• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lifestyle
Evangelical pastor Paula White and several other Christian leaders pray for President-elect Donald Trump in this screengrab from a Sept. 2015 YouTube video

How Prosperity Preacher Paula White Harms Christians of Color

January 7, 2017
Civil Rights March 1963

The Women Who Stood With Martin Luther King Jr. and Sustained a Movement for Social Change

March 16, 2023
creed III

‘Creed 3’ Is a Great Movie That Centers Family, Friendship and Forgiveness

March 3, 2023
Roz Ryan, Andrea Lewis, and Pooch Hall are seen in this still from A Nashville Legacy

‘A Nashville Legacy’ Is a Feel-Good Hallmark Mahogany Movie Celebrating Black Music History

February 22, 2023
pile of books

In New Jersey, School Segregation Didn’t End; It Evolved

February 18, 2023
Karen Abercrombie

After Award-Winning Role in Top-Grossing Christian Movie, Karen Abercrombie Is Leading Change From Within

February 14, 2023
black women group

‘Righteous and Ratchet’ Black Women of Faith Embraced on Jemele Hill’s ‘Sanctified’ Podcast

January 23, 2023
Martin Luther King Jr. Photo

How the Distortion of MLK’s Words Enables More, Not Less, Racial Division Within American Society

January 14, 2023
Shirley Chisholm book

Historian Connects Shirley Chisholm’s Life and Politics in New Biography

January 14, 2023
red apple fruit on four pyle books

Is White Supremacy a Bug or a Feature of Classical Christian Education?

January 14, 2023
bible gun Brazil

God and Guns Often Go Together In US History — This Course Examines Why

January 14, 2023
black news site

Kansas City Police Dismissed a Black News Site’s Reports of Missing Women. Then One Showed Up.

January 14, 2023
text

‘Thank You’ and a Look Back as We Look Forward to the New Year

December 31, 2022
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, March 27, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
Faithfully Magazine
  • About
    • Staff and Advisors
    • Write for Us
    • Advertise
    • Give Via PayPal
  • Exclusives
  • Q&As
  • Inspiration
  • Subscribe
  • Shop Faithfully
No Result
View All Result
Faithfully Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Inspiration

How Prosperity Preacher Paula White Harms Christians of Color

by Nicola A. Menzie
January 7, 2017
Reading Time: 6 mins read
Evangelical pastor Paula White and several other Christian leaders pray for President-elect Donald Trump in this screengrab from a Sept. 2015 YouTube video

Pastor Paula White and several other Christian leaders pray for Donald Trump in this screengrab from a Sept. 2015 YouTube video.

47
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It

Paula White is the Florida preacher who has been called President-elect Donald Trump’s “God whisper” due to their longtime relationship and her puzzling insistence that he is a born-again Christian.

White has been tapped, along with Franklin Graham, Samuel Rodriguez, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Wayne T. Jackson (actor Brandon T. Jackson’s father) to offer prayers at Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20.

Thanks to Trump’s historic win (he reportedly received hefty support from white evangelicals) White’s star has been on the rise.

CNN published an article Thursday, Jan. 5, teasing White’s appearance on “Erin Burnett OutFront” and highlighting some of the criticism White has faced due to her affinity for the prosperity gospel — a health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim-it old movement in Christianity that, of course, links financial giving to spiritual and material well-being. The article allowed White to express her belief in historical Christian creeds, such as the Trinity and in the “exclusivity and divinity of Jesus Christ,” issues of paramount importance to evangelical Christians.

RELATED POSTS

The Real ‘Great Replacement’: When Resentful Whites Recruited Foreigners to Undermine Black Progress

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ & the Absurdity of Love as Resistance

Unlearning Racism As a Non-Black Person of Color

White pastors the New Destiny Christian Center (“inherited” from Zachery Tims, the founding pastor who died of a drug overdose in a NYC hotel room in 2011) in Apopka, Florida. I am sure White, her ministry and New Destiny Christian Center do good and much needed work in the local community and around the world.

