Finally, The Money Talk. (Part 1)
I’ve been wanting to talk on this for a while but each time I wrote, I discarded them because I hadn’t gotten the right perspective to come from yet. It was either always too aggressive or too passive. Maybe I’ve found the right tone to use now or maybe not. Either way, here we go.
If you’re new here, I’m a Christian and my faith strongly influences my perception of the world so as you read, keep that in mind.
I want to start by saying that money is neither good nor evil. It is a tool that derives its purpose from the hands of the one who wields it. Obviously, money has been used to fund terrorist organisations and wreak havoc in the world but money has also been used for the good and the betterment of the society. So as you can see, it can be used for good purposes as well as evil purposes, it has no ability in itself to be either of the two.
I started this way so you would see what my thought on money generally is because most times when I’ve had conversations with people they’ve come at me with that “so you don’t want to make money?” statement. I want to clearly state that I like having money. I like being able to meet my needs and the needs of my loved ones. I love being able to afford stuff just like everybody else. However, what I strive for everyday is to resist the temptation of being a lover of money.
The love of money.
What does that even mean?
Is it bad for me to want to make money?
Is it bad for me to want to be rich?
These questions usually come to our minds whenever we come in contact with the Bible’s perspective on money and if we are being honest, the Bible’s perspective challenges the love of money that hides in our hearts most of the time. I’ll share my own testimony with you. A few years back I was grinding and hustling, I wanted to make money so bad. I was desperately looking for a way to elevate my financial status. This put me through various emotions, most of which were negative. Things like anxiety and worry began to creep into my life and greed was beginning to find its root in my heart. One day God asked me “what if you make all the money you wish to and I ask you to give it all away?”. Immediately, the love of money in my heart was exposed. I could see my greed for what it really was.
If you say God can never ask you to give it all away then lol you dunno. God asked Abraham to give up Isaac and you can say Abraham did not end up killing Isaac but we all know that he didn’t know he wasn’t going to and he was prepared to sacrifice his son on the altar. Are you prepared to live a life that’s below your desires just because God wills it to be so? Or are your desires to you higher than His will?
Think about it.
To the church.
Lately, I’ve noticed that we all want to be rich. We want to have the best cars, fly private, have long money, etc. and prosperity messages seem to have made it so much worse. Even the way people are treated in churches these days will make you want to say “me too I must have money so they will recognise my faithfulness.” because you’ll see a faithful worker in the church giving their all but because they cannot afford the best clothes or drop huge offerings, no one recognises them or their work. Some of them are even treated poorly because of their status while people with questionable characters are celebrated because they have money. This is one of the reasons why we have yahoo boys, corrupt politicians, runs girls sitting comfortably and unrepentant in church and celebrated because they drop huge offerings and tithes. The bible is clear on issues like this.
James 2:1–4 clearly states that “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
However, we can see that this is not the case in most churches today. How many times have you seen the guy who carries those speakers or sweeps the church and wears one pair of shoes recognised and celebrated for his labour of love? Some pastors (or leaders) are unable to preach against certain sins because it will affect their offering baskets and the number of people in attendance and this is a great evil against God because the genuine believers who want to learn the word of God are now starved and frustrated. Shepherds given to tend to the sheep have neglected them to cater to the wolves and that goes against the character of God. The attributes of God are distorted to fit a certain audience to gain fame and riches.
Not every believer is going to be rich and I’ve heard people say “Yes but I will be the rich one among the believers” and this makes me worry because that means they are under the illusion that they have the power to choose which category they fall under. So Jesus can be Lord over my life but He must not ask me to be give up my dreams and desires, that’s where I draw the line. We might not say it out loud but that’s what we are thinking most of the time and from time to time the true nature of our hearts comes to light. Here’s what the Bible says about those who desire to be rich.
It’s hard to swallow, I know.
I think this is a good place to end.
Part 2 will be “Does God want us poor?”
