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Introduction
Christians have been trained to reject wealth, or at the very least, fuss at those who are wealthy.
People are quick to recall the times when Jesus and the Apostle Paul rebuked rich people and conclude that wealth and Christianity do not go together.
To be honest, I struggled with this as well. I found it hard to reconcile Abraham’s wealth being celebrated while Jesus rebuked the young, rich ruler.
Then the light came on.
We don’t define “rich” the same way the Bible does. We think it’s an amount of money, but it’s not. It is a relationship with money. It’s an ungodly motivation. It’s the wrong mindset.
In the Bible, the only time you find God upset about a certain amount of money is when that one servant in the parable of the talents refused to multiply.
Yet, now the church gets upset with those who do multiply, and we pity those who don’t. That alone shows that we need to correct our view on wealth to align with our Heavenly Father.
Thankfully, it’s simple. We need to define “rich” the same way God does. Say this out loud to make sure you get it, “Rich is not an amount of money.”
Now, let’s read the parable of the rich young ruler to find out who God refers to when He rebukes a rich person.
Mark 10:17-31 NLT – As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, 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!” The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said. “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.
The problem here was not the amount of money. It was the man’s relationship with his money.
It said he had many possessions. We could call this storing up your wealth. Or as James calls it, rotting wealth.
Wealth does no good sitting around. Godly wealth has purpose. It is a free flow. You don’t store it up; you use it to do good.
If you are stockpiling your bank accounts, you are in company with this rich man. I know the world tells you it’s wise to store it up, but God’s Word doesn’t agree.
We can also see that this man became wealthy the world’s way, not God’s way. The world’s way gives you sorrow; God’s way gives you great joy.
This man became sorrowful when Jesus commanded him to be generous. If he had become wealthy God’s way, he would be overjoyed by the opportunity to give.
God’s wealth strategy is in stark contrast to the world’s strategy. God says to give and it will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together, running over.
Clearly, this rich guy did not understand that Jesus was giving him the opportunity to multiply by giving his possessions away.
I have a Facebook ad running right now for my book. In the ad, I explain how God needs us to position ourselves for great wealth so we can fund the end-time harvest.
Someone commented to let me know that God operates outside of money. He doesn’t need lots of cash to reach people.
I replied, “God uses money to do good things, just like you do. Is that not how you take care of your family?”
So he retracted his first comment but doubled down on his next where he said that tithing is not required and that no pastor should be paid for what they do.
This came out of left field. The ad said nothing about giving or tithing or pastors getting paid. So, I replied, “Funny how this turned into your disdain for tithing. That’s usually an indicator that you have a wrong relationship with money. Might want to check yourself.”
I find it pretty humorous when people want to refute tithing. It’s just not an argument worth pursing if you believe what Jesus taught about generosity.
Giving is like sowing a seed that produces a harvest. If we believed that, we wouldn’t be looking for a way out of the tithe. We’d be looking for ways to be even more generous than that.
I think the tithe is great! I love that God gave me specifics in what to do with my money. I believe the Word is still true: the tithe opens the windows of heaven, and blessings pour out.
I’ve been tithing my whole life. My parents even made me tithe my birthday money. I used to do it because I feared the curse. Now I do it because I want to cooperate with the blessing.
Jesus released you from the curse! That is not the issue. You don’t have to tithe to escape the curse. But the blessing is still looking for willing participants. I’m in, and it’s a joy to tithe to my church.
Regarding his passionate comment that preachers shouldn’t get paid, I’m guessing he was upset that I am selling a book. But I bet you he is not upset with authors who aren’t pastors.
It’s funny how people get caught up in the idea that it’s okay to get paid for secular work but not spiritual work. They’re okay paying for things that don’t last, but don’t want to pay for eternal things, like what you get through preaching.
I want to point out one more thing about what we read in Mark chapter ten: the rich man was young.
I’ve always wondered why it gave us that detail. Why did God want us to know this was a young man?
It’s to emphasize that getting rich before you come to Jesus is a hard road to take. When you’ve already found success on your own, it’s hard to realize how much you need a savior.
Yet Christians everywhere are training their kids to prioritize their jobs over church. Even with their first minimum wage job, parents tend to allow their kids to work instead of go to church.
Then, if they have to choose between college studies and being involved in church, they are encouraged to focus on college. They’re told that the whole “church thing” can come later.
We are setting them up for failure. We’re training them to focus on temporary things while forgetting the things that last. We’re sending them down the same hard path of this young rich guy.
It’s even worse for young people who want to go into ministry. They have an endless supply of advice, saying, “I don’t think you want to do that. There’s no money in that. Why don’t you get a good job first, save up, and then go into ministry later in life.”
Parents, you know this already, but I must say it out loud. Your child finding the world’s success but ending up in hell for eternity is not the outcome you want.
The biggest danger we all face is becoming lukewarm. That’s when a Christian allows enough of the world to be mixed into their life that they become indifferent about Christ and His church.
This is when you say that church is a good thing but don’t prioritize it. Or when you obey the scriptures you like but not the ones you don’t like.
If you are lukewarm, Jesus is standing at the door of your heart and knocking. If you will open the door to Him, He will reignite your passion for God and get you back on the right track.
Is that you? Is there anyone being stirred right now to turn from your indifference?
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