Money – the Christian Unknown

Today I was reviewing some old notes and came across the question "Who's responsible for my money?" tucked away and I was inspired to address this question for Christians in today's post.You are! You are responsible for what God has given to you, and how you spend it, manage it and take responsibility for it matters. The church is not your scapegoat and should not be where you give the majority of your money, yet most Christians do exactly this claiming "It's what God wants." Right? Wrong. Today we will explore this topic of money and who is ultimately responsible for it to God."For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matt 18:21The Problem today.Have you ever gone into a church nowadays and been overwhelmed by all the money on display? Big-screen TVs everywhere, coffee shops, bookstores, gyms all inside the church. You have pastors driving Mercedes and BMW's and a staff of 40+ people doing who knows what and you go to the service and you feel like you are watching a Broadway production with lights and sound and a full band and choir and on and on it goes. Have you been to one of these churches? Do you know what I am talking about? I too often look around these churches and don't see God and holiness and righteousness, I see the world, greed, and idolatry paraded as Godly truth and blessing. As men and women of God, we are responsible for the money God has given us and where we choose to spend that money is important. Are you taking personal responsibility with what God has given you and where God's money goes or are you giving your personal responsibility over to the church and letting them decide where God's money goes? Which do you think God desires from us? Do you think on the day of judgment God will be glad that you gave to your church even though your mother was unable to afford groceries? Will God be pleased with us that we no longer sought Him for guidance on where to sow into His kingdom but instead just blindly gave our portion to the church thinking this was the right thing? Let us not be so foolish that we fall into the trap of laziness and of putting something between ourselves and God, namely the Church. We, you and I, are the Church God loves and what He cares about, not the buildings and all the stuff. Let's stop wasting God's resources given to us on things that don't matter and start being responsible with what God has given to each and every one of us.Why does the church need to be a production? Is God not capable of drawing to Him the ones He wills? Why do we spend money and build buildings and spend extravagantly on things? Having churches with massive budgets and staff all to operate these massive complexes and large installations, when really all God says is "Where two or three of you gather together in my name I am with them". We are spending millions if not billions in churches every year on buildings and the operations of these facilities, yet God is not in a building. God calls us, the body of Christian believers, His church, so why do we take in all this provision from Gods people and spend it on things like buildings, and planes, and other miscellaneous, unnecessary stuff and yet such a very small portion goes to helping Gods actual church, His people? To take in the volume of resources that churches in America take in and to be so blessed with abundance, we should have no problem with the poor or the hungry within our church and community. We should have no church financially struggling that is in fellowship with us because God has already given to us and provided for us such abundance. Yet we waste resources on unnecessary extravagances, not even for the body, but for an elect few. And those few have turned the gospel into a way for gaining wealth, which should never be done. Those few excuse their excess by saying it is God's blessing on their lives and then teach others to go after the same things their hearts long for, money. They are reproducing themselves within the body of believers and are like a cancer spreading, needing to be removed before more of the body is damaged. It is invasive teaching and appeals to many because it speaks to our flesh and fills us with hope of treasure and blessing and ease of life in this world....what foolishness!"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 (NIV)This is what my bible says and I can guarantee you that he was not talking about excellent buildings or structures, Paul is talking about the character of a person and godliness and holiness and keeping our minds unencumbered with worldly, fleshly, anxious, covetous thoughts. Paul is saying focus on what good there is out there and in people and think on those things, not all that's wrong and the garbage that can so easily consume us. And money is definitely one of those things that so easily entangles us. In Jesus's parable of the sower in Matthew 13 Jesus talks about 4 different types of seed being sown and one specifically speaks to a lot of Christians, leaders, and laymen, in verse 22 "The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful." Paul in 1st Timothy writes "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." And in James 2:2-4 we read "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man “You must stand,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" How many of us have allowed ourselves to discriminate among our brethren and have allowed evil thoughts to permeate our minds? James clearly says that we must not show favoritism and if we do we are sinning. Therefore let us think rightly about such things as money and wealth, and about preachers and teachers who continue to proclaim deceptive, worldly based, ungodly truths."I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case, you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people." 