prosperity gospel (a poem)

A short introduction before the poem:
Last night, I watched the documentary American Gospel: Christ Alone. It focuses on the "American gospel", better known perhaps as the "health and wealth gospel", or the prosperity gospel. For more information on this topic, you can watch the first forty minutes of the film on YouTube here, which I would recommend if you'd like a more in-depth explanation of the ideas presented in my poem. The poem is written as if from the perspective of the people who preach the prosperity gospel, but it is of course infused with some of my own thoughts on the topic. It contrasts the prosperity gospel with what I personally believe the Gospel actually says, but for all you Christians out there, please read your Bible to decide what is true, as I myself am still learning.

prosperity gospel
let us be the gods
of our own imaginations
crafting reality from desires
speaking dreams into existence
all we need is a little faith
let us bring the dead back to life
and heal the sick
let us speak of Jesus and love
but never of sin and repentance
let us call ourselves Christians
but worship an idol
and distort the scriptures
we preach prosperity
God wants us to be
happy and healthy and wealthy
God gives us what we want
if we only have enough faith
we will live long lives
chasing the american dream
and proclaiming the american gospel
meanwhile there are Christians
dying the martyr’s death
under the altar their souls now cry
“how long oh Lord
before you avenge our lives?”
in our prayers we ask
“how long oh Lord before i get a raise?”