「不,這不是基督教。」成功神學(Prosperity theology)代表人物辛班尼牧師(Benny Hinn)的侄子、加州奧蘭治縣使命聖經教會 (The Mission Bible Church) 執行牧師科斯蒂 (Costi Hinn)公開譴責家族奢華的生活方式,公開表示成功神學是「扭曲的」。
在HLN電視台卡科斯特洛的獨家採訪中,科斯蒂如此描述自己在辛班尼家族的生活:「在辛班尼(Benny Hinn)家族帝國中長大,感覺就像歸屬一個皇家和黑手黨的混合體。我們的生活方式奢華,我們的忠誠度被強化,我們傳講的福音版本是一門大生意。雖然耶穌基督仍是我們福音的一部分,但祂更多是一個有魔力的精靈而不是萬王之王。」
他向今日基督教 (Christianity Today)說:「成功神學帶來奇妙的收益。我們住在1萬平方英尺的豪宅,入口有私人守衛,開兩部奔馳汽車,在充滿異國情調的渡假勝地渡假,在最昂貴的商店購物。」
在如此優越的生活中,他卻深深不安,開始對成功神學產生懷疑。當科斯特洛問科斯蒂「耶穌並不是富有的人,他們的家族如何能夠一邊傳講耶穌的福音一邊過這種奢侈的生活」時,他表示「因為家族所使用的神學是扭曲的」。
他形容成功福音是一個「公式化的處方」——你做某些事情就能變得富有:「如果你討好神,做一切對的事情,你的銀行存款會增加、你會得到晉陞、你可以得到那個你想與之結婚的女人或完美的男人、你的生活會變得完美—— 因為這是神為你所準備的。」他指出這樣的福音對於那些生活貧困,想要通過向成功神學的教會奉獻以求得物質上的豐富的信徒來說是非常危險的。
「這不是基督教的核心。」他解釋說:「基督教的核心是,如果你擁有財富,那你應該是慷慨之人,並在善事上富足。如果神極大地祝福了你,那麼你也要負上極大的責任。」
科斯蒂強調福音包含兩方面:一是「帶來希望的好消息」,另一是「指明人人有罪的壞消息」。他呼籲真正的牧師和教會要站出來向信徒指明「成功神學不是聖經所教導的真理」。
「我為著自己曾參與被貪婪操縱的事工、虛假教導和信念的生活而痛哭。」他感謝神以豐盛的憐憫和恩典改變了自己的心,他說:「我不再相信上帝的目的是讓我快樂、健康和有錢。而是看到祂要我為祂而活——不管我會從祂這裡得到什麼。」
Costi Hinn On Why He Left His Infamous Uncle’s Prosperity Gospel Ministry
Costi Hinn is a pastor, author and, as you may have guessed, relative of the famed prosperity gospel televangelist Benny Hinn.
Costi is Benny’s nephew and was raised in his uncle’s ministry, but abandoned the family business as he came to see the harmful side of its theological teaching.
He details the story of his experience in a new, upcoming book called God, Greed and the (Prosperity) Gospel, and sat down with RELEVANT to discuss his story and the way the prosperity gospel influences the beliefs of Christians in small ways — even those who claim they don’t believe it.
When it came to leaving your uncle’s organization, was there a lightbulb moment for you or was it more of a series of just small kind of revelations?
Both. The Puritans called it preparation. It’s the season that leads up to what I would refer to as my “Grace Awakening” moment or my conversion moment; the moment my mind fully changed.
Over time, as I got older, certain dominos begin to fall and those dominos led to another domino and another domino. I would study certain topics and realize what we were teaching is completely different than what the Bible actually says.
Along the road, I end up in a ministry position, and I’m preaching a sermon in John 5, the healing at the pool of Bethesda. I’m reading this passage and Jesus in John chapter 5 approaches a multitude of sick people but heals just one, and He heals the man immediately John says. So I’m like, no process, no music, no fanfare, no offering, nothing. He just heals him.
