Let’s begin by completing the caption: It’s because “Gospel” means “The Truth,” and the unravelling of prosperity preaching has proven that it is anything but the truth.
Indeed, key takeaways from the viral panel discussion during Pastor Charles Osazuwa’s SWITCH Conference, themed EMERGE, show there is no basis to continue attaching “gospel” to the pastime of preachers who use the pulpit to propagate crass, transactional materialism.
Calling their preaching the “prosperity gospel” is a misnomer because it has been established that there is only one Gospel—the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Gospel does not concern itself with prosperity, at least not in the manner in which it has been bastardised in Nigeria. We shall return to this later.
As is the manner of politicians, it may interest you to know that political correctness has unfortunately crept into the Body of Christ in Nigeria. This entails speaking tongue-in-cheek and refusing to address uncomfortable truths so as not to offend entrenched interests or the establishment.
This is why it was heartwarming to hear Pastor Yemi Osinbajo defy this constraint and assert that only the Gospel of Christ prevails. He brought to light what has been relegated in Christian preaching to the extent that people forget it is one of the cardinal pillars of Jesus’s teaching while He walked the earth.
Osinbajo observed this when he said during the panel:
“If we read the New Testament carefully, the sheer number of times that Jesus spoke about giving to the poor—that giving to the poor means giving to Him—even this business of building riches in heaven means giving to the poor, the number of times Jesus spoke about it… If we are going to be honest with ourselves, how often is it preached? Is it ever preached? I’ve been in ministry myself since 1996; it is rare to find… In almost every service, there is a portion dedicated to giving to the Church before the offering. Why do they not emphasise what the New Testament says, which is giving to the poor?”
The former Vice President of Nigeria made this statement to counter proponents of the biblical perversion called the prosperity or transactional gospel. He is one of the very few ministers of the Gospel who has spoken up about what has long been an inconvenient truth, perhaps because many believe it would hurt the major source of funding for their ministries. And that is the problem—“their ministry,” not Christ’s. If it is truly Jesus’s ministry, He will build His Church, and the gates of lack will never prevail against it. But then, I digress.
It is not as though many Christian leaders are unaware that materialistic teaching is a perversion of God’s Word. They refuse to distance themselves from it either because they are beneficiaries or because they do not want to be ostracised or ridiculed when the chips are down. You only need to hear the lampooning, in some quarters, of the senior cleric who borrowed ₦4 billion to complete his church building—accused of operating outside the covenant—to understand the point being made here. Moreover, these “see-no-evil” pastors are unabashed wannabes of their wealthy senior colleagues, choosing to remain silent based on the principle: “You can’t attract what you attack.”
Thankfully, there is one who has long taken on the apologetics aspect of theology, like the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, demanding that the way of the Lord be cleared of materialism. Now that the issue has attracted more credible voices, let it be known that the prosperity gospel is a scam. “No matter how we slice it, there is no such thing as the prosperity gospel. There is only one Gospel—the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Gospel whose words are contained in Scripture. Anything else is a perversion.” These are the words of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who became born again when he was already a professor of law. No one can say the man does not know what he is talking about.
Even if we agree, without conceding, that there is such a thing as biblical prosperity—which, according to its proponents, is activated by giving—the question that begs an answer is: giving to whom? It is certainly not to the God of Psalm 50:10–12, who declared:
“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
Thankfully, this same God specified where our giving should go for it to truly matter. In Matthew 19:21, the Lord Jesus categorically told the wealthy man seeking justification:
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Notice that the Master did not ask him to bring the proceeds to Him but to distribute them to the poor. How many of today’s pastors with such influence can selflessly recommend this?
Even in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites in Deuteronomy 15:10:
“Give generously to them (the needy) and do so without a grudging heart; then, because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.”
It may interest you to know that the reciprocal blessings tied to the “prosperity sowing” they preach are actually connected to giving to the poor—not to the church or pastor. So says Proverbs 19:17:
“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his deed.”
From Matthew 25:40, it is clear that you do not give to God by giving to your pastor. The verse states:
“And the King will say, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Many biblical verses like this are unfamiliar to most Christians because they are rarely preached in churches. This is why many give not unto the Lord, but to “connect with the grace” at work in the life of their man of God.
That is where the so-called prosperity gospel has taken the church in Nigeria. It is largely the reason many pastors invest in building charisma, appearing trendy, and projecting a lifestyle above lack. Such packaging attracts those who believe they can attain similar success by sowing into their lives. When they draw close, they are told they have come to fertile ground where their giving yields bountiful harvests. Now you can understand why someone might boast about being “among the few pastors on earth with the anointing to raise billionaires.” And as someone rightly responded: if he truly has such an anointing, why hasn’t he made billionaires of his own siblings?
Granted that significant funding is required to run church activities and programmes, ministry leaders must resist the urge to manipulate Scripture, lest they fall under the judgment in Revelation 3:14–18. People in the world are increasingly mocking prosperity preachers as those who take from the poor while offering little meaningful benefit in return. Men of God should not give the world reason to make such claims. Rather than resort to exploitation, pastors facing financial challenges should trust the Source to provide the resources, knowing that He who gives the vision will also provide for it—unless they are not called by God.
With the Lord’s emphasis on helping the poor and needy, wealthy pastors can establish dedicated funds to support struggling ministries. That would be a truly meaningful way of helping the poor.
The raison d’être for Jesus’s coming is encapsulated in Luke 4:18 and Matthew 1:21. Nowhere is it stated that He came to make anyone rich. If there were such a thing as a prosperity gospel, the Bible would be a primary textbook in business and economics institutions. Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) would be a key subject for admission into economics, accounting, and business management programmes. If you think it is too spiritual to be relevant in secular disciplines, note that Bible Knowledge is foundational in many law degree programmes.
In light of the foregoing exposition, Christians must seek to know God for themselves so as not to be misled by the very clergymen they look up to. This can be achieved through diligent study of the Word of God and reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance and insight.
VIS Ugochukwu is a Sage, Narrative Architect and Branding Strategist who responds to feedback via X @sylvesugwuanyi