Christianity Today August 11, 2026 7 min signal 2026-08-11

Jesus never said 'blessed are the rich'

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Christianity Today

August 11, 2026

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Illustration by Christianity Today / Source Images: Getty, Tyndale Elevate

When I was in my early 20s, I attended a conference led by a well-known prosperity gospel proponent. By the end of the event, I was writing a $400 check (well beyond my means at the time) because I thought it would yield blessings in my life (in the form of riches and health, according to the preacher). I was raised in the age of televangelists—such as Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, and Marilyn Hickey—and even though I continue to believe that many of their teachings were foundational to my life as a Christian, their theology wasn’t always sound.

Some televangelists, such as Robert Schuller, who gained popularity in the 1960s, claimed Jesus was a “positive thinker,” so we should be too. He preached that God had a specific dream for our lives, and we should act with faith to achieve it. “If you can dream it, you can do it!” he declared.

Schuller’s theology differed from that of Kenneth Hagin’s Word of Faith movement, which also permeated televangelism beginning in the 1960s. Word of Faith adherents believed (and continue to believe) that if you ask God for something and have enough faith, what you ask for will happen. It’s often referred to as “name it and claim it” theology.

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This doctrine aligns closely with the prosperity gospel—the idea that if you give enough money and/or perform good works and have enough faith, God will give you whatever you want and need, including financial wealth and a clean bill of health. Because of how closely related “name it and claim it” theology and the prosperity gospel are, they are often used interchangeably. Well-known proponents of the prosperity gospel have included Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Benny Hinn, and Joel Osteen.

The teaching that donations and tithes will automatically unleash health and wealth for the giver is Scripture-twisting at its finest (2 Pet. 3:16). Sadly, it’s a belief that also remains pervasive throughout the Christian world today.

In a 2023 report by Lifeway Research, 52 percent of American Protestant churchgoers—up from 38 percent in 2017—said their church taught that God would bless them if they gave more money to their church and to charities. And 76 percent believed that God wanted them to prosper financially. These beliefs simply aren’t biblical.

Nothing in Scripture tells us that God wants us to have great financial means, although he does bless some people with great wealth. And yet, isn’t it reasonable to assume that God does want to bless us? Yes, but perhaps not in the way proponents of positive thinking, Word of Faith, and the prosperity gospel want us to believe.

The prosperity gospel teaches that wealth, health, and happiness are a result of having enough faith in God and giving money to Christian ministries. This is usually described as “sowing seeds” in a particular ministry so that we may experience our own financial blessings at home, often at sevenfold or tenfold. As pastor and author Joe Carter puts it, “Essentially, it represents a transactional relationship between the believer and God, facilitated through a financial gift.”

With the prosperity gospel, if you have enough faith, whatever you want can happen. Professor and author Kate Bowler notes, “The prosperity gospel looks at the world as it is and promises a solution. It guarantees that faith will always make a way. If you believe, and you leap, you will land on your feet. If you believe, you will be healed.” Bowler writes from experience as a Christian who endured years of cancer treatment and chronic pain, trusting God through it all.

To support their claims, Word of Faith and prosperity gospel proponents take Scripture out of context. For example, two verses often cited by supporters of the movements are “O ye of little faith” (Matt. 8:26, KJV) and “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed … nothing will be impossible for you” (17:20).

But context matters. The verse in Matthew 8 is about doubts due to circumstances that cause fear, while in Matthew 17, Jesus was reminding his disciples that they needed to trust God. Neither verse supports health-and-wealth theology. What’s more, Jesus directly warned against a misguided pursuit of wealth and prosperity. He said,

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (6:19–21)

Further, Jesus’ brother James warned about the trappings of wealth, which saturates the prosperity gospel:

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (James 1:9–11, ESV)

Riches won’t last. This doesn’t mean wealth itself is bad, but it shouldn’t be our priority. Instead, our focus should be on doing God’s will and on eternity. Upon hearing the teachings of Word of Faith and the prosperity gospel, the early Christians would likely have rejected them as deceptive. They would have been on their guard against such false teaching, just as we need to be.

Yes, God does want to bless us. But we need to consider what blessings really are, according to Scripture. Blessings are God’s desire to restore humanity to our intended state prior to the Fall in Genesis 3.

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Sometimes these have to do with our temporal welfare. Take, for example, Abram in Genesis 12. God calls him to go to the Promised Land and tells Abram that his family will be blessed and his name will be great (vv. 1–3). Other times, God’s blessings are spiritual in nature, such as the blessing it is to be saved by grace through Christ.

Jesus himself spoke of blessings, so we know that God continues to want to bless us. For example, in the Beatitudes, the blessings Jesus pronounces—such as “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3)—are for those who already possess that state of blessedness. The Greek word translated blessed in the Beatitudes is makarios.

Theologian Friedrich Hauck said, “The special feature of … makarios … in the [New Testament] is that it refers overwhelmingly to the distinctive religious joy which accrues to man from his share in the salvation of the kingdom of God.” In other words, we cannot earn God’s favor, which means the perception that we can somehow earn blessings from God is wrong.

Blessings are gifts that come with salvation, both in this life and in eternity. This isn’t to say that we can’t ask the Lord for his help in our times of need. The Lord already knows what we need (Matt. 6:8). However, our focus should be on the hope of God’s goodness to us, received in the blessing of salvation. James wrote, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (1:12, ESV).

Our ultimate reward is in heaven. We don’t have to earn that, because it has been freely given to us.

Excerpted and adapted from What If Jesus Is Right? Examining Jesus’ Claims About Himself in a World Full of Falsehoods by Douglas Groothuis & Lindsey Medenwaldt (Copyright 2026). Used with permission from Tyndale House Publishers/Tyndale Momentum.

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