by James Smart

Created on: May 30, 2008

It is not the point whether or not God wants to give us lots of money. The point is what are we going to do with it? The problem with a lot of prosperity teaching is that it encourages Christians to look forward to a life of ease and pleasure. Now in paradise - the perfect world where there is no suffering or poverty, I guess this life-style is ok. In the real world where down our street there may be people about to get their houses repossessed, or on the other side of the world people are starving to death, I think our priorities should be focused on other things than our own ease and comfort and our desires for bigger houses and more luxurious cars etc. Now it could be argued that Jesus in his earthly ministry wasn't short of cash. He had many followers who supported him, Judas was able to steal from the common bag without being noticed, Jesus' whole entourage seemed to be financially supported. But Jesus died with only one garment to His name. He did not ride in a chariot pulled by white horses, or live in a palace. He did not live like a rich man from a financial point if view. If we are to be like Christ then how much money we make is irrelevant - what we do with it is. Neither am I saying we should give it all to the church. I don't believe the church was meant to be an organization which sucks money into itself as it appears to today. It doesn't cost a penny to talk to someone about Christ. When Jesus called a man to follow Him He didn't say "sell all you have and give it to my ministry" - He said "sell all you have and give it to the poor". The Apostle Paul said that true religion was to look after orphans and widows. How sermons do you hear in church about orphans and widows? How many conferences do we go to which suck up a lot of our money in getting there and then we are encouraged to spend more money on books and CDs telling us how to be better Christians? We will be held accountable for how we use our money. When Jesus tells us "I was hungry but you didn't feed me" what are we going to say? "I spent my money on this conference about being a better Christian". No wonder the world calls us hypocrites. Back to the subject of prosperity teaching - the over-emphasis on prosperity by certain ministries detracts from the fact that the bible warns that to follow Christ is the narrow path in which you can expect suffering and sacrifice. The question is, are we stagnant pools which just collect lots of rain water which goes nowhere, or are we rivers which distribute living water to the thirsty?

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