stewardship and commitment to the church.

Emphasizing four elements–the commitment to pray, the commitment to serve, the tithe, and the commitment to sow beyond the tithe–the Stewardship Campaign aims to teach the Covenant of Increase to the congregation on both a scriptural and a practical level. In his sermons, Pastor Mac admitted that the campaign received a good deal of backlash and he is “constantly amazed at the resistance in different quarters of the body of Christ and certainly in the world to the message of increase that often is labeled prosperity.”⁵ He continues, saying that it seems to him that, “it would be something people would get excited about.” Both Pastor Mac and Associate Pastor Tim Burt affirmed the need to define and contextualize the terms “prosperity” and “increase” by examining the Bible.⁶

The Scriptural bases for prosperity teachings are varied and are lifted from both Old and New Testament. Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds believers that “it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to get wealth in fulfillment of the covenant that He made on oath with your fathers.” 2 Corinthians entreats the faithful to be cheerful and generous in their giving, and 3 John: 2-4 confirms that “you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” Although much of the Christian world has historically subscribed to an interpretation of Scripture that emphasizes the holiness of poverty and champions an aversion to material possessions, the Prosperity Gospel suggests that the Bible never states that poverty ought to be a goal for Christians. Instead, pastors such as Mac Hammond and Kenneth Copeland point to scriptural passages that refer to material, physical, and spiritual wealth as a gift from God.[8] These blessings are bestowed upon the faithful, as illustrated in Proverbs 22:4, which describes how “the effect of humility is fear of the Lord, wealth, honor and life.” This passage emphasizes the element of reciprocity that underlines much of what Pastor Hammond preaches about the covenantal nature of increase and prosperity. For Pastor Hammond and for others who champion the idea of prosperity, the idea that the Body of Christ will increase in proportion to faith and generosity is covenantally based: The covenant is  “designed to produce increase more and more, not just for you but for your children as well if you have a covenant with Him.”⁷