"Give more, get more" - Have we overreacted to the Prosperity Gospel?

The author of the article is writing about a sermon his friend did. The title of his friend’s sermon is “Give More, Get More:”

He had preached a sermon on giving and the blessings that come from the Lord when we give generously. He titled his message, “Give more, get more”.

“Uncomfortable Blessings” is the title of the author’s piece (linked above), wherein he takes a middle position between his friend’s “Give More, Get More” and the folks like me who say that message is ridiculous.

My point is that the man’s congregation was right to criticize their Pastor for such a ridiculous message.

I read the article. I didn’t comment on the article’s blog, I commented here, where the question was about the Prosperity Gospel. I have not up to this point mentioned Joel Osteen by name. If you wish me to, I certainly can. Osteen is one who is willing to embrace Mormons as Christians, and he spoke about his experience in India and affirmed that they loved God.

Have a great day guys.

Everything below is from John MacArthur’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 9:8:

“While it is possible to give without loving, it is not possible to love without giving. God gives His Son to all believers, but as previously noted, He blesses in a unique way generous, cheerful givers. In fact, He blesses such believers on such a grand, immense, staggering scale that it beggars language to express it. Trying to convey the magnanimity of God’s generosity, Paul resorted to hyperbole, using a form of the word pas (all) five times in verse 8. God’s gracious giving has no limits; it is off the scale.

Since giving naturally seems to result in having less, not more, it takes faith to believe that giving will open up God’s blessing. Christians must believe that what God has promised to do He is able to do. Dunateō (is able) literally means “has power.” God’s power is great (Deut. 4:37; 9:29; Neh. 1:10; Pss. 66:3; 79:11; Jer. 32:17; Nah. 1:3; Rev. 11:17) and is exhibited in creation, providence, miracles, salvation, the resurrections of Jesus Christ and believers, and in the eternal destruction of the wicked in hell. Not surprisingly, then, Paul expressed his concern “that [the Corinthians’] faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5).

Human wisdom teaches that prosperity comes from grasping for wealth, not from giving it away. But faith trusts in God’s promise to bless the giver and in His ability to keep His promises, knowing that He is able to “do exceeding abundantly beyond all that [believers] ask or think” (Eph. 3:20), guard and preserve them (2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25; Jude 24), help them when they are tempted (Heb. 2:18), and raise them from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Believers, like Abraham, must be “fully assured that what God [has] promised, He [is] able also to perform” (Rom. 4:21).

God gives back magnanimously so as to make all grace abound to Christians who give generously. He gives so freely and abundantly that His children will always have all sufficiency in everything. In this context, that refers primarily to material resources, because the harvest must be of the same nature as the seed. Having sown material wealth by their giving, believers will reap an abundant harvest of material blessing in return. God graciously replenishes what they give so that they lack nothing; He will continuously provide the generous giver with the means of further expressing that generosity.

To the Cynic and Stoic philosophers of Paul’s day autarkeia (sufficiency) meant independence from people and circumstances. They viewed such independence as essential to true happiness. But the believer’s sufficiency does not come from independence from circumstances but rather from dependence on God. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

The reason God gives back to those who give is not, as prosperity teachers falsely imply and exemplify, so people can consume it on their own desires with bigger cars, homes, and jewels. God supplies them so they will have an abundance for every good deed. The Lord will fully supply cheerful givers with what they need to use for what is good work to the honor of the Lord. He constantly replenishes what they expend so the cycle of giving and ministering to others can continue. Generous givers are the people whose lives are most full of righteous deeds.

Lest anyone think this was some radical new social welfare plan he had concocted, Paul cited Psalm 112:9 to show this has always been God’s plan. The phrase as it is written is the standard New Testament way of introducing an Old Testament quote (Mark 1:2; 7:6; Luke 2:23; 3:4; John 6:31; 12:14-15; Acts 7:42; 15:15; Rom. 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13, 33; 10:15; 11:8, 26; 15:3, 9, 21; 1 Cor. 1:31; 2:9; 10:7). Because the generous giver scatter[s] abroad and gives to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. God will replenish and reward him both in time and eternity.

