Joseph Prince doesn’t understand the grace of God and teaches against Jesus and Paul when he said only the rich can give but the poor can’t – By Rev George Ong (Dated 11 Feb 2023)
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a weekly Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 5 Feb 2023, 6 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 1-minute video:
“Does God want to give us more than enough? Ya, not just enough, more than enough so that we can be a blessing.
Those who have just enough, me, myself and little Jimmy – give me, give me, give me, give me. Alright, they cannot be a blessing. Amen. So, you gotta be blessed with more than enough.”
“Ruth ate at Boaz’s table during lunch time after gleaning. The Bible says she ate and she was sufficed, she had enough and left over, which she brought back to her mother-in-law. She ta pao. There’s more than enough. Not only that, she went back to gleaning again, and before the evening was over, they had to put on her bag an ephah which is 10 days’ supply because Boaz told the man, drop handfuls, of purposely put down on the ground, purposely for her until was 10 days’ supply. That’s the way God provides.”
“And it seems like the world still wants the hero to be a person who can provide for the woman. Very hard to find very very poor heroes one. Think about it. The hero is usually quite wealthy, you know.”
While Joseph Prince teaches that the rich are empowered to give, which we don’t disagree,
what’s rather ungracious (I thought he is supposed to be a grace teacher) and hurting to the poor
is that he went on to strongly imply that the poor only know how to ‘get, get, get, get,’ but they cannot give to others to be a blessing when Joseph Prince said;
“Those who have just enough, me, myself and little Jimmy – give me, give me, give me, give me. Alright, they cannot be a blessing. Amen. So, you gotta be blessed with more than enough.”
Joseph Prince even went on to rub salt into the wounds of the poor when he said that only the rich can be the heroes of giving but the poor can’t when Joseph Prince said;
“And it seems like the world still wants the hero to be a person who can provide for the woman. Very hard to find very very poor heroes one. Think about it. The hero is usually quite wealthy, you know.”
What Joseph Prince said went head-on against
what the Apostle Paul, who uses the poor Macedonians,
and the Lord Jesus, who uses the poor widow
to teach about giving in the scriptures.
Most of all, Joseph Prince doesn’t even understand the grace of God.
This is because the Apostle Paul teaches that it was nothing but the grace of God in 2 Corinthians 8:1
that enabled the extremely poor Macedonian churches to give generously to the needs of other churches in 2 Corinthians 8:2-5:
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NIV
1And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
We need to remind Joseph Prince, (just in case he is ignorant)
that the Macedonian churches are New Covenant churches, and they weren’t wealthy at all.
In fact, they were not just poor churches, but extremely poor (2 Cor 8:2).
If Joseph Prince were Paul, and to be true to his Prosperity Gospel Theology, he would have lectured them:
“Hey, Macedonians, according to my Prosperity Gospel teaching, you ought to be very rich as Abraham was. What happened? Obviously, you do not have enough faith. That’s why you are still living in poverty.
Don’t you know that if you live in poverty, my Prosperity Gospel doctrine says you are under a curse?
Besides, being poor, how can you give to others? You must be rich, and have more than enough for yourselves, before you can give to others.
You need to get out of poverty as you are a poor testimony of the Christian faith. You are a poor example to the churches as every church ought to be very rich as Abraham was.
When people see you suffering from poverty, who would want to be a Christian?”
Did Paul say all that rubbish to the Macedonian Christians?
Absolutely not!
Paul said the opposite.
He praised them for their sacrificial giving.
He held them up as a model of giving for every church.
Paul praised the Macedonian believers that though they were extremely poor,
they were enormously generous in their giving as they gave out of extreme poverty.
Many Macedonian Christians had probably lost their jobs because they were persecuted for their faith.
They had gone through a severe trial.
They were extremely poor.
And yet, it was out of their extreme poverty and out of the empowering grace of God that they gave magnanimously.
