Saturday, 16 October 2010
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The Sin of Financial Success
By Justin at BeDeviant
Somewhere along the line, generating income became an unpardonable sin within Christendom.I’ve written on this subject before, but I think it bears revisiting.
I’m going to go on the record, once and for all, that I think it’s acceptable for a Christian to make money. Lots of money, in fact. Let me explain.
The Spark to ProvideI’m in a class with some of the other guys here on staff at my church and the curriculum we’re walking through laid out a definitive challenge recently. I’ll spare you the details, suffice to say that part of challenge as husbands and fathers that we face is making sure that our families are adequately provided for financially.
Fair enough.
I find myself rising up to this challenge more and more. One of my goals is to build a financial legacy for my children to allow them to go further and faster than I ever could. No longer am I satisfied with “well, we’ll trust God to provide,” or “we’re just waiting on the Lord.” I see this ideology in people and it drives me berserk. This type of mindset is nothing more than an excuse for inaction. Laziness enabled by spiritual malpractice.
Kingdom Partners Who Build
I believe God desires spiritual partners to accomplish the work of making the “Kingdom come” from Heaven to Earth. He wants partners, not automotons. When we sit lotus-style, holed off in a room somewhere, endlessly asking for God to “give us a sign!”, we’re neglecting the fact that as followers of Jesus, we have his Spirit inside of us, leading and guidng the way.
That being said, I think there’s an innate drive in all of us to succeed. To excel. To craft something truly brilliant and let the world see it.
Whether it be an oil painting.
Or a well-coded website.
Or a brilliant piano recital.
Or a completed spreadsheet of the family budget.
We create and in turn want to be rewarded for that creation.Sometimes those rewards are purely internal–the sheer joy and satisfaction for a job well done. Sometimes those rewards come in the form of a “thank you” or some other form of verbal encouragment or recognition. But sometimes, those rewards come in the form of a big, fat pile of cash. Are you okay with this?
Jesus Wants You to be PoorTraditionally Christians get skittish around the idea of money. Perhaps it’s because of Jesus’ words, “You can’t serve both God and money,” that we get uncomfortable with the idea of generating a healthy income.
Perhaps its the stigma that’s been attached to success because of the gaudy televangelists who take advantage of naive people (and their checkbooks).
Maybe it’s the fact that we plain don’t believe that we’re worth it. But you are.
Now, not everyone would agree with me on that. That’s okay. I think if you look deep down inside, you’ll find it to be true. You want to be rewarded just as much as the next person. Be honest with yourself and admit it. If you want to look at it biblically, even Jesus endured the cross for the reward that was in front of him. He knew what the reward would be for his work. That reward made his work endurable.
This false financial martyrdom is something that I no longer will take part in. I won’t sacrifice the financal legacy I want to leave for my children and their children for the sake of seeming pious to people who, frankly, don’t know me.
What I want to know from you is if you see this mindest at work? Have you ever felt the drive to be financially successful only to have it stamped out by those around you? If so, how did you respond? Is the drive still there?
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About the Author
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- From: bedeviant
- Name: Justin
- About Me: A religious deviant who enjoys coffee, reading theology, graphic design, and spending time with his wife while creatively exploring the riches of the Spirit of Christ.
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Comments (34)
YES! This is a great post. My father is a pastor. He is constantly blessed by the financial generosity of church members who use the finances God allows them to have to benefit missions and church ministries.
I believe God wants us all to be solvent, and He also has a plan to use the resources of those He blesses with extra finances. I don't believe God's plan is for us to leave our descendants with nothing, either. Good for you for bringing up this topic.
Yeah, dude! I totally agree there's lots of places in the Bible that talk about pursuit of wealth as a natural and good thing (in appropriate priority, Mat 6:33), Ecclesiastics, Job, Ps, 2 Chron, Matt, etc.
I'm starting a business and my best friend just asked me tonight if I pray for a financial blow-out. I realized that I've merely been praying for God to protect my finances, but think that's based more on my own fear than misunderstanding of God's plan. Either way I'm not dreaming big enough!
Thanks!
Agreed :)
This is simply only from what I have learned.
Most of the people I am around or have been around do not have a mindset of causing themselves to be poor and to destroy themselves with money. Personally cannot say.
It is a noble thing to seek to provide for one's children and for others (family or stranger). As well, to provide for something that will be a lasting benefit. However, money does not last, can be stolen, and can lose its value (especially in these End Times).
The line seems to be where greed and modesty are. It is one thing to build enough to support others and provide a sanctuary, but another to do so and then also live an overly luxurious lifestyle.
The pursuit of money only seems to lead to pain.
