New Series: Christians and the Concept of Wealth

Subject #3 – Poverty and Wealth Extremes and Where Does God Fit in?

Let’s ask ourselves the question, “Does God want us to be rich or does God want us to be poor?” I’ve heard good Christians teach it both ways.  So what is the true answer?  What is Jesus trying to teach us?  I think we can safely say it is neither of the above.  So how should we view money, credit, debt, and other finances?  How should we view our own wealth? These are the questions that many Christians are faced with in modern times, particularly in the prosperous Western world. With the increasing rise in prominence of so-called ‘prosperity’ churches, many Christians are now being challenged about the role finances should play in their lives.

So how should we react? It all becomes extremely difficult and often confusing when different churches teach totally different extremes. So which one is right? Which teaching is Jesus saying 'amen' to? Surely he can’t be okay with both. The issue becomes even more cloudy when you see God-fearing, respectable church leaders who clearly love God yet firmly oppose one another in their views over wealth and poverty, and money's rightful place in the lives of God’s people.

It is important that we be balanced in our thinking.  We need to remember that God is not the father of chaos but a God of order.  To see where God actually fits into the equation, we need to first expose both extreme schools of thought as being wrong and realize the misunderstandings, frustrations and huge disappointments they can bring to God's people.  From the beginning it was not meant to be this way.  We need to determine the truth and we need to clear all other programming out of our minds.

FIRST: THE POVERTY EXTREME

Many traditional Christians and members of more conservative churches have been raised to view wealth with suspicion. They would see that any kind of significant material gain could hinder their holiness. They view the material world as evil and that which is unseen as virtuous, therefore any plans involving wealth, for whatever purpose, would be avoided like the plague.

This extreme teaching, that stems widely from monks and nuns makings vows of poverty in the Middle Ages, suggests that poverty is equivalent to godliness. It mistakenly supports the belief that the poorer you are the more spiritual you are, and consequently the closer your walk with God must be. Those who subscribe to this doctrine cite examples in the Bible of how various prophets, disciples, and even Jesus himself, lived life without material riches, and in some cases, lived as the homeless.

Those who follow this doctrine don’t want to think about being successful and they will criticize those who are successful. In keeping true to this teaching they use it as a way to comfort those who are impoverished and actual keep them from enjoying the abundance of God. Followers of this doctrine try to convince others that they should not worry about accumulating wealth in this life and only concern themselves with accumulating riches in the afterlife another words lay up for yourself in the Kingdom.  Sounds a bit like an ‘oxymoron’.  Consequently, some Christians seem to have the misconception that being wealthy is evil and being poor is holy. But there is nothing holy about being poor. God doesn’t want his children to live in poverty.  Poverty is not a Virtue. Preferring to live in poverty or having an attitude of poverty is actually a ‘sin.’

I grew up with the extreme teachings of poverty.  I learned to be pious and look down on those with money as lesser spiritual beings than myself.  I was proud of being poor.  After all it showed how righteous I was and how much better I was then those who lived for mammon and material gain in this world.  Somehow it seemed if I didn’t have material wealth in this world it would guarantee that I would have much more wealth in heaven.  Anyone else ever feel that way?

Let’s take a look at the opposite side of the coin now.

SECOND: THE WEALTH EXTREME

The opposite to the extreme teaching of poverty would be the extreme teaching of wealth.  Over recent years, there is a new teaching about wealth that has risen up within the church which I feel may come from the very Pharisees themselves.  It is a declaration that money and possessions are the evidence of our faith.  This erroneous teaching stems from extremists who have taken the teachings too far.

Those who follow this teaching equate wealth with godliness. Their mantra may sound like this: ‘The wealthier you are the more blessed you are and consequently the more favored by God you must be’.  Believers of this doctrine have mistakenly concluded that their identity and acceptance by God is a function of how much 'stuff' they own.  A negative effect of today’s ‘health and wealth’ teaching is that it can lead those who fail to get rich into a feeling of inadequacy or guilt about their poverty.  This is clearly spiritually damaging. This teaching can be very damaging and is a very sick joke to Christians in under-developed countries.

