The Name It And Claim It Gospel
The Word of Faith
Previously, I tried defining the term "Faith" as defined by the bible in response to an atheistic claim - you can find that here. My goal in this post is to talk about the other side of the coin and explain in my opinion the misconception that some groups of people have about faith.
Prologue: The appeal of the Word of Faith in Africa.
Africa is the poorest continent in the world. The average sub saharan African makes about 25 USD per day. It is plagued with wars and conflicts over land and mineral resources. Few countries enjoy nationwide peace. The rate of underdevelopment is exceptionally high. Many Africans do not have access to good healthcare and education. In some remote parts of Africa, many children die of malnutrition, Cholera and malaria. The average youth with a bachelor's degree is unemployed or doing an underpaid job. To make ends meet, many turn to corruption or flat-out theft. In summary, Africa's state is pretty bleak and many, many Africans yearn for greener pastures.
It is in the midst of this that the Word of Faith movement also known as the Prosperity Gospel movement, flourishes.
The definition that this movement has of faith does not find its roots in the Bible, but rather it springs from a mixture of Pentecostalism and paganism.
Faith is not synonymous with Power.
The word of faith movement gives a different definition to the word 'faith', very often speaking of it as a sort of power which Christians unlock the moment they believe in the Lord Jesus.
The prosperity gospel also called the "name it and claim it gospel" as its name suggest is a 'gospel' all centred on making man physically and financially successful - you can understand why it finds such an appeal amongst poor people. Proponents of this movement teach their followers that they can pass their exams with the right amount of faith, they can become very successful if they have enough faith, they can overcome any illness with the right amount of faith and they can even bring back the dead to life if they believe hard enough. The bottom line is, God will answer any of their requests as long as they have enough faith, and so if someone is ill or dies or is poor or unsuccessful, surely it's because they lack faith.
Sadly, millions of people believe this.
This is not what the Bible teaches, the Bible teaches the very opposite about faith. The Lord Jesus said:
"...Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. " Matthew 17:20 ESV
This verse may be a bit confusing because it seems as if the Lord is condemning the disciples' 'little faith' - or in this context 'small faith'. But immediately proceeds to commend a faith even small as a mustard seed which elsewhere He calls the smallest of the seeds. But we can better understand the verse if we note that the Lord was not rebuking the quantity of their faith but the quality of it. "He means a faith real and trustful, though it be small and weak" as the Pulpit commentary puts it. The problem thus with the disciples was not with how much faith they had as much as it was with what kind of faith they had. It is safe to conclude that the Lord rebuked their lack of trust and not their 'small faith'.
A strong faith placed in the wrong object won't make it work, for example, a strong belief that the earth is flat or that flapping my arms will make me fly does not make it true. On the other hand, a weak belief in a true thing does not nullify its truth or strength, for example, a weak faith in a robust bridge does not make the bridge collapse or a lack of trust in a well-renowned doctor does not make them more or less efficient. And so, our faith or lack of faith, does not make God incapable of answering our prayers.
Unfortnately, billions of people want a quick fix to all their problems and the prosperity gospel promises just that, using biblical vocabulary.
As I mentioned before, the faith scripture speaks of is a trust we have in the Lord because of who He is and what He has done. We trust Him to do what He has promised.
Sure, we can and should pray hard for success (whilst working towards it) health(whilst eating healthy and going to the hospital, etc), recovery from illness and loved ones who are going through hard times, but the Lord has promised to be with us even in the hard times and to strengthen us, not necessarily take the pain away. But we have His promise that "..all things work together for the good of those who love Him.." Romans 8:28 ESV
Faith is not a power, it is trust in the Lord and in His goodness as per the words of sacred scripture.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28