Deuteronomy 15:10-11 also illustrates this point. In verse 10 God declared through Moses, “You shall generously give to [the poor man] , and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.” Those who were generous to the needy received God’s material blessings. But the purpose was not so that they could be like the rich fool in Jesus’ parable, who said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry’” (Luke 12:18-19). Verse 11 reveals the purpose of God’s blessing. Moses reminded his hearers that “the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’” God’s constant resupply allowed them to continually give to meet the needs of others.

Paul reinforced his point with a third Old Testament quote, this one from Isaiah 55:10. That generous giving will impoverish no one is evident since He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply their seed for sowing. God is the One who supplies seed to the sower because He created all the earth’s vegetation (Gen. 1:11-12). Thus He provides the grain that provides bread for food. The same God who provides seed for the harvest in the natural world will multiply generous givers’ seed for sowing. They sow the seed and then reap the harvest, which in turn provides more seed for sowing in an ever-expanding cycle. The ultimate harvest of generous giving is not only eternal reward, but also temporal blessing in this life for those who “sow with a view to righteousness, [and] reap in accordance with kindness” (Hos. 10:12). They will be enriched in everything, equipping them for all liberality in their giving.”

MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 2 Corinthians.

Mark,

You can’t see the difference between what you quoted from MacArthur and those who say give to get?

The person described by MacArthur is never going to be wealthy. If he ever did start to hoard the abundance, stop the flow through his own hands, the spigot would be closed. He’s not giving to get, he’s simply giving, and giving, and giving. He is passing along with no thought of getting, no plan or intention of getting. Anything that comes along, whether great or small, is sent back out again, dispersed to accomplish God’s good work. Notice these lines from your quote:

Having sown material wealth by their giving, believers will reap an abundant harvest of material blessing in return. God graciously replenishes what they give so that they lack nothing; He will continuously provide the generous giver with the means of further expressing that generosity.

The reason God gives back to those who give is not, as prosperity teachers falsely imply and exemplify, so people can consume it on their own desires with bigger cars, homes, and jewels. God supplies them so they will have an abundance for every good deed. The Lord will fully supply cheerful givers with what they need to use for what is good work to the honor of the Lord. He constantly replenishes what they expend so the cycle of giving and ministering to others can continue. Generous givers are the people whose lives are most full of righteous deeds.

The ultimate harvest of generous giving is not only eternal reward, but also temporal blessing in this life for those who “sow with a view to righteousness, [and] reap in accordance with kindness” (Hos. 10:12). They will be enriched in everything, equipping them for all liberality in their giving.

This is giving, but is not getting, not accumulating. At any given time he has what is needed and a limited surplus to continue using in God’s service. It goes out as fast as it comes in.

I think there’s a big difference between what WE HUMANS perceive as “blessings” and what God perceives as blessings. To quote Obi Wan Kenobi, “So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”

Case in point, my cousin posted a photo of her fortune from a fortune cookie that said, “You will inherit some money or a small piece of land.” I told her that means someone you know or are related to is about to die. Because that’s how inheritance works. She thought the fortune was a “blessing” (yaay! I get good things!) when it actually could be a curse (my mom died!). Thankfully it’s just a fortune cookie fortune, so no worries, but it makes my point.

Blessings from God do not always appear as such to us. In Acts 5:41 the apostles were happy about the persecution they had received from the Sanhedrin. So yes, I believe that if we exercise our faith in God, good things will result in our lives that would not otherwise have happened. Does this mean that the more money we give the church, the more money God will give us? Nope. It means that God doesn’t think in terms of only money. The more money we give the church, the greater work the church can do for Christ, and because of our participation in that work, we can receive blessings both here and in heaven because of the money we have invested in God’s work.