I remember thinking as I was studying, how in the world did he get healed if he didn’t have enough faith and he didn’t even believe in anything really? Jesus says “Do you want to be healed?” And the guy just complains that everybody’s making it to the pool of Bethesda before him. So I went to a commentary, and I’m studying this commentary and the author writes, “Here we see an example of Jesus as a sovereign healer and one of the cruelest lies of faith healers today is that the people who fail to get healed aren’t guilty of negative confession or a lack of faith” and my mind was blown.
I thought, that’s what we taught, that’s what I’ve always believed.
So in that moment, I begin to cry. I realized that all the questions I had were linked to truths. I repented of my sin, I asked Christ to forgive me, I gave Him my heart, gave Him my life, vowed to be a faithful pastor, to teach the truth of the Gospel, and that’s what I’ve committed my life too ever since.
I would have to assume that takes some level of courage and even risk, spiritually, communally, financially, to break away from all that.
Yes, we lost everything during that season.
I remember it being very hard in some ways because we had nothing but in many ways we just became normal. Like every other wonderful American person, the average person that works hard, doesn’t have a lot and trusts the Lord each day to meet their needs. Well, that became our life. So to me, it was losing everything and to maybe somebody else it’s, “Hey, Costi, welcome to reality.”
I remember as hard as it was to come to grips with certain realities, we had more joy than we ever had in our entire life.
We knew that we had Jesus and we had the right gospel and that our lives were secure in Him. We knew that we were walking in the truth, and it was as though someone walked into a dark room that we were wandering around in, thinking that that was normal and then someone turned the lights on and then everything was bright and even though it wasn’t perfect, even though it was hard, it felt amazing to be walking in the light.
That’s the feeling I remember.
Did you have people try to talk you back into where you’d come from?
Definitely. We had people like in our family saying “You walked away from the truth. You walked away from God’s blessings. You walked away from God’s protection. You may die. You may be cursed. Bad things are going to happen to you,” and “If you say anything about this at all, and you go tell people about your new you, God may kill you or your children.”
There were death threats, we had legitimate death threats, both spiritual and physical, that bad things were going to happen to us.
That’s why I’ve often called the prosperity gospel in the circle that I grew up in a hybrid between the royal family and the mafia. It’s the wealth and the drama and the royal family, and it’s the protection and gag order of the mafia.
When was the last time that you spoke to your uncle?
A few years ago when my grandmother passed away.
If you were going to give him a message what would you want it to be?
I would ask my Uncle Benny what many of our family members have asked him privately over the years, and it would be to consider the time he has left on this earth. To consider the goodness and grace of God, to consider repenting of his sin, turning from his track record of false teaching, and being an example of how the Gospel can transform anyone.
I would want him to hear me say that I hope he finishes well and that even if God changes us, in the end that still means that God changed us.
I think a lot of Christians are aware that God doesn’t call us to live in mansions and have private jets, but it seems like the prosperity gospel can slip into our theologies in more subtle ways.
I think that is very true. The more we highlight the outlandish aspects of the prosperity gospel, the more people will actually avoid it. We’re not going to necessarily see every guy getting on TV raising money for his private jet. That is silly, and people know that it’s silly and Comedy Central does skits on it. That’s how silly it is.
But there is this idea in all of us somewhere deep within our hearts that wants to believe that God doesn’t want us to suffer and is never going to allow his children to go through a hard time and that if we do good things that God will only give us good things and that if we suffer we must have done something wrong and that’s in all of us.
And that’s just not what the Bible teaches.
Some of the greatest men and women in history have suffered and some of the greatest heroes in our faith did not have a lot while conversely there are people who have much and they’re following Jesus and they’re wealthy and they’re using their wealth to further the Gospel and that’s OK too. So we’re human and we tend to view ourselves in that light. If it’s good then everything’s going to be good and if I’m bad then everything going to be bad, but that’s not the way it works.