Jesse Wants a Jet. What’s the Problem?

What do you say about a man who fashions himself as a preacher of the Gospel, and actually believes that God wants him to have a $54 million jet?

Jesse Duplantis’ life story is a remarkable testimony to what God can truly do in a person’s life. As he tells it, prior to his conversion in 1974 watching a televised Billy Graham crusade, he was a rocker, drug addict, and heavy drinker. But his life was changed, and he began preaching in 1976, and founded Jesse Duplantis Ministries in 1997.

So far, so good.

But his take on his salvation is skewed. He testifies that before that fateful night he had “mostly neglected God’s blessings.” And now, as a result of being born again in Christ, he is “a blessed man,” though also criticized for it. Again, the terms are good. But the problem is the way he perceives “God’s blessings.” For him, as with many others in his camp, the definition of “God’s blessing” is the accumulation of material wealth. And lots of it.

Let me be clear: There is nothing unbiblical about Christians having money or being wealthy. But to equate God’s love and favor with material wealth is bad and unbiblical theology, and, rather than advance the Gospel that Duplantis claims to preach, it divests the Gospel of its true power.

Since Jesse positions himself as a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he should be held accountable for that. So if, as he implies, material possessions, and especially wealth, are indicators of God’s favor, what does that say about God, about us, and about the Gospel?

1. What does it say about God? The perception that God gives wealth as an indicator of blessing and favor turns God into our grand benefactor. It views God as a great big Granddaddy, whose desire is to make us happy by giving us stuff. His grandkids don’t want to spend time with Him, so He bribes them. And, He shows some favoritism. He gives more to those He likes, and withholds from those He doesn’t.
2. And what does that say about us? This view makes us out to be greedy, self-serving, sycophants, hopelessly vying for the favor of that great big benevolent Granddaddy and competing with the other kids for His attention and gifts. It says that we are unworthy of His favor if we cannot climb the ladder of success, and if we are poor, materially lacking, or less gifted, we are not going to get His attention. We are spinning hopelessly, worn out from the tornado produced by Duplantis and others who say material blessings show God’s favor: If I have stuff, God love’s me and all is well. If I don’t have stuff, God does not love me, so I must work harder to make sure God is okay with me. And since God’s love for me is measured by how much I have, someone else is always loved more than me. So I work harder so the great big Granddaddy in the sky will like me. And I live my life tired, discontent, wanting more, and never feeling good enough for God.
3. And what does it say about the Gospel? This view of God and ourselves means that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about what we can get from God, not about what God has done for us. We must prove ourselves to Him, and earn His blessings. It is a Gospel of works.

So what’s the truth? When a pastor or evangelist preaches materialism, he is not preaching the Gospel. Instead, he is insulting the Gospel and he is alienating those who need Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of grace, that anyone and everyone, rich or poor, can be saved the same way and to the same degree as anyone else. Jesus Christ died on the cross in payment for our sins (including greed), and all who trust Christ, and Christ alone, will be saved. It is a sin to preach materialism, or anything else, and call it “the Gospel” (Gal. 1:6-9).

God has already given you the greatest blessing of all. Himself. He has given you His love and has proven that love through His Son (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). And for those who trust Christ and live in Christ, we receive from Him the most lavish of blessings, His forgiveness and His grace (Eph. 1:7-10).

God doesn’t love you more because you have money, and He doesn’t love you less because you don’t. And God doesn’t give you money to show you He loves you. He just loves you. You might have money, and you might not. But God loves you. Nothing can change that.

Frankly, I don’t care if Jesse has a snazzy new jet. I think it’s an utterly unbiblical and wasteful use by a preacher of $54 million dollars. But I don’t care if he has it. Instead, I care that he is preaching a counterfeit gospel, that he and others like him give even the slightest hint that possessions equate with God’s love and favor, or that you and I are less loved by our God because we don’t have as much wealth.

I care about that because that’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that Christ died for you, loves you, will forgive you, and has a place for you to serve in His kingdom. That He will provide all you need according to His grace so that you can serve Him. That you will experience times of plenty and times of want, and that whether in this season of life you are raking in the cash or staring at empty cupboards, your God loves you, and you and I will one stand before Him and account for what we did with what we had.

And for how we treated His Gospel.

Jesse, you might want to keep that in mind, too.