Although wealth is a blessing of God (Proverbs 10:22), it’s not always a result of faith.  It would be extremely unwise for us to go around with a formula that says every wealthy Christian is wealthy because of their faith.  That kind of statement is far too broad.  Although God wants us to succeed, prosper and do well in life (as any Father would want for his children), there must still be times of challenge, difficulty and sacrifice – these are ordained so that we become mature in our faith and more Christ-like.

To quote from Alistair Kent:

Hebrews 11:1 that states “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. Now that’s fine when you’re believing in the promises of God over your life, but when you start believing for things outside of God’s plan and purpose for you, that’s when things become very messy indeed.

Luke 6:38 states, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Many extreme teachers of the pro-wealth camp quite rightly see this biblical principle at work, but unfortunately distort it with a self-based motivation - i.e. they will give, just so that they get more in return. This is not godly giving. God is not the president of the Self Gain Investment Corporation. Yes, he wants us to prosper, but ultimately his blessings on our lives are poured out so that we in turn can be a blessing to others. We should ‘get so we can give’, not solely ‘give so we can get’.

WHERE DOES GOD FIT IN?

We must not view such matters lightly, but we must think carefully about what teachings we program into our lives. We must be careful as ministers what we are teaching others.  False teachers and false doctrines can be hugely damaging to the Church through the individual members and can severely hinder the works of God that He has for each of us to do.  James 3:1 tells us that Bible teachers will be “judged by a higher standard and with greater severity” (AV) than other people. God sees this as a critical area.

So where does God fit into the equation? Well, he loves all his children, but not all their lifestyles. Some, I’m sure, bring great sorrow to him – especially when we get into false doctrines and teachings – to whatever extreme.  We need a balanced and biblical view of how God wants us to perceive and handle wealth in our life.  The Bible does not condemn wealth.

“God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people – I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested.  But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!” 2 Chronicles 1:11-12 (NLT)

“Every animal in the forest belongs to me, and so do the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds in the mountains, and every wild creature is in my care. If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you, because I own the world and everything in it.”

Psalm 50:10-12 (CEV)

Ownership is an issue that you must fully understand if you are to truly get a hold of the principles of prosperity and wealth laid out in the scriptures.

The Psalmist said, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psa 24:1, NIV).All that we have belongs to God! (Psa 89:11; Psa 50:10; Hag 2:8; Job 41:11). We are stewards, not owners. Even our bodies are the Lord’s (1 Cor 6:19-20).  Though the Bible affirms the right to private property, this right is not absolute. It is tempered by the reality that all property belongs to God and that we are trustees of God’s property. God has entrusted his property to us both for our personal needs and enjoyment and for us to achieve God’s purposes. We are ultimately accountable to God for how we use his wealth as well as how we acquire it. As Christians, we have a duty to use God’s wealth in ways that best serve the objectives of God’s Kingdom. Some people have been entrusted with a lot of wealth to manage on God’s behalf, and others with less. But those who have more will be judged more harshly, as their responsibility is greater.

“If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.” (Luke 12:48, CEV).

The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) expands on this. When something is owned by someone, it’s their responsibility to manage well what they have. They are the decision-makers for it. The seriousness with which God views our stewardship is well illustrated by the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). Here, the couple paid with their lives because of their dishonesty about their property dealings. Let’s not forget that although this sounds like something that would happen in the Old Testament, this is very much a New Testament event!

When we fully grasp the fact that we are stewards of all we have and own, then we become liberated. Sharing becomes natural, hospitality becomes regular and giving becomes a pleasure.

Through the understanding of ownership and our correct response to it, God can use us as a conduit of his grace to others. And as faithful stewards in what we give, spend, save or invest, God will always see that our source will never run dry.

There is evil out there and I passionately believe that Satan and his demons will do everything they can to prevent us from managing and creating wealth, so that God’s Kingdom is not impacted through the giving of our resources. After all a rich person has far more power at their disposal to be able to help where financial assistance is needed than a poor person.

There will be one more message in this series and that about managing our resources and raising our standard of giving as well as living.

Blessings, Rev. Sharra