“Don't be discouraged by the trouble, it's not stopping anything God has for you. God is storing up all the joy, all the good breaks, the favor, the resources that have been put on hold because of the temporary trouble.”
This quote from Joel Osteen’s sermon “Trouble is Temporary” may sound like a positive sentiment on the surface, but it results from an extremely problematic Christian heresy: the prosperity gospel. Proponents of the prosperity gospel preach that worship in God will result in earthly success, whether it be in health, wealth, or happiness.
People generally want to succeed in life. People generally want to be healthy and happy. However, these are merely natural goods. As Christians, we believe that God is the perfect good. While it is certainly natural to pursue natural happiness in this life, the pursuit of God should always be the end goal. To pursue God in order to achieve earthly happiness is a moral evil. In prosperity theology, the desire of the perfect good (God) is merely a means to an imperfect end (earthly happiness).
Again, it may seem strong to name Osteen’s sentiments as evil, and he himself has rejected categorization into the prosperity gospel. But the problem with prosperity gospel is not just with the money. It’s encouraging our desires for natural things rather than godly things, since that is our motivation. Why ought we to pursue God? Well, the only thing that can bring true happiness is God himself. Whether God delivers us from temporary suffering in this life or not, we should pursue him. The prosperity gospel implies that a motivation for earthly goods is permissible. And while a mixed motivation should not prevent us from performing virtuous actions, we should strive towards perfecting our motivations towards something good.
Does this mean Christians hate fun and that all earthly pleasures are evil? Yep.
... *cue pictures of me on vacation*
Jokes aside, pursuing happiness in this world (i.e. a happiness apart from God) is still consistent with the Christian message. But that happiness should not be the end goal. If it is, then we are merely hedonists. Rather, the most virtuous experience of earthly pleasure is that which aligns us to God. For example, one might rest in order to better apply themselves to their ministry. Diocesan priests often have the option to take a sabbatical year after ten years “for the purpose of renewal and enrichment.” There is definitely a place for earthly pleasure in the Christian life. As long as our pursuit of pleasure is in service of God and not pursuit of God in service of pleasure.
Will we achieve more earthly happiness if we follow the Christian message? No. That much is clear. Just look at St. Paul. Or every single apostle who died a martyr. Or any martyr for that matter. Not only did they experience prolonged suffering, but suffering up until the end of their life. The Catholic Church reveres many martyrs as saints, but even outside of those, plenty of Biblical figures experienced earthly suffering for their whole life.
The trouble with the prosperity gospel is this unexplained role of suffering in a holy man’s life. Osteen uses Job to justify that “if you are suffering then eventually God will remove it.” In fact, one Jewish theology at the time of Job was “if you are suffering, then you did something wrong in life.” The men that dialogue with Job voice this idea. However, the premise of the story completely counteracts this theology. In the first chapter Satan asks God if Job would continue worshiping him if he was suffering. Job counteracts this by continually upholding his righteousness. It becomes clear by the end of the book that no suffering will change Job’s faith. His earthly happiness at the end is a literary indicator to the audience that Job was righteous all along. In a real circumstance, I don’t believe God would necessarily need to reward Job in this life.
Ultimately, our happiness is not in this life. It is in God. We have to acknowledge as Christians that our suffering is inevitable and potentially lasting our entire lives. “Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries” (Job 14:1). But Christians aren't defeatist; rather, I find true Christianity more hopeful than the prosperity gospel message. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Our suffering is worth much more than a "good break." It is worth our eternal salvation, which will be greater than anything we have seen on this earth.
People generally want to succeed in life. People generally want to be healthy and happy. However, these are merely natural goods. As Christians, we believe that God is the perfect good. While it is certainly natural to pursue natural happiness in this life, the pursuit of God should always be the end goal. To pursue God in order to achieve earthly happiness is a moral evil. In prosperity theology, the desire of the perfect good (God) is merely a means to an imperfect end (earthly happiness).
Again, it may seem strong to name Osteen’s sentiments as evil, and he himself has rejected categorization into the prosperity gospel. But the problem with prosperity gospel is not just with the money. It’s encouraging our desires for natural things rather than godly things, since that is our motivation. Why ought we to pursue God? Well, the only thing that can bring true happiness is God himself. Whether God delivers us from temporary suffering in this life or not, we should pursue him. The prosperity gospel implies that a motivation for earthly goods is permissible. And while a mixed motivation should not prevent us from performing virtuous actions, we should strive towards perfecting our motivations towards something good.
Does this mean Christians hate fun and that all earthly pleasures are evil? Yep.
... *cue pictures of me on vacation*
Jokes aside, pursuing happiness in this world (i.e. a happiness apart from God) is still consistent with the Christian message. But that happiness should not be the end goal. If it is, then we are merely hedonists. Rather, the most virtuous experience of earthly pleasure is that which aligns us to God. For example, one might rest in order to better apply themselves to their ministry. Diocesan priests often have the option to take a sabbatical year after ten years “for the purpose of renewal and enrichment.” There is definitely a place for earthly pleasure in the Christian life. As long as our pursuit of pleasure is in service of God and not pursuit of God in service of pleasure.
Will we achieve more earthly happiness if we follow the Christian message? No. That much is clear. Just look at St. Paul. Or every single apostle who died a martyr. Or any martyr for that matter. Not only did they experience prolonged suffering, but suffering up until the end of their life. The Catholic Church reveres many martyrs as saints, but even outside of those, plenty of Biblical figures experienced earthly suffering for their whole life.
The trouble with the prosperity gospel is this unexplained role of suffering in a holy man’s life. Osteen uses Job to justify that “if you are suffering then eventually God will remove it.” In fact, one Jewish theology at the time of Job was “if you are suffering, then you did something wrong in life.” The men that dialogue with Job voice this idea. However, the premise of the story completely counteracts this theology. In the first chapter Satan asks God if Job would continue worshiping him if he was suffering. Job counteracts this by continually upholding his righteousness. It becomes clear by the end of the book that no suffering will change Job’s faith. His earthly happiness at the end is a literary indicator to the audience that Job was righteous all along. In a real circumstance, I don’t believe God would necessarily need to reward Job in this life.
Ultimately, our happiness is not in this life. It is in God. We have to acknowledge as Christians that our suffering is inevitable and potentially lasting our entire lives. “Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries” (Job 14:1). But Christians aren't defeatist; rather, I find true Christianity more hopeful than the prosperity gospel message. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Our suffering is worth much more than a "good break." It is worth our eternal salvation, which will be greater than anything we have seen on this earth.
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