Trying to fight for more that moth and rust!

Given the recent publicity of the prosperity movement and their high flying jet propeled, luxury intoxicated, materialistic message I found this article much needed for myself and to a mainly "American", "Western"church body.

Why are we a people who's gospel message has turned God into a cash machine instead of the Glorious Reedemer who has reconciled us with God.
Why have we become a church who's desire for gold dust and abundance and signs to validate our ministry more than the name of Christ being spread to all peoples and all nations! We seek so often self stuff more than spending ouselves to clothe and feed to poor, to care for the widows and orphans and the sick who are dying of AIDS and genocide and sin and are perishing to a real, eternal hell.
Prosperity preaching is a Western thing, and while most believe it's history is rooted in pentacolsalism, it's true origin is from E.W Kenyon on positive confession and the christian science movements. It is a message that rarely exists in other cultures where people are not surrounded by over-abundance and consumerism.
In the recent press release in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about a local prosperity preacher and accuastions that were made about possible missuse of funds, this pastors response gave no Biblical references, no Biblical reasoning was given to expalin why christian pastors and churches should be obsessed with wealth and prosperity, abundance, things...gold....dust... things that moth and rust destroy.
Instead we were told that materialism and the gospel are not at odds as he spoke about his need for designer clothes to preach well to his congregation and his speeding tickets in his 80,000 Porsche. At the end of the message his church of 4000+ gave him a standing ovation.

I'm not sure what someone with this view would say in response to some of the texts in the New Testament that clearly seem to aim at our pursuing of materialism.

“Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be mydisciple” (Luke 14:33).

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through thiscraving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselveswith many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

“Let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have to give to himwho is in need” (Ephesians 4:28).

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what youhave, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we canconfidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man doto me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rustdestroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselvestreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and wherethieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19).

They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked byt he . . . riches . . . of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke8:14).

Yet many follow them...Why????
Their message sounds good if your treasure is the same as this worlds, but is not based on the whole of scripture but instead out of proof texts that can hold no water when held up with the whole of scripture.
Simply put it's an easy message to believe. God wants me rich!!!
Who wouldn't want a god like that? Who in their sinful state doesn't covet shiny things like cars and beachfront luxury condos? Isn't that what every actor in Hollywood lives and what is sold to us as the dream we all want, The American dream.
(check out the great lyrics to the new Switchfoot song "American Dream" below article)
It takes no spiritual anything for someone to believe a message like that.
(I'm one of the Kings kids and the Kings kids only have the best)
We must be on guard and expose the evil of this self consumed, materialism filled, psudo gospel.

It is everywhere and nearly all of the church says nothing!!!! I think it's more concrening than even Relativism, Emergent, Mormonism, Islam or what have you, due to the fact it's in the Trojan Horse that the "church" has tolerated quite long.

Take for example Pastor Kenneth Copeland's recent call for you and I to help him get a new airplane http://www.elitecxteam.org/

These men and women are shouting from the rooftops, the television shows, the internet and every other form of communication available to get us to buy into this gospel. They have some of the best selling books and the largest churches in the world.

What are we to do as they seek to sell this message to us and our friends and families?

If this is a psudo gospel which Paul warns us to be on guard for (which I beleive it is) these people who follow it will truely be living their best lives now and perish in the end if their true love is not Christ but riches and stuff, and they will then prove that they never truely treasured Christ but the things they thought they recieved from his hand.

I find that sad due to the fact I know many who believe this message, and will not seriously look into it's errors. What are we do? Pray, Pray, Pray, Earnestly!

My encouragement is that we get to know this message and it's deceitfullness so that when you encounter those teachers and followers who are all around us (it's the fastest growing part of "christianity") we will be able to explain the hope of the true Gospel.
The Gospel that gives us abundant grace, the gospel that through Christ our sins are forgiven, the just wrath of the Father is removed! Justice is now restored! Our debt has been paid! Eternal life is Christ! Life is a vapor & Christ is our all satisfying true and lasting treasure! This message must be proclaimed as our hearts will overflow with love for Christ. This real gospel can not help but produce followers who spend themselves going or sending those to preach & teach and spread through outreach & missions the hope filled, Christ treasuring Gospel who so many have given their lives for, joyfully!

Though we all struggle much, this true Gospel cannot produce self seeking, accumulation driven people who spend themselves in a whitewashed materialsim that is baptized in a superficial spiritualism.

We are heirs of Christ, lets not settle for little, small, temporary treasures that moth and rust destroy!

