Is Prosperity Gospel cruelly capitalizing on the coronavirus?

Photo credit: © GettyImages /natasaadzic

As the entire world faces a public health and economic challenge like none of us have ever seen, we can, sadly, see the executioners and thieves of the “Prosperity Gospel” movement, and their enablers, seizing every opportunity, once again, to destroy lives and enrich themselves.

This should concern every follower of Jesus Christ, with an urgency like never before.

Selling fake “solutions”

On a broadcast from The Jim Bakker Show Last month, the scandal-plagued televangelist hosted Sherrill Sellman, a “natural health expert” peddling a coronavirus treatment called Silver Solution.

On the show, Bakker guest said the product “has not been tested on this strain of coronavirus» but on other strains he “was able to eliminate it in 12 hours”. Sellman added that the product “has been proven by the government to have the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on, including SARS and HIV.”

Peddling false treatments for COVID-19 is a violation of both federal and state law.

The state of Missouri quickly filed a lawsuit against Bakker and his production company, and the organization stopped selling the solution online.

Kenneth Copeland, standing behind an on-screen banner that read, “LANDING AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS» charge viewers to place their hands on televisions to receive their healing. Elsewhere Copeland minimized concerns about COVID-19, “forget corona. It’s another form of the flu. »

And in response to churches not holding services to combat the spread of the virus, Copeland said, “I want you in my church. If we have to distribute thermometers. If we find one with a fever, let’s cure him right away. »

Casting curses and disregarding caution

Florida-based pastor Rodney Howard-Browne released a video in which he says that he cursed the coronavirus in the name of Jesus, just as he claims to have done to the Zika virus during the outbreak several years ago.

In a recent service of the Church, after acknowledging the advice to avoid shaking hands, he asked the faithful to turn and greet each other. And during the same service, Howard-Browne said, “We’re not stopping anything. I have news for you. This church will never close. The only time this church will close is when the rapture takes place. This Bible the school is open because we raise revivalists and not pansies. »

Some would dismiss all of this because, in their view, only the most gullible would listen to these Elmer-gantry types, selling almost literal snake oil. But this attitude does not allow us to see, first of all, how many people in the world actually listen to these people.

Furthermore, this attitude is a kind of social Darwinism, thinking that people gullible enough to fall for such frauds deserve to do so. This is not the way of Christ.

Photo credit: © GettyImages / vladans

The Prosperity Gospel Claims to Be Christ

We should see here an example of what has always been true. The prosperity gospel claims for itself the name and authority of Jesus Christ, while peddling a different Christ and a different gospel. Some so-called evangelicals are willing to accept all of this, sometimes because of the political power or mass appeal of these teachers.

The prosperity gospel, however, is not Christianity, however you define the word.

The prosperity gospel is a combination of the ancient Canaanite fertility religion with a modern multi-level marketing pyramid scheme. And because these teachers are so media savvy and attention grabbing, many people associate their message with the message of Jesus.

False teachers deceive the vulnerable

These false teachers take advantage of the world’s most vulnerable – the poor, the lonely, the elderly, the sick – using their desperation as leverage to sell them something. As we can see in this crisis, this leverage can end up making people sick, overwhelming medical systems for others, and even killing people.

More than that, the prosperity gospel not only leaves people exposed to physical illness, while promising them invulnerability, it also leaves people powerless in the face of even greater crises of sin, death, and judgment.

Following the guidelines issued in response to COVID-19 is not about fear but about faith: faith in the one who calls us to consider the needs of others before our own. Those of us who claim the gospel – the true gospel anchored in Christ and centered on the cross – should be the first to love our neighbors enough to keep them from sickness and evil and lead them away from wolves and to a good shepherd.