Supporting yourself and your family is very important. That said, supporting people outside of your family (including your Church family, your community, and the global community) is also important. I don't care if you make $50,000 or a million. At both income levels there are plenty of Christians who are living lives of luxury (even if it is modest luxury) while other families in their church are finding it hard to put food on the table. True stewardship isn't about forgoing a car if you really need one, but it is about considering a Chevy before a BMW. I'm just as guilty as indulging myself as the next guy, but I understand that line and am working towards being content with what I have and what I need instead of providing myself with unnecessary luxuries.
Now, I think you've perverted this reasonable view of stewardship in a couple of ways.
1) "Maybe it’s the fact that we plain don’t believe that we’re worth it. But you are."
Are we worth more than we sometimes give ourselves credit for? Yes. Are we worth more than starving children in India or the individuals in China and Mexcio we take advantage of so we can have cheaper electronics and apparel? No. I in no way advocate putting ourselves in the same miserable situations of the less fortunate, but I find it hard to understand how a Christian with the knowledge of these tragedies can pay $2000 for leather upholstery in their mini-van. This is not to say that I take you for someone who indulges in needless luxury, but I think it's reprehensible to not even discuss the issue in the context of this post.
2) "You want to be rewarded just as much as the next person. Be honest with yourself and admit it. If you want to look at it biblically, even Jesus endured the cross for the reward that was in front of him. He knew what the reward would be for his work. That reward made his work endurable."
This is a total perversion of Jesus' sacrifice. How can you compare Jesus dying on the cross for the rest of the world's salvation to your pursuit of a "financial legacy." If you're working your butt off to help the needy, more power to you, but if you're simply securing a trust fund for your children then you need to get your priorities straight. Again, I'm not accusing or assuming here, but I'm amazed that in writing this article it never occurred to you to draw that line.
So, let me reiterate--the drive to be successful and to provide for your family is good. But you can't talk about the issue of financial success without also addressing a Christian's obligation to be generous, charitable, and sacrificial. The lack of even a sentence addressing the purpose for success (to further the "Kingdom," to protect those who cannot protect themselves, James 1:27 and Galatians 5) makes me queasy. You've given an intellectual defense of financial success without saying anything about why financial success is a good thing or what the responsibilities that come with it are.
Hmm. I do think that God calls some people to be rich, but it gets very dangerous when you love money and you love possessions.
I also definitely think it is important to pray a lot about where God wants you to be. At first when I got saved, I was like "I don't want to go to school anymore! I just want to go on a mission trip or do an internship somewhere!" But I prayed a lot about it, and God was like, "Sorry, but right now it's important that you finish college."So, what I wanted didn't exactly line up with what He wanted. and also, I already know that even though I am majoring in elementary education and that is where God wants me to be right now, I am pretty certain I am not going to end up being a teacher, or at least not for a long time. God has told me that I have a higher calling than that (and I think it will probably be a lot of mission work for some time.) So, basically, all I'm saying is pray about it! And make sure your plan and God's plan for you match up.Everything is for the glory of God, including finances. If you are pursuing finances for YOU, then its wrong. Nothing wrong with working hard and saving up money, but trying to be rich for selfish reasons is wrong.
@caroliiineee@xanga - Great point.
Scripture mentions quite often having stores of food and being prepared for lean times. I think actual cash had replaced grain stores, but the concept is still important. It is wise to be prepared so you can help your family and others. I have no problems with trust funds because I intend to raise my children to have financial common sense so hopefully nothing will be wasted.
I have found in my personal experience that a lot of the naysayers to wealth are people that are just bad with their money and have spending problems. I have been lectured by several former church members about wearing designer clothes--bought at Goodwill by the way for a couple dollars--and how if they were blessed with money, they would be donating to charity. It was really hard not to bust up laughing and tell them that we technically fall under poverty guidelines and they make about three times as much as we do.
I'm pretty sure it's not wealth that is seen as a sin by the church. Why else would so many Christians vote for Republicans?
If on the other hand you're gay or have an abortion, that means you need to be fixed. Or if you believe in evolution. Though most Christians ignore scientifically minded people because they have a good thing going with half the nation already convinced that evolution never happened ... too easy to get converts elsewhere I guess.
I'm just saying. The church hasn't encouraged voluntary poverty since Nice.
@god_stories@xanga - Annuit coeptis eh?
I hope you do well, but ... God has nothing to do with you wanting more money.
AMEN to this post. As a man, the onus is on you for the most part to provide for your family if you are planning on starting one. It probably would of been much better if everyone knew Greek and read the original Greek New Testament. When Jesus said "You can’t serve both God and money," I remember from a Sermon that "money" was translated from the word "Mammonas" or "Mammon" which is a greek and Semitic word that means something more than money. It actually means things that we put our trust in like money, job security, posessions, or wealth. I had to double check the sermon mp3 on this. But Jesus wasn't saying that "Mammon" is bad, he was just stating the fact that out hearts can only worship one god/thing at a time. So in essence that particular passage in Matthew 6:19-24 is more of a reminder of how we are always on the brink of idolatry and we have to keep watch of that.
