Uprooting the Prosperity Gospel In West Africa

A woman once came to church carrying a burden familiar to many pastors in West Africa. She had been told that her family’s hardships were caused by a spiritual curse. A preacher promised that God would deliver her, but only if she gave a special offering. Desperate for relief, she gave money she could not afford to lose. When her situation did not improve, she was told that her faith had been too weak.

Stories like hers are painfully common.

In more than two decades of pastoral ministry in Côte d’Ivoire, I have seen the prosperity gospel attract people from every social, religious, and educational background. Its teachers promise healing, employment, marriage, visas, business success, and protection from spiritual enemies. These are presented not merely as blessings Christians may ask God to provide, but as rights believers can claim through sufficient faith, positive declarations, or financial offerings.

The prosperity gospel is difficult to uproot in West Africa because it does not enter an empty religious landscape. It attaches itself to traditional fears, exploits real suffering, and flourishes where churches lack solid biblical formation.

IT “CHRISTIANIZES” TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

West Africa is religiously diverse. Islam has a strong influence throughout the region, while Christianity is widespread in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire. Yet traditional African religious beliefs continue to shape how many people interpret daily life, even among those who identify as Christians or Muslims.

Sickness, infertility, unemployment, accidents, and repeated failure may be attributed to witchcraft, ancestral displeasure, a family curse, or the work of an enemy. As a result, people are not merely looking for an explanation for their suffering; they are searching for spiritual power to overcome it.

The prosperity gospel fits easily into this worldview. In some cases, the prosperity preacher simply takes the place of the traditional spiritual practitioner. The vocabulary changes, but the underlying transaction remains the same: bring money, perform a prescribed action, and receive protection or prosperity.

Offerings become spiritual investments. Anointing oil and “blessed” objects are treated as sources of power. Prayer becomes a technique for compelling God to produce a desired result. Jesus is no longer proclaimed primarily as the Savior who reconciles sinners to God, but as the key to health, wealth, protection, and social advancement.

This is why exposing the scandals of prosperity preachers is not enough. The church must also confront the deeper worldview that makes their message so attractive. Believers need to understand God’s sovereignty, the sufficiency of Christ, the place of suffering in the Christian life, and the security they have in him.

IT EXPLOITS REAL SUFFERING WITH FALSE HOPE

The prosperity gospel is not attractive simply because people are greedy. Many who embrace its promises are desperate.

Throughout West Africa, families face unemployment, limited access to quality healthcare, political instability, and rising food, housing, and education costs. When a mother cannot afford medicine for her child or a young graduate cannot find work, the promise of an immediate miracle can sound like genuinely good news.

Prosperity preachers know how to speak to these anxieties. Their sermons promise breakthroughs, open doors, promotions, healing, and freedom from debt. Carefully selected testimonies create the impression that the formula always works. Television and social media then carry these messages from large cities into even the most remote communities.

Yet this apparent gospel is cruel to those who suffer. When the promised breakthrough does not come, the preacher is rarely questioned. Instead, the sufferer is blamed: “You did not have enough faith. You did not give enough. You spoke negatively.”

The true gospel offers a better and more enduring hope. It does not promise that every believer will become wealthy or escape suffering. It proclaims that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, sinners are reconciled to God and receive eternal life. Christ remains with his people through hardship, and he will one day make all things new. Our greatest treasure is not what Jesus may give us. Our greatest treasure is Jesus himself.

IT FLOURISHES WHERE CHURCHES ARE WEAK

False teaching grows most easily where biblical knowledge is shallow and pastoral training is limited. Many West African pastors serve faithfully with few books, little theological education, and almost no continuing support. Others imitate famous preachers because large crowds, impressive buildings, and public displays of wealth appear to confirm God’s blessing.

The long-term answer, therefore, cannot be criticism alone. We must strengthen healthy local churches.

Pastors need accessible theological training that equips them to understand Scripture, preach the whole counsel of God, and care for suffering people without exploiting them. Churches need faithful Christian books in French and African languages. Believers also need examples of humble pastors who serve rather than demand to be served, embrace sacrifice rather than display luxury, and seek Christ’s glory rather than personal fame.

Christians in the United States can stand with us in this work. Pray that believers throughout West Africa will be able to distinguish truth from error. Pray for pastors to preach Christ faithfully, even when promises of miracles attract larger crowds. Support ministries that train local leaders, plant healthy churches, provide sound biblical resources, and care for suffering people in practical ways.

The prosperity gospel has deep roots in West Africa, but it will not have the final word. As healthy churches patiently proclaim and embody the true gospel, people can discover a treasure far greater than prosperity: Jesus Christ, who is sufficient in both abundance and suffering.