Prosperous Social Share

A lot of "chatter" about what has become known as the "prosperity gospel" prompted me to try and figure it out - even partially so.  Below is a post from my social media page (Facebook) about that.  It is hardly complete and there are many other questions and answers, but it is a start.
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I have been trying to figure out the "prosperity gospel" - you know the "version" which we see around us that seems aimed at health, wealth and happiness and includes phrases like "God wants you to have that new car/boat/house/big promotion/etc" and "you were made for greatness/popularity/power/etc, just declare that and it will become reality" and other of the like. And it seems insane to me.


I mean, what about all those passionate, on fire believers in places like Asia and Africa who are so madly in love with Christ that they are willing to die (and many have) rather than deny Him who live in, well, poverty - that is poverty even by their cultures standards. Does that mean they do not have enough faith??


What about the "heroes" of the Christian faith over the years who have passed on owning all but nothing to their names and having never owned much of anything (people like Mother Teresa, John Wesley, etc) - did they just not have enough faith?


What about the Apostles in the Bible? All but one of them were executed and the one who was not was exiled after they tried to but failed. I cannot recall seeing where they lived in huge estates with dozens of servants. Maybe they just did not know enough to "name it and claim it". Obviously, Jesus did not know enough to do so either since He was (for all intensive purposes) homeless during His earthly ministry.


Then it hits me: perhaps, perhaps there has been a grievous misunderstanding. What misunderstanding, you may ask?

The very wrong idea that God exists for the happiness of humanity. For if one were to take that stance (as insane as it sounds), then the "prosperity gospel" would make complete sense. However, if one were to take the stance that humanity exists for God, then that "version of the gospel" makes no sense at all.
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