In this article, we will take a look at the popular teachings of prosperity and compare them to the Biblical aspects of both prosperity and productivity.

I spend time in my garden every day. It is a time of tending to the plants and reaping the fruit that God brings forth. Agriculture and livestock are the only real sources of wealth – they do not come by adding perceived value to existing things, they bring value out of nothing; God gives the increase. The times in my garden have been times of learning principles of ministry. Of course, what we learn from what we see around us is not Scripture, but God uses these mundane things to open our understanding to principles in the Word that are necessary and applicable for our daily Christian walk.

So I was pruning my plants. Every farmer and gardener knows the necessity of pruning. We prune almost all our plants for better yield. So how does pruning work? We cut off lots of leaves and in most cases even new branches. For tomato plants to give you any appreciable yield, you have to cut off all the side branches, remove any and all ‘suckers’ and string the plant straight up. If not, the tomato plant falls over and crawls the ground because it is not strong enough to bear its weight, and the yield will be about 10% of what it would yield if it were tended properly.

So let’s look at Scripture to see what it says regarding growth and bearing fruit. This is not just about growing vegetables; it is about building up Christian character (though, of course, we learn a great deal about growing plants from the Bible).

Leaf and Fruit

A Christian is likened to a tree. In Isaiah 61, the anointing causes people to become as “trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord” (Isaiah 61:3). Daily meditation in the Word (Torah) makes a person like a “tree planted by rivers of water, whose leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3). Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5).

So, what do we look for in a tree? Leaves… Fruit… Flowers… twigs… bark… wood…

Leaves tell a lot about the plant. A tree whose leaves are droopy lacked water. A tree whose leaves look sickly is not in good health. A tree whose leaves are abundant and healthy is doing very well. And so is a man who meditates in the Word (Law or Torah) of the Lord day and night (Psalm 1:3).

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalm 1:3)

In the Bible, the leaves are a sign of prosperity. The more the leaves grow, the more they photosynthesize, and thereby we can assume that the plant has more food and stores up more and so it should produce good fruit. Logical. But plants do not seem to follow logic, and neither does the Bible. In fact, the Bible actually teaches us to cast down arguments which are ‘logical’ (2 Corinthians 10:5), because the world in its wisdom rejected the Messiah, but simple faith that was totally contrary to ‘logical reasoning’ brought salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 1:21).

Fruit on the other hand, is what every farmer looks form from is tree. Jesus saw leaves on a fig tree and expected fruit on it – a fig tree puts out its leaves when it is putting out fruit.

Leaves and Prosperity

In the Bible, leaves refer to prosperity. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ guarantees prosperity to every believer. It is a comprehensive increase, not only financial, though most increase in today’s world is measured financially.

A pastor who ministers in a village in North India described how people began to get blessed and prosper, materially and financially when they came to Christ. A labourer, before he came to know Christ, would work all day and come home with his wage. On the way, he would buy his drink, more often than not, come home drunk, beat his wife, abuse his kids, and go to sleep. There would not be much money left to adequately nourish or provide facilities for his family. Then the man hears the Gospel and gives his life to Jesus. The first thing that happens is that his drinking habit stops, mainly because he has joy that he lacked earlier. Because he is sober, he is good to his wife and children, there’s plenty more money for the family because he is not drowning it in his drink. The family begins to get richer by the day. They increase in material goods, they are in better health, they are ‘blessed’! Nobody gave them any money to convert, they just got free from the thing that was draining their resources. Then, the superiors at his workplace see that he is more diligent in his work, more reliable, trustworthy, and he gets one promotion after another. Soon, he is economically far above the rest of the village who are still in their old lifestyle. Yes, it is indeed the blessing of the Lord, but it doesn’t always work the way we expect it to – God opens the floodgates of heaven and it doesn’t come down in buckets of cash, it comes down in a transformation that results in the surplus. It is true that God does sometimes provide by totally miraculous supernatural means too! But the miraculous ways are not the most common way, rather they seem to be more in the emergency situations that God mercifully bails out His people.

So, is prosperity a bad thing? Certainly not!

It is God who teaches us to prosper. It is God who blesses us to raise us above the world and its pernicious ways. It is God who gives us wisdom and guidance so that we prosper in all that we set our hands to do.

I recall a few years ago, a friend offered me a contract of supplying chicken mince to a chain of restaurants on a contract basis. The numbers were fantastic. The profits projected were very good. The client was a reputed one and were known for prompt payments. But I waited in prayer till I would have a go ahead from the Lord. One day I heard the Lord tell me to “shelf the project”. I told my friend I would not be doing it. The next day the price of chicken shot up by 50%. He waiting on the Lord saved me from a terrible loss that I would not have been able to bear by any means.

