There’s a phenomenon in the American church that has been troubling me, but I haven’t been able to quite put my finger on it. Back in June, I was asked to preach a sermon on Jonathan’s relationship with David. In that sermon, I pointed to Jonathan as a model of humility, as someone who chose to support others and stepped aside and become less so that someone else who is worthy could become greater. He wasn’t sucked into the world’s ways of striving to always be at the top. I believe I was helping point people in an important direction in the church today. Later, I saw Inserra’s book advertised and thought it might give me both something beneficial personally and better insight into this phenomenon that has been plaguing me. I was not disappointed.
Inserra cuts to the core of a significant problem that he sees in the church today–Christians are being enticed by a distorted message of chasing their personal dreams and potential rather than the biblical gospel. He says of this “new prosperity gospel” that it is “a kind of pop Christianity that has lost its connection to the Servant who suffered and calls you to do the same.”
Inserra’s introduction presents the perceived problem to us – church leaders are using faith language but their focus is often “the personal potential of Christians to achieve whatever they put their minds to, as long as they didn’t doubt God and believed He had greater things in store for their lives” (11). The message is self-help, motivation and personal fulfillment. Jesus himself is not the treasured aim of our existence, but rather a means to other ends. Inserra is concerned “for other pastors and Christians who have bought into the lie that Jesus came to secure for us the American Dream” (15).
In chapter 1, Inserra asks whether Christianity is for losers, or for the “cool, trendy, and successful.” He emphasises that we come to God as failures in need, not as winners who are sufficient in ourselves. We need more than a personal life coach, but we often are tempted to project success; “We want to be able to have Jesus and the career, the finances, the body, and the influence of those who are ‘winning’ in this life” (21). “New Prosperity theology” downplays our depravity and situates our problem instead in our lack of achievement of “God’s best.”
In chapter 2, Inserra describes what happens in a “new prosperity church.” He points to the centering of the individual and one’s experiences. He compares these churches to meetings of multilevel marketing wellness companies and claims that they promote Jesus as “the one to help you live your best life” (27). Appearance is of utmost importance and positive messages about “discovering destiny,” “dreaming God-sized dreams,” etc. takes precedence over the actual promises from the Scriptures. Self-denial takes the back seat to self-fulfillment.
Chapter 3’s focus is on the draw of this type of message. It “promises a God whose chief goal is to facilitate your personal happiness” (34). In fact, “The primary error of the new prosperity theology is that it places the individual in the center of every situation and places God in orbit as a sort of powerful yet controllable satellite” (35). People believe they are elevating God, but their idea of elevating God is “emoting passionately during the service to ‘give everything to Him’” (36-37).
In Chapter 4, Inserra deals with the desire for social approval, an itch which the “new prosperity gospel” promises to scratch. He is deeply concerned that it “suggests we should want the same things after our Christian conversion that we desired before we knew Christ” (46-47). Subtle sins such as self-satisfaction, self-focus and self-absorption are actually being passed off as virtues. These teachings tell us to put God first, but only so that God will put us first and “bless” our pursuits of self-fulfillment.
The point of Chapter 5 is to show that “settling for the mundane” is a cardinal sin for the “new prosperity gospel.” Inserra describes the damage done by messages saying that God wants people to never settle, but to strive for their God-designed destiny of greatness and self-fulfillment. “Contentment is a borderline curse word in pop-Christianity, because not pursuing or desiring something ‘better’ is seen as settling for less than God’s best” (62). Inserra pleads with us to find our contentment and satisfaction in Christ.
In Chapter 6, Inserra shows how many church leaders downplay doctrine and theology in their efforts to grow the church. Growing numbers of churches are silent on deeper matters of doctrine as they don’t want to offend their congregants. At this point, Inserra takes aim at some of the popular worship songs which are “vague, repetitive, devoid of anything too specific” (72). I really resonated with this critique as I see it to be a major concern in contemporary church life. I agree with Inserra that songs would be teaching us about Christ and encouraging us in truth rather than facilitating/manufacturing emotions (72-73). “How much more comforting in times of trial are biblical promises about God’s character than vapid statements about a generic sort of feeling?” (73).