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2007/1993_Prosperity_Preaching_Deceitful_and_Deadly/

Prosperity Preaching: Deceitful and Deadly
john piper
When I read about prosperity-preaching churches, my response is: "If I were not on the inside of Christianity, I wouldn't want in." In other words, if this is the message of Jesus, no thank you.
Luring people to Christ to get rich is both deceitful and deadly. It's deceitful because when Jesus himself called us, he said things like: "Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). And it's deadly because the desire to be rich plunges "people into ruin and destruction" (1 Timothy 6:9). So here is my plea to preachers of the gospel.
1. Don't develop a philosophy of ministry that makes it harder for people to get into heaven.
Jesus said, "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" His disciples were astonished, as many in the "prosperity" movement should be. So Jesus went on to raise their astonishment even higher by saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." They respond in disbelief: "Then who can be saved?" Jesus says, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:23-27).
My question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry focus that makes it harder for people to enter heaven?
2. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that kindles suicidal desires in people.
Paul said, "There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." But then he warned against the desire to be rich. And by implication, he warned against preachers who stir up the desire to be rich instead of helping people get rid of it. He warned, "Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs" (1 Timothy 6:6-10).
So my question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry that encourages people to pierce themselves with many pangs and plunge themselves into ruin and destruction?
3. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that encourages vulnerability to moth and rust.
Jesus warns against the effort to lay up treasures on earth. That is, he tells us to be givers, not keepers. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19).
Yes, we all keep something. But given the built-in tendency toward greed in all of us, why would we take the focus off Jesus and turn it upside down?
4. Don't develop a philosophy of ministry that makes hard work a means of amassing wealth.
Paul said we should not steal. The alternative was hard work with our own hands. But the main purpose was not merely to hoard or even to have. The purpose was "to have to give." "Let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have to give to him who is in need" (Ephesians 4:28). This is not a justification for being rich in order to give more. It is a call to make more and keep less so you can give more. There is no reason why a person who makes $200,000 should live any differently from the way a person who makes $80,000 lives. Find a wartime lifestyle; cap your expenditures; then give the rest away.
Why would you want to encourage people to think that they should possess wealth in order to be a lavish giver? Why not encourage them to keep their lives more simple and be an even more lavish giver? Would that not add to their generosity a strong testimony that Christ, and not possessions, is their treasure?
5. Don't develop a philosophy of ministry that promotes less faith in the promises of God to be for us what money can't be.
The reason the writer to the Hebrews tells us to be content with what we have is that the opposite implies less faith in the promises of God. He says, "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:5-6).
If the Bible tells us that being content with what we have honors the promise of God never to forsake us, why would we want to teach people to want to be rich?
6. Don't develop a philosophy of ministry that contributes to your people being choked to death.
Jesus warns that the word of God, which is meant to give us life, can be choked off from any effectiveness by riches. He says it is like a seed that grows up among thorns that choke it to death: "They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the . . . riches . . . of life, and their fruit does not mature" (Luke 8:14).
Why would we want to encourage people to pursue the very thing that Jesus warns will choke us to death?
7. Don't develop a philosophy of ministry that takes the seasoning out of the salt and puts the light under a basket.
What is it about Christians that makes them the salt of the earth and the light of the world? It is not wealth. The desire for wealth and the pursuit of wealth tastes and looks just like the world. It does not offer the world anything different from what it already believes in. The great tragedy of prosperity-preaching is that a person does not have to be spiritually awakened in order to embrace it; one needs only to be greedy. Getting rich in the name of Jesus is not the salt of the earth or the light of the world. In this, the world simply sees a reflection of itself. And if it works, they will buy it.
The context of Jesus' saying shows us what the salt and light are. They are the joyful willingness to suffering for Christ. Here is what Jesus said, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:11-14).
What will make the world taste (the salt) and see (the light) of Christ in us is not that we love wealth the same way they do. Rather, it will be the willingness and the ability of Christians to love others through suffering, all the while rejoicing because their reward is in heaven with Jesus. This is inexplicable on human terms. This is supernatural. But to attract people with promises of prosperity is simply natural. It is not the message of Jesus. It is not what he died to achieve.

Switchfoot - American Dream!
When success is equated with excessThe ambition for excess wrecks usAs top of the mind becomes the bottom lineWhen success is equated with excessIf you're time ain't be nothing for moneyI start to feel really bad for you honeyMaybe honey put you're money where your mouth's been runningIf you're time ain't be nothing but moneyI want out of this machineIt doesn't feel like freedom(chorus)This ain't my American dreamI want to live and die for bigger thingsI'm tired of fighting for just meThis ain't my American dreamWhen success is equated with excessWhen we're fighting for the beamer, the lexusAs the heart and soul breathing the company goalsWhere success is equated with excessI want out of this machineIt doesn't feel like freedom(chorus)Cause baby's always talkin 'bout a ringAnd talk has always been the cheapest thingIs it true would you do what I want you toIf I show up with the right amount of bling?Like a puppet on a monetary stringMaybe we've been caught singingRed, white, blue, and greenBut that ain't my America,That ain't my American dream