By Liaf
Ok folks, this is going to be a short topic about money. What do you think ol' Liaf here is going to say? Well, if you conjure up images of some stern-faced preacher (much like the ones during the Puritan days that you see in the movies), I bet you could just hear him quote Scripture such as James 5:1-2.
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Oh woe to us! We are rich but we feel sooooo guilty that we have some money. We should become destitute like we perceive the disciples to be really good Christians. Riches then only become a necessary evil that we must live with. Perhaps we should persuade those who have wealth to somehow support our work and the gospel message. But if we are to make disciples, true disciples everywhere, there is that lingering thought that we have to become a bedraggled bunch to show off our faithfulness to the Lord (not to mention how we must convince our converts that they better become bedraggled as they mature in the faith some day). Then the Puritan preacher continues on:
"Paul said to Timothy, 'And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.' and..." the stern-faced preacher goes on to say, "Jesus himself said, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.' "
Meanwhile, the whole congregation is stirring with discontent wondering if they should be like that rich man who asked Jesus about eternal life and give it all away?
No! "What do you mean, Liaf? Don't you give or believe in giving at least a tenth?" Yes! But before we continue, let me make one (obvious) observation about that rich man that Jesus told to give away all of his money. First of all, Jesus saw some hang-up he had about money. Something he said made Jesus believe money would come between him and the Lord. If he gave it all away, he'd be free of that burden so that he would have been able to follow Jesus. Secondly, I see NOTHING in the Bible that says one must give it ALL away. Perhaps Jesus may call some people to do that, but not everyone!
We forget to quote the other verses about money. For example it is also stated, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. II Corinthians 8:9. "But Liaf, he is talking about spiritual poverty of Jesus [whatever that entails] so that we have spiritual riches." Agreed, at least to the extent that Jesus emptied himself of the riches of heaven (if that's what you mean by spiritual poverty). But it does not stop there. Didn't the preacher just quote the verse about Jesus having no place to lay his head? Is that spiritual or physical poverty? Jesus was not spiritually poverty-stricken here on Earth otherwise he would not have been qualified Savior. He became sin for us at the cross as our substitute, but he himself was not sinful otherwise he could not have risen from the dead. No, this is physical poverty, yet he wants his people rich. Why? This is in agreement with some of the birthright promises to Abraham regarding the promised prosperity of his seed (and the believer is the seed of Abraham through faith in Christ at the very least). Paul stated it thus in Romans 4: For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith (i.e., this was Abraham's faith securing the promises to his seed). Of course Paul was quoting the Genesis passage that Abraham was to become the father of MANY NATIONS. These nations (as countless messages of ours have shown) are PHYSICAL NATIONS with REAL (not necessarily all spiritual) people. And if there are MANY NATIONS, then certainly the resources to go with it (see Genesis 49:22-26). "But you teach this is to the tribe of Joseph. Jesus is from Judah." you may say. Well, the seed of David, being the rulers of the nations, has by default an inheritance over the people he reigns. Has anyone ever heard of a king or queen without rights to their kingdom? This goes for the house of David. People of the tribe of Judah (the Jews) are not all from the house of David (but I imagine some may be which is why you often hear the cliche about the 'wealthy Jews') The house of David represents the kings but the nations are the people of the kingdom. Got that? And the kingdom generates the revenue for the king (who in turn ought to reign righteously and serve the people of the kingdom). Therefore, being (future) kings in Christ, we as Christians inherit what the physical seed has. To extrapolate a little further, Jesus is not only of the physical seed of David, but he is the Son of God. Therefore, in him, we not only have these promises to Abraham in the physical sense, but we also have spiritual blessings from above since Jesus came from above. Therefore, in the dualistic sense, the Christian has better promises and a better inheritance.(And let us not forget that if we are a people from the tribe of Joseph, we already have the earthly blessings straight via the birthright.)
"Ok Liaf, we follow your reasoning regarding Old and New Testament promises of riches, but what is the point?" Have you figured it out yet? Abraham's seed was the means God would use to perpetuate the gospel. I think this works better if his spiritual people were backed by wealthier and powerful nations as opposed to bedraggled converts in third world countries who would be quickly exterminated. Therefore, it is NOT wrong to be rich, but we are called to use our riches wisely and to perpetuate the kingdom of God with them. Paul said to Timothy, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.". In other words, do not trust in riches, they are subject to changes (boy! am I finding that out!) Rather, if one is rich, use the riches wisely to help the work of the Lord. Notice he did not say to get rid of all the wealth. By the way, these verses are only a few sentences after the warning our hypothetical preacher quoted about being content with food and clothes.
Let's conclude with what Jesus said about wealth: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
This agrees nicely with what Paul said about the uncertainty of riches and how we are not to put our trust in them or worry about them per se. As a matter of fact, Jesus actually claimed you could not serve God and money. Our use of money is an outside indicator of what is going on with us inside spiritually. Notice I said the word "use" of money. This is not a message about how much we have. Jesus then hit the nail on the head when he said:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
What did Jesus mean here? All the money (and hence things) that the Gentiles worry about are the very things God knows we already need. Rather, we are to focus on God's Kingdom and then God will see that our needs are met. Paul did not guarantee us anything more than food and clothes (i.e., our basic needs), but on the other hand God oftentimes adds riches to us when we seek the kingdom (although I must caution everyone that I am NOT necessarily teaching that a rich person has favor with God). Abraham certainly was not a bedraggled, smelly old shepherd that some Sunday school lessons portray him. The patriarchs certainly were wealthy, and their intended offspring (the people of the kingdom) were also meant to be wealthy. You may ask, "Well then why is it that at least some Christians were called to be poor?" They weren't. They are only poor now. Jesus knew that ultimately if he and his brethren were to rule and reign in the coming kingdom, they would most certainly not be poor then. However, it pleases God when we operate in the faith realm until the promises are certain (Hebrews 11:13) because we are strangers on this Earth. We are from above, not from the Earth (i.e. of Adam). However, for the rest of the Christians who have wealth, especially those of the seed of Abraham, just rejoice now and use it wisely knowing that riches can be uncertain. The next message will be about the dreadful " T " word: the tithe and what should be the minimum a Christian ought to give.
Therefore, we should not feel guilty about having abundance. We are just called to use it wisely remembering its source. And next time somebody delivers you a message making you feel guilty that you are rich unless you give it all away and become bedraggled, consider its source: a lie straight from hell.