The arrest of Georgia megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar brought renewed attention to his message of the Prosperity Gospel , controversial to some and faith-fulfilling to its followers . Dollar , who was arrested last week after allegedly assaulting his teenage daughter , is the founder and pastor of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta . It claims about 30,000 members and has a multimillion-dollar sanctuary that resembles a golden-domed spaceship atop a hill . Dollar said in a statement he would never harm his children and that the facts in the case would be handled privately . Prosperity ministers preach that God rewards the faithful with wealth and spiritual gifts . Pastors such as T.D . Jakes , Dollar , and Joel Osteen have become the Prosperity Gospel 's most well known preachers , building megachurches and business empires with a message equating piety with prosperity . While popular in the black church , it is not a solely black phenomenon , as seen in the ministry of Osteen , a best-selling author and megapastor at Lakewood Church in Houston . The church website says it is considered to be the largest church in America , with more than 38,000 attendees . The Prosperity Gospel is a form of evangelical Christianity that largely grew out of the booming economy of postwar America , says Jonathan Walton , a professor of Christian Morals at Harvard and author of `` Watch This ! Televangelism and African American Religious Culture . '' The theology 's emphasis is on God 's promised generosity in this life and the ability of believers to claim it for themselves . If God loves us , it teaches , then God will reward us with a new home , a good job , or good health , Walton says . God wants us to be prosperous . One of the problems that conservatives tend to have with prosperity theology is its focus on material prosperity , says Ben Phillips , a theology professor at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Houston . `` The Prosperity Gospel tends to mask the greatest need that any individual has , and that 's to be reconciled to God through faith in Christ , '' Phillips says . `` The point is that God is the ultimate good , '' he continues . `` Knowing Him , being in a relationship with Him ... in which He is God and we are His creatures , that is where joy is found . '' Believers may argue , however , that material wealth is evidence of being in covenant with God , says Michael Long , a teacher of religious studies at Elizabethtown College and editor of the book , `` I Must Resist : Bayard Rustin 's Life in Letters . '' Those believers might say material goods are a side effect of believing in God and Christ , he says . `` The focus is on getting right with God , but you know that when you get right with God , you 're going to get something for it . '' While the theology may attract more followers in a time of economic boom , the fact that it focuses so much on the individual and controlling one 's own heart is a comfort in tough economic times as well , Long says . Tom Brown , senior pastor of the Word of Life Church in El Paso , Texas , says wealth and prosperity are what God desires for us . `` Just as any parent enjoys watching their kids have fun , God delights in watching His children enjoy what money can buy , '' Brown writes on the website for his ministry . `` I believe God is love and He desires the best life we can have . '' Believers must then use their wealth to help others , Brown says -- and that to have money for its own sake is pointless . Phillips says it 's true that the Bible teaches Christians to care for the poor , sick and needy , `` but the Bible also teaches that God uses and permits suffering in the lives of people for His own ends and purposes . '' He points to the Book of James , which says we must value the trials in our life because they shape our character . `` Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position . But the rich should take pride in their humiliation -- since they will pass away like a wild flower , '' it says in James 1:9-10 . Critics may say prosperity followers are wrong , but believers say they are sincere , Walton says . The pastors may be pop culture celebrities , but it does n't mean their congregations do n't find fulfillment in the message . The pastors ' wealth , derided by some as evidence of hypocrisy , could also simply be seen as evidence of their faith , Walton says . `` The wealth is part of their authority , '' he says .
Creflo Dollar preaches the `` Prosperity Gospel '' The theology teaches that God rewards the faithful with wealth and gifts . Critics say it focuses on material prosperity rather than a relationship with God .