- Jacob Chanikuzhy
“Name it and claim it” is the success mantra taught by some preachers of the prosperity gospel. The apostles of this movement preach that faith is not simply trust in God; rather, it is a powerful force to be unleashed to claim whatever one names. When you speak the Word of God about health, healing, success, material blessings etc., they say, you release the power of that Word into your life situation, turning it in your favour. The logic behind this promise is that God wants his believers to be happy, healthy, successful, and prosperous here on earth. In their view, one’s material prosperity is sure proof of enjoying God’s favour while setbacks, poverty, privations, and sickness are signs that one is under God’s punishment.
The so-called prosperity gospel is so preoccupied with material blessings that it leaves little or no room for repentance, redemption, sacrifices, sufferings, spiritual blessings, and eternal life. To them, it seems that Jesus died to make us rich rather than to save us from sin and death. By turning faith into a magical tool to unlock material blessings, they even risk undermining the sovereignty of God.
The temptation to love and seek the blessings of God more than God himself lurks in the spiritual life of all believers. When one examines the petitions with which one approaches God in prayer, one may realize that most of one’s prayers are for mundane blessings. Of course, one should pray for whatever is needed for the sustenance of one’s life here on earth. But, as in the prayer taught by Jesus, material concerns should not be the entire focus of our prayer, and we are not to pray for affluence but for “daily bread.”
God does bless his children with success and prosperity. Job himself acknowledged that all his riches were given by God when he confessed, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1,21). Job believed that not only his gains but also his losses were governed by God’s providence. However, for the prosperity preachers, it is unacceptable that unwavering faith in an all-benevolent God might not ward off all sufferings from our life. They conveniently ignore the lives of prophets and apostles, lives permeated with sweat, tears, and blood. They fail to grasp the significance of Jesus’ cross. The faith of Jesus did not bring him a comfortable and prosperous earthly life!
The proponents and followers of the prosperity gospel would do well to recognize that the accusation of Satan against Job was precisely that he was a follower of the prosperity gospel. Satan accused Job of believing, loving and obeying God only for the sake of material prosperity. God allowed Job to be tested to prove otherwise. This reveals that God does not take it as an honour when humans love him merely for his blessings. Job became God’s pride when he continued to bless God’s name in spite of having been stripped of all material possessions and even his children.
Baffled and appalled by Job’s genuine piety, Satan asked God for permission to torment Job’s body. Afflicting him with physical pain and disease was Satan’s last resort to unsettle Job’s faith and turn him against God. Yet even when Job was covered from head to toe with sores and boils, he did not abuse the name of the Lord. Just as in his extreme prosperity, in his utter adversity too Job remained righteous before God. Besides, by leaving his bed and sitting on ashes, Job humbled himself before God, taking the posture of a penitent.
The suffering of Job stands as one of the Bible’s greatest solaces for the afflicted. It shows that suffering is part of human life and that even the most upright are not exempt from it. The story of Job is a divine testimony that human suffering does not mean that one is away from God or God is distant from one’s life. In fact, even in the midst of his deepest agony, Job was abundantly blessed by God, for without God’s grace Job could not have remained faithful to him. The comfort, strength, and our unwavering faith in God during times of trial are indicators that God is with us in our sufferings, turning all things to our greater good according to his wiser designs.
