EMQ » July–September 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 3
By Tamie S. Davis
I was sitting at a Send Off, the bride’s family’s party before a wedding. It was a big and lavish affair of about two hundred people, held outside on a warm evening in central Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The bride danced between her family and her prospective in-laws to the tune of “I Know Who I Am” by Sinach. There was a change in the crowd’s energy when it started playing – people sat up straighter and started singing along. It is a favorite song of many. Indeed, Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu, popularly known as Sinach, is a Nigerian worship superstar and we often sing her songs at the church I attend in Dar Es Salaam.
As of 2020, Sinach was named one of the one hundred most influential women in Africa[1] but she is no longer only an African phenomenon. Her song “Waymaker” won the Christian Song of the Year category at the fifty-first GMA Dove Awards.[2] It was sung at protests and prayer vigils in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the United States and has also become something of a theme for Christians grappling with the implications of the COVID-19 global pandemic.[3]
While the lyrics of “Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness” may appear relatively benign when applied to God, other Sinach songs take similar concepts and apply them to the believer. For example, the chorus of “I Know Who I am”:
I know who God says I am, what He says I am
Where He says I’m at, I know who I am
I’m walking in power, I’m working miracles
I live a life of favor, for I know who I am
The favored life is further explained as:
I am holy, and I am righteous oh-ooh …
I am so rich, and I am beautiful!
These lyrics share many themes with what is commonly known as the prosperity gospel.
Prosperity Gospels (Plural)
The prosperity gospel is a broad spectrum of theologies that teach that it is God’s plan to bless Christians with health and wealth.[4] Neither synonymous with the Word of Faith movement nor a pure American import, Tanzanian preacher Stephen Lotasuruaki sums it up as “Si mapenzi ya Mungu tuwe maskini” (“It is not God’s will for us to be poor”).[5] It has garnered significant criticism from evangelicals in the west as well as from some African theologians.[6] Nevertheless, a Pew Research ten-country survey of Pentecostals, who make up a quarter of the world’s two billion-odd Christians, found that,
Majorities of pentecostals in all 10 countries surveyed agree that God will grant good health and relief from sickness to believers who have enough faith, and in nine of the countries most pentecostals say that God will grant material prosperity to all believers who have enough faith.[7]
While evangelicals have expended significant energy in seeking to combat the prosperity gospel, less attention has been given to understanding it in context.[8] Though the urgency of combatting the prosperity gospel is understandable, the late missiologist David Hesselgrave reminded us, “In the final analysis, [missionaries] can effectively communicate to the people of any given culture to the extent that they understand that culture.”[9] The more nuanced our understanding of prosperity theology, the better poised we will be to interact with its proponents, whether we encounter these in our places of worship or the Bible colleges in which we teach or more broadly in society. The bride at the Send Off works for an African organization that has “evangelical” in its title, yet she can nevertheless enjoy the song and may not see a conflict between evangelicalism and Sinach’s lyrics. This may not be a failure on her part to understand evangelicalism, but a misunderstanding of the prosperity gospel on ours.
Even speaking of prosperity gospel in the singular is misleading. Following ethnographic work in ninety-seven South African churches, Maria Frahm-Arp suggests three recognizable but fluid clusters of prosperity theology: abilities prosperity, progress prosperity, and miracles prosperity.
- “Abilities prosperity is based on the idea that if Christians live according to biblical principles and work hard, then they will succeed in whatever they choose to do .… When believers do not enjoy the wealth they were hoping for, abilities prosperity theology explains this in terms of their unrepentant sins that hold them back from realizing God’s blessings.”[10]
- “Progress prosperity holds that any small blessing or step of progress is a form of prosperity … people often do not see the prosperity in their lives because their understanding of prosperity is wrong.”[11] Preaching and Bible study cell groups have a goal of changing attitudes, with relationship with God emphasized over wealth. According to Frahm-Arp, “Blessings come through a relationship with God in which people must work hard and live with integrity, and then God will bless their efforts.”[12]
- “Miracles prosperity is primarily concerned with explaining the way the world is and how prosperity can be achieved through miracles … Wealth in these churches is achieved not through hard work and a strict moral code – as is preached to varying degrees by the other two clusters – but rather through God’s desire to bless people with miraculous wealth, either through their own faith or by vanquishing the spiritual powers of evil that continually want to thwart God’s miracles.”[13]
All three have a name it and claim it theology in a sense, but they differ on (a) what it means when prosperity does not come, (b) how prosperity is to be achieved, and (c) what the unseen realities of the world are. They also differ on tithing and community involvement.[14] The variation is so great that there could conceivably be a kind of prosperity teaching that does not blame people if prosperity remains elusive, teaches the value of hard work, does not hold out false promises, asks people to only tithe or give in accordance with their ability, and is community-minded. Indeed, Frahm-Arp notes several examples of each of these things, primarily in the progress prosperity cluster. Sinach’s “I Know Who I Am” is an example of progress prosperity. Its lyrics emphasize many things that are important in discipling.
