North Athens Baptist Church

Last week I posted a video from Dr John Piper on the “prosperity gospel” and his opinion of it.  If you have watched the clip you know that he is not impressed with it.  Most Baptists are quick to condemn the charisimatics for their holding to this doctrine but many of us hold it “on the cheap.”  By that I mean we would not agree with the worst of the purveyors of this drivel, like Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen but we will take it if we can slide it in the back door.  For instance, we will buy in to The Prayer of Jabez, which, in my opinion,  is nothing more than the prosperity gospel in a Baptist disguise.  Also, we are known for telling people that if they will tithe God will always take care of them and give them more money than if they did not.  While I certainly believe that every Christian should support their local church and other Christian organizations we should do so not out of any hope of return but because we love God and desire to be obedient to Him in all things, including the matter of sacrificial giving.  The promises of a return for those who give are general principles that must always be understood to operate within the confines of God’s will for our lives.  If you knew that God would let you go bankrupt if you gave to His church but also knew that He commands giving, would you give anyway?  One of our most famous Southern Baptists missionaries, Lottie Moon, starved to death because she gave away her own food.  According to many Christians today, God would never let something like that happen, but He did.