I hope I checked my context as much as I can here. If there are any seminary students here, you can confirm that for me if I missed anything.
Matt. 19:21-26 If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.
As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom." The disciples were staggered. "Then who has any chance at all?" Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."
Matt. 19:28-30 anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. (The Message)
Often when I want to know the exact (as near as I can tell) interpretaton of something from the Bible...I read it in several, several, parallel translations. I certainly don't accept The Message as the ultimate accurate translation or paraphrase of the Word; I leave that to the NIV, KJV, NAS and the Amplified Bible. But a gem has many facets and unless you look at all of them one at a time...sometimes there is a flaw in your thinking. A simple explanation is sort of nice for referral.Now that I have made an idiot out of myself, defending myself when I haven't been attacked (but I have ran into a lot of people that don't see it that way).
Yes, he does mention a rich man entering heaven doesn't or won't be as easy as riding a camel at full gallop through the eye of a needle. He goes on to say we should be willing to give up "home, family, fields or whatever" Should we take that as an example that we should not marry? Should we live as drifters without a home? Not plant fields and feed our family from charity? I don't think so. He is saying that we must be WILLING to give those things up for his sake (if they mean more to us than he does). I don't consider Soloman a pauper..and after Job's trial...his wealth and family increased many times over. God wants us to live an abundant life. As we lavish love on our children He has so much more to give us. Where the lesson is, I think, is that we must realize, family, home, children, money all come from Him and anything and everything the world has He gives us ,..to others we must point out that what we have is because He gives it to us. IF it gets in our way, then we should leave it and follow Him. If it doesn't get in our way then we can use it to glorify God.
this is a slippery slope. the danger is that we start patting ourselves on the back for the things we have. start telling ourselves that i deserve this, i'm entitled to this. we lose track of the support we received along the way, our parents, our teachers, public education, our government. and then become self-righteous in our wealth and pass judgment on the poor, less fortunate, or people who've made mistakes.
Good points,
I believe acquiring financial success is great, if you tithe, are not attached to it, and you praise God for giving you such blessings. If the money doesn't get in your way of your daily walk with Christ Jesus, and you realize you won't take it to heaven, what's so wrong with it?
@socialdemocracyforall@xanga - Hmm...I'm wondering why you say "...more money." I can only imagine you're presuming something of my financial situation. Does God want me to be able to have provision to eat, provide shelter for my family, own a home, provide clothing, have savings (a little, a lot?), retirement savings, a car, two cars, two homes, what? How can I know what is enough or too much? I've learned only by hearing His voice...not by following rules/law.
What I've learned of God in following where He leads is that He wants good things for me....things like health, joy, peace, success, wealth, family, sensual pleasure, enjoyment of food, in other words a rich and abundant life. There seems an invitation to trust Him above relying upon any of those things...and that these things will not truly satisfy me, but it also seems true that its natural and good to seek these things.
The LOVE of money is the root of all evil...not money. Its fleshly desire that is unhelpful for a joyful life...not desire. The Psalms say live off the land and feed on my faithfulness and delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
I'm learning that He is a loving father. Just as I want my daughter to discover who she is, her purpose, and to thrive here on earth (as well as the next life)...God desires even more. While there is purpose in suffering...the point is not the suffering, but the redemption that's available through it. Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him.
Financial responsibility and security should be a goal of all people, Christian or otherwise.
That said, I think our Western culture, and Christians within it, focuses too emphatically on having all our needs and desires satiated all the time. This causes a couple of big problems in Christian living: The first is a tendency to direct our excess resources entirely to ourselves (upgrading a car that already meets our needs, filling our homes with junk, etc), rather than furthering the work of "making the Kingdom come".
The second is that we run the risk of something similar to conceit. We meet all our own needs, we fill all our own wants, what do we need God for? Does He become a commodity for our pleasure that we use in the same way that we eat an especially tasty meal or pursue a hobby? Having made it on our own, do we dispassionately judge those who are poor or otherwise incapable of filling their own needs?
I've been reading a really decent little book called Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond our Appetites that I think offers some good ideas about finding balance between satiation and making room for God. That's had made me thinking about this sort of thing recently. I also think Ecclesiastes is a wonderful reference (my favorite book of the Bible) for looking at what matters and doesn't and enjoying simple pleasures in our lives. (Ecc 2:10-11, 24-26; 5:18-20)
@god_stories@xanga - That's unbiblical, and it's perversions of Christianity like that that got me frustrated with church to begin with. It's plain wrong to think that you are blessed when the lack of that same blessing is a curse to someone else. The pagans also said magic spells hoping for wealth, love, happiness, etc., which sometimes worked, like in your case, depending on pre-existing circumstances and how you handle them.
