"Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of England once said, "No one would have remembered the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions. He had money as well." You cannot be a big giver without having an abundance from which to give." - Jim Baker
This is why you should not base your theology on Margaret Thatcher. The Parable of the Good Samaritan does not reveal that this man was rich at all. He certainly weas generous. He paid a great deal for this man he did not know. Baker's assumptions here are not supported by scripture. Smell testing this notion make it fail anyway. If the man did not have the money to put him up while he healed does that change the fundamental message of the parable? Absolutely not! This story is one of the richest theologically and it is just so miserable that the only thing Jim Baker can see is that the Samaritan must have had a lot of money.
"It should be obvious that you cannot "Go into all the world" to disciple nations if you can't afford to go to the store. You can't fill someone else's cup if your pitcher is empty." - Jim Baker
Once again, the myopic "money is all that matters" mentality has caused Jim Baker to not be able to see all of God's provision. With technology today, one can reach the ends of the earth with a computer. The gospel is hardly limited the way that Baker would seek to limit it.
'"Jim, money can't buy happiness." Neither can poverty. Poverty can't buy anything. People who say money can't buy happiness simply haven't given enough of it away. I have watched it buy happiness over and over again.' - Jim Baker
Beloved, this is all you need to see really. The bible is crystal clear when it comes to money and evil yet here is a pastor claiming he always sees money buy happiness over and over again. He told a story about meeting someone who just lost someone close to them and Baker claims to have written a check on the spot and paid for the funeral. If true a wonderful story of how we can use money to reach people but it does not change one word in the bible. Also, do not fall for this comparison of extremes Baker loves to pull in these arguments. Just because someone correctly says that money cannot buy happiness that does not mean the comparison has to be poverty. That is a ruse by someone who knows he is losing the argument. Whenever I used to speak on this people would ask me if I thought God wanted us to be poor and I reflexively used to say - no! As I have matured my answer now is, "if that is the question that is in your heart the answer is yes." Beloved do not fall for these smokescreens. Jim Baker is not selling anything new here. He is selling the prosperity gospel and is pretty honest about that at least. At the end of the day however we have seen this over and over again. All he has at the end is a string of one liners tied together with some horrific bible interpretation. We might be able to let it slide for Margaret Thatcher. After all she was not a pastor. Jim Baker is and that thought should be frightening.