But is the good that one accomplishes ever a problem?

No, it’s the harm we can cause when we willfully mislead people (Christians) and mishandle or abuse what many Christians view as an authoritative text (the Holy Bible) and an authoritative position (pastor).

So I was disappointed that the CNN article, titled “Trump’s spiritual adviser, Paula White, fires back at critics,” barely scratched the surface on the allegations involving money that White has faced. But, I remembered after sharing the link to the article on Twitter, I suppose it is not CNN’s job to call out a religious leader’s mishandling of the Holy Bible for financial gain.

So let me take a stab at it.

I’ve been getting regular emails from White’s ministry for two-three years now, and 99% of them involve an appeal for financial donations, sometimes in exchange for a book, DVD set or some other teaching product. This isn’t unusual — plenty of nonprofits, religious or otherwise, solicit donations in exchange for gifts. I know this partly because I have been reporting on Evangelicalism/Christianity for the past five years or so. I am also a Christian, who practices tithing and tries to make generosity a spiritual practice.

Paula White’s email appeals for financial donations are different. Here’s what I mean.

White uses Bible passages to suggest that certain blessings are tied to them and that donating an amount matching the numbers of those verses will lead to some kind of reward for the giver.

For example, I wrote in 2014 under the headline “Pastor Paula White Claims July Is ‘Prophetically Designated for Victory Over Enemies;’ Suggests $229 ‘Breakthrough Seed’ Donation”:

In a newsletter emailed to supporters this week, Florida pastor Paula White claims that God has shown her that “this is a season of victory for His people.” The Christian minister also reveals a strong feeling “that a seed of $229 in accordance with 1 Chronicles 22:9 is a breakthrough seed for the month of July,” and declares to recipients of her newsletter, “Do not hesitate to follow a prophetic instruction!

 Another reporter wrote in 2016 under the headline “Televangelist Paula White Hawks ‘Resurrection Life’ for $1,144 ‘Seed’”:

Longtime televangelist and senior Pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, Paula White offered her followers an Easter Sunday deliverance from a spiritual death sentence for a $1,144 “resurrection seed” she says was set by God. Preaching the story of Lazarus who Jesus resurrected from the dead in John 11:38–44, White promised believers in a video appeal that if they would sow the seed and have faith, she believed deliverance would come.

https://twitter.com/namenzie/status/817088490437537793

Folks are, obviously, free to believe whatever they want about the Bible. But I can guarantee you, the holy word of God was never meant to be used to as a numbers game to fatten pockets. As a nonprofit, White’s ministry, which I’m sure does some good work, needs financial contributions. But this tactic — telling supporters her claims are God’s “prophetic instructions” and that “YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE THIS EMAIL!” — is not the way to go about it.

According to everything written, the prosperity gospel does more harm than it does good — harm usually to the poor who are desperate for financial solutions and good to the ministers who pocket their faith “seed” money offerings.

As an example, I posted a link to this June 2015 op-ed written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after Christian pastor Creflo Dollar’s $65 million jet campaign went public. Abdul-Jabbar noted:

According to a survey for TIME magazine, those who embrace the prosperity gospel tend to be African Americans, evangelicals and those less educated.

It is also worth noting that White’s New Destiny Christian Center is a majority-black congregation.

https://twitter.com/namenzie/status/817092302766276613

I have nothing personal against Paula White. We’ve never met. I did hammer the heck out of the tragic Zachery Tims story from a few years back in which she was accused of manipulating the process to find a new pastor to lead his congregation.

I love her story of how God rescued, redeemed and restored her from all the harm done to her in her past life, including abuse as a child.

But how is White possibly harming the desperate Christians who align her position and words with the authority and word of God?

This prosperity gospel madness has to stop and concerned Christians need to do more about it, on a regular, consistent basis.

Perhaps, when Faithfully Magazine launches in print (I have a Kickstarter campaign for that), I will include a regular column highlighting the controversial and problematic teaching. I myself don’t know the full history of the prosperity gospel. I’ve only become acquainted with it over the years thanks to ministries like White’s, Benny Hinn’s, Rod Parsley’s, and quite a few others.