I Know Who I Am as Progress Prosperity
“I Know Who I Am” begins with the statement: “We are a chosen generation / Called forth to show his excellence.” The chosen generation Sinach refers to presumably are those singing the song in church. Though Sinach does not object to her songs being played in clubs, she considers that an inappropriate forum for herself to perform as she is primarily a worship leader.[15] Though the rest of the song is in the first person singular, it begins in the first person plural: it is together that the chosen generation shows God’s excellence, with each one playing his or her part.
Excellence is not an end in itself but rather a testimony to God, because “All I require for life / God has given to me.” One of the things God has given is an identity – “Who God says I am” – with “What He says I am” and “Where He says I’m at” adding dimensions of status to the original expression of personhood. However, the taxonomy of these statements is not the focus; they are largely synonymous with one another. The repetition of He and I am suggest the focus is not on explicating these different dimensions of personhood but on the source of the new identity (God) and the singer’s ownership of that new identity: the three statements about God are bookended by the statement “I know who I am.” This is primarily a song about identity given by God and assumed by the singer.
Nevertheless, the lyrics contain several statements about the life of the singer, for example, that she walks in power, works miracles, lives a life of favor, and is holy, righteous, rich, and beautiful. However, these things may not be immediately apparent to an onlooker. The bridge asks others to: “Take a look at me / I’m a wonder,” but suggests that the onlooker may not agree: “It doesn’t matter what you see now. Can you see His glory? I know who I am.” The implication is that the singer is claiming to be a wonder possibly in spite of observable evidence, choosing to believe something different about herself anyway. The issue at stake is from whom the singer will derive her identity: from others or from God? Who will she follow? Whose disciple will she be?
This bridge is the interpretive key to understanding the song: the song is not describing reality in the observable sense. Rather, it is a statement of what is unseen, that is, what God says is true even though evidence may be lacking. It is a song about choosing to believe what God says even when the situation appears different. It is therefore a song about changing attitudes, placing it within the category of progress prosperity.[16] Unlike abilities prosperity, which sees the believer as the agent of their own success, or miracles prosperity, which sees wealth creation as a spiritual battle, “I Know Who I Am” locates prosperity in the declaration of God, providing the singer with a truth to live into.[17]
If one looks in the mirror and objectively realizes that one is not beautiful; if one looks at one’s bank account and can see that they are definitely not rich, this song declares that those things do not define you. What defines you is who God says you are. What is unseen is more real than what can be observed. God’s declaration is taken to be true rather than the observable reality. There is no suggestion that this identity will remain unrealized; presumably at some point, these attributes will be manifested in her life. However, “I Know Who I Am” orients the singer towards God; she is asked to put aside her own perspective or the way the world sees her and instead align herself with what God says is true.
Progress Prosperity as Discipleship
The late Ghanaian theologian Kwame Bediako pointed out that in a traditional African cosmology, God is “absent from daily living in any practical sense.”[18] Instead, one is left with lesser deities and ancestral spirits which are at once beneficent and malevolent, often mediated through witchdoctors.[19] The claim of prosperity gospels that daily needs including health and wealth are within the purview of God himself is therefore counter-cultural. It effectively undercuts the role of witchdoctors, making them obsolete and orienting the believer towards God himself as provider. This casts believers in the role of disciple, learning to live in God’s world according to God’s ways instead of their received traditions. However, the various prosperity gospels vary in the degree to which they differ from those traditions.
Miracles prosperity, for example, can end up still treating God like an impersonal power or a leader as a lesser deity, and abilities prosperity can tend towards over-emphasizing human role with little attention given to God at all. However, progress prosperity avoids these two extremes by locating prosperity in relationship with God. If a person wants to live well in God’s world, she must know God and see the world as he does. When Sinach sings “I am rich” against all material evidence or “I know who I am, who God says I am” she speaks as a disciple! She is not singing about the right formula or how to access the most effective intermediary to get what she wants; she is learning to see the world as God does and orienting herself to that.
In conclusion, I give three recommendations for missionaries and other evangelicals who encounter prosperity theology:
- Recognize the variations within prosperity gospel. The fact that someone makes declarations about being rich or favored by God does not automatically mean that their theology is ego-centric and they are seeking to manipulate God. A song like “I Know Who I Am” might appear to use ego-centric language, yet relationship with God is its primary goal. A deeper look is needed in order to locate it within the spectrum of prosperity theologies. Critiques of prosperity theology need to be nuanced by this recognition so that it is clear what kind of prosperity theology is being addressed.
- Understand the power of a changed attitude. Batswana Lovemore Togarasei identifies that the kind of positive mindset promoted by the prosperity gospel contributes to an Afro-optimism, promoting entrepreneurism and poverty alleviation.[20] One pastor from the progress prosperity cluster explained to Frahm-Arp that this was because, having oriented oneself towards God, the believer is able to see the smaller ways in which God is blessing them as well, and thus does not become discouraged.[21] We need to learn from the kind of prosperity that brings about attitude change because we may otherwise be perceived to uphold attitudes which keep people in poverty.
