Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring. - Proverbs 11: 28 (NLT)
Trust in your money and down you go! The salesman wraps up his half hour video by offering you $556 in material for only $47! Order now! Well, let me say two more things. First of all, I am not commenting on the prowess of this man in the financial markets. Maybe he is as sharp as he says he is. Maybe his intentions are as altruistic as he claims. All I am saying is that the connection to the Bible is wrong. In his pitch, he keeps emphasizing how he went from earning $15,000 a year as a pastor to now earning so much he can give away $50,000 a year to the needy. The Biblical point however is which position would allow him to have a greater impact on the kingdom of God? Why is the focus solely on money, while he insists that he does not love money?
The second point is in regards to money itself. Wealth in and of itself is not evil. The sad reality is that it often leads to evil. The love of wealth often prevents people from coming to God. The Lord knows what would happen if we did hit Lotto. There is a reason why we have not. Does God want us rich? Yes- spiritually! Does that mean He wants us poor materially? Not necessarily but if that is what it takes to keep us eternally then the answer is yes. Remember the rich young ruler was not instructed to give all of his money to the poor because Jesus shunned wealth but because the man placed it before God in his life.
There is a Biblical Code for money but it doesn't sell very well on a half hour infomercial. The real code says to not store up treasures on this earth because our heart needs to be set on the eternal things of God. The code says we cannot serve two masters. We can use money but cannot allow money to use us. The code says that just craving money can lead us away from the true faith and pierce us with many sorrows. Don't belive it? Just look at how many hundreds of thousands of people pack into arenas every week to hear one snake oil salesman or another preach earthly prosperity to them. Turning God into a cosmic ATM. How many will be pierced with sorrows when they get to the last day and discover they never really knew God at all? How many have the lamp of church without the oil of the Holy Spirit like the five foolish virgins? Church is just an empty vessel without the power of God lighting it. The code says quite frankly that it is extremely difficult for a rich person to enter heaven! Not because of money but because of what money does to us. The code says to seek the Kingdom of God above everything and live righteously and God will take care of the rest. Maybe not in a yacht, but He will take care of the rest. The code says to be satisfied with what God has given us and that the Godly will flourish. Oh, there is a code.
So do not fall for the snake oil salesmen. Do not fall for those who preach earthly prosperity to you. Preachers with diamond pinky rings who drive hundred thousand dollar cars. Pastors who travel between their mansions with the helicopter God told them to buy. Do not fall for the "seed" theology that perverts the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not be fooled by those who say that your blessings are tied to money. The God I serve isn't short of cash. Do not be fooled by charlatans who wrest Scripture out of it's intended context to convince you to give them money. Oh beloved there is a code but it has as much to do with acquiring money as the Parable of the Talents. Nothing. I will end this with the words from the Apostle Paul explaining the role of ministers of the new covenant:
But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ's authority, knowing that God is watching us. - 2Corinthians 2: 14-17 (NLT)
We do not preach for personal profit! Amen and thank God for the real code!
Reverend Anthony Wade - July 25, 2013
