Word of Faith Part One

I'm not sure if I can write all I have to write about this in two parts or if I'll need three, but I'll try to keep it as succinct as possible cause noone likes a blabber mouth. :)

I suppose I'll start with some introductory stuff. Unlike some of my past doctrinal posts, I cannot really tie most of these doctrines I will associate with Word of Faith with a particular organized denomination. This movement spread early on in primarily charismatic circles, but it can now be found in varying shades within most, if not all, denominations. There are many churches that are called "Word of Faith" and/or "Word of Life" and these are often most directly tied in with the Word of Faith movement, but, as far as I know, there is no official Word of Faith General Assembly with bylaws and superintendants and such. This is also the reason I will call out specific people a little more in these posts than in some others because I have to trace these teachings to the individuals most responsible for their emergence and proliferation. There ARE definite individuals that Word of Faith teachings emanate from and these men and women are the fathers and chief proponents now. Some of these include: Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Frederick Price, Marilyn Hickey, John Evanzini, and many, many more. They often run together putting on conferences together, and this can be a useful way to discover who is among this group.

PROSPERITY
Let's begin with one of the more common doctrines taught within Word of Faith teachings--the prosperity movement. First, it is clear that the Scriptures DO NOT teach that it is a sin to be wealthy. It is also clear that it is NOT virtuous to be poor. These are two things prosperity preachers claim that their critics profess. I do not.

However, with that having been said, it is also clear that the attitudes about prosperity found within the WOF movement are contrary to many things that the Scriptures do say. In all honesty, it is probably one of the areas we could all benefit from comparing and contrasting our views of gaining riches with the stout warnings about riches found in God's Word.

Proverbs 30:8&9 will start us off, "...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."

Think this is only an Old Testament view? Let's look at Luke 12.
"Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' 'This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.'"

Finally, a passage in I Timothy 6 seems to be geared almost exactly toward prosperity preachers such as Gloria Copeland and Evanzini and their "hundred fold prayer" for monies mailed to them by a certain date.
"If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But it 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."

Disclaimer
If you strongly disagree with me about this or any other of my posts about doctrine, please take the time to read my “Why I am writing about doctrine” post from April 14 before you respond. Thank You.

Next week I'll discuss issues such as sickness, words, and faith with the context of the Word of Faith movement.