08/24/2026
The prosperity gospel is a modern theological movement that teaches, in varying degrees, that faith, positive confession, obedience, and especially financial giving can lead to material wealth, physical health, success, and personal advancement.
That is very difficult to reconcile with the central message of the New Testament.
Jesus never promised his followers wealth. In fact, he repeatedly warned about it. He told the rich young ruler to sell what he had and give to the poor. He said, “You cannot serve God and money.” He warned that it is extraordinarily difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. He told his followers not to store up treasures on earth. And when he sent his disciples out to preach, he did not send them out with a formula for becoming prosperous.
He sent them out expecting sacrifice, rejection and persecution.
The apostles weren’t examples of prosperity theology either. Paul describes hunger, beatings, imprisonment, homelessness, danger and deprivation. Peter didn’t tell suffering Christians that sufficient faith would make them financially successful. James absolutely unloads on wealthy people who exploit others. The early church is depicted not as people giving money to religious leaders so God would make them rich, but as believers sharing what they had so people in need could be cared for.
That’s almost the inverse of prosperity theology.
And this is where preachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer become controversial. They aren’t identical, and Meyer in particular shouldn’t simply be treated as doctrinally interchangeable with Copeland or Dollar. But all have faced criticism over teachings or ministries associated to varying degrees with prosperity theology, wealth, giving and extraordinarily affluent ministry lifestyles.
The fundamental theological problem is turning God into a transaction:
Give, and God will give you more.
Believe correctly, and God will make you successful.
Speak prosperity, and prosperity will come.
Sow money into this ministry, and expect a financial harvest.
Christianity says something radically different.
Christianity doesn’t teach, “Follow Jesus and become rich.”
It teaches, “Follow Jesus even if it costs you everything.”
That’s why the Beatitudes are so devastating to prosperity theology. Jesus doesn’t say, “Blessed are the financially successful.” He says blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers and those persecuted because of righteousness.
And look at Jesus himself.
Born into an ordinary family. No palace. No accumulated fortune. No luxury transportation. No enormous personal estate. He associated with the poor, sick and socially marginalized. He washed other people’s feet. He taught generosity. He was arrested, tortured and executed.
If wealth were reliable evidence of God’s favor, the crucified Christ would be the prosperity gospel’s greatest theological problem.
There is also a particularly ugly consequence to prosperity theology: it can turn suffering into an indictment of the person suffering.
You’re poor? Maybe you didn’t have enough faith.
You’re sick? Maybe you didn’t believe hard enough.
Your business failed? Maybe you weren’t speaking victory.
You gave money you couldn’t afford and nothing miraculous happened? Perhaps you need to sow another seed.
But Christianity doesn’t require that explanation. Sometimes faithful people suffer. Jesus suffered. Paul suffered. Peter suffered. Job suffered. The martyrs suffered.
Christian hope isn’t that God owes Christians comfortable lives.
It’s that wealth isn’t the measure of a human being, suffering isn’t evidence that God has abandoned someone, and death itself doesn’t get the final word.
So I wouldn’t say Copeland, Meyer or Dollar literally have “nothing to do with Christianity.” They identify as Christian teachers, use the Bible, preach about Jesus, and have millions of Christian followers. That’s an empirical fact whether someone approves of their theology or not.
But you can make a much stronger and more defensible argument:
Prosperity theology takes some of Christianity’s most radical teachings about wealth, sacrifice, suffering and service and turns them nearly upside down.
Jesus says give to the poor.
Prosperity preaching can become give to the preacher.
Jesus warns about accumulating earthly treasure.
Prosperity preaching can present earthly treasure as evidence of blessing.
Jesus says take up your cross and follow me.
Prosperity preaching too easily becomes follow God and improve your lifestyle.
Those are not minor differences.
They concern what Christianity says discipleship is actually for.
