C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell: A better theology that avoids idolatry

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Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. Proverbs 11:28

“For nearly 8 years I taught at a seminary here in Brazil. Once, when we were looking at some of the characteristics of the early church in the book of Acts, and in particular the economic implications of those biblical texts, student raised his arm and said, “Professora, we can’t preach these things in our churches. There is too much poverty and the churches around us all preach prosperity, wealth and blessing – that is what the people want to hear. If we don’t preach wealth, they will go elsewhere because they hear hope in other churches, prosperity teaching gives them hope. No on who is poor wants to hear about self-sacrifice, self-giving and simple living”

Prosperity theology gives them hope. Well, to paraphrase John Stott and his legacy in both the Lausanne Movement and the World Evangelical Alliance, we must find ways to offer a better hope, a better theology.If fail in this, it won’t really matter how well we criticize the teachings of prosperity theology, how good our analyses are. The call on us is great – to offer a truly biblical, truly evangelical theology of the hope that takes seriously what the Bible has to say both about God’s justice and God’s blessing.

To offer a better theology means reading the Scriptures in such a way that we are forced to think and rethink our practices, our lifestyles, our ways of being church, and in particular how these are shaped by misconception of wealth and the blessings of God.

In a nutshell, if we are to be a prophetic voice and a voice of hope an justice, we must recognize that God judges certain forms of life. There are many things that God judges and condemns, practices and doctrines throughout Christian history that the church has deemed unworthy of the gospel. But there is one thing throughout history, since the stories of ancient Israel to the present day that is judged most harshly: idolatry – you shall have no other gods before me. Idolatry is the sin of misplaced trust and the desire for something other than God. I ask you who do you trust? what do you trust?”

C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell in “Can We Offer a Better Theology? Banking on the Kingdom” a Lausanne Movement post dated 3 October 2015.

The angle of the start of this article may be the best advice for me (and for anyone) who needs to address prosperity theology.

Offer a better alternative that avoids idolatry and gives hope.

I could stop there, but Ewell presses me and everyone reading to consider where our hope is placed (or perhaps misplaced)?

This is where the prosperity message moves from the majority world to the developed world. A better theology is needed here too.

Are you banking on the kingdom?

Ewell points the way to developing a better theology in the conclusion of the post.

“Banking on the kingdom is seeing the ways we can do things we could not do before. It’s recognizing the power that wealth has over us, and repenting. The alternative to prosperity theology isn’t an alternative wealth, another idol or independence, but is in the interdependence made possible by sharing life. It is living in such a way that the world will see that another world is possible.”

This interdependence is the goal of GTP efforts globally. We are making progress in Africa with AfCAA. As God provided a matching grant which is up to $997 from 12 givers toward the goal of $5,000 USD, please consider making a gift today.

Join the movement writing a new future and offering a better theology for Africa.

And I am flying to Florida today to see my folks, Jack and Patsy Hoag. It is my parent’s 60th wedding anniversary.

We will have dinner and then spend a couple days together celebrating God’s faithfulness and giving thanks for the hope we have in Jesus.