Sow a seed into my ministry! Name it and claim it! Believe it and receive it! Blab it and grab it! The man of God needs to be transported first class in a private jet! You’ve heard it all before. The Prosperity gospel. Somebody does prosper and it’s not the members giving their livelihood to fund the pastor’s golden toilet. How could this kind of preaching and ministry be tolerated? It can be tolerated because it’s supported by a small amount of truth. That’s what most lies contain and that’s what makes them so believable. When confronted about their obnoxious and ill gotten wealth most of the preacher pimps quote 3 John 2 which says “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 1:2 KJV) The interpretation is that even the Bible says that God wants them to prosper. Twisted.
The Bible does not say this. In order to understand what the Bible says we must remember some basic principles of interpretation. First we have to figure out who is doing the talking. In this case considering the style of writing and the title of the book it is John. Check. Next we discover who the author is talking to. A look at verse 1 and verse 9 show that Gaius a representative of a local church is the audience or recipient. Check.Taking it a step further we find out what genre the book is. It’s an epistle which is a letter that was intended for public reading. Check. Here is the basic structure of an epistle:
1. Sender
2. Recipients
3. Greeting
4. Letter body
5. Letter conclusion
What section does 3 John 2 fall into? Survey says: Greeting! So we have John writing to Gaius giving him a standard greeting by wishing that he would prosper and be in good health. It is the equivalent of using the phrase “I hope you are doing well.” As a Christian John just adds some spiritual meat to it and wants Gaius’ soul to prosper as well.
So most of these preacher-pimps justify the swindling of God’s people and perverting of His word with a misinterpreted verse. They claim their indoor pools, bowling alleys, and stretch hummers are the result of a standard ancient Mediterranean greeting.
There is nothing wrong with being wealthy but not at the expense of God’s people and the power of the gospel. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy when we use that wealth to truly advance the gospel and help the downtrodden (1 Timothy 6:17-19). Do you actually think John who was reported to be thrown in a pot of boiling oil or sent into exile asked people to sow a seed into his ministry so he could get a chariot with rims? Prosperity Gospel? I’ll call it what it is: Foolery! C’mon son! We gotta do better!
