I have been really interested in the whole prosperity debate. When I look at the extremes of the prosperity teaching I want to cringe. But when I read reports of it from other Christians, I ask myself, what are you trying
to say? Are you trying to make yourself feel like your faith is somehow more serious?

The reason I ask this is because from my exposure to evangelical circles, talking about money from the pulpit is almost taboo, unless it is to elevate oneself above the so-called prosperity teachers.

Or it’s missionaries who look a bit dowdy sharing about their work, only to receive loose change while parishioners go on spending to their own desire.

There ought to be no prosperity gospel, it ought to be just the gospel. The most ‘prosperity’ teaching I have heard constantly references itself to Scripture. If they are wrong in their
interpretation, than they are no more wrong than those who treat the subject as taboo. They are no more wrong than people who when asked to
help to feed the poor, say, if I could, I would.

The song ‘Money is too tight too mention’ from Simply Red might’ve been about certain evangelicals. The odd thing is that those who talk about money from the pulpit are often times poorer than those who ignore the subject.

They are meeting in warehouses in the industrial zone of town, when most Anglican churches are in prime real estate locations.

There are a lot of poor Anglicans, and there are a lot of wealthy Anglicans. Do we circumvent talking about money to avoid
embarrassment?

Do you say, I only wish to have enough, and don’t want to flaunt my material wealth? How much is enough? There are people in the world, and even in Sydney who may envy your ‘enough’ as
considerable wealth?

Two of the three major reasons for divorce are money and sex. The church in general has done a good job of avoiding both of these
matters from the pulpit. Is that why we love to treat those who blatantly talk about money as scandalous?

It is time to stop treating money and wealth as taboo. It is time to investigate what the Bible says about wealth, and not just pick and
choose.

Kenneth Copeland and the like are seen to emphasise only what suits them. The unspoken response to such characters is, it’s all
about greed. We have put a great emphasis on the ill of greed in Christian circles, but the Scriptures have a lot more to say about
wealth other than ‘watch out for greed’.

Sometimes Christians who scandalise those who talk about money are prone to a form of Christian communism: a thought that we assume we are equal, but of course, some
are more equal than others.

I have some questions, to the average churchgoer, no hard and fast theology.

How are we going to feed the hungry in this time of uncertainty if we don’t have any money?
Isn’t being stingy or being unwise with money as bad as being greedy?
Why are non-believers often more generous than believers?
Does the Bible teach the equal distribution of wealth, or is capitalism viewed as the norm?
Poverty is spoken of as a result of laziness in Proverbs, but Jesus tells us to help the poor.
Solomon was the wealthiest man in the world at the time. Isn’t this a sin?

Many in the Bible had great wealth and many of the great saints through Christian history came from well-off homes and through this,
they were able to dedicate themselves to Christian service.

We can’t keep pointing towards seemingly whacky preachers in America to make ourselves feel better about our own attitudes to money.

Let’s look at the whole counsel of Scripture, and talk about it, not just giving mental ascent to the gospel.

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