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Is Pentecostalism both "indigenizing" and shaped by external influences such as the prosperity gospel?

Pentecostalism is a very complex phenomenon that has many different elements to it. The element that oftentimes gets featured in cover magazine articles is the prosperity gospel. It usually is portrayed in a negative way because the prosperity gospel does have its "magical" and destructive elements. The point is that the prosperity gospel, while it is a fast-growing element within Pentecostalism, is only one element. Our book focused on another element, namely fast-growing Pentecostal churches with strong social ministries.

Having said that, there is a certain element of the prosperity gospel that is oftentimes overlooked in negative critiques: the appeal of the prosperity gospel is to people who are poor and without hope. Prosperity gospel preachers give people hope; they give them a vision for changing their lives. The negative side of the prosperity gospel is that it is sometimes founded solely on the magical belief that if you donate to this ministry, you will be rewarded a hundred times over. On the other hand, if you are giving people hope, and if the solution does not produce change, there is the possibility that these individuals who have had their consciousness raised will turn to other alternatives, such as political means of changing their life circumstances. Sometimes these prosperity gospel preachers give sound advice because they tell individuals how to multiply their flock of sheep, of goats, of chickens, and save money. One could cynically say that they are doing this purely out of self-interest—to enable people to give even more—but often the preachers are teaching their people the very rudiments of capitalism, giving them an opportunity to change their lives decisively for the better. Furthermore, by avoiding alcohol, gambling, womanizing, and other such taboos, extremely poor people may eventually have surplus capital that they can in turn use to give better education to their children and provide better healthcare for their families, and all this, in turn, may lead to upward social mobility.

On the broader issue of import/export, it is true that there are some celebrity television evangelists from the United States who are watched in developing countries, but it's equally true that the root of the prosperity gospel is not solely American exports. I think that's giving Americans too much credit. There are a number of individuals within the developing world who develop very large churches and they have absolutely no connection to a Benny Hinn or to other Western evangelists. We need to think of Pentecostalism in the 21st century as something that is oftentimes indigenous; there are numerous denominations that are not affiliated with missionary exports, and there are many Pentecostal churches that are part of what might be called the neo-Pentecostal movement, break-offs from more institutionalized denominational forms. At the same time, it's also true that a lot of these clergy, particularly in large churches, are connected with people all over the world. I remember sitting in the office of a pastor in Singapore who had just been emailing with someone in Latin America. I think that what we're seeing with Pentecostalism is a kind of globalization that may be much more dynamic in terms of crossing international boundaries even than what is found among the Anglicans and other more traditional denominational bodies.

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