Paul, through the excellent example of the Macedonians,
has debunked Joseph Prince’s constant refrain that one has to be rich, or one has to have more than enough,
in order to give to support the preaching of the gospel and to bless the poor.
Joseph Prince constantly harped on this line in his sermons and books that if you are not blessed with riches,
how could you bless others through your giving?
Prince keeps pounding on this argument that if you are as poor as a church mouse, and don’t even have enough for yourselves,
how could God use you to give to others?
The tune that Joseph Prince has constantly been singing is that the richer you are,
the more you could give to bless others.
Joseph Prince’s teachings seem all so logical.
But you know something – the Bible never explicitly (as far as I know) uses the rich to exhort us to excel or be generous in our giving.
However, the Bible uses the poor to showcase what excelling in giving and what being generous in our giving really is.
Paul didn’t use the rich but the extremely poor Macedonians to encourage the Corinthians and all of us to excel in our giving:
2 Corinthians 8:4 NLT
4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.
Out of 59 Translations that I have checked regarding 2 Corinthians 8:4, 41 used the word ‘begged’ or ‘begging’:
AMP, AMPC, CSB, CEB, CJB, CEV, DARBY, DLNT, DRA, ERV, ESV, ESVUK, EXB, GW, GNT, HCSB, ICB, ISV, PHILLIPS, TLB, MEV, MOUNCE, NOG, NABRE, NASB, NCV, NET, NIRV, NLT, NRSV, NRSVA, NRSVACE, NTE, OJB, TPT, RSV, RSVCE, TLV, VOICE, WEB, WE.
What is astounding is that these extremely poor Macedonian Christians begged to give.
The word ‘beg’, is usually used by those who receive.
We call a person a beggar because he begs to receive.
That’s what Joseph Prince has sarcastically described poor people as people who only knows how to receive when he said:
“Those who have just enough, me, myself and little Jimmy – give me, give me, give me. Alright, they cannot be a blessing.”
Instead of begging to receive, which they could have done,
Paul said these extremely poor Macedonian believers
“begged” to give
“again and again” (2 Cor 8:4 NLT).
This is unheard of!
This is extraordinary Christianity!
My heart was so moved by what the Macedonian church did.
Can you see what the grace of God can do to move these extremely poor Macedonian Christians
to beg to give?
When the extremely poor Macedonian Christians, which is equivalent to today’s Third World begged to give,
the irony is that some believers in the First World often have to be coaxed and persuaded to give; and despite that, they are still reluctant to give.
God, have mercy on us!
In the same way, Christ Jesus Himself used a poor widow (not the rich as Joseph Prince have always used)
who gave her two coins, which is all that she had to teach us about generous giving (Mk 12:41-44):
Mark 12:41-44 NIV
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.”
The poor widow went beyond what was expected and gave all that she had.
Jesus remarked that the widow gave more than all the rich people put together
because she gave “out of her poverty” and “all she had to live on” (Mk 12:43-44).
Like Paul, the first crucial lesson that Jesus wants us to learn is that it is not only the rich who can give,
but the poor can give as well,
and their giving is better than the rich as they can give ‘much more’ (in the eyes of Jesus) than what the rich give.
The second lesson is that when it comes to the crunch, it is not how much one gives
(“Many rich people threw in large amounts” and “gave out of their wealth” Mark 12:41b, 44).
Rather, it’s how much one sacrifices
(“but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on” Mark 12:44).
Hence, the excellence of giving is not how much one puts in the offering bag;
it is how little one keeps in his wallet in comparison to how much he has given.
The examples of both the poor widow and the extremely poor Macedonian Christians
have unveiled the lie of Joseph Prince in his Prosperity Gospel Theology
that one has to be rich and even better, richer, before one can give to the preaching of the gospel and His kingdom’s sake.
This is one key way Joseph Prince tries to justify why his Prosperity Gospel is biblical
and why every New Covenant believer is to be very wealthy as Abraham was,
because it is their covenantal right.
