Note: This manuscript isn’t a transcript of the sermon, but a planning guide showing what the speaker intends to say.
Believe it or not, there’s some real wisdom to be found in that playful game. When we zoom in that tightly, we might see intricate details we otherwise miss, but we lose perspective in the process. Maybe that’s happened to you in a conflict or frothy conversation. Have you had an experience where someone locked in on a particular word you said, but missed what you were actually saying?
Have you ever done that to someone else? Yeah, me neither. Talking heads on cable news do this all the time. Like a dog with a bone, lock in on one thing someone says and make that one thing everything. Do conversations ever get better when we do that? No. Do relationships ever get healthier when we do that? No. Does understanding go up when we do that? No.
So why do we do that? I don’t know. It’s just in us. It comes out from time to time. Good-hearted and intelligent people have their moments. Sometimes we fixate on a pixel, and we lose the picture. This series is all about acknowledging that vulnerability and adopting practices that will sharpen our clarity and expand our understanding.
What you’re going to see is that we don’t have to ignore the bigger picture so that we can look at details honestly. And we don’t have to ignore details to see the bigger picture. We can, and we should do both.
Today, I want to start off with a question. It’s OK to answer quickly. Even if you do, I want you to sit with it for a moment. I’m even going to give you a chance to share your answer with the person you’re sitting with.
QUESTION: If you give faithfully and generously, will you have more money or less money?
What do you think? We all know how to do math. If you subtract money, you have less money. Is that how it works with God? Or has God calibrated the system so that even when you give money away, it comes back to you? What’s the story that you tell yourself about how this works? And if you’re feeling confident, share your answer with the person next to you.
If you give faithfully and generously, will you have more money or less money?
There is a prominent Bible teacher and best-selling author who doesn’t shy away from this topic. I once heard a journalist ask this person a version of our question. I’ll put it on the screen.
"Are you concerned about financially desperate people who give money to your ministry instead of purchasing groceries, because they believe that a blessing is coming back to them?"
This was me, waiting for the answer.
This was the response. Are you concerned about people giving to you, if it means they can’t afford groceries?
"No. The Bible says that if you give, it will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over. The Bible says it and I believe it."
That sounds like a pretty good offer to me. Who wouldn’t take that deal? Did you know that is exactly what the Bible says? This is Jesus talking.
LUKE 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
It sounds like the way I treat the trash can when I don’t want to take it out. Press it down. Squeeze as much as into as I can. Is that what we should imagine—Jesus packing in as much money as he can and then dumping it on our laps after we give?
Is there anyone in this room who could use a financial pick-me-up? This fall, I’ll have two kids in college at the same time. I love the empty-nester life, but I’m learning that kids get more expensive when they move out of the house. I’ve got bills. You’ve got bills. What do you say we do the offering one more time so that God can pour money back into our laps?
That’s an option. Or, we can take a beat and zoom out a little bit. Did Jesus really say this? Yes. It’s in the Bible. That’s not in dispute. But what was going on in the conversation that led him to say that? When you ask that question, you’re asking for context. That’s always the best place to start.
Context is SUPREME.
For the people who want to exploit and twist the Bible—ignore context. For the people who want to understand the Bible, that starts with context. If we don’t understand the context, if we ignore context—we are asking to be conned, we are volunteering to misunderstand the text. None of us wants to be conned. None us wants to be wrong. And yet, we are vulnerable to it. Everyone is. The safeguard is to read a verse or a passage in the context.
There are layers to context.
- Literary Genre
- Language
- Culture
- History
The one we’re going to highlight today is easy. You don’t have to be a scholar. You already know how to do it. I’m talking about circles of context.
CIRCLES OF CONTEXT
When we read a verse or hear verse—what is the immediate context? What was happening in that chapter? How does fit into the entire book? How does this fit with other books this author has written? How does fit with the rest of the Bible? Whatever interpretation we land on, it has to fit with all four circles. Three out of four isn’t good enough. If our understanding doesn’t work with all four circles, it doesn’t mean we’re wrong. It means we’re not done. We don’t understand a text until we understand how fits in all four circles of context.
LUKE 6
Grab a Bible and find this passage. We’re going to start with the first circle. What was the immediate context when Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given back to you.” We want to know: what was this conversation about? Let’s start in verse 37.
LUKE 6:37-42 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
What does it sound like this about? Is this a conversation about money? Let’s break it down line by line.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
- If you are judgmental, people are more likely to judge you.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
- If you aren’t condemning, people are less likely to condemn you.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
- If you are forgiving, people are more likely to forgive you.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
This is the verse in question. We’ll come back to it in just a minute.
Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
- Be humble. Learn first, then lead.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Why do you see their sin clearly and excuse your own so easily?
Now, back to the verse in question.
LUKE 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Am I supposed to believe that in the middle of a candid conversation on the absurdity of being judgmental, condemning, and fixated on the moral failures of others, and instead that we should be humble learners who forgive—right in the middle of that, am I supposed to believe that Jesus took a hard left turn to say that when we give money, God will give even more back to us?
No way!
What kind of giving was Jesus talking about? Forgiveness. This is not about money, but it is about relational currency. Being judgmental and condemning is like a relational credit card. There is a bill coming due, with interest. It’s going to cost you. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is like relational currency. When you adopt a posture of forgiveness—this is just the way life works—people will be internally motivated to be forgiving of you. It will come back to you with interest.
This is audience participation time. Do any of you have a story of being stunned by how someone else forgave you? Who knows what it’s like to feel like you are getting more out of the relationship than the other person? Do you know what it’s like to feel like you are getting better than you deserve? That’s what he’s talking about.
How many of you have, on purpose, not been helpful to someone, because of how they treated you in the past? How many of you have, on purpose, gone out of your way to help someone, because of how they treated you in the past? Jesus is naming that reality. He wasn’t talking about money.
So, why in the world would anyone think this is about money? Our series thesis is the answer.
SERIES THESIS: You can know what the Bible SAYS and not know what it MEANS.
If you want to know what the Bible means, not just what it says—make it a practice to read it in context.
Any person who teaches others that these words from Jesus are about money is either deceived or intentionally trying to deceive you. I wish this weren’t true. But there are people who get famous and who get rich from teaching the Bible, and their goal is to con you so that they can get something from you. There are false teachers.
The person who said this…
"No. The Bible says that if you give, it will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over. The Bible says it and I believe it."
In response to being asked about financially desperate people who gave her money instead of buying groceries—that is a person who has made millions by knowingly twisting the words of Jesus in order to take grocery money from the desperate poor? That is evil.
Hear these words from the Apostle Paul. This is part of a deeply heartfelt, final goodbye, to church leaders and pastors.
ACTS 20:28-31 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!
Only Jesus is qualified to be the judge. And only a fool would refuse to use discernment.
There are people who will use the Bible, to devour you, so they can take from you. Throughout the New Testament, they are called savage wolves or wolves in sheep’s clothing. One of my responsibilities as a pastor is to practice discernment and be on guard. One of your responsibilities is practice discernment and be on guard. I would be disobedient to Jesus, and I’d be dishonoring you if I didn’t point out the savage wolves so that we can avoid them.
There are savage wolves out there. Anyone who preaches the prosperity gospel is a wolf, and we should relate to them and their message as dangerous. If you’re not up to speed on what the prosperity gospel is, let me give it to you in a nutshell.
PROSPERITY GOSPEL:
Faith x Obedience = Guaranteed Outcome
Any version of any teaching that says if you have enough faith, and do the right things, and its locked in that you will get the outcome you’re looking for—that is a false gospel. It’s not of God and it should not be tolerated.
When I was a pastor in Utah, there were many first-generation Christians in our church. Everything about following Jesus was new. Some of them were falling under the influence of two prosperity gospel teachers: Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer. Joyce Meyer is the person I quoted earlier.
One Sunday, I said this in a sermon, “If you take the teaching of Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer seriously, it will not be good for your long-term development as a follower of Jesus.” After that, some people wanted to know why I said that. I went home and wrote a blog post titled, The False Promise of the Prosperity Gospel: Why I called out Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer. And I shared it with the church.
A few days later, something weird happened. That blog post had been viewed over 1 million times. Then I got a call from the Huffington Post, asking if they could publish it. It became their most read article that year. And if you’re wondering how much money they paid me—it was a grand total of zero dollars. Then it was picked up by the BBC. The next thing I know—it spread like wildfire around the world.
For three years, every week for three years, emails and letters were sent to me at my church. I got letters from pastors and seminary professors in Africa and Asia who translated the article into various languages, and it was being spread by hand to churches. It was exciting, but it wasn’t an emotional high for me. It was an emotional low.
