Make no mistake about it...
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Make no mistake about it, there is money to be made in religion. Jim Bakker, popular televangelist, sought to make lots of money by defrauding his followers, and he was invited to be a guest of the Federal government for several years. He has since been released from prison. Recently, Bruce Wilkinson of Georgia approached the five million mark in the number of copies sold of his book The Prayer of Jabez. That in itself is not the point. In general, it is good to see an author's success. It is the subject of his book that draws either ire or enthusiasm from its readers, who obviously are legion.
In the book, prayer is compared to the request of a stockbroker who is seeking to enlarge his portfolio. God is understood as eager to provide "exponentially expanding blessings" to those who will simply ask. Wilkinson encourages people to ask God for generous tangible blessings on a daily basis, and then to use them well. Critics point out that this plays into the penchant of American culture to be greedy and self-centered. Daniel Gard, dean of the graduate school at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, states that this puts "a religious shellacking" on secular values associated with one's paycheck and big houses. He comments, "You can feel good as a religious person and at the same time go after all the stuff in the world."
In the book, prayer is compared to the request of a stockbroker who is seeking to enlarge his portfolio. God is understood as eager to provide "exponentially expanding blessings" to those who will simply ask. Wilkinson encourages people to ask God for generous tangible blessings on a daily basis, and then to use them well. Critics point out that this plays into the penchant of American culture to be greedy and self-centered. Daniel Gard, dean of the graduate school at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, states that this puts "a religious shellacking" on secular values associated with one's paycheck and big houses. He comments, "You can feel good as a religious person and at the same time go after all the stuff in the world."
