That was a sincere question a friend emailed me after reading my post yesterday? I posted about the Chinese perception that “Only Christians have a continuous creative spirit”. There’s a growing belief in China that a Christian foundation is vital to creativity, innovation, and in turn economic growth.
So does God make us rich…and throw in heaven to boot? The Old Testament story of Job is interesting. Job was faithful through his trial of losing everything so God blessed him with twice as much. Twice as much? He was quite wealthy to begin with. Is that the reward of faithfulness? Why not a deep sense of Godliness with contentment (which is great gain)…eliminating any need for new or additional riches?
Yet at the same time Proverbs warns about striving for riches. The New Testament warns of the dangers of riches and how hard it will be for a rich man to enter heaven.
Those are all valuable insights of course, but not the intended point of my post. It’s about the impact of a
Christian foundation on a culture’s ability to “multiply their talents” and care for themselves. Recently I was in India where I observed field after field of people cutting wheat by hand. Yes, shocking wheat just as they did in the Bible times. India is a 4000 year old culture with 1.2 billion people and immense talent. For example, they built the Taj Mahal way back in the 1600’s. It’s one of the seven wonders of the world and stands without a crack today…amazing! Yet, 400 years later they still have 10 year old kids as well as 80 year old women shocking wheat by hand. Mile after mile of it. Yet, we developed machines to harvest our wheat 60 years ago.
India had the intellect and talent to build the Taj Mahal long before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock! Yet somehow, in these last 400 years we were able to settle the country and develop technology way beyond anything the 4000 year old Indian culture could dream of.
As a result, India does not enjoy the fruit of our technology. It’s evident everywhere. They are not able to take care of their poor and disadvantaged. There health care is poor. There are beggars everywhere. The mentally and physically handicapped are simply on the streets. It’s shocking to experience.
So this Christian foundation does matter to the rich, middle class, and the poor. A powerful message that seems to have been lost in our dialogs and debates here in the states. All religions are not equal. It does matter.
Courageous words here, Ed. Sometimes it is difficult to look at the world the way it actually is and say “God blessed us because of this foundation.” And yet the Chinese economist appears right to me: even when a country/area of the world has passed it’s Christian peak (ie: Europe), it is the foundation that laid the economic wealth they still enjoy.
Now of course we need to think about the flip side: what happens when a nation, a people, turn from the Lord? I’d suggest that Europe again provides a good example: a slow, gradual decline?
Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Luke 6:38
Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.
If America keeps giving to aid and help others it will at least help keep the foundation from cracking and crumbling.
Christians have to keep asking WWJD.
There are example after example that shows that God does not have a problem with people being rich, He has a problem with money having the people.
It’s a heart issue. Whats the motive behind the money?
“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith ….”
I agree that it is a heart issue, but the natural course of things is like making wine. The yeast begins to digest sugars in the grape ‘mash’ … alcohol is produced as a byproduct of the digestion … eventually enough alcohol is produced that it kill off the yeast and fermentation stops. Then, if not sealed, bacteria begin to “eat” the alcohol and produce acetic acid as a byproduct - creating vinegar.
Certainly living a life of adherence to Christ’s teachings tends to greater creativity, productivity, and wealth (similar to the production of alcohol). Unfortunately, greater wealth often brings with it a diminishing desire to live a life of adherence to Christ’s teachings. (the fermentation is stopped due to its own overproduction) At that point, exposure to sin (the bacteria) begins to sour us.
“And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”
When John the Baptist teaches that, “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.”, do you think we get a sense of the church’s calling?
I agree.
That is why it’s a heart issue. Money just magnifies whats already in the heart. Money is deceitful, because a person can get to the point where they trust the amount of money they have instead of the One who gave them the ability to get the money. That is the deception. That is why Jesus said that it harder for a rich man to get in the kingdom than going through the eye of the needle. A lot of rich people trust the money. But Christians should not take that and use that as an excuse of not being rich. Most people do that are not rich still depend on there money or lack of it too make their decisions. So the money and the deceitfulnes of it is still leading them and guiding instead of God. They still made the money/Mammon their God.
Like John the Baptist said “if you have two coats give one to the someone who does not have one”. You need to have more than enough to give some away and bless someone. We as Christians need to go after and believe God for an abundance, so we can give in abundance. And not be afraid of the critics.
God always did things in abundance. Only Christians try to bring things down to the level of their own ability.
I wonder, though, if Christians who “go after” God for abundance (in the sense of wealth) shouldn’t be looking for the infinitely deeper abundance of spiritual and count the riches of this world as dung. Luke 16 really illustrates the depth to which Jesus was disgusted with men’s preoccupation with wealth. He defines “true riches” as something much deeper. In Mark 12, He praises a widow who gave of her poverty as having given much more than those who gave of their abundance. Clearly - if God blesses us with wealth - He desires us to be free from covetousness - and to be faithful in that trust. But over and over from the Gospels, to Timothy, to James, riches were viewed as a hindrance at a minimum.