Finances: Part 3
Miscellaneous
There are many people around us which have evil intentions toward children. One finds out, many times, in later years or after a person dies that a close relative was abusing a child. This is often someone who you could not believe would commit such evil. Far too often it comes out that a trusted person in ministry is living a secret life of criminal immorality. It often comes out that a father, or uncle, or pastor is putting devils to shame by their perversion. It starts to seem that every person around you is an ax murderer or a child molester. It is unthinkable that a trusted person close to you is committing heinous crimes. This is why children are often not believed when they try to tell of evil things.
Because we are floating in an open cesspool of deceit and immorality, it is difficult to keep one thing in mind. That is, there are godly people around us. There are righteous people today. Maybe not many, but there are persons who would seek our good and our protection. Perhaps you have noticed someone with eyes on your child or on your property. Many have evil intent, but there are others who are watching out for you and what belongs to you. Perhaps some godly people have noticed other people eyeing your children. They are watching out for your safety, like guardian angles.
You may get uncomfortable when you become aware of a stranger watching you closely. Perhaps they notice you are losing your wallet. They may also be noticing others with evil intentions watching you. There really are godly people who will pick up a dropped wallet and return it to you with all your cash intact. There really are honest and godly people around us, people with a righteous heart who will look out for you. Then, there are also people who will do you or your children harm. You cannot discern which is which by just looking with the natural eyes.
It may seem as if there is no end to the long line of scammers who will cheat another person. There are liars and deceivers in the Church. There are ministers who are consumed by covetousness. They will go to any lengths to get money. It is shocking what a person will do under the control of demonic greed.
Therefore it can be real difficult to realize that there are people in the Church who have God-given insight in the area of finances. We need them desperately. There is a divine gift of knowing what to do in the practical area of money. God has gifted these people and then given them to the Church to help the greater Body.
One thing that will characterize these people is that they will generally be wealthy. In other words, their advice will work. They will not be able to give you advice and insight and then have it not work for their own personal financial life. So, all rich preachers are sent from God? Of course not, but among the many deceivers are genuine gifts from God to us, the Church. We need them desperately. Weeds and wheat will always be found growing up together.
Because God told some prophets and preachers to seemingly take what little a person may have had does not mean every preacher is supposed to take what poor people have. But some do. That is the difficulty. When is it God and when is it covetousness? Some make it a general, universal principle. God instructed a poor widow woman to provide for the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-16). Elijah told her that if she would give him the only mouthful of food she had, that abundant provision would be released. If she had not believed and obeyed, Elijah and her household would have starved to death.
Many preachers today ask widows to give them their last dollar. Just one problem. If it is God it will work. If it is not God, ruin is the result. It is a true general principle but it not a universal promise that all your money problems will go away. You cannot throw a dollar in the offering plate and then go out and violate every principle of sound financial wisdom and expect God to erase the consequences of your previous bad choices.
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My house adjoins a 370 acre corn and cotton field. The owner might think that it may not rain this year. If he plants a half acre he will receive a small harvest. I have never seen him do that. At planting season I see trucks bringing in seed and chemicals. I watch several large tractors and machines drive past my place and into the field. I have no idea how much is invested or “risked” in the planting process. At harvest time, however, I am amazed at the constant parade of semi-trucks going in and loaded ones going out of his field. The increase from the planting to the harvest is astounding.
The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. (2 Cor 9:6 CSB)
If he plants more, he receives more. That is almost too obvious to be mentioned. Why can we not see it when it involves other things?
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None of this is to be interpreted as me fishing for offerings. One day Jesus wanted to do something extraordinary in the life of a certain man.
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (Mark 10:21)
Jesus certainly had needs. He had a band of several people following Him. His group even had a treasurer. I can carry my own wallet. Jesus' operation was large enough to require financial people. When Jesus spoke to this rich man He could have told him to liquidate everything and lay it up in escrow for future needs. Jesus certainly could have told him to give to Jesus Christ, Inc. There were definitely needs that the band of disciples always had. Instead, Jesus instructs the rich man to sell everything, give it away from himself, and to give it in a direction away from Jesus also. He was told to give everything to the poor. No one could ever claim Jesus sought riches for Himself or for His ministry.
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When we say that we trust God, but will not trust Him with our finances, we are deceived. Proper stewardship of our finances is the least matter of our faithfulness.
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)
Jesus was teaching in Luke 16. He was using illustrations about money because everybody could relate, whether they had any money or not. In His teaching, Jesus calls our heart relationship to money the least thing. If we want to be Jesus' followers, we need to be faithful, disciplined, and obedient. The starting place with all of that is trusting God with our finances.
Apr. 25, 2024