Prosperity--a Gospel?

I was shuffling through TV channels and low and behold I stopped on two religious broadcast stations, one after the other. Each one had a big-time prosperity gospel teacher on them, saying outright that Jesus was a materially wealthy man, and both gave ridiculous reasons for their assertions. This evidently makes it acceptable to be gleeful about the pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake. I guess I live a sheltered life because I knew this existed, but I had never really heard anyone voice it before. I was a little taken by surprise.

The whole "prosperity gospel" notion is totally inconsistent with what the New Testament has to say about Jesus. Coincidentally today, I heard a spoof on the radio today written, if I heard correctly, by that man of light-hearted humor himself, Al Franken. Brother. It was so bad. I couldn't hear all of it, but it was about the "Gospel of Supply Side Jesus." I don't know who is more disrespectful, but I could hazard a guess as to who misleads more people. I'm sure that the large numbers of prosperity gospel preachers have a larger following than does that man of wit, Al Franken.

The actual seamless robe that Al Franken so glibly wrote about in fact, was probably the only material possession that Jesus may have had. I don't recall the Bible's mention of anything else He owned. When he needed a whip to chase the moneychangers out of the Temple grounds, he had to weave one for Himself.

"And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Matthew 8:20 That verse speaks of the humble conditions of His humanity, and in such, He was by no means materially wealthy.

It isn't a sin to be rich. Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had, give it to the poor and follow Him. He did that because he knew the young man's heart, and that it was welded to his riches. Jesus wasn't telling all of us to go and sell everything we have, rather, that young man needed to be shown that he couldn't have money as his master, his god, and that he had broken God's Law with the sin of covetousness. Like everybody else, that young man had need for a Savior, and he needed to repent, and seek forgiveness for his sins and place his trust in Jesus for His redemption, free of charge.

That's why the Bible tells us that money is the root of all sorts of evil, and why there is a ton of Scriptural warning about money and possessions. Possessions are fine, as long as they don't possess us. So....... why are these prosperity gospel men and women giving a teaching that is so focused on such things? I would go so far as to say that they are more than just doctrinally unsound. These teachings are heretical.

The Bible teaches clearly that the only riches that are worth seeking are spiritual riches, the kind that Jesus told us to "store up in heaven." If He had meant for us to speak "words of faith" to our piggy banks to fill them up, He wouldn't have said that.

Matt 13:22-23 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.