An acquaintance got me an audience with God. I assumed he was talking about one of his intermediaries, but he assured me we were going to meet the big kahuna himself. On the appointed day he drove us to what appeared to be a small office building. I had expected a church or something similar. We walked into a white room. It wasn’t large, though it wasn’t uncomfortably small either. There were no furnishings, no benches, seats, statues, or windows.
The room was otherwise empty. He said, “don’t worry, he’ll be here. He’s never late.”
Suddenly the room was filled with light and there He was, in all his spiritual glory. I had no doubt that it was Him. My acquaintance opened up the conversation. He appeared to be at ease. I hadn’t asked, but I imagined he’d had a number of these conversations before. I must warn you, the person who got me this audience is a born-again Christian. He can, at times, become quite fanatical about certain topics. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
My companion said, “I found a mistake in your book. It’s a big one.”
God said, “mistake?”
“Yes, you told us we should go forth and multiply. That sounds to me like you’re telling everyone to get out there and have lots of sex. You should have said, go forth and multiply after you’re married.”
In a thunderous tone, God said, “how dare you question my word. I never make mistakes.”
“Geez, cut my head off, why don’t you.” Swoosh.
I never believed in that old-testament, vengeful God stuff, at least not until that moment. He looked at me and said, “and what is your opinion regarding this matter?”
I took a deep breath and said, “I think the interpreters chose the wrong word.”
He studied me. “Go on.”
“They should have said, go forth and prosper, as in plant one grain of wheat to receive one hundred.”
He said, “now you’re thinking. That is what I gave you a mind for after all.” He patted me on the back and vanished.
The word prosperity is too often interpreted to mean financial success. Accumulating money is a selfish pursuit, often achieved at the expense of others. To prosper is to increase. Growing, for example, more grain than you need yourself enables you to prosper others. With the right understanding everyone benefits from your increase.
The word selfless comes to mind. This should not mean being more concerned with others than yourself. To simply care for others as well as yourself should be sufficient for everyone to prosper.