(1) Christian Wealth Is A Way Of Life, Not A Stash Of Cash

Common Sense Commentary: Christian Wealth is a way of  life...not a stash of cash.
This is the first in a series of articles I will do on "Christian Wealth".

The Dead Sea is dead because it has no outlet.  It takes in water from the River Jordan, but it gives nothing out.  It sits there, shinning in the sun, contented, on vacation, full of wealth and ... dead. Tourists can swim in it, float on it or drown in it but they can't live in it.  Stay in it and you will die with it.

King Solomon, who was one of the wealthiest people in history, and knew what he was talking about,  said, "There is a sore evil which I have seen.... riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. Ecc.5:13.  The Hebrew word translated "kept" here is "shamar" and means, "preserved to be observed".  This word reflects excess wealth, unneeded, but kept as a status symbol, a point of pride or just to look at. When I was a boy, almost all women "preserved" fruit and vegetables in Kerr or Mason fruit jars, lined them up on shelves to enjoy looking at and to show their friends.  They did it out of necessity, to survive the coming winter months but  they got great satisfaction out of "observing their preserves".  Men had similar prideful accomplishments, like fields of perfectly straight, plowed rows, and hay put away in their barns.  They too did those things to survive.  Neither the government nor the neighbors had enough to bail them out if they didn't bother to put in crops and preserve the harvest in one way or another.
During the Great Depression of the 1930's, almost everybody farmed. They had to preserve or starve.  But there were a very few farmers who were rich with excess wealth like the one in Luke 12:16-20. "And He (Jesus) spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, this will I do, I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then, whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."  It is not a sin to be rich or to save for a rainy day or for your old age or other good causes.  The sin is, when the rich have the attitude of that farmer. "Soul, you are rich enough to spend the rest of your life resting, eating, drinking and being fat and happy". He had "laid up treasure for himself" but was "not rich toward God".  He loved his wealth more than he loved God.  "For the love of money is the root of all evil." I Tim.6:10.  It is "the love of money" that is "the root of all evil" not money itself.  It is the self-centered selfishness, while Christ's Church, good causes and people go without, all around you, that is wrong.  Good Stewardship doesn't just dish out money to any and every needy person or cause.  Good Stewardship studies, analyses and prays for God's direction in how to use the resources God has given that Steward. 

While pastoring, I must have had 10,000 requests for the Lord's money.  Ninety nine percent of the time, it was not a member of our church but someone who didn't even go to church.   My first response was usually to offer them a job cleaning, cutting grass or some such need around the church.  Very few, who were able, were willing to work, and of them, fewer still did a good job or even finished the job.  Often, after we had helped some transient person with cash, they would return time after time or call from some distant place to get more help.   "They were sick, broke down on the highway, their mother had died and they needed money to go to her funeral and on and on".  As a steward of the Lord's business, I would call the hospital or funeral home,  a church in that area, or the police department and check their stories.  Again, ninety nine percent of the time, they were lying about the emergency. Similarly, you, and nobody else, are responsible for the good stewardship of the things God has put into your possession, or under your responsibility.  Use it wisely. Luke 16:1-8.  If you conclude that I was too insensitive and uncaring, consider this.  The church I founded in Tallahassee, Florida,  also founded and paid for the first, area wide, Food Bank, the first Children's Home, and the first Rescue Mission in Leon County, Florida. They are still in operation and in their own large, separate facilities.  We couldn't have done those things if we, the church, had given God's money to satisfy every request ... which would have fed upon itself and would have drawn more and more such requests.  Everyone is a Steward but everyone is not a Good Steward. Lk.12:42, 1Cor.4:2, Titus 1:7, 1Pet.4:10.  RB

Next.... Christian Wealth: By Abraham Used, By Lot Abused