The Gospel of Affluence

Time Magazines' latest cover story asks "Does God Want You to Be Rich?" It is a story about the "health and wealth" gospel that is preached at megachurches like Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston. The article includes a very insightful critique of this theology by Rick Warren:

The movement's renaissance has infuriated a number of prominent pastors, theologians and commentators. Fellow megapastor Rick Warren, whose book The Purpose Driven Life has outsold Osteen's by a ratio of 7 to 1, finds the very basis of Prosperity laughable. "This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?" he snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"

Warren has tagged this one correctly. This theology worships Mammon more than the God of the Bible.