Carson on "Victorious Living"

Every time I turn on TBN (yes I have watched it in the past) it seems there is some dude on there yelling at me about my potential. "Success theology" is what I call it. All you have to do is have huge faith and victory will be yours! I believe greatly that we are "more than conquerers" in Jesus but not in the way that these guys talk about it. The context of that verse in Romans 8 show us that Paul was not talking about worldly success, but ability to "conquer" those who seek to destroy the body through persecution but then can do nothing else. Conquering means that we are victorious beyond this life and our true reward can never be taken away. In short, I believe that Jesus leads us to be successful, but not in the way they define it.

Speaking of this sort of "success theology", after giving some extended positive comments about his ministry, D.A. Carson notes this in reference to John Wimber, a former leader in the Vineyard Movement:

He has tried to establish a theology of healing and power encounter without a theology of suffering; he has a theology of victory without an adequate theology of the cross; he has a theology of life without proper reflection on the place of death. He sees the triumph of the kingdom when sickness is overthrown, and cannot see the triumph of the kingdom when people are transformed in the midst of sickness. He discusses God's power, but rarely wrestles with God's predilection for displaying his power in the context of continuing weakness. He encourages triumphant faith, but does not establish a broad enough grid to show that triumphant faith may be exactly what is displayed where there is raw perseverance in the face of incredible suffering. He rightly sees that sin and suffering are intrinsically evil, but he nowhere thinks through how a sovereign God in some way stands behind them, even on occasion using them as instruments of needed discipline. In short Wimber's framework is not big enough.

From, How Long O Lord? - Reflections on Suffering and Evil, pages 110,111.