1st Corinthians 5:9-11I may not go so far as to call such men greedy and swindlers but I would definitely be wary of what they are trying to accomplish, whether it truly is for the kingdom of God or for the kingdom of themselves. The arrogance and pride associated with such out of proportion teaching is almost unbelievable. To think they are so important and so needed and special....it is a very selfish and very self-focused teaching that propagates, not righteousness, holiness, or honoring of God but worldliness, greed, and covetousness. We have gotten so used to being swindled and led astray that when we hear the truth, we now rise up to defend the lies and the greed. We, as Christians, must change! We can no longer afford to continue along the path we are moving along, we must say enough! Declaring "I desire God above all else" and then turn to God, repent and live a life in accordance to that repentance, seeking no longer the wealth of this world but instead storing up for yourself "treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy."Let us prioritize in our lives that which God prioritizes, not being distracted by the world, it's ways, and how it is doing things, but let us instead concern ourselves only with that which concerns God. Let us concern ourselves with His chosen people, that they walk uprightly before Him, and the poor, the orphans, the widows and those that have not yet acknowledged Jesus as Lord of their life. God does not dwell in buildings, but in the hearts of each and every one of us, that calls upon His name. God has no need for a building for "the heavens are His throne room and the earth His footstool" who will build for God anything He needs. Let us stop wasting our energy, our time and our resources on worldly things and instead focus on prioritizing our time, energy and resources on helping others, giving to those in need around us, taking care of our family, immediate and extended, supporting those that are truly doing the work of God and being a blessing with what we have. The church is not accountable for your finances before God, you are! The church is accountable to God for what it has been given but you are accountable for what you give, so be wise. Give to the kingdom of God and be generous but do not continue in a rut or give out of compulsion, sowing where you will not reap any fruit for the kingdom. You and you alone are responsible before God with what He has given to you, do not take that lightly and do not give your seed away lightly. Just as a farmer tills and nurtures the ground before he sows, so you too should be aware of the soil you are sowing into. If there is need all around you yet you choose to ignore it because you have to give to the church instead, you are not honoring God. If your mother or cousin or neighbor is struggling and could use help and yet you do nothing but give to the church, your religion is worthless. Do not be unwise but wise, read God's Word, read His holy scripture, see God's heart and discern for yourself what is right and what is true and what is honoring to God. God's Word is powerful and is able to reveal to you the heart of our Father in Heaven. Seek God, seek to honor the King of Kings, fear God and walk in such a way before Him so as to never have to be afraid of His righteous judgment on your life.When we are focused on building structures and teams and large organizations and chase after the bigger, nicer things along with more and more stuff, who do we think we are following after, God or the world? I can't help but think that it is the world right? Those things sound nothing like what God would be interested in even though we may say that it is to the glory of God and for His people that we may have a place to worship but...is it really? Is it really what you feel in your heart what God desires from us and for His people? To be spending the majority of resources taken in on salaries, structures, and stuff? Why are we so convinced this is what we need and how we have to do things? Just because this is the way its been done does not mean we need to continue doing it this way, right? "Well hey, if the ship ain't broken don't fix it" right? Well, I have news for you, your ship is broken and God does have a better way for us. If we choose to follow it or choose to remain as we are, that is up to each and every one of us to decide, but each one of us can change and take a stand and do what is honoring to God, with our time, our energy, and our resources. We do not have to be bound, enslaved and stuck in a broken system, you can break free, you can choose a different path. You may feel trapped and may not have thought about where else you would like to go or see but you must be free to start. It is better by far to free oneself from what they have been trapped in than to stay trapped or stuck, Jesus came to set us free and he who is found In Jesus is free indeed. If you want to go anywhere you must be free from the trap that has held you, free of this world, its temptations, desires, and its ways, including the church if it has become a hindrance to you or has become a social club for you and has stopped producing spiritual intimacy with God, flee! Find a place where you are hungry for the things of God in your life once more, where you can once again experience and walk in the joy of the Lord and see His power at work in your life. Bondage, manipulation, and captivity may have been the truth you have lived with for years but it no longer has to be your truth, but you must choose who you will follow after and what you will do? Will you stand in faith and say "No more" of this wasting of God's talents and resources He has so abundantly poured out upon us, His holy people? Or will you respond with fear saying "I can't and I won't" because it is new, it is scary, it is unknown and it is uncomfortable? How will you respond to God and His truth now revealed to you and the freedom He is calling all Christian believers to walk in?Let us come together as a family of believers, a true body of Christ, seeking understanding, depth of love, and unity while spurring each other on in the things of Christ and forsaking the sins and temptations of this world, even when the source has become the church.