It sure plays in Peoria. “God wants you to be happy.” “God wants you to prosper.” “Name the blessing and it will be yours.” We can point to the Joel Osteens of the world, but I’ve heard it from Church of Christ preachers as well. “God wants the good things of this world to go to His children.” Preach that message and pack them in. From sea to shining sea.

I know some other words that don’t seem to preach as well:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”
(Luke 6:20-27; interestingly enough, my software Bible uses red letters for Jesus’ words… but this section isn’t in red!) [And why do they red letter Jesus’ words but not God’s words… ok, that’s another topic]

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Luke 12:33-34)

“Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.””
(Luke 18:24-25)

“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
(1Timothy 6:8-10)

God isn’t against rich people. He wants them to be saved. Some Christians will be rich. But none should seek it. We don’t need to preach “name it and claim it” nor the “prosperity gospel.” We need to warn our children of this trap, of this thing that can make it harder to get into heaven and easier to fall into temptation, that can deceive us and choke out our spiritual life (Mark 4:19).

For me, I want to echo the words of Agur son of Jakeh:

““Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
(Proverbs 30:7-9)

[By the way, I’m officially burying the “alternate” blog site. If you have trouble commenting, just drop me an e-mail at cordobatim@mac.com]