How many of us think we are poor here in America? Admit it, we quite often find ourselves thinking we have it bad here. We live in the land of prosperity, yet we still view ourselves as 'poor' compared to those who have fancy cars, houses, and the latest and greatest. We also find ourselves working to obtain 'things' to show that we are better than others. The sad thing is that over 75% of Americans are richer than 95% of the rest of the world. It's OK to admit to wanting to 'be better than the Jones' down the street, we all have done this at one time or another in our lives.
I want to address a few things concerning living this way. Just because we see people in media spending (along with our neighbor) more money than they make, does not mean we have to model this behavior. We do not need to always be buying those latest and greatest things, just to be the first ones to say they have them. I want to look at a few verses regarding materialism:
1:Timothy 6:6-10 NKJV Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain[c] we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Paul tells Timothy that we should be content with what God gives us. Paul says in verse 8 that as long as we have food and clothing, we should be content. In verse 9 however, we see what happens to someone who desires to be rich. They fall into many things including foolishness, that drives a person to destruction. Paul then tells Timothy that to love money is a root for all kinds of evil, and causes many who are strong in Jesus to fall away from Him.
The next section of Scripture I want to look at is Luke 16:13 “No
servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Jesus makes things plain and simple. We can not serve God, and the love of money. It does not work that way. We can not focus completely on God, if we are focused on earthly things. I know to this point the focus has been on money, and here is why. Money is the most common way to obtain material things in this world. We work and we get paid at the end of the week. When we get paid, we take our earnings and pay for the things we need and the things we want. However in America, too many of us use credit cards, loans and other ways to obtain the things we want 'now'. Most of us think about the here and now, and ourselves with our earnings.We see things that we want, and we throw a fuss until we get our way, or we go further into debt to purchase the trinket that we really did not need in the first place. There is another side of materialism however:
Luke 18:25 (ESV)
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.
For Jesus to say that for an camel to go through an eye of a needle is easier than for a rich person to get to heaven is mind blowing to me. To me, it says that rich people are not going to make it into heaven. Does that mean that if you have extra money you won't go to heaven? Certainly not! Remember the verse from Luke earlier concerning serving 2 masters. If you are serving God, you are using the money God blessed you with to help those in need. If you are using that money to serve your desires and could care less about the person who needs help, then you are serving mammon. The sad thing is that even in church, many are serving mammon.
Many that are Christians do not know what it means to want for something. God has blessed them with more than enough. Their thought is not to use that blessing to help someone less fortunate, but to consume it on selfish living. They even can look at the person in need and say, "Why can't they go get a better job? Or Why aren't they applying for financial assistance from the government? I even have heard that :"They are not being blessed by God, because they must be committing sin in their life."
To answer those questions. Sometimes God has a person in a particular job, to teach them a eternal lesson, and if they leave their current job, then they may lose that eternal blessing. I have seen God do that in my life. I remember I tried everything to leave a job at an insulation factory. I HATED that job (I am a big guy, and i have issues with my back, legs, and ankles, and was tired of them always hurting....I also have a college degree, and wanted to use it badly). God would not open the door for me to leave that job, until I became completely content with that job, and was willing to stop complaining about it, and be grateful for that job. I look back at that job with fondness due to all the lessons I learned that I now apply to my walk for Christ.
To answer the second question. The church body should not be the government's concern. People should be able to rely on the church to help one another, like in the book of Acts where many sold all their possessions, and lived communally, sharing all that they had. Today, many people are only concerned with themselves, and how they 'look'. I have seen pastors tell people to change their clothes, because they 'looked' wrong with holes and rips in them. The church should be willing to help someone in need, not pass their responsibility to the government. Think about the blessing that will be stored in heaven for the church members that help those in need!
'They are not being blessed by God, because they must be committing sin in their life'. Look at Job. He was counted righteous in God's eyes, and he was tested by Satan, with God's permission. Job had everything stripped from him, to test his faith. Sometimes, God will allow Satan to strip things away from us, to test our faith in Him. I know that God will provide for His children, even through those tests. Do not be quick to judge someone who is struggling financially, physically, or spiritually. Be a light to them and meet their needs.
Matthew 19:16-2216 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Luke 12:16-21 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
I am going to end this writing with these 2 sections of Scripture. Please read them, and meditate on them. The first one is the young man who was given everything he wanted and did not have love for others. He loved his things more than he loved God. The second story is about a rich man who was blessed with more crops than he could store. He was focused on building a bigger barn to store his crops, and after he finished, he focused on retiring and being lazy. However he did not live to enjoy his fruit, because his days ended that night. Verse 21 sums up this very well: 'So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God'. Desire to be rich in Heaven, and not on this earth.
-Kevin
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