To reiterate, as I have pointed out,
the examples that Jesus and Paul used to illustrate generous and sacrificial giving are not the rich but the poor
– the widow who gave out of her poverty and her all – her 2 coins,
and the Macedonian Christians who gave out of their extreme poverty.
So, if Joseph Prince claims to be Christ-centred and preaching the real Jesus of the Bible, and holds up Paul as his mentor in his grace theology,
why is he not following the examples of Jesus and Paul
by teaching that the poor can give sacrificially and generously, and not just the rich?
The reason is simple; as this would expose the falsity of his Prosperity Gospel doctrine
that every believer has to be very rich as Abraham was,
and no believer must ever be poor as a church mouse.
What’s most crucial is that Joseph Prince himself who is a so-called grace teacher
does not really comprehend the full wonders of the grace of God.
This is because it was indeed the grace of God
that moves and empowers the poor Macedonian churches and the poor widow to give.
Without the grace of God,
both the poor widow and the Macedonian Christians wouldn’t have been able to.
In fact, it is impossible for them to give, when they themselves are living in poverty.
It was nothing but the grace of God
that empowers them to give sacrificially.
Ask yourself – what would help most to magnify the excellent and bountiful grace of God?
It is not when the rich give out of their abundance, or out of their excess, or when they have more than enough,
but it is when the poor give in rich generosity despite their extreme poverty,
like the poor widow and the Macedonian Christians did.
Only the grace of God could have brought about
such a magnificent giving by the poor widow and the Macedonian churches
that defies human imagination and possibilities:
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NIV
1And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
It is truly the grace of God
that galvanises our giving.
Perhaps, we should send Joseph Prince back to the school of grace
to learn and relearn regarding his inadequate and poor understanding of the true grace of God.
So, who are the true heroes of giving?
Joseph Prince said the heroes of giving are the very wealthy
and the very very poor, do not stand any chance,
when Joseph Prince said;
“And it seems like the world still wants the hero to be a person who can provide for the woman. Very hard to find very very poor heroes ones. Think about it. The hero is usually quite wealthy, you know.”
The heroes are not the rich, who could provide out of their abundance, or when they have more than enough
that Joseph Prince is rooting for,
but the real heroes are the poor widow and the poor Macedonian Christians.
Joseph Prince obviously do not understand that the ways of God
are often to use the weak and the poor to confound the wise and the rich.
When the weak and the most unlikely people who are living in extreme poverty, respond to the challenge of sacrificial giving,
God’s matchless grace is magnified many times more.
Furthermore, Joseph Prince is strongly implying that God cannot provide for you through the poor, when he said;
“Those who have just enough, me, myself and little Jimmy – give me, give me, give me. Alright, they cannot be a blessing. Amen. So, you gotta be blessed with more than enough.”
Also, after talking about how the rich Boaz provided for poor Ruth, Joseph Prince concluded;
“That’s the way God provides.”
This is a half-truth that Joseph Prince has uttered.
While God can certainly provide through the rich,
it isn’t true that He cannot provide through the poor
as the scriptures have proven in the case of the poor Macedonian Christians and the poor widow.
This is a half-truth that Joseph Prince has spoken against God Himself.
A half-truth is nothing but a lie.
Joseph Prince is actually saying that the Almighty God is telling a half-truth – and, in fact, He is telling a lie
– that He can only provide through the rich but not the poor.
This is simply because the scriptures have never taught that only the rich can give but the poor can’t.
Finally, why would Joseph Prince want to give people the idea that they should first get rich before they can be a generous giver;
and only the rich, who have more than enough, can give while the poor can’t?
You would have to ask him for the answer.
Perhaps, one probable reason is to justify his own riches.
How much personal wealth Prince has gained from his many years of ‘preaching the gospel’
is what everyone is dying to know.
What’s reprehensible is that many Prosperity Gospel preachers are no more than using this as a mere and convenient excuse
to be rich themselves and to justify their extravagant and luxurious lifestyle.
Rev George Ong