Inserra’s claim in Chapter 7 is that the “new prosperity churches” make promises that cannot be kept. Churches are trying to “sell” experiences, but Inserra reminds us that “God’s love, in Christ, is the experience… We are fooling ourselves if we think gospel-centrality isn’t enough of a ‘hook’ to keep our churches viable” (84). Inserra closes the chapter with a thought he often turns to – how does this message fit believers in totally different situations? What message will be best applied to suffering believers meeting in secret out of fear? Only the message of Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and ascended.
Chapter 8 deals with Bible verses that tend to be misinterpreted to suit the goals of the “new prosperity gospel.” Inserra refers to the “narcigesis” method,in which you interpret a Bible passage with yourself or your listeners completely at the center (89). “Narcigesis comes alive through the preaching of isolated texts to derive a completely new meaning out of a Bible story to fit your circumstances” (90). For details on the favorite texts for self-centered interpretations, and the true, contextual meanings of them, you will have to consult the book.
In Chapter 9, Inserra is concerned with the focus of our spiritual lives, asking whether it is on Christ or on ourselves. Pointing to Luke 9:23-24, Jesus’s call to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, he says, “God’s vision for our lives is for us to lose ourselves in service to Him and to become more like Jesus by His power” (100). “New prosperity churches” call people to focus on themselves and receiving blessing, while the Bible actually calls us to the kind of maturity that is free from self-absorption.
In Chapter 10, Inserra describes his impression of the expectations of the “new prosperity gospel,” which can be summarized as: “Christians in America too often expect that by doing all the right things, God will bless us with the American Dream” (112). Inserra urges us to center our desires instead on those things which we know God wants and promises to us: healthy churches, sound doctrine, faith among formerly unreached peoples, rather than things of this world that have never been promised to us. “God never promises us a spouse, downtown high-rise apartment, a platform, influence, children, or a church that checks every box. He did promise us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:38-39)” (118).
In Chapter 11, Inserra describes the emphases of the “new prosperity gospel” and what messages should counteract its teachings. He discusses the emphasis placed on numbers, on self-help and on authenticity. Regarding numbers, churches often depend on marketing and “the cool factor.” In response, Inserra says, “Why would someone who isn’t a Christian decide to show up because your band does a popular secular song to open the service? Do we really think an unbeliever cares about that? I’ve learned from experience that most actually thin kthat is strange. Has an unbeliever ever cared how a pastor dressed? Are they really going to show up to church after years or even a lifetime of being unchurched because they heard about the pastor’s admirable collection of expensive sneakers? I’ve still never met that unchurched person who cares” (126). Instead of all these emphases, the message should emphasize Christ crucified and risen (131).
The focus of Chapter 12 is ambition. What is the difference between godly and ungodly ambition? Inserra says it is all about who gets the glory. Our desire for glory is always at war with our desire to give glory to God. “Our accomplishments are not the reward. God’s glory is our reward. Anything less is selfish ambition” (142).
Inserra closes this book in Chapter 13 with a discussion of our future reward. For Christians, the best is yet to come, not in this earthly life. And this is true for believers in any circumstances. “The promises of Christ are equally true of the believer locked in a jail cell for their faith and the Christian living in the suburbs scrolling through their social media feeds” (146). The great heroes of the faith that we find in the Bible endured suffering for the sake of future reward. “The answer to their cries was never to believe in themselves more, or to wait for that big comeback, or to unlock potential inside. It was always to look to God and to the deliverer He was sending” (149). Inserra also calls us to embrace God’s abundant life in the following way: 1. Ask God to help you be gospel-centered, 2. By grace, through the Scripture, seek to increase your knowledge of God, 3. Pursue the ordinary life, 4. Find godly community, 5. Pray for willingness to be marginalized. Each of these points is filled with detailed advice for living a godly life.
I highly encourage you to pick up this book. It’s only about 10 bucks, only 157 pages, and a pretty quick read, but very insightful and will warn you of some insidious thinking that has wormed its way into the thinking patterns of so many of us. And if you are near Tallahassee, check out Inserra’s church!
HIS WORDS, HIS WORKS, HIS WAYS 