In winding up this book it is proper
that I comment on prosperity. Some may think that I am against prosperity but
that is not entirely correct. Whilst I am not against prosperity I
categorically state that I am completely against being hypnotised with the
attainment of wealth. The Lord said that we must not be worried about our needs
and wants. Being apprehensive does not in any way solve any of our shortcomings
or satisfy our needs. Obsession about wealth usually arises from being anxious
about needs and wants. Actually the Lord said that worry has never and will
never improve any person’s stature.
Modern day prosperity Christians
always hunt wealth such that even their prayers are perpetual pleas for wealth.
They desire to be the most opulent persons in their locality and wish to parade
their extravagance to all and sundry as evidence of their faith. This desire
creates within them an unending hankering for money which the Bible says is the
root of all evil. This craving for money may lead to compromised ethics and
morals to the extent that the source of money may be of no importance as long
as the money gets in to their pockets.
In contrast to the above the Lord in
Matthew 6:33 said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you.” Instead of seeking wealth the Lord
advises us to seek his kingdom and righteousness first. Our greatest desire
must be to live righteous lives in the obedience of God. When we live
righteously God will meet our needs without us having to worry about it.
This is where the Prosperity gospel
differs greatly with God’s principle of prosperity. The Prosperity gospel says
desire wealth, claim wealth, get wealth and be very rich. God’s principle says
live a righteous life and God will meet all your needs and wants. All that you
neglect by seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness will be added to you. The
rich young ruler was told to sell all his wealth, distribute it to the needy
and follow Christ. To the young man this was impossible because he had a lot of
wealth. To him parting with his wealth was tantamount to becoming extinct. It
was his wealth which was a mark of distinction between him and the rest of
society. Without his wealth he would be reduced to an ordinary pauper in his
community hence he refused to follow the master.
It is clear that seeking God and his
righteousness demands living for God and not for self. The anointed Messiah
once said that if you save your life you will lose it but if you lose your life
for the sake of Christ you will gain it. The Bible also says that those for
whom Christ died must now live for him. Living for Christ means that the
desires, wishes and will of Christ takes precedence over our own desires,
wishes and will. It means that we will seek his growth at the expense of our
own demise. He will become great through our becoming insignificant. John 3:31.
What belongs to us becomes his own. In short it means that he will live his own
life in and through us hence his righteousness must of a necessity express
itself through our own lives. In view of that we will live righteous and
upright lives and in turn he will add his goodies to us.
Deuteronomy 8:18 clearly states who
gives wealth and why. The LORD our God gives us power to get wealth so that he
may establish his covenant which he swore to our fathers, as it is this day. He
does not give us prosperity to just make us big but to establish his covenant
with us. It is necessary to understand that covenant first otherwise we will
lose it just like the rich young ruler did. God gives us the capacity or
ability to gather wealth so that when we have gotten the wealth we then fulfil
the fundamentals of his covenant with us. You see it is for his own purposes
and not ours hence his kingdom is greater than our desire.
The covenant he makes reference to was
first entered between him and his servant and friend Abraham. In entering the
covenant with Abraham he said that he would in blessings bless Abraham so that
he would become a blessing to all the families of the word. He was not blessing
Abraham so that Abraham would selfishly feel blessed but God wanted to bless
the whole word through Abraham. God’s desire is that we become a blessing to
our communities. He gives us wealth or the power to get wealth so that through
that wealth we will bless our communities. That is exactly what he wanted the
rich young ruler to do when he told him to sell all he had, distribute the
proceeds to the poor and live for Christ.
In the 9th chapter of 2nd
Corinthians we are told that when we give, the Lord will in turn give us much
more. Many do not read some of the verses within the context of the chapter. As
a result they give for the sole reason of receiving back yet the chapter
explains why God keeps on giving us. In the first verses of that chapter Paul
praises the Corinthian for their zeal in giving towards meeting the needs of
the saints. In verse 7 he reminds them that they must give willingly and not
out of compulsion. One must make his own independent decision to give and not
coerced to do so because God loves a cheerful giver. In verse 8 he then says
that after God has given us back he will ensure that that we have all
sufficiency and much more to do further good works. That means that if I give
two people God will meet my needs and also give me some more resources so that
I will be able to give more than the initial 2 people. The purpose of that
return is to ensure that I am able to continue in good works by giving many
more people thereby becoming a blessing to my fellow men. By becoming a
blessing to others we will be establishing God’s covenant which he swore with
our predecessors.
This short summary on prosperity is
what I was trying to express in the chapter which precedes this one. God
blesses us so that we may bless others. If he makes us rich, it is to enable
others to become rich through our generosity. We must not exploit others but we
must bless others.
3 John 1: 2-4’s summary is that our
material prosperity must mirror what will be happening in the inner man. He
says we must prosper and be in health in proportion to the prosperity of our
souls. Prosperity must begin in the spirit and only express itself in the
physical later. When we seek God’s
righteousness the human spirit will prosper hence our aim must not be
prosperity but the righteousness of God.
Poverty is not a measure of godliness
and will never be a sign of holiness. Poverty is not from God but is from satan
and that is the reason why God wants us to fight it. God will certainly bless
us so that with the abundance of that blessing we may fight poverty by meeting
the needs of the poor or provide them with the capital and means to fight their
insufficiency.
Through Moses the Lord said, “For the
LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many
nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but
they shall not reign over thee. If there
be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy
land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor
shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto
him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he
wanteth. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when
thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless
thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the
poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine
hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Deut 15:6 -11.
In this age there will never be a time
when the poor will cease to be in the land hence I agree with the prosperity
gospellers that poverty is a curse. Since it is a curse we must therefore fight
it by stretching our hand to eradicate the poverty from our brothers and
sisters. For this reason Christ became poor for our sakes as it is written in
2Corithians 8:9 that “ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty
might be rich.” If we became rich through his poverty then with his riches we
must eradicate poverty from our fellow men. Since we freely received we must
freely give. This also is bearing each other’s burdens
One important thing we must realise is
that wealth is only an instrument through which we may use to better our lives
and of those who surround us or depend on us. Wealth must never be worshipped hence
Paul said to Timothy, “charge them that are rich in this world, that they be
not highminded, nor trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God.” Many a time people worship God’s instrument
instead of God who ordained the instrument. In 2nd Kings chapter 18
king Hezekiah did the right thing of removing God’s instrument after realising
that people were now worshiping God’s instrument instead of worshipping the God
who anointed the instrument. In the wilderness the Israelites were attacked by fiery
serpents whilst they were coming from Egypt during the Exodus. Moses made a brazen
serpent in obedience to God,s instruction and anyone who looked at the brazen
serpent after being bitten by the poisonous snakes was healed instantly. During
the days of the kings of Judah, the Israelites were worshipping that bronze
serpent and that is the brazen serpent king Hezekiah destroyed because it was
now receiving God’s glory as if that glory was its own.. Read 2 Kings 18:1-7. The
same is happening with the modern man these days. Some of us are busy glorifying
wealth instead of the God who gave it. Therefore since prosperity is merely
God’s instrument for our betterment, worship and trust must be reserved to God
alone.
Finally prosperity must not be limited
to money but must enable us to walk in truth and that is why John wrote, “For I
rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in
thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear
that my children walk in truth.’ 3 John 1: 2-4. We can walk in truth when we
are built and established in the truth and that is why our material prosperity
must mirror our spiritual prosperity. Biblical prosperity therefore goes beyond
wealth as it is anchored in walking in the truth. The Lord said he is the Way, the
Truth and the Life and therefore walking in truth refers to walking in the
manner the Lord desires or it means living for Christ. The real purpose for
prosperity is therefore to glorify Christ by the manner we utilise that
prosperity. Once again I reiterate that poverty is not godly and will never be
a sign of godliness in as much the same way that riches are not a mark of
conscientiousness..
God bless you all.
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