An Introduction to the Problem
I can't remember a time when I didn't feel guilty about spending money. Perhaps it was the dinner-time comments: “Eat it up, think of the starving children in Africa.” Perhaps it was the World Vision ads on TV. Whatever it was, the little voice that tells me “you don't need this” whenever I get out my wallet is still a powerful one.
You'd think that living in a rich country would be the easiest thing in the world; maybe for those who worship themselves or their stomachs as god, it is. But for Christians, living amongst wealth and living with wealth is not at all easy. It goes without saying that our western cultures worship material things. We try to get good marks at school so that we can get into the right university and the degree that will get us the best-paying job. Sorry, I've left out one important qualifier: the job that you are after also has to make you happy.
Well, the Israelites had a lot of trouble with the other gods around them. The Old Testament is a record of Israel's constant abandonment of the true God for the sake of joining the other nations in worshipping false gods. It seems absurd—how could Israel be tempted to worship stupid idols made of wood and stone when they had known the one true God and seen the miraculous things that He had done for them? And yet we do the same thing. We have known the one true God and yet are constantly drawn away by the god who is worshipped in our own country, by the people next door, by our national leaders. Israel followed the gods of other nations; perhaps for us it is harder still: we are tempted to serve the gods of our own nation.
In my experience and in the experience of my friends, the major Pentecostal churches have given in. They now serve the god of money and financial success. While they once couldn't stop talking about the Spirit, it is now unlikely that you will hear a sermon that isn't about money. The Briefing didn't even have to offer a criticism of Brian Houston's book, You Need More Money; just quoting the following passage was enough:
It is time to relax and become comfortable around money. You need to stretch yourself and position yourself right out of your comfort zone.
For example, it may involve a little exercise like putting on your best clothes and ordering coffee in a fancy restaurant or hotel lobby. Even though you could make the coffee for half the price at home, the total experience may enlarge your thinking. You may even feel better about yourself and your life.
I challenge you to do something that will break any poverty thinking and guilt that has a hold on you. It may only take one cup of coffee, but it's a step in the right direction of making you feel more comfortable about money.
from You Need More Money (Discovering God's Amazing Financial Plan for Your Life) by Brian Houston, pastor of Hills Christian Life Centre. Quoted in The Briefing, Issue #253, p4.
It's hard enough when our culture deceives us, but what hope is there for this church, the largest in New South Wales, when their own leader is deceiving them.
No, living in a rich country is not easy. The temptations, the guilt, not knowing how much and on what to spend, how much to give and how much to save, how to help the poor countries: the holy path is not easy to discern.
Solution #1: Go and live in the poorest country you can find.
This sounds like a likely cure to my problem of guilt concerning the money I spend. But on a larger scale it doesn't make sense. To justify the existence of the Paint program on my PC, I will use the following diagrams to explain:
Figure 1.
In both diagrams, the squares represent rich countries and the circle represents a poor country. The crosses represent Christians who have been born in those countries. Now if our reaction to wealth should be to move to the poorest possible conditions we should end up with the situation represented by this diagram:
Figure 2.
You can see that all the Christians, having realised the crushing temptations of wealth have moved to the poorest country in order to live holy lives, unspotted by the world. Of course, the unspiritual Christians are still living in a rich country in the top right.
But this doesn't make sense. Surely God's intention is not to leave most of the countries in the world without Christians? How then will the rich hear and obey the gospel? No, the rich Christians must stay so that their rich neighbours may be saved.
Solution #2: Learn how to live in the rich country
If God doesn't intend us all to leave, he must expect us to live in our rich country and live righteously. Of course, it is right that many of us should leave to preach the gospel overseas—this issue is for those of us who stay.
This is an almost entirely practical issue. A number of special guests, along with Karen and myself, will be giving different perspectives on how Christians should be using their wealth.
Bear in mind that if you can read this, you are rich. You have a computer, you have an internet connection, you can read. You need to know how to use your wealth. Please consider with us the nature of our creator and the purpose of your possessions.
Ben has many Pentecostal friends who he loves dearly. To be silent about the deceit of the prosperity doctrine, however, would be negligent and uncaring.
Comments
Simply wonderful. Have you heard of the documentary on tv a few months back, called “Prosperity Preaching”?
I wonder if these people know what they are listening to?
Junk Waffle on 11 October, 2004 1:50 AM