Baptists and the Prosperity Doctrine

I know that this blog post will probably cause some to protest against what I am about to write but I have decided to write it anyway.  I have been afflicted with an illness called Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was nineteen but it wasn't until I was in my late twenties that I began to suffer badly from the disease without knowing its name.  Many at church knew I had been sick and would ask me about what was happening to me.  Unfortunately only three people out of all of those who inquired about my illness ever asked how was God using it to do great things in my life.  THREE!! I discovered upon realizing this fact that something was off but I couldn't figure out what.  I thought at first people really didn't care about what was happening to me but as I started to hear what others said to those especially during the recession of '08 who lost jobs or to those who lost loved ones I realized something interesting.  Everyone claimed to pray for those who had lost their jobs, their loved one or who were sick like me and intended to pray that people got jobs, people healed quickly from the pain of losing someone and that I would be healed from my illness.  On the surface you may say Kary they were just trying to be nice because no one wants a person to suffer.  The problem is I know parents who prayed for rock bottom to save their drug addicted children, or spouses who prayed for difficulties to come to their cheating spouse because they wanted what was best for their loved ones not the mediocre or good time sought by the drug addicted child or cheating spouse.  So then could God not want the best for his children who are stuck in Christian mediocrity? We have taught our children that good is only a job, health and having all our loved ones which is the definition of the Prosperity Doctrine.  Up until a conversation with an aunt and a cousin, I too was proud of myself for not believing in the Prosperity Doctrine.  I realized that in speaking with them that this pride and hurtful comments like John Piper and John MacArthur have made divide us as believers but more importantly misses the reality that we too believe in the Prosperity Doctrine.  Protestants from the Pilgrims on were taught to believer in the Prosperity Doctrine and is where we get it from.  Puritans were judged about the strength of their faith based on how much wealth they had, how their health was and how hard they worked and forced their families to work.  As a first world country we went from a backwater territory to a superpower in less than three hundred years.  We live in a culture that believes the more wealth you have the more power you have and the more important you are.  How many Baptist churches do you know where the richest member runs the church?  If we didn't believe in the Prosperity Doctrine then wouldn't the poorest member have influence over leadership? Our culture also has the best healthcare in the world constantly looking at how to live longer and better.  How many Baptist churches do you know where the deacons go visiting the sick and shut-ins from their church? If they didn't believe in the Prosperity Doctrine wouldn't they value the sick over visiting healthy guests they hope will become members? My cousin and my aunt have come to their belief system based upon searching for the truth and correcting whatever they discover is wrong.  But I have found that most of the believers I've come across not just in Baptist churches but in other non-Charismatic denominations are hypocrites for bashing those who believe in the Prosperity Doctrine while they themselves practice it. These people are not searching for truth but often for comfort so I admire my cousin and aunt above some of my own church.   Most of the people who ask me about my illness hope it is a short conversation so they can so show interest without being invested.  We have taught each other that being sick is bad and if you are healthy then your reaction should be pity because they are worse off than you.  If someone lives pay check to pay check and you live very well then you're supposed to pity them because they are missing out on the good things in life.  If someone loses a loved one then you are supposed to think I'm glad that's not me because having all your loved ones is the definition of happiness.  Here is a shocking revelation, I am blessed beyond measure by my illness. What? Yes I was given the gift of illness by God.  Job, Joseph, Jacob, Hannah, Naomi, Ruth and others were given the gift of suffering in some capacity so that they could reap the blessings of gratitude and true sacrifice of praise because praising God cost them in some way.  Americans don't get that.  We're selfish, self-absorbed, career dominated, family only, cliques only, busy all the time and when we're supposed to be resting we work from sun up to sun down at church because that's what we're supposed to do right? So what is my life like and the lives of those I know who are suffering at this moment.  I was able to study Koine Greek to read the New Testament in its original language so I can know for myself what it says.  I was given the gift of time and how resting is not wasting it.  I see others around me like the lady who's radiator busted in the Taco Bell line or the homeless who walk by my neighborhood to avoid the hill on the interstate.  God brought people to me because they couldn't understand how I walked with a cane and still smiled.  God made me understand that the hurting are my ministry because God interferes in our suffering by having people like me be that medicine that gets them through the day.  I have a friend who lost her son in an accident and I didn't not pity her but was in awe of what God was doing through her.  There are so many who rush through the day concern themselves only with their families and think soccer or dance will enrich their children's lives.  I'm glad my parents decided to drag me and my brother along to VA hospitals, shut-ins and nursing homes to sing so I learned that ministry is the best child enrichment ever.  I have been told not by my cousin or aunt or by any of the Charismatic friends I've had over the years but by people I've gone to church with and other churches that believe what I do that God wants me healed and I will be healed. It turns out they just don't want to deal with me.  If God answers their prayers they don't have to be brought down by my problems and they can check off another prayer answered.  At first I was embarrassed when I kindly told them God told me differently and they argued with me.  I was also tense when I saw these people because usually I was worse not better.  Finally I had a sense of humor about it and thought these people had to be thoroughly confused when I didn't get better.  Now they avoid me out of embarrassment and hating to hear about my problems.  If they just asked me what God was doing in my life imagine how uplifting that would be?  There are people who suffer from mental and physical illnesses, difficult home lives, rebellious children, loss of job or underemployed, loss of a loved one, traumatic incidents like rape, assault or car accidents and mounting bills because of these issues.  God uses these things in our lives to bless us even though it does seem like punishment but the church right now likes to avoid and condescend their fellow brothers and sisters into isolation as an added bonus.  The next time you are tempted to say something derogatory about the Prosperity Doctrine look at how you treat the hurting and suffering around you before you say it. You might decide God would rather you keep it to yourself. And the next time a friend at church or in class asks for prayer because of something difficult in their lives stop and ask them how God is using their situation to bless their family and others and watch out for the smile and the sigh of relief! Get ready for a flood of wonderful from an unexpected place!!