Jesus on the Label, Mammon in the Bottle

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23).

Co-opting the Gospel as a means of reaching personal or professional goals is nothing new—peddlers have walked away with a hefty profit for years. Bible-backed self-help is all the rage and, like all other insidious, effective false teaching, it contains a grain of Truth.

The “Prosperity Gospel” is the low-hanging fruit of such examples. It teaches that with enough faith in God, you will be healthy, wealthy, and successful on every level. Indeed, Jesus desires to bless all men: “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the Gospel to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you…'” (Gal. 3:8); and there can be no doubt—“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas. 1:17). Be warned, charlatans will use these and similar verses to convince you Jesus wants to make your life easier, richer, and more successful RIGHT NOW.

Let’s hear it from Sadie Robertson:

“You do the best you can with that little bit, and you keep working at it, and pretty soon it will grow. It might even get so big that the whole world knows about it someday.”

She even threw in a little dose of earthly glory there at the end—you go, girl! Nauseating. How does such drivel compare to the teaching of Christ?

I don’t recall Him saying, “I came so you can believe in yourself" or "I'm here to unlock your potential;” if I understand Luke 9:23, being a disciple of Jesus means deny yourself, take up a symbol of death, and follow Him. He seems more concerned with submission and sacrifice, rather than me doing something the “whole world knows about someday.” That doesn’t exactly have the same ring as, “He must increase, I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30).

Nevertheless these greed-driven glory-hounds are not easily deterred—“In their greed they will exploit you with false words” (2 Pet. 2:3). The most accurate description of such “gospels” is found in 2 Tim. 4:3-4:

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Whether it’s T.D. Jakes telling you, “This is YOUR season! If you obey God, you will never be broke!” or Joel Osteen declaring, “Don't just accept whatever comes your way in life. You were born to win; you were born for greatness; you were created to be a champion in life”—these knuckleheads are all reading the same playbook.

Here’s how it goes:

1. Make God a means to an end.

Rather than teach that Jesus has "all authority in Heaven and Earth" (Matt. 28:18), and at His Name "every knee shall bow" (Phil 2:10), let’s make God a tool!

“Yeah, He’s holy and righteous and merciful and sovereign and yada yada yada, but He REALLY wants YOU to be happy more than ANYTHING…” So if you put in the right amount of “faith,” “confession,” and (especially) “seed offering,” He will dispense what you want.

This is idolatry. It uses a lot of biblical terminology and quotes Scripture to thinly veil what it really is but, in the final analysis, it “exchanges the Truth of God for a lie” (Rom. 1:25). The truth that Christ is enough, that Heaven is our reward (Col. 3:24) is replaced with the lie that God’s job is to make your life better right now. Thus, worship is not worship, but a transaction at best. God is used, not revered and adored for who He is.

Does that remind you of anyone in Scripture? Didn’t Judas Iscariot “name and claim” thirty pieces of silver in the Name of Jesus? Christ was a means to an end for him (Jn. 12:6). No honest, reasonable person wants to share the same outcome.

2. Ignore the cross and suffering.

Rather than teach self-denial, daily submission, sacrifice, and suffering (Lk. 9:23), let’s preach self-fulfillment—“Live YOUR dream!” “Name and claim who or what you want to be!” “Don’t speak defeat over your life. Speak victory. If you’re sick, declare healing. If you’re broke, declare abundance!”

Here’s the thing: Jesus has never called anyone to live out their dreams, but He has called us to crucify our desires (Gal. 5:24). “To you it has been granted…not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil 1:29).

Despite what Kenneth Copeland might say, following Jesus absolutely means suffering. Faith in Christ doesn’t eliminate trials, it sustains us through them (Jas. 1:2-4). Christ has not called us to join a cake walk where everyone is guaranteed healing and wellness (see Paul’s thorn in the flesh, 2 Cor. 12:7-9). No, every follower is guaranteed persecution: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Trials in this life are God’s will. He allows them so that we might grow in character (Rom. 5:3-4), faith (1 Pet. 1:6-7), and draw closer to Him (Phil. 3:10). Any “Gospel” that ignores the cost of discipleship, skips endurance and sanctification, is NOT the Gospel of Christ.

“Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:27). Jesus is not interested in financial windfalls or breakthroughs (Lk. 12:33-34). He didn’t come to give you "7 steps to crush your goals” and finally get that promotion. He came so that you would abound in hope, regardless of your health (Rom. 15:13). He came to bring you salvation, joy, and peace regardless of your finances (Eph. 1:3). “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mk. 8:36-37).

3. Preach faith in faith.

Rather than teach the biblical attitude of Christ who said, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Lk. 22:42), we’ll tell folks, “If you just believe strongly enough, speak the right words, and give enough seed money—God has no choice but to bless you.”

If they convince you that your words, your giving, or your belief CONTROL God’s blessing—like a formula, that’s faith in faith. But real, biblical faith is trusting in God’s will, not trying to control outcomes. God is not a slot machine. Instead of trusting God's will, the message is “If I do X, God must do Y.” So when someone isn’t healed or doesn’t prosper, they’re told “You just didn’t have enough faith.” That’s spiritual abuse. It’s unbiblical and cruel. As we’ve seen, Paul wasn’t healed (2 Cor. 12:7–9), and Timothy had stomach issues (1 Tim. 5:23). The difference between biblical faith and faith in faith is night and day.

The Joyce Meyers of the world want you to believe you can declare your desires into existence: “Words are containers for power.” Not once did Jesus or His apostles command us to focus on what WE can get or use God to reach OUR goals. We are called to place our faith in the One who has all authority, and never claim authority over outcomes:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that” (Jas. 4:13-15).

We don’t speak results into existence. We CAN'T. Only God has the power to do that. We are to humbly ask, pray, and submit (Phil. 4:6–7) without panicking when the outcome is not what we desired or expected.

Just like their true master, prosperity preachers twist truth for selfish gain. The false teachings flagged above are accomplished by the same tried and true mechanics of all false teachers:

They take true verses… and remove the context.

Galatians 3:8 says, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”

Paul’s point: The blessing of justification is by faith through Christ (Gal. 3:6–9).

Holy Huckster's point: “See? God wants to bless you just like Abraham! That means money, land, favor, overflow! Now you just need to buy my book and get coached up!”

They turn spiritual blessings into material promises.

James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”

James brings God’s unchanging goodness into view—especially in the context of trials and spiritual growth (Jas. 1:2–5, 12).

Holy Hawker's point: “God only gives good things. So sickness, struggle, or poverty? That’s not from Him. You must not have enough faith.”

They dangle half-truths to bait the flesh.

Yes, God blesses all men (Acts 14:17). Yes, He delights in generosity.

But charlatans focus only on verses that sound positive (Deut. 28:8, Mal. 3:10),

Ignore the conditions and context, and then say: “Give to me, and God will give to you.”

They promise control in a world beyond your control, and they appeal to the flesh with spiritual words.

People want security, comfort, healing, and peace—God wired us this way. But Satan repackages earthly goals and slaps Bible verses to deceive you and make you his own. He's done this a long time (Jn. 8:44). He thought he could leverage God, and he’s been duping people to think the same since Eden.

The reality is and always has been, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). Don’t be fooled. Mammon wears a holy mask and has many disciples. His priests grow rich by devouring widows’ houses, and they fly private off the backs of the poor and desperate.

Jesus did not come to feed your flesh, but transform your spirit (Rom. 12:1-2). He did not come to offer you earthly gain, but eternal glory (Rom. 8:18).

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved, he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mk. 16:16).

"Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown" (Rev. 2:10)