- Honor local theologies. Having recognized the variety of prosperity theologies and the importance of changed attitudes, we are in a better place to identify local theologies which orient Christians towards God and living his way in his world. This ought to lead us to give thanks to God for the work he is doing on the African continent and provide us with greater scope to welcome the influence of Africans such as Sinach.
Tamie Davis is an Australian living in Tanzania since 2013. Her PhD examines theologies of prosperity of women graduates of Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students (TAFES). She is a member of the Angelina Noble Centre.
EMQ, Volume 57, Issue 3. Copyright © 2021 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
[1] Prince Akpah, “Avance Media Announces 2020 100 Most Influential African Women List,” August 17, 2020, accessed January 4, 2021, https://avancemedia.org/avance-media-announces-2020-most-influential-african-women-list/.
[2] “2020 Winners,” accessed January 4, 2021, https://doveawards.com/awards/2020-winners/.
[3] Megan Fowler, “How Way Maker Topped the US Worship Charts from Nigeria,” Christianity Today, June 12, 2020, accessed January 4, 2021, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/june-web-only/way-maker-worship-song-sinach-leeland-michael-w-smith.html.
[4] Lovemore Togarasei, “The Pentecostal Gospel of Prosperity in African Contexts of Poverty: An Appraisal,” Exchange 40, no. 4 (October 2011): 336–50.
[5] Christine Schliesser, “On a Long Neglected Player: The Religious Factor in Poverty Alleviation,” Exchange 43 (December 22, 2014): 339–59.
[6] Evangelical global think-tank Lausanne released a statement in 2010 saying “while acknowledging [some] positive features, it is our overall view that the teachings of those who most vigorously promote the ‘prosperity gospel’ are false and gravely distorting of the Bible, that their practice is often unethical and unChristlike, and that the impact on many churches is pastorally damaging, spiritually unhealthy, and not only offers no lasting hope, but may even deflect people from the message and means of eternal salvation. In such dimensions, it can be soberly described as a false gospel.” Lausanne Theology Working Group Statement on the Prosperity Gospel,” Evangelical Review of Theology 34, no. 2 (April 2010): 99–102. Meanwhile Nigerian Jesuit Orobator tells of “cunning, jet-setting preachers and their army of evangelical clones [who] have devised a brand of Christianity that … trivialises religion and makes it into an instrument for pursuing self-serving interests and achieving personal gains… In the bogus exegesis of this sophisticated spiritual diagnoses, the cost of deliverance, healing or salvation is a dose of faith heavily coated with lavish monetary offerings to Africa’s merchants of a prosperity gospel.”Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, Religion and Faith in Africa: Confessions of an Animist (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2018), 76.
[7] “Spirit and Power – A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals | Pew Research Center,” accessed February 24, 2020, https://www.pewforum.org/2006/10/05/spirit-and-power/. The African countries in the survey were Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria.
[8] This may stem from its fluid nature: there is broad recognition of a spectrum of belief among prosperity churches, such that British missiologist Allan Anderson suggested that the analogy of family resemblance is a better way of characterizing prosperity churches than doctrinal specificity. Allan Anderson, “Varieties, Taxonomies, and Definitions,” Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods, ed. Allan Anderson, Michael Bergunder, André Droogers, and Cornelis van der Laan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010), 13–29.
[9] David Hesselgrave, Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 69.
[10] Maria Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism, Politics, and Prosperity in South Africa,” Religions 9, no. 10 (October 2018): 1–16.
[11] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 8.
[12] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 9.
[13] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 10.
[14] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 14.
[15] Bonface Nyaga, “’I Know Who I Am’ – Sinach,” Nairobi News October 4, 2016, accessed November 3, 2020, https://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/chillax/i-know-who-i-am-sinach.
[16] The video clip for “I Know Who I Am” follows the story of three people: an unemployed man who is considering taking his life, a woman being laughed at as she gives a presentation in a board room, and a boy who is being bullied at school. All three change their attitudes. The woman learns confidence and gives a successful presentation. She returns home to give the good news to her husband who is the same man who considered taking his life. Together, they see how foolish that was and rejoice. The little boy is not delivered from bullies but looks scornfully in their direction and then goes to help another child who is being bullied. Sinach, “Sinach I Know Who I Am,” YouTube, October 7, 2015, accessed January 4, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frtZ4XfoXxM.
[17] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 8, 10.
[18] Kwame Bediako, Jesus and the Gospel in Africa: History and Experience (New York: Orbis Books, 2004), 41.
[19] Bediako, Jesus and the Gospel in Africa, 24.
[20] Togarasei, “The Pentecostal Gospel of Prosperity,” 347–348.
[21] Frahm-Arp, “Pentecostalism,” 9.
