Odd Bedfellows: Prosperity Gospel & the Mortgage Meltdown
prosperity movement has gained mass acceptance in America
In one of the more thought provoking readings I have come across in a while, Time magazine spotlights an argument that the message from many of America’s “prosperity pastors”, had a large impact on the recent financial crisis. The argument does not lay complete blame on that sect of the Christian church, however it does go on to point out that overly positive messages may have been a contributor to many borrowers taking on subprime mortgages they should not have taken.
Here is an excerpt from the post:
But Walton suggests that a decade’s worth of ever easier credit acted like a drug in Prosperity’s bloodstream. “The economic boom ’90s and financial overextensions of the new millennium contributed to the success of the Prosperity message,” he wrote recently. And not positively. “Narratives of how ‘God blessed me with my first house despite my credit’ were common. Sermons declaring ‘It’s your season to overflow’ supplanted messages of economic sobriety,” and “little attention was paid to … the dangers of using one’s home equity as an ATM to subsidize cars, clothes and vacations.”
With the bubble burst, Walton and Butler assume that Prosperity congregants have taken a disproportionate hit, and they are curious as to how their churches will respond. Butler thinks some of the flashier ministries will shrink along with their congregants’ fortunes. Says Walton: “You would think that the current economic conditions would undercut their theology.” But he predicts they will persevere, since God’s earthly largesse is just as attractive when one is behind the economic eight ball.
A recent publicly posted testimony by a congregant at the Brownsville Assembly of God, near Pensacola, Fla., seems to confirm his intuition. Brownsville is not even a classic Prosperity congregation — it relies more on the anointing of its pastors than on Scriptural promises of God. But the believer’s note to his minister illustrates how magical thinking can prevail even after the mortgage blade has dropped. “Last Sunday,” it read, “You said if anyone needed a miracle to come up. So I did. I was receiving foreclosure papers, so I asked you to anoint a picture of my home and you did and your wife joined with you in prayer as I cried. I went home feeling something good was going to happen. On Friday the 5th of September I got a phone call from my mortgage company and they came up with a new payment for the next 3 months of only $200. My mortgage is usually $1,020. Praise God for his Mercy & Grace.” Full Article.
Allow me to say this. Man will use just about anyone or anything as justification for why and how they act. It’s only natural. As a Christian myself, I have come across many believers that blame God when a loved one dies and many that ignore him when a loved one survives certain death. I have heard people argue that “weed” is good because it is natural and I have heard people argue that hell is not real. I am not going to justify or negate any of these messages, I am not an expert. I will leave you with this; Each man/woman will be responsible for their own actions when their life is done. Make decisions wisely.
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- The House’s Proposal Concerning Reverse Mortgages
- Wells Fargo braces for reverse mortgage growth
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