I’ll conclude with a Bible verse we Christians like to quote, often out of context, and here I do the same. In Hosea 4:6, God says,“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”

Something needs to be done.


Editor’s note: This essay was originally published Jan. 5, 2017, on Medium.


Help Keep Christian Media Diverse

In addition to partnering with advertisers, maintaining a subscription program, and exploring paid live events, we rely on the generosity of readers who see value in our work and in our mission. We invite you to join us, and keep walking with us, in our mission. Every amount, big or small, empowers us to stay the course. Here are a few ways you can join us:
  • Give via PayPal
  • Place an Ad
We are grateful for your support. Thank you!

Share This Post

Share via

Share This Post

  • Digg
  • Tumblr
  • Flipboard
  • SMS
More
  • Report
47
SHARES
ShareTweetPin It
Tags: Donald TrumpPaula WhiteProsperity Gospel
Nicola A. Menzie

Nicola A. Menzie

Nicola A. Menzie a religion reporter whose bylines have appeared on the websites of the Religion News Service, The Christian Post, CBS News and Vibe magazine. Nicola is the Managing Editor at faithfullymagazine.com. You can find her on Twitter @namenzie. Email: nicola.menzie (at) faithfullymagazine.com.

Related Posts

A business at 314 Broad Street in Leland, Mississippi, as seen on January 1, 1939

The Real ‘Great Replacement’: When Resentful Whites Recruited Foreigners to Undermine Black Progress

by FM Editors
June 1, 2022
0

...

Everything Everywhere All At Once. (A24 Films)

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ & the Absurdity of Love as Resistance

by Joe George
April 23, 2022
0

...

racism

Unlearning Racism As a Non-Black Person of Color

by FM Editors
April 16, 2022
0

...

R Kelly

Will the Black Church Continue to Sing R. Kelly’s ‘I Believe I Can Fly’?

by FM Editors
October 1, 2021
0

...

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
stream movies laptop

Free Christian Movies: How and Where to Watch Free Christian Movies Online

March 15, 2021
Jesus and John the Baptist

Are Jesus and John the Baptist Cousins or Related in Anyway?

June 2, 2019
paige and christopher hilken family

Paige Hilken, Wife of North Coast Church Pastor Christopher Hilken, Dies by Suicide

August 2, 2021
White Christian Dean and Faculty Pose as Gangsters in Controversial Photo

White Christian Dean and Faculty Pose as Gangsters in Controversial Photo

16
study on evangelical churches finds some apply race tests on people of color seeking to belong

White Evangelical Churches Use ‘Race Tests’ on People of Color, Study Claims

3
depression

Why African Christians Should Rethink Depression

3
Civil Rights March 1963

The Women Who Stood With Martin Luther King Jr. and Sustained a Movement for Social Change

March 16, 2023
creed III

‘Creed 3’ Is a Great Movie That Centers Family, Friendship and Forgiveness

March 3, 2023
Roz Ryan, Andrea Lewis, and Pooch Hall are seen in this still from A Nashville Legacy

‘A Nashville Legacy’ Is a Feel-Good Hallmark Mahogany Movie Celebrating Black Music History

February 22, 2023

Get the Newsletter

Loading

Listen to Exclusive Q&As on Faithfully Podcast

Faithfully Podcast · Faithfully Podcast Select
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mosaic Coffee
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Do Good. Obey God. Stay Woke.

Copyright © 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC. This website participates in affiliate programs.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
    • Staff and Advisors
    • Write for Us
    • Advertise
    • Give Via PayPal
  • Exclusives
  • Q&As
  • Inspiration
  • Subscribe
  • Shop Faithfully

Copyright © 2023 Faithfully Media, LLC. This website participates in affiliate programs.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Share via

Share This Post

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Copy Link
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • Flipboard
  • SMS

Add New Playlist

Add to Collection

  • Public collection title

  • Private collection title

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.

Send this to a friend