📌 Introducing Sunday Special Features on The God Question
At The God Question, we are committed to examining faith, evidence, and skepticism through structured discussions. But religion isn’t just an abstract debate—it’s happening all around us, shaping lives, influencing culture, and making bold claims that deserve scrutiny.
That’s why we’re introducing Sunday Special Features—a new weekly series where we critically analyze real-world religious messages, sermons, and events as they unfold.
✔ Did a local pastor misrepresent science?
✔ Is a faith-based organization making questionable claims?
✔ Did a religious leader say something that needs to be fact-checked?
📌 Sunday Special Features will respond to these moments in real-time, helping readers think critically about the religious narratives they encounter in everyday life.
For our first Sunday Special Feature, we examine Tim Tebow and Life Surge—a faith-based financial movement that blends prosperity theology with motivational business coaching. The message is clear: God wants you to be successful, and if you aren’t, maybe your faith isn’t strong enough.
This post explores why that message is not just misleading—but dangerous.
📌 Now, back to our regularly scheduled post… 🚀
“You are not here by accident.”
It’s a simple statement, but a powerful one. For millions of Christians, these words—frequently repeated by Tim Tebow and echoed by organizations like Life Surge—serve as proof that God has a plan for every individual. The message is clear: Your life was divinely orchestrated, you were put here for a reason, and God has mapped out a purpose just for you.
But is this really true? Is your existence the result of divine purpose—or natural processes that have nothing to do with a higher power?
This claim is not just misleading—it is demonstrably false. From a scientific, logical, and ethical perspective, the idea that human life is the product of divine planning collapses under scrutiny. Worse, movements like Life Surge use this belief not just to spread faith, but to sell the illusion of wealth and prosperity as part of God’s plan.
Let’s break down this claim and expose the reality behind it.
1️⃣ Life Surge and the Selling of Divine Purpose
Life Surge is a Christian financial seminar that blends prosperity theology with motivational business coaching. It teaches that wealth-building isn’t just personal—it’s spiritual. The core message?
📌 God placed you here for a reason—and that reason includes financial success.
At these events, believers are taught that:
✔ Faith and wealth go hand in hand.
✔ If you aren’t financially successful, you may not be living in alignment with God’s will.
✔ Entrepreneurship, investing, and financial risk-taking are all part of God’s plan for you.
This is classic prosperity gospel repackaged as a business seminar—offering believers false hope that financial success is a sign of faith, while financial struggle is a sign of spiritual weakness.
📌 The problem? There is zero evidence that wealth is divinely allocated.
Instead, financial success is determined by economic conditions, social structures, education, and opportunity—not divine blessing. Selling the idea that faith leads to financial success exploits believers and conditions them to see wealth as proof of God’s favor, rather than the result of privilege, access, or hard work.
✅ Key Takeaway: Life Surge sells divine purpose as a financial tool—but its foundation is flawed, deceptive, and exploitative.
2️⃣ The Science of Our Existence: Not by Accident, But Not by Design Either
Tebow and Life Surge’s message suggests that human existence is intentional—that we were placed here with divine foresight. But science tells a different story.
📌 The Universe is Indifferent
✔ The universe is 13.8 billion years old.
✔ Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago.
✔ Life evolved through natural processes, not divine intervention.
From what we know, the universe operates on natural laws—not divine will. The forces that led to your birth were shaped by:
- The expansion of the cosmos
- The formation of our solar system
- Evolutionary processes stretching back billions of years
- A long chain of genetic combinations, filtered through natural selection
At no point in this process is there evidence of a personal, guiding hand ensuring your existence.
📌 Evolution by Natural Selection—Not Random Chance
Tim Tebow and many believers assume that without God, life must be the result of pure chance. But this is a false dichotomy.
📌 Richard Dawkins argues that the real choice isn’t “God vs. Chance”—it’s “God vs. Evolution by Natural Selection.”
✔ Mutations in DNA occur randomly—but natural selection is not random.
✔ Over millions of years, beneficial traits persist, leading to the complexity of life we see today.
✔ Your existence is the result of billions of years of evolutionary filtering—not divine planning.
📌 Key Takeaway: You are not here by accident—but you are also not here by design. You exist because of an unguided, natural process that has shaped life for billions of years.
3️⃣ The Dangers of Believing in Divine Purpose
Some might ask: Even if there’s no evidence for divine purpose, what’s the harm in believing it?
The answer: Plenty.
📌 1. It Can Lead to Fatalism
If people believe God has a plan, they may:
✔ Accept injustice and suffering instead of trying to fix them.
✔ Assume their struggles are “meant to be” rather than seeking solutions.
✔ Stay in harmful situations (bad jobs, toxic relationships) because they think it’s “part of God’s plan.”
📌 2. It Undermines Critical Thinking
Believing “I was created for a reason” discourages:
✔ Questioning religious claims.
✔ Accepting scientific realities that contradict faith-based teachings.
✔ Thinking independently about morality and meaning.
📌 3. It Fuels Religious Exploitation
Movements like Life Surge thrive because people desperately want to believe they were created for success and purpose. But in reality:
✔ Their “success” message benefits event organizers—not attendees.
✔ They use faith as a sales tool, manipulating belief for financial gain.
✔ They reinforce the idea that financial struggles = lack of faith.
📌 Key Takeaway: The belief in divine purpose isn’t just a harmless idea—it has real-world consequences, encouraging passivity, exploitation, and misplaced hope.
4️⃣ Finding Meaning Without God
One of the most common misconceptions about atheism is that without a divine plan, life is meaningless. But that’s not true. Meaning is something we create—not something handed down from above.
📌 How Do Atheists Find Purpose?
✔ Through relationships – Family, friendships, and love bring meaning.
✔ Through passion – Art, science, writing, and personal projects give us fulfillment.
✔ Through helping others – Morality doesn’t require religion. Helping people is meaningful because it improves lives.
✔ Through curiosity and learning – Exploring the world and understanding the universe is deeply meaningful.
✅ Key Takeaway: You weren’t placed here—but you are here. And that is enough.
📌 Conclusion: Embracing Reality Over Wishful Thinking
✔ Tim Tebow’s and Life Surge’s claim that “you are not here by accident” is comforting—but not true.
✔ Science shows that our existence is the result of natural, unguided processes—not divine intent.
✔ Life Surge’s prosperity-based theology exploits faith for financial gain.
✔ Atheism doesn’t mean life is meaningless—it means we are free to create our own purpose.
📌 Final Thought: If you had been born in a different time, a different country, or to a different religion—would you still believe your existence was part of a divine plan? Or would you recognize that life emerged, not by divine intent, but through the natural, unguided process of evolution?
God or Delusion? 