My thoughts are this.....God does want his people to be blessed. However, sometimes this is all the gospel that some preach....give and you will prosper financially. The gospel is that Jesus died and rose again. That is first and foremost, not how this old flesh is supposed to never suffer an instant of pain or poverty. We all have trials in this life, and according to your faith, Jesus said, be it unto to you. Don't seek prosperity, seek Jesus Christ for he says "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you".
I would agree with this assessment 100%. The gospel is the death burial and ressurection of Jesus, and by extension, the covenant that His body and shed blood confirmed for us that are In Him, (which includes all of the promises contained in said covenant).
The promises that cover our financial need, for money or things, are simply leaves on that tree, not the root, and not even the trunk; yet they
are part of the tree.
I have listened to some ministers on television, where the entire segment, every day/week was a teaching on sowing and reaping and what size seed the listener needed to sow to the televangelist that week. Every show, every time, was about that. This is not a good representation of the cross or Christ, nor of the gospel. It is manipulation, and brings reproach on the body, specifically WoF.
On the other hand, I have listened to many WoF ministers that rarely if every ask for money, though they may teach on it occasionally. Yet, because when they teach on it they say that God wishes us to prosper or be rich, they are lumped in with the former by the critics. For instance, Kenneth Copeland never asks for money, and teaches on it only occasionally. Yet he is the poster boy for the critics. (Just an example.)
Would any of the WoF folks still serve God if they found themselves suddenly penniless? Or stricken with a devasting illness. Yet this does happen to a lot of christians and they must learn to stand on God's word.
Please excuse me if I am reading the wrong thing into this statement but it appears to me that you are making an assumption that most WoF folks have money. It may be true that some are wealthy, however, in my experience, most that come into WoF are pretty much penniless when they come in. Much of the attraction to the poor in the WoF message is that God doesn't want them to remain so poor that they cannot pay their rent, don't know if the power is going to be shut off or not, or how they are going to buy food next week for their family.
Many then leave, because their root was shallow, and when they don't get rich or healed in a few weeks they throw it out the window and move into the anti-faith crowd and become a critic. They don't realize that sowing and reaping takes time, it is a lifestyle, not a magic trick.
Others hang around and do get wealthy,or at least feel adequately secure financially, and then leave because the word gets choked by weeds. The false security of a good job and a retirement fund and a weekly paycheck that meets all their needs makes then think they no longer need God. Mabey they don't think that consciously, but in their actions they quit making God or His body or His Word a priority in their lives.
Do you know that the fastest growing segment of WoF (or prosperity gospel as the critics would call it) is in the poorest part of the world, namely Africa? There has been much discussion and some sincere consternation by many mainline churches and theologians about how they have had missionaries living in some African countries for decades, and in some cases generations, barely able to put together a small congregation of believers, but when the faith message came in, first with TL Osborne, then Reihnhart Bonnke, then a true explosion with TBN pushing for stations all across Africa, suddenly christianity exploded throughout the continent. Some countries are predominantly christian now, and the percentage of those believers that self identify with the WoF message is upwards of 80%.
I know of a very dear lady a few years ago, who was bound and determined to "claim" her healing for her infected leg. She quoted scriptures constantly, told God he had to heal her because his word said so, etc. etc. She was constantly rebuking the devil. She got gangerene in her leg and refused treatment because she had "claimed" her healing. It got worse until she died. I believe she was very sincere, I prayed for her a lot also. I know she is in heaven because she loved God. There is a balance in all of this. We are to be obedient to God and trust in Him, no matter what we go through.
Something funny, my old pastor used to say that if you believe sickness is a blessing, ask God for two cancers instead of one. God does bless his people, but there is a condition to be met. No doubt many run around spouting off the promises of God, that they are blessed, prospered, etc. etc and fail to live up to the conditions. Wisdom is deserving of her children.
I agree with your assessment about wisdom. I most certainly would have gone to the doctor myself, while I was believing God, as I believe Gods desires our health, and will use any means, including doctors, surgery and medication to that end.
However, I think that you are misreading this womans faith. I believe that the greatest rewards in heaven are reserved for those that stand in faith for things they do not see, even past the point of death. Consider the following scripture:
13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38(Of whom the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
-Hebrews 11:13, 36-39
Faith is a verb, it denotes action and is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. So if there doesn't come any substance in response to their "faith", then somebody does not know the mind of God.
I have to disagree with both of these statements.
Regarding the first, faith comes from the Greek "
pistis", and it is a noun. It is a substance, not an action. This makes it a noun, not a verb. Please look it up in any greek dictionary/lexicon, by any denomination or christian persuasion and you will see that this is one thing that all agree on, faith is a noun.
This is because it is God's essence. It is who He is. There are three that remain, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. The reason that these three are eternal is because they are the makeup or essence of God. They are what He is. He is faith, He is hope, and He is love.
Believing, on the other hand, is a verb. It is what we do with our faith, believe Gods Word. We don't faith God, we believe God with our faith. I know that often poeple use the terms interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.
Regarding the second, as the scripture I posted above shows, dying in faith, not yet seeing the promise, is not a sign of small faith, in fact, just the opposite, it is the sign of the greatest faith. The world is not worthy of those who will stand on the promises of God, regarless of whether they die or not.
I would rather believe God for my healing and die, than not believe Him and die. Any day of the week.
Peace...