Prosperity is for every believer. Increase in goods is a certainty. The wise preacher in Ecclesiastes said “when goods increase”, not “if goods increase” (Ecclesiastes 5:11). But just before that was a caution:

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

This is in essence the problem with the ‘prosperity gospel’. Blessing is a by-product of the presence of God in a person’s life. When God is with me, I can’t but be blessed; I can’t but prosper; I can’t but increase. Jesus came for that same reason – that we should have life, and have abundantly (John 10:10)! Yes, the King James has it worded “they might have it more abundantly”. But the ‘it’ was added for readability and is not in the original text. So then, Jesus came that (in His own words) we might have more abundantly! So then, if Jesus came that I might increase, why is the ‘prosperity gospel’ wrong? It is a matter of focus. The prosperity gospel teaches us how we can increase, how we can be blessed, how we can get things we want, how we can be everything we want to be, to name the blessing and claim it because if God gave His own Son for us, how shall He not also with Him give us all these things? (Romans 8: 32)

So then, I learn that God did everything for ME, he came for ME, He blesses ME, I am the most important person on earth because I was counted worthy of God sacrificing His only begotten Son for me! NO. Jesus is the most important person, not me! In all things Jesus should have pre-eminence, not me (Colossians 1:18). All things are for Jesus, not me (Hebrews 2:17). The prosperity gospel makes me the centre of God’s plan; the Bible declares Jesus to be the centre of everything God intended.

Prosperity is an integral part of Christian life, but it is not the only part. Just because a person is not financially increased does not mean he is living contrary to the Word. It is God who blesses us to increase and to position us above the people around us, but that need not be only in monetary terms.

Fruit

Fruit is what we would look for in a tree. As compared to a tree, a Christian who bears much fruit glorifies God.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:8)

Of course, we can’t go around with mangoes or apples hanging off of us; that would be ridiculous. But we are supposed to ‘bear much fruit’. Some people say it is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. Others say it is praise which is the ‘fruit of our lips’ to God.

Fruit is what we do. It is the good works we do – that men see, that glorifies God (Matthew 5:16). But good works is not humanism, they are born out of love.

Love is often confused with humanism. Love does not harm because it looks out for the good of the other whereas humanism does good to make one’s self happy. Love is selfless; humanism is selfish at its core.

Paul outlined the works (read fruit) of the flesh in contrast with the fruit (read works) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-23). All of the works of the flesh as listed in this passage have some law or other against them. But against the works of the Spirit, there is and cannot be any law – they are above the Law! The key to living above the law is to live according to the Spirit, yielding the members of our bodies as instruments to fulfil the works of the Spirit.

Drawing a balance

We have seen that prosperity is needed and good, and it comes from God. But God looks for fruit. He wants something in us that will reach out to the rest of the world that is still living in enmity to Him. Our primary purpose is to be the ones who draw others to the love of Christ so they can be freely reconciled to the Father.

I pruned my plants today. My Brinjals (eggplant) had too many leaves. I reduced the foliage quite drastically. The last time I did that, the fruit multiplied several times over. Plants that had one or two fruits began to put forth several more. The tomatoes I pruned have at least eight times the amount of fruit as compared to the plant I allowed to grow as a bush.

The leaves are a good part of growth. And so is prosperity. Without the leaves, the plant would not grow enough to bear fruit. And so is prosperity – without some amount of prosperity, the believer cannot bear any appreciable fruit. But as the leaves increase, the plant actually has to spend more energy and resources to support the foliage than it can to put out fruit. So the plant then grows big and pretty, but it has little or no fruit. Yes, it looks fantastic. But it’s not of any value other than cosmetic.

Prune the excess foliage. Cut off the unnecessary branches. The plant will look bare. It may seem unsightly. Wait a few days. First flowers appear. Then fruit. The plant still keeps growing more leaves, but every now and again they get pruned. The result? I am happy with the yield.

A believer is very similar to the plants I pruned. We feed them the best fertilizer and regularly water them for them to grow. Just like the believers; we go to great lengths to give then the best messages we can, organize the best programs, give them the best facilities we can… and they begin to grow. They begin to be ‘blessed’ and increase. Every Pastor loves to see his believers blessed, just like every farmer loves to see his plants grow well and strong. But as the Good Shepherd, the Lord also knows that there is a time of pruning that is necessary so that we can bear much fruit. We need to choose between prosperity and productivity, and as for the Lord’s part, He would choose productivity.

God is glorified in the much fruit that we bear, not in the much prosperity that we gather. He would rather see us putting our resources, efforts and time into reconciling the lost to Him, than just increasing our goods (though He does increase our goods). He is not as much careful in seeing us looking good to the world around (which we anyway will not, because we are the aroma of death to them) as He is in allowing us to struggle so that more of His goodness can come out of us to reach the needy and wanting world. If God did not spare Jesus, why would He spare me? If Jesus had to ‘learn obedience through the things He suffered’ (Hebrews 5:8), why shouldn’t I?

It is a matter of focus. God has displayed it throughout the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, He has been about reconciling man to Himself. It is imperative for us to align with that focus. Prosperity is good and nice. But productivity is what glorifies God. And bear much fruit, we must, even if it is at the expense of beauty and prosperity.

Soli Deo Gloria.