I've often spoken out on avoiding "abundance-focused" ministry--teaching that in Christ life will just be better--physically, emotionally, financially, materially, relationally or socially. This is a tremendously popular concept in the North American church, though it has no root in the Bible. Consistently we are told in the New Testament that believers will be persecuted, hated because of Christ, and that our lives will be filled with danger, risk and even negative circumstances on this earth as a result of our life in Christ.

The alternative thinking--that Christ is nice, God is love, and because He wants the best for us and He's in charge, we'll see that played out in a happy life--it's great Kool Aid for the masses. And frankly, it's drawn thousands into mega-congregations that promise things like "Your Best Life Now". Those words obviously hint at some prominent Pastors of the day, and unfortunately, in light of Scripture, they are just plain wrong and unbiblical.

What these church leaders have done is make a promise to their congregations that if they are faithful as believers, they are going to see some tangible, material results of that faithfulness. Just one step beyond this is a crop of church leaders that promise "sewing a seed" (nobody says "send me a check" anymore) is going to result in a big reward in their monthly statement. This undertone of equating faithfulness in Christ to monetary blessings is pervasive throughout much of the North American church and it is terribly dangerous thinking.

Now the United States is in a financial crisis. Many people are out of work, companies are shutting doors, sales are down, and most experts believe we're digging in for at least several years of bumps and bruises. What is playing out in congregations nationwide is this: many people have followed their church leaders faithfully (notice I did not say followed Christ faithfully). They have developed a deep commitment toward their churches, on the misguided notion that it would "pay off" for them at some point. They have believed what they have been taught.

And so now we are seeing the fruit of that belief as these churches peak and begin to decline. People fall away as they begin to understand that Christ and abundance do not equate to one another while on earth--Christ has an eternal perspective and the blessings He pours out on His people are also from an eternal perspective. These people are often left disallusioned, feeling that Christ has failed them. In reality, a misguided leader has failed them, and made it much more difficult for other believers to help them grow in knowledge and obedience to the gospel because of these false teachings.

We don't come to Christ to get stuff. We come to Christ to get Christ. His message is not that following Him will smooth the road ahead of us. His message is to sacrifice all that we have in this world--our resources, relationships, dreams, hopes, fears, families--to Him. What we see now as valuable is nothing compared to the surpassing and infinitely great value of Christ. If we have come to love other things in a way that causes us to abandon Christ if life doesn't go our way, then we are idolitors, and those things are god(s) to us.

Getting beyond a state of promise failure is difficult. We will increasingly be dealing with individuals who believe that the church has lied to them, and that Christ has failed them. "Abundance ministry" only fourishes in a season of prosperity--and the recent economic downturn now has deep, troubling questions shaking the foundations of churches that would choose to preach a false materialistic gospel.

As communicators within the church, the best avenue for us to follow is to be like Christ and point others to Christ. As we live our lives honestly, sacrificially and wholly devoted to Christ, He will use our lives to draw others to Himself. We need not attempt to find a "new message" to replace the old. Christ is not a fad, His work is not a trend, and He is not a means to an end. He is the end.

About the Author. Eugene L. Mason has more than two decades of experience in ministry communications and technologies. More...