Because they flooded me with stories of how the prosperity gospel was wreaking havoc in their communities. I received a letter from an African pastor who told me that people from his church were leaving to join prosperity-gospel churches. They were poor and they couldn’t resist the promise of financial blessing. He told me about Americans who flew in to teach this lie, collect money from desperate people, and then fly home—leaving behind broken promises of blessings.
This is a heresy, a nasty and devastating lie that has primarily been exported from our country to people around the world. I hate the prosperity gospel.
I also was flooded with emails and letters from people in the United States. One man shared that he almost lost his house because he was sending his mortgage payment to Joyce Meyer, hoping it would come back to him even more. People shared with me about their parents who would send their grocery money to these savage wolves.
I hate the prosperity gospel.
Then I met Liz and Danny. They were volunteers in a church that taught the prosperity gospel. They trusted that this algorithm was true.
- When they had their first miscarriage—they assumed they weren’t giving enough financially. So they gave more.
- When they had their second miscarriage—they assumed they weren’t serving enough. So they served more.
- Then there was a third miscarriage, and because of a fluke response to a vaccine, Danny’s left hand was permanently paralyzed.
It broke them. She could barely attend church; he turned his back on God for years. I hate the prosperity gospel. It’s evil.
PROBLEM: When the outcome isn’t delivered, either God’s not GOOD, or we’re not GOOD ENOUGH.
When it doesn’t work, it leaves people with only two possible conclusions. That was Liz and Danny’s story. Her confidence was broken, and his faith was shattered. I hate the prosperity gospel.
Health and wealth aren’t the only forms that the prosperity gospel takes. There are more.
PROSPERITY GOSPEL VARIANTS:
- Health and Wealth
- Sex and Purity
If you were a 90s youth group kid, you probably heard some version of this. If you don’t have sex before you get married, when you get married the sex is always going to be amazing and you’re marriage is going to be blessed. It was this algorithm.
PROSPERITY GOSPEL:
Faith x Obedience = Guaranteed Outcome
Marriage is a blessing and sex is a gift. But I could fill your week with stories of 90s youth group kids who discovered that intimacy isn’t automatic, and joy-filled marriages require more preparation than not doing the deed before you say I do. They struggled in their marriages. They built their confidence on the false promise of the prosperity gospel—which left them with only two conclusions.
PROBLEM: When the outcome isn’t delivered, either God’s not GOOD, or we’re not GOOD ENOUGH.
- Family
There’s the family prosperity gospel. It tells you that if you do believe the right things and do the right things, then your kids are going to follow Jesus and their whole life is just going to be swell. It sneaks in.
I’m going to tell you a true story. The context of the story is a little provocative. Do your best to not get caught up in the context. See if you can spot the prosperity gospel at work.
Very recently, there was a convention for women that blended faith and politics. One of their themes is that the 19thamendment should be repealed. Instead of women having the right to vote, only the head of the household (husbands) should vote. We’re not debating that. Don’t get stuck there.
A journalist asked a mom at that event, “Are you concerned that your daughter would lose a right you’ve enjoyed your entire life?” This was her response.
"No. Because I know my daughter will marry a godly man."
Of course she wants her daughter to marry a godly man. I want my daughter to marry a godly man. She’s the blond one singing with the band today. And she’s not dating anyone. Step up, fellas.
As her dad, I can believe all the right things, and I can do all the right things—the same for all you parents out there. Do you know what we can’t do? We can’t control outcomes. We can contribute.
We can influence. We can’t control. And the illusion of control is at the heart dark and twisted heart of the prosperity gospel.
The prosperity gospel reduces life to an ALGORITHM and God to a cosmic VENDING MACHINE.
Does God bless people? You bet he does. He blesses us in all kinds of ways. But we need to know this.
God doesn’t bless us because we’re GOOD. He blesses because he’s GOOD.
Gospel means good news. The good news of Jesus is all about grace. We don’t earn anything from him. We receive grace and we respond to him with grateful, joyful trust and obedience. He is our blessing.
The prosperity gospel wants you to focus on your circumstances. It wants you to place your hope in this life. Jesus gives us hope right now, but it’s anchored in the life to come. We will suffer and have adversity. Faith is not a cheat code to avoid it. What we need is an eschatology. We need to know where our story is headed.
We are born, and then we die. But that’s not the end. Everyone lives forever somewhere. The prosperity gospel wants you to only think about this. Jesus is calling us to see this (life), in light of this (eternity). So, what exactly is our hope? If we can’t guarantee outcomes—what is guaranteed? Hear these words from the Apostle Paul.
ROMANS 8:18-32 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.