On God and Money

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5

Many speakers will say things like “God is not against your wealth,” and I would politely disagree. I think many well meaning Christ followers want so desperately for our faith to look like culture, that sometimes we fudge the numbers to make it fit. Where we can trim the divisive edges of our beliefs, then we so readily do. The result, however, ends up being a watered down, almost unrecognizable faith. What if God is indeed against us accumulating wealth? With the amount of time Jesus spends talking about material things, one could assume He is.

The truth is, in America especially, we worship money. We obsess over it. Make a list of the things you worried about yesterday and I guarantee they were mostly money related. Wealth, perhaps more so than any other false idol, has a strange God like quality. Many put faith in it. Many sacrifice dreams and lifestyles for it. Many devote a considerable amount of head space to it. Books are written and messages preached about it.

We all too easily worship wealth, but there is another way

When faced with things of this world, the Christ follower has three choices:

1. Accept 2. Reject or 3. Redeem

Christ was in the redemption business. Everything He does has shades of this mode of being. Our wealth and resources can be redeemed to work as a pillager of the kingdom of darkness. When we see them as tools in the hand of a mighty God, there is no stopping the amount of relief it can provide. In America, we must be especially vigilant. Even the least of us have more than enough to impact the Kingdom. God does not simply want you to give but to invest. Your resources are investing in a plan that is above all else.

Find your investment, consider your investment, and let God carry your investment