God's Money (part One)

Do you have money? Then spend it for God's kingdom. Even if you're just paying the bills you should do so to the glory of God. While we're at it, let's use our brains, time and energy and whatever other resources we can muster in order to advance the kingdom of heaven.

Suppose I am a book publisher, and my objective is to utilize every last resource for God's kingdom. I wake up according to the life that God gives me for one more day. My breath, the sunlight and the bed I sleep in are all gifts and also provisions for seeking out Christ. I wear the clothes and eat the food that God gives me all for the purpose of honoring Him as I get this unwilling body out the door. I lock the door behind me, though all the stuff in my house is ultimately God's to protect. I get into the car with my books and then drive with whatever gas He has miraculously provided. I drive to the bookstore that God made available for a book signing so I can sell books, pass out pamphlets, and do whatever it takes to speak and manifest the kingdom of God to whomever happens to come within my parameter. All of these things and every other part of me are all at God's disposal.

Neither cars, nor money, nor books, nor pamphlets, nor websites, nor seminars, nor church buildings, nor houses, nor education are anything except if the Spirit of God endorses these things.

If the Spirit of God gives a man any direction at all, and this man sets out to obey, then I suspect that the Spirit will bless whatever effort that man puts forth, not out of respect for that man but out of respect for His own zeal to bring His kingdom to this fallen earth. And there can be no more effective man of God than he who sets out to diligently seek the Lord and obey Him in whatever capacity God might provide. This man will be successful because the Lord is pleased to encourage him, and bless his simple, trusting obedience. I didn't say that God will make it easy for that man, I only said that God will encourage him.

For encouragement's sake, consider the blessings that follow a pair of Christ-seeking newlyweds who have no money. They can't buy all the things they wanted at first, so they thankfully accept whatever people give them. This is a blessing because it's all the more obvious to them that the things they are given are, in fact, gifts. They will be more likely to thank God for something that was freely given rather than for something they seemed to earn on their own apart from Him.

They might lack certain things that others would consider essential, however chances are good that this kingdom-seeking couple will learn from Jesus Christ directly about the hidden benefits to doing without. For example, they own no television so they adapt by borrowing books. They might read one book a month out loud to each other, taking turns reading depending on who is less tired.

Their enthrallment with Christ prevents them from even noticing their lack of worldly distraction. Average, middle class passersby might wonder why this couple doesn't add a few more things to their schedule to speed up their life-pace. But Christ is teaching them to be content with Him as the main, interesting Element of their lives.

Maybe they can't spend their Friday nights vegging in front of a screen, so they sit out on their apartment porch and enjoy each other's company, chatting with each other or anyone else from their complex who might pass by. They have the rare opportunity to sit undistracted as they sip on whatever kind of liquid is at their disposal. They might talk about their current reading material or whatever it is that excites them about God. These two are forced to enjoy God's Presence and listen to Him in order to adapt to whatever they either have or don't have.

In the same way we who follow Christ have abundant motivation to adapt to whatever we are given, whether we seem to have less or more than others. If we have Christ then we already have everything anyway.

Do you desire to obey God and seek His kingdom in this world, O middle-class westerner? Then obedience is not as far off or elusive as you might think. Seek God's truth and His all-consuming rule in your own life. He will command you to repent from any misappropriated time, energy or money if needs be.

Money is not evil in itself, however I will not be mastered by it. I will not forget about God by either worrying about money or else by spending too much time trying to acquire it because it is not an end in itself.

Financial accumulation will never be our purpose for existing, though, incidentally, it can be a means if God sees fit to use it. In the same way, oxygen, food, houses, brain-power, hands and feet can all be useful in the kingdom of heaven if God is the One in charge of their allocation.

As for money, I sincerely doubt that God respects it as much as us, nor does He feel in any way compelled to use it, as if He was limited by it.

For every culture there is a corresponding set of excuses why it is difficult to obey Jesus Christ in that place. I have heard, for example, that it is too uncomfortable in the east while it is too comfortable in the west. Or, to cover yourself, you might even say that living as God intended wherever you are is impossible because of the particular sin that plagues your culture.

However, the people that know their God will not continually look inward at themselves or at their surroundings for the purpose of saying, "It is impossible." They will keep their eyes set on Christ, who embodies all the divine possibilities and all the "Amens" of God.

You might support your small mindedness by searching out other people who also have small minds, who would benefit from following your excuse-making example. You might feel a little better about yourself if you surrounded yourself with ready and willing doubters who will rally around your well-versed justifications. But all the excuses in the world will not nullify the greatness of God in Christ.

By being strong and courageous in whatever capacity God gives us, in whatever place God puts us, we will be useful to Him.

If wealth is the most readily available resource we have here, then let's seek the Lord's direction in using and investing it for His kingdom. In any case, we who follow Christ are called to esteem no worldly resource above the Spirit of Christ. He is the fullness and the power and the grace of God among us. God's Spirit, who is our primary Resource for living, will lead us in the proper allocation of this secondary resource, which is money.

That a man might give up his precious toys is only possible only so far as God Almighty breaks him down and compels him to relinquish these things.

As we mature in Christ so that He becomes increasingly everything to us, money will become increasingly negligible. As we get to know the Creator of the universe, this other detail will become obvious, that the whole universe is at His beck and call.

Has He given us oxygen to breathe today? Has He given us life up to this point? If He gives us these things, and especially if He has given us His only Son, then He will also give us material things as the need arises.

It is our calling as Christ-followers to recognize Him as the exclusive Source of every good thing. If the Lord permits, we will attain to an exceedingly Christ-saturated outlook, even to the point that we would delight to give away all our worldly wealth if only we might catch one more glimpse of Christ. To desire Christ instead of money is to trade in decaying wealth for a better, truly powerful kind of wealth.

This is an excerpt from To the Church of the West, Scattered Throughout the World. Find this book and similar articles at www.BooksByPatrick.com