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As we have recently been reminded by Bruce Wilkinson's best-selling book on the subject, Jabez—a man mentioned only once in the Bible—prayed for God to "enlarge his territory," and God granted his request.

Wilkinson, founder and former president of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, interprets "territory" as "opportunity for evangelistic ministry." Arguably, no person in the history of the church has had a larger "territory" than the 19th-century British preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Long before the first megachurch, Spurgeon preached regularly (often 10 times in a week) to audiences of 6,000 and more. He once addressed an audience of 23,654, without aid of amplification. He grew the congregation of his New Park Street Church from 232 in 1854 to 5,311 in 1892, making it the largest independent congregation in the world. Prime Ministers, presidents, and other notables flocked to hear him. No preacher in the history of the church has been more prolific: His collected sermons amount to more than 20 million words—a number equivalent to the 27 volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition. Several of his books and collections have sold over 1 million copies, and his sermons are still read as models today.

Wouldn't it be interesting if Spurgeon told us what he thought of the "prayer of Jabez"? Well, indeed he did. In the year 1871, standing before his congregation at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, Spurgeon took as his text 1 Chronicles 4:10: "Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!' And God granted him what he requested." (NASB)

The contrasts between Spurgeon's sermon and Bruce Wilkinson's recent blockbuster "book-ette" are instructive.

We'll start with Wilkinson's book. If you haven't read it already, somebody you know has. The language on the back cover helps to explain its multi-million copy sales success: Breathlessly, the blurb copy seeks to draw us in: "Are you ready. … to ask God for the abundant blessings He longs to give you?" Just praying Jabez's simple prayer will, the blurb promises, "release God's favor, power, and protection" and allow the enterprising Christian to "break through to the life you were meant to live."

This sort of appeal may sell books, but it courts spiritual presumptuousness.

Inside, however, there are things to admire. Wilkinson argues that most Christians have simply not expected enough from the Creator of the Universe. He encourages his readers to "have faith in an extraordinary, miraculous God" and "step out to act on that faith." He stresses that this confidence must be rooted in total dependence on God, rather than in any strength of our own. He downplays native ability and talent, insisting that God uses "ordinary people." And he insists we must pray for God's agenda.

Where the trouble occurs, and where Spurgeon's 130-year-old take on Jabez is instructive, is in Wilkinson's one-sided portrayal of what "God's agenda"—or in Jabez's words, the "blessing indeed"—might look like. On this score, we never get very far from the sales-motivational hype of the back cover. Throughout the book, Wilkinson continues to talk about the Christian life in terms of "unclaimed blessings," like money in a forgotten account just waiting to be collected by the person bold enough to step up and ask for it.

Granted, this is not the prosperity gospel of recent decades. Wilkinson ties "blessing indeed" to greater effectiveness in ministry. The deal is, you pray for God to "enlarge your life" so that you can, in turn, "make a greater impact for Him." Then, "as your [ministry] opportunities expand, your ability and resources supernaturally increase, too."

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August (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46