In a country with many social problems, it is only natural the search for a discourse that has some "good news" for the here and now. Historical churches usually emphasize the message that a person will have eternal life after death. In the present there are rules of conduct and moral left. The Prosperity Theology is therefore attractive to Uncle Bob, who is unemployed, lives in a precarious house and has no access to health. It is attractive to Miss Ann, who has a dysfunctional family (has anyone heard of a Demon called Complex Social Problems?) Who knows? Maybe someday they will win the divine lottery. Or will God take care of them despite the Prosperity Theology? If on the one hand the Prosperity Theology abuses of the promise of well-being in the here and now, in the historical churches the reduction of the Gospel to life-after-death causes them to close their eyes and pockets to those who are suffering. John asks "If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you?" (I John 3.17).

“Christianity [...] ceased to be glad tidings for those who suffer, a message of hope that transfigures suffering into joy, but a guarantee for the enjoyment of life intensified and secured by the hope of eternity.

[...] Today the gospel is preached to the rich, the powerful, who have discovered it to be advantageous. We are right back again to the very state original Christianity wanted to oppose! The rich and powerful not only get to keep everything, but their success becomes the mark of their piety, the sign of their relationship to God. And this prompts the old atrocity again – namely, the idea that the unfortunate, the poor are to blame for their condition; that it is because they are not pious enough, are not true Christians, that they are poor, whereas the rich have not only pleasure but piety as well. This is supposed to be Christianity. Compare it with the New Testament, and you will see that this is as far from that as possible." ("Gospel for the Poor", "Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Søren Kierkegaard)

We are used to associate Sodom with sin of sexual immorality. However, Ezekiel considers the sexual problem secondary. 1 "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.' “(Ezekiel 16.49)

The great majority of Christian groups will have some preoccupation with the poor. The devil is in the details. Wouldn't it be cruel for us to be apathetic or even accomplices of a social system that generates social inequalities while we condemn the Prosperity Theology of Uncle Bob and Miss Ann? The theology is translated into practice. Unfortunately the majority of the traditional Brazilian churches I know give more emphasis to and value more the format of their worship services than the well-being of people in the congregation or in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, not infrequently the costs with pastors, secretaries, janitor, handyman and estate exceed the pure and simple help to those who need it most. This in my view is a kind of idolatry: the idolatry of one's own faith. It is alienation from reality and apathy at the same time.