The apostle Peter describes false teachers: “And in their greed they will exploit you with false words” (2 Peter 2:3).
The Bible describes false teachers in several ways, but one of the most consistent characteristics of a false teacher is that his or her life is marked by greed.
In the prosperity gospel, Christ is not the end, but merely a means to an end: the accumulation of more and more wealth.
Serving as the head of the recently established White House Faith Office, “pastor” Paula White is
one of the leading proponents of Word of Faith theology, otherwise known as the “prosperity gospel.” The Word of Faith movement is an aberrant form of Christianity. It asserts that all Christians should enjoy financial prosperity and physical healing provided they have sufficient faith and sow enough “seed” (i.e., monetary offerings) in a preacher’s ministry. Sow enough “seed” to reap a “harvest.”
Prosperity preachers misuse biblical texts to promise parishioners as much as a “hundredfold return” on their offerings. Mark 4:8, for example, states, “And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Just a little logic makes the prosperity interpretation laughable.
If you give $100 and receive $10,000 in return, then sow that $10,000 and receive $10,000,000 in return, it would not take many “harvest” cycles before you could pay off the national debt. The seed mentioned in Mark 4:8 is not even about money. The seed is the word of God that yields a spiritual harvest in the hearts of those prepared to receive it. But Word of Faith preachers never let the Bible get in the way of their lucrative theology.
Paula White is no stranger to such manipulative Bible twisting.
In videos posted before her recent appointment, White has told people to sow $133 based on Proverbs 1:33 and $91 based on Psalm 91 or even $1,144 based on John 11:44. She promises her followers that if they sow these specific dollar amounts in her ministry, they will receive the corresponding blessings mentioned therein.
This is utter foolishness. Chapter divisions and verse numbers were not added to the Bible until the Middle Ages to facilitate easy navigation of the scriptures. The written text is inspired, but the chapter divisions and verse numbers are not. Besides Paula White and countless other prosperity preachers using them to fleece their followers, they have no spiritual significance whatsoever.
One might think that Paula White’s elevated profile from her appointment by President Donald Trump might cause her to be more cautious about shamelessly exploiting people for money.
But one would be wrong.
In late March, White generated controversy once again because she appeared to promise followers the “7 Blessings of Passover.”
These seven blessings are:
- An angel assigned to you.
- God will be an enemy to your enemies.
- Financial prosperity.
- Healing from sickness.
- A long life.
- Increase.
- A special year of blessing.
She suggested sowing varying dollar amounts: a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $1,000.
Though White never
explicitly said that these seven blessings would be yours in exchange for money, it was certainly implied. At one point a narrator quotes Deuteronomy 16:16, “None shall appear before the Lord empty-handed,” before urging viewers to sow their “best Passover offering.” The narrator then states, “Don’t miss your moment to release seven supernatural blessings and provision into your life.” White follows up, saying, “I believe when you honor God on Passover … you can receive these seven supernatural blessings for you and your house.”
Despite White receiving significant backlash on social media for her video, she posted an almost identical one on April 13. “I believe God for miracles during this time because God is faithful to His word. So get ready to experience the supernatural blessing of this time as we honor God,” she
says in the video.
In other words: You “honor God” by giving money to Paula White.
If you sow financial seed to Paula White, God will give you these seven blessings. Need money? Give what you have to Paula. Need healing? Give your money to Paula. Do you or a family member — possibly one of your own children — have a serious physical condition like cancer? Well, you’ll need to sow a
big seed for that. The bigger miracle you need, the bigger monetary seed you better sow.
Like all Word of Faith and prosperity gospel preachers, Paula White tries to disguise her greed. She says, “Now we’re not buying a miracle; we’re not doing any of that ‘Jesus junk.’” But her attempt is in vain. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is obvious to everyone observing that it is still a pig.
The Bible says much about how we should care for the poor and the widows. Prosperity preachers like Paula White exploit them and, to add sin upon sin, do so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus reserved His most blistering rebukes for false teachers who distort scripture and “devour widows’ homes” (Luke 20:46-45).
Paula White takes the most sacred Christian holy day, Resurrection Sunday, and turns it into an opportunity for her to stuff her already bulging coffers.
In the prosperity gospel, Christ is not the end, but merely a means to an end: the accumulation of more and more wealth.
Please do not misunderstand: There is nothing inherently wrong with being wealthy, nor is there anything inherently honorable in being poor. There is nothing wrong with adequately compensating men who serve as pastors — this, in fact, is biblical (1 Timothy 5:17-18).
But it is completely wrong to twist scripture and exploit the poor and the sick to fund a lifestyle of luxury. It is wrong when Paula White tells people to give her money before they even pay their light bill because you can’t expect the electric company to heal your child.
Jesus did not come to this earth to put an end to financial poverty. He plainly stated, “The poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11). Jesus did not even come to put an end to sickness and disease — that will only be realized for believers on the other side of heaven, not here. Jesus came to this earth to put an end to sin and the wrath of God that it incurs.
God the Son, uncreated and fully God from eternity past, took on a human nature at Bethlehem. Jesus Christ was one person with two distinct natures: He is truly God and truly man. As the God-man, Jesus gave His perfect life on the cross as a perfect sacrifice to perfectly satisfy God’s wrath that burns against sin.
Jesus did not die on the cross so that we can have a perfect life, but so that we can be saved from God’s perfect wrath (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Then on the third day, He was bodily raised from the dead, proving Himself to be who He said He was: God in human flesh. The only way to have the wrath of God removed is to turn (i.e., repent) from sin and place your full trust in Christ and what He accomplished with His one-time, never-to-be-repeated sacrifice on Calvary’s tree (Hebrews 10:10, 12).
False teachers have been a problem in the church since its inception. In fact, of the 27 books in the New Testament, 26 of them directly warn about false doctrine and/or false teachers. Not only are false teachers marked by greed, but scripture also describes them as “caring only for themselves” (Jude 12).
Greed combined with a lack of care for others is a dangerous combination indeed.
