It
is high time we in the body of Christ go from a "rights-centered"
gospel, which has its historical roots in the American fight for
independence and Jeffersonian preaching, to a "stewardship-centered"
gospel, in which we view our gifts, calling and resources as a
responsibility to serve and bless others, not something handed to us
because we have the "right" to it as a Christian.
Matthew 25 shows
the great balance in this because it talks both about the command to
properly invest our talents for an appreciation of assets that results
in multiplication, and then illustrates that the reason for the talents
is so that we can feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick,
visit the prisoners, and be hospitable to the strangers and aliens
(Matt. 25:14-46). This and other passages clearly show that the primary
purpose of wealth is a matter of stewardship to serve humanity, not a
matter of our "right" because we are Christians.
7. Wealth creation is the key to breaking the spirit of poverty.
Creating
more money has never been the main key to breaking poverty. According
to Genesis 1:27-28, the church must produce strong and stable marriages
and biblically trained children, which is the first key to replenishing
the earth, subduing our enemies and having dominion (great influence).
True
prosperity is never only about money. Wealth creation is merely one of
the by-products for people who walk in their assignment with integrity,
humility, focus and diligence, all of which should be modeled at home by
parents before a person reaches adulthood.
8. The only way to take a city is to buy it.
Although
amassing great wealth and real estate holdings is something that will
leverage great influence (for example, Robert Moses was the main
powerbroker of New York because of real estate and other assets), one
size does not fit all for every community and city. Something like this
is much easier to accomplish in poverty-stricken areas where the civil
government and community boards want to give or sell property to local
churches so the neighborhood can be redeemed. (Some churches purchase
whole blocks and open up numerous businesses in impoverished or needy
areas.) But in high-end areas something like this can take a church
multiple generations to accomplish.
For example, my local church in New York City sits on only a quarter-acre of land that is worth $4-5 million!
The easiest way for a local church to leverage great power, influence
and transform a community is by loving and serving their community and
city. When a local church has an army of paid and unpaid volunteers who
educate at-risk children, help young people excel in the arts, sports
and life skills, provide much-needed services for the poor, the
fatherless and aliens, and minister to community leaders and elected
officials, then God's favor rests on that church, which opens up more
doors and buildings than money could buy! Community and business leaders
will do whatever it takes to allow that church to have any facility and
resource they need to further bless their community.
This was the
primary method the early church used to spread the gospel. Instead of
purchasing buildings, they filled everyone else's buildings (except the
pagan temples) with loving, sacrificial Christians who risked their
lives to care for the diseased, nurse abandoned babies, and bury rotting
corpses left in the town garbage dumps. Truly, when the church goes
after those nobody wants, God will give them those everybody wants!
Taking a city does not just happen with a top-down approach of amassing
wealth and speaking to power; it also involves a bottom-up approach with
effective compassionate ministries.
9. It only takes faith to release prosperity.
Those
of us who "named and claimed" prosperity found out the hard way that we
not only have to speak faith and think positively, we also have to read
books on wealth creation, work hard, and receive proper coaching from
those who have already gone financially where we feel called to go. It
is not just about faith and it is not just about sowing money; it is
about working hard and learning how to get, how to manage what we get,
how to save, how to invest money where it appreciates and multiplies the
most, and how to disciple and empower others so they can also learn how
to produce wealth for the kingdom.
10. Prosperity only relates to our present.
Most
preaching today regarding prosperity only has an "I," "me," "my"
emphasis which is a one-generation approach. God revealed Himself not
only as the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac and Jacob (Ex.
3:6) because He has called us to plan for at least three generations in
everything we do. I pray that the days will come to an end when the
preaching is only on individualistic topics like "How you can write your
own ticket with God" or "How you can receive your miracle"! Those of us
maturing in the faith message and prosperity realize that God has
called us to corporately think in terms of our present and future the
same way He does (Ex. 20:5-6; 1 Chr. 16:15). We realize that God will
transfer the wealth of the wicked only to those righteous who leave an
inheritance for their grandchildren (Prov. 13:22).
After all, most
of the money today is in "old" money, not "new" money (with the
exception of Bill Gates and some others who have blazed the
technological trail in this present information age), which means that
wealth was accumulated over the course of multiple generations and kept
in families (think of the Rockefellers for example). This is one reason
why the Fifth Commandment (Eph. 6:3) tells us that if we honor our
father and mother, it will go well for us and we will live long on the
earth.
Those who only think in terms of their present life are no
better than economist John Maynard Keynes, who influenced the present
American economic strategy with debt financing. He and those like him
were not thinking of future generations but only about indulging their
lust for the temporal present. May God deliver the church from such a
mindset!
CHARISMA NEWS
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