There’s a new kind of gospel being spread amongst the western Church today. This gospel is a very me-centered gospel, one that is focused on MY dreams and MY destiny. It tells you that God has something greater for YOU, YOU have untapped potential, God has a vision for YOUR life. Those who preach this say that God is turning YOUR setback into a comeback and that the best is yet to come for YOU.[1] This message is very hyper-focused on the self, and it is incredibly anti-gospel. It could be described as a “self-help” or “new prosperity” gospel, and pastor Dean Inserra exposes this false gospel in his new book, Getting Over Yourself.
In Getting Over Yourself, Inserra dissects this believe-in-yourself religion and points his readers toward Christ-centered community. New prosperity churches are centered on the self and focused on our well-being, our success, and what God can do for us. Their sermons are almost like an MLM convention, hyping you up to be the best version of you. Their worship is guided by social approval, and what you experience during it is designed to evoke emotion. You could call these kinds of churches “seeker sensitive,” for they dress and perform and talk in a way that will make them look good and attractive to everyone who sees them.
The cardinal sin of the new prosperity church is settling for the mundane. Their teachings are light on doctrine and theology, and there is virtually no encouragement to open your Bible and study it for yourself. Instead, many of their messages are based on Bible verses that are taken out of context and interpreted incorrectly. These churches tend to breed a celebrity culture, where pastors see themselves as a CEO rather than a shepherd, and their focus is on building a brand or business rather than building up their flock. There are many things wrong with the new prosperity church, but it all boils down to this-
“The primary error of the new prosperity theology is that it places the individual in the center of every situation and places God in orbit as a sort of powerful yet controllable satellite.”[2]
People who attend new prosperity churches are exhorted to chase greater things, and this produces a lot of discontentment and disappointment when one’s expectations of an abundant life are unmet. But the Bible promises that life is hard and teaches that obedience to God’s Word is the greatest thing one can do with their life. These churches have a heavy emphasis on self-help and numbers, but they should instead focus on being gospel-centered in all that they do. Churches and Christians can still pursue goals, but they must be sure that their primary goal is to glorify God and make His name great, rather than their own. The best is yet to come, but it won’t come until our time on this earth has ended. Until then, we are to live the truly abundant life, which starts with getting over ourselves-
“We cannot worship both God and the things of this world. It is impossible to deny oneself until you get over yourself.”[3]
I really enjoyed reading Dean Inserra’s book, and I think every Christian living in the western world needs to read it. The new prosperity gospel has become SO popular in the last several years, and I see friends reposting videos and posts from new prosperity preachers ALL THE TIME on social media. Inserra’s book is very easy to read and very helpful in understanding and refuting this false gospel. I hope you will pick up a copy of Getting Over Yourself at your local bookstore and give it a read soon. And for those of you who discover that you attend or listen to a new prosperity church, I hope you will search for a new church whose teachings are based in solid, biblical truth.
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[1] Dean Inserra, Getting Over Yourself: Trading Believe-in-Yourself Religion for Christ-Centered Christianity (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2021, 28.
[2] Ibid., 35.
[3] Ibid., 24.
