What do Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer have in common?
They are both prominent American preachers that have just visited India.
Here are some articles among many about their visits.
Joyce Meyer: Article 1, Article 2.
Benny Hinn: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4. Article 5.
Hearing that they were coming, I asked some of the local men what they thought. Their answers made interesting listening.
Apparently, the 'Health, Wealth and Prosperity' gospel has arrived in India with a bang, and is making huge inroads. With such abject poverty and rampant and terrible diseases, who would not want a gospel that promises to improve your finances, lift you literally from the gutter to prosperity, and cure all of your ailments with just a word? Who could reject a gospel that promises to clothe you with new saris and feed you with a year's supply of rice simply because you believe? These are the promises being made by some of the Western evangelists - they then go back home regaling their congregations with stories of mass conversions.
Spurious conversions are worse than no conversions, and what some of these individuals are engaged in is frankly no better than what happened during the Crusades. The enticement may be different - not 'Believe or we will kill you', but 'Believe and we will give you...' This really isn't the gospel at all. The H, W, P boys are not only wasting money in sending dodgy missionaries, but according to the men on the ground here, it generates unsound professions that deceive the people, confuses observers who look on as to what the true gospel message actually is, and closes doors for the gospel by antagonising state governments. As well as hindering genuine mission work, it harms the indigenous national church.
No wonder Indian State Legislators are passing laws against Christian preaching. But hey! So long as the rupees keep rolling, Benny...