IS A WEALTHY CHURCH A HEALTHY CHURCH?.

INTRODUCTION

Straight from the outset lets get one thing clear, I AM NOT against rich Christians