Prosper

New Stan Series Launched this Week

Prosper is a new series on Stan, and tells the story of the family and the mega-church they lead.

Australia is known for exporting coal and steel, but it turns out we are pretty good as exporting religion.Hillsong, C3 and Planet Shakers are multi-national organisations reaching dozens of countries. Behind each of these churches sits a family dynasty – the Houstons, the Pringles and the Evans.

The script-writers for Prosper interviewed present and former members of these churches. There are obvious parts of the plot that shadow the life of Brian (Houston that is!). Having said that, the series claims to be not against religion, but rather seeks to acknowledge the deep faith and desire to reach for the heavens. But this faith and drive for growth is juxtaposed against the brokenness of individuals and families, and the corrupting influence of power and wealth.

Drama series like Prosper invite you to reflect and critique. They claim to lift the hood and show what is really going under the bonnet. But they also revolve around a series of unresolvable dichotomies. Is my family a subset of God’s family? Can our best intentions become a road paved to hell? Can you serve both God and money? Is the church a corporation or a family? Are people basically good, or does absolute power corrupt absolutely?

Given this is a secular produced series, one anticipates the dice are loaded against us. Prosper will not be against individual faith as a positive sentiment, but it will likely lampoon mega-churches as thinly veiled personal empires of megalomaniacs who misuse God’s name for personal gain.

What might we make of series as Christians? A few thoughts. This is not the first (or the last) time powerful individuals and families have sought to use the umbrella of the church for personal gain. Powerful Italian families like the Medicis did so in the middle ages, as did the Rockefellers in New York in the 19th Century. The church was not mortally wounded then.

Mega-churches can do somethings well, like inspirational preaching and music, multi-media, compassion ministry and marketing. But they are ill suited to pastoral care, mutual accountability, lamenting through suffering, and remaining grounded. In short, they are unlike Jesus and his disciples, or the early church.

Does a bigger church beget bigger problems? Maybe, but smaller churches have their weaknesses too. There is little virtue in being contemptuous about the sins of others. Shared contempt drives the critique of mega churches, and multi-nationals alike. Instead, ask where is the log in your own eye.

By Rev. David Rietveld