does god want you to be rich?

so i'm a krogers last night getting the weekly foodstuffs, standing in line waiting to check out and reading all the tabloid headlines as i usually do. what catches my eye is not the lastest with brad and angelina but the banner on the lastest issue of TIME MAGAZINE. does this surprise anyone? it's a new spin on the old "name it and claim it" stuff but with more ominous overtones because it has become so mainstream.
money and materialism are seen as signs of god's blessing, not the fruits of the spirit, not loving other people, not serving others, feeding the poor, loving the unloveable, doing justice,etc.

i don't believe that being rich makes one a bad person or even a bad christian. but i don't think this "prosperity gospel" is teaching people how to live like followers of jesus. i believe that god blesses us so that we can bless others. i also know that riches do not always bring happiness and often can cause more pain than pleasure.  i also think that many of us in america forget how truly rich we already are just in our regular lives.

compared to 98% of the world, i am very rich. i have money in a jar on my dresser, i have enough change in the compartment in my car to buy a coke and some fries, if not an entire meal at a drive through. i have a savings account, and a retirement account, thanks to the episcopal church, even though i don't really believe in retirement. i own my house ( a small house with one bath and an ancient kitchen) but in a good school district and in a nice neighborhood.  so i am very blessed financially.

sadly though, our culture says i should want more. i should want the bigger house, the better clothes, the kitchen remodeled, the next cool new thing that will make me look good, etc, etc, etc.

while today i know what it is like to have much, there was a time when i had very little. 
i know what it is like to have your electricity cut off and not have the money to pay the bill. i know the shame and pain of not having the money to pay the rent. it's not fun to feel poor and to experience that "not enough" "we'll never have " or "how will we make it?" feelings. lack of income, lack of money is very scary and very shaming, especially in a wealthy culture such as ours. so i understand the desire to be rich in money and things. but what i really want is to be content with where i am and what i have.  i really want to be rich in jesus

sadly, i/we don't get a lot of encouragement in our culture or in our churches to be content with what we have.

we also don't get a lot encouragement to share what we do have with those in need.

we don't hear a lot of pastors saying "why not use that money you were going to spend on a new car, and buy a car for a single mom without transportation?" OR

"why not choose to live in a smaller house and use the money you'll  save to help house folks who are homeless or help someone who needs home improvements or help someone pay their rent. "

OR "why not buy an extra box of cereal or jar of peanut butter for the foodbank next time you shop?"

hum....

does my god want me to be rich?

yes...rich in his spirit of generousity
rich in love for others
rich in peace, patience, joy
rich in mercy and forgiveness
rich with a heart of thanksgiving for all his gifts and blessings....
rich in an awareness of the needs around me and a compassion to do something in response.

and if you're looking for creative ways to share the wealth and be rich in generosity....
check out livinggenerously.com it's a great website from the folks at 24/7prayer . make sure you read the story "under the wing." it puts a new spark into the beauty of free-range chickens!

i was forever changed on a mission trip to jamica back in high school
when i saw folks who really had nothing materially, but they had a faith in jesus like i'd never imagined!

let's be christians like that...rich in faith in jesus not just  stuff!

Comments

[Seven Star Hand]

Hi Lilly,

Here's another unequivical take on the topics of money and wealth and why they are sources of harm to all life everywhere.

RE: "Does God want you to be rich?"
How about, does the Creator want some people to suffer and starve while some wallow in luxury and ignore the plight of others? What about "serving mammon" (money and materialism) instead of truth, justice, and your fellow souls? How about the rich man and the eye of a needle? Talking about the blind leading the blind...

To take this a step further, what would the Creator say about forming organizations (corporations, religions, governments, political parties, etc.) that accumulate vast wealth and resources while living people and other lifeforms suffer as the direct result? What does this say about the complete hypocrisy of all religions?

Here's some pivotal knowledge (wisdom) so people can stop focusing on symptoms and obfuscatory details and home in like a laser on the root causes of and solutions to humanity's seemingly never-ending struggles.

Money is the lifeblood of the powerful and the chains and key to human enslavement

There is a radical and highly effective solution to all of our economic problems that will dramatically simplify, streamline, and revitalize human civilization. It will eliminate all poverty, debt, and the vast majority of crime, material inequality, deception, and injustice. It will also eliminate the underlying causes of most conflicts, while preventing evil scoundrels and their cabals from deceiving, deluding, and bedeviling humanity, ever again. It will likewise eliminate the primary barriers to solving global warming, pollution, and the many evils that result from corporate greed and their control of natural and societal resources. That solution is to simply eliminate money from the human equation, thereby replacing the current system of greed, exploitation, and institutionalized coercion with freewill cooperation, just laws based on verifiable wisdom, and societal goals targeted at benefiting all, not just a self-chosen and abominably greedy few.

We can now thank millennia of political, monetary, and religious leaders for proving, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that top-down, hierarchical governance is absolute folly and foolishness. Even representative democracy, that great promise of the past, was easily and readily subverted to enslave us all, thanks to money and those that secretly control and deceptively manipulate all currencies and economies. Is there any doubt anymore that entrusting politics and money to solve humanity's problems is delusion of the highest order? Is there any doubt that permitting political and corporate leaders to control the lives of billions has resulted in great evil?

Here's a real hot potato! Eat it up, digest it, and then feed it's bones to the hungry...

Most people have no idea that the common-denominator math of all the world's currencies forms an endless loop that generates debt faster than we can ever generate the value to pay for it. This obscured and purposeful math-logic trap at the center of all banking, currencies, and economies is the root cause of poverty. Those who rule this world through fear and deception strive constantly to hide this fact, while pretending to seek solutions to poverty and human struggle. Any who would scoff at this analysis have simply failed to do the math, even though it is based on a simple common-denominator ratio.

Here is Wisdom

Doctrine of Two Spirits...

Peace...

[Delshon Chestnut]

I agree with you on this topic, the christian life is not all about getting wealth. It is really about living your life to the full. John 10:10 . Does that pertain to material possessions I would say yes. But more importantly it pertains to living your life to the full as you live your life for God.

[Kathryn]

Hi Lily
Great post (and good to have you back from your blog holiday)...Here's another reason for you to relocate www.generous.org.uk which developed at our favourite festival, GB....and is intent on easing people into a more generous, less acquisitive lifestyle by a series of small steps, 2 per month. After 2 years, we're quite encouraged by the way things are changing in the curate's house, though there's so much much more we could do.
I blogged about it myself last weekend, as we were celebrating Harvest Festival.

[natala]

thanks for this post.. i've been in places where it is all about material wealth... it's just so sad.

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