lately some dear friends have asked me why i say the things i do about the american church. specifically, about how i believe american church goers spend most of their money on themselves for comfort and ease and luxury while the rest of the world dies from poverty, hunger and disease only then to be cast into eternal fire.
yesterday i was asked why i hate the rich.
let me be clear: i do not hate the rich.
although i do hate what the rich do with their riches. and let me be clear as to whom i am referring to as rich: if you're american, then you're rich.
as i understand the Gospel in orientation terms, it changes a person's life from being centered on me to being centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.
it creates a Copernican shift that one never falls away from.
in other words, the things that one used to care about:
-success
-reputation
-sex (outside of the marriage bed)
-advancement
-comfort
-rights
-personal dignity
-pride
are thrown at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ and those sins of self are atoned for.
my objection to the ruling (rich) class within the american church is this:
even though there is a "public profession of faith", there is no regenerate change within the heart and the desires of old do not die with the old self. what this means is that they look moral on the outside, but a simple following of their money trail ends in a pretty headstone over a grave filled with dead bones. they look like born again believers, but there is no real fruit of the Spirit, only dead moralism.
why do i know this? here is a sampling, by no means an exhaustive list, of some of the new testament commands and teachings about money and wealth:
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven . . . Woe to you rich, for you have received your consolation. (Luke 6:20)
They are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. (Luke 8:14)
The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Luke 9:58) (Jesus was poor from start to finish. His life was totally streamlined for the work of the kingdom.)
A person's life does not consist in the possessions that he has. (Luke 12:15)
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:19-20)
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)
Seek his kingdom and these other things (the basics of life) will be yours as well. (Luke 12:31)
But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:20-21)
Sell your possessions and give alms; provide yourselves with purses in heaven. (Luke 12:33)
Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)
How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Luke 18:24)
They sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all as any had need. (Acts 2:45)
No one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. (Acts 4:32)
In a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part. (2 Corinthians 8:2)
We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
You had compassion on the prisoners and joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. (Hebrews 10:34)
If any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? (1 John 3:17)
John Piper says,
A decisive turn happened in redemptive history with the coming of Jesus that makes it invalid to use the lavish temple of the Old Testament as a model for contemporary church buildings. The Old Testament was, by and large, a "come-and-see" religion, while the New Testament is largely a "go-and-tell" religion. This revolutionizes the way we look at the use of our resources. Maximizing our giving to finish the Great Commission and to evangelize
"The New Testament is relentless in pushing us toward simplicity and economy for the kingdom and away from luxury and affluence and finery."
the new testament says about 10 times more about financial sin then it does about sexual sin. this is paramount for us to understand so i'll say it again: the new testament says about 10 times more about financial sin then it does about sexual sin.
does this mean that we don't love the Lord Jesus if we spend money on ourselves for comfort and ease? this is probably not the right question. the real questions should be: what are our priorities? what are our affections leaning to?
does God give us money to make our lives easier? or to help alleviate suffering in the world? does God give us money to increase our comfort or to help send men and women to proclaim the only true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world that remains under the horrible wrath of a Holy God?
this is a heart issue. and a heart bent towards being obedient to the Lord Jesus would do well to heed the commands He spoke in His word about how to deal with money.
maybe today we should pray that God would transform us in this matter.