If God speaks to you about how to make yourself richer, what about the people who are poor? You think they are all wicked to not receive the same blessing or "hear" what he has to say? Or if they are listening too, you think he is counseling them on how to get stuck in dead end jobs, have to skimp on doctor visits for their children, and eat substandard food at the same time he "speaks" to you about your next financial move?
What kind of pastor has been teaching you this stuff? Did you not know that if a person brings another Gospel, even an angel of God, the Bible calls him cursed? (Or did you even read that part?) Christianity isn't about wealth, it's about Christ crucified and the teachings he gave to us so that we can love one another in a way that is genuine and authentic.
@god_stories@xanga - "The LOVE of money is the root of all
evil...not money. Its fleshly desire that is unhelpful for a joyful
life...not desire. The Psalms say live off the land and feed on my
faithfulness and delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the
desires of your heart."
That's a proverb, not an actual spiritual teaching. Jesus never said "money is not the root of all evil". The fact is that we all love money to some degree. It's unavoidable in any modern civilization where you can buy anything you can afford and you don't have to make hardly anything with your own two hands. At what point does your money take the place of the real blessings God has given you, and the desires of your heart become your only desires? You are playing a dangerous game with such thoughts.
Psalm 37:4 which you quoted above has very little to do with money. The Psalmist was probably thinking about things like wanting love, friends, respect, children, sufficiency, peace, and seeing your vision of a better world become reality. Those are true desires ... false desires, or the ones that cause us to act negatively and lead us into temptation, those are always tangible and rarely permanent: money, possessions, pleasure at the expense of anything good, revenge, basically the fruit of the sinful nature.
@socialdemocracyforall@xanga - Amen! Christ came to reveal authentic LOVE!
Ecc: "However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment"
I'm experiencing life these days as a journey. I've experienced good seasons and hard. Relationship with a living God...and a life giving community has made all the difference in my experience...I feel protected and loved. It's allowed me to discover that my joy is found in relationship. I've also witnessed the hardest moments of life in relationship. Success, family, wealth, sensual pleasure, wisdom are desires of mine, but not mine only (Ecc). I've found abundant life in identifying my own desires, asking that they be fulfilled, freely letting them go, continuing to ask for their fulfillment, and thanking God for what I do have.
I've experienced success, failure, wealth, poverty, family, loneliness, sensual pleasure, and deprivation. I feel invitation to see that my circumstances don't determine my experience of life...my experience is a choice. In poverty (or wealth) I choose anxiety or rest. In loneliness (or family) I choose, hopelessness or rest. In confusion (or wisdom) I choose fear or rest. In failure (or success) I choose pride or rest.
The outcome (good or bad) is not where the blessing lies, but in rest! I can live for the outcome or I can live in the moment. God uses ALL things for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called according to His purpose. I sense God's leadership in my life to know Him (and myself) more authentically.
@socialdemocracyforall@xanga - "Or if they are listening too, you think he is
counseling them on how to get stuck in dead end jobs, have to skimp on
doctor visits for their children, and eat substandard food at the same
time he "speaks" to you about your next financial move?"
I don't understand our mysterious God and Father. I don't know why some He has called are rich and others poor; why some live under tyranny generation after generation and others have political freedom; why some die prematurely while others live to old age. I believe there is a spiritual war that is taking place all around us and we are offered a role to play in that battle. I also believe He has a plan for the redemption of the entire earth (Rom 8) and we are part of that plan.
I'm sorry for your circumstances (if these are your circumstances) and pray for you to find rest and fulfillment of all you desire. If you have been called to help others in these circumstances I pray that you are resourced to find joy and rest in the midst of your work. And either way I pray you find space and safety to bring your desires, needs, anger, questions, concerns, fears....to the One who knows you most intimately and can 'handle' all of it (in a way that offers you rest and joy).
@jgstudes@xanga - Great comment!
I would also add that when Jesus lived a life of giving and voluntary poverty, who was mistreated and rejected, who are we, as servants, to believe that we deserve more than the master?
We are worthy people in that we have value as persons made in the image of God loved by God. This is not the same as monetary value. All people are worth a great deal, yet all do not receive heaps of money.
This, however, is not an excuse for laziness. On the contrary, we must work very hard to serve our Lord and to serve our neighbors, especially our families when we are parents. This work should be a labor of love, of giving back, or teaching our children to give, of teaching them not to value people by their money and teaching them not to assign value to this world, but only to the next. We can steward money, but ought not be attached to it. We need to remember that wherever our treasure is, there also will our hearts be. We must resist the temptation to put the desires of our hearts in this world alone. We must look to the coming world by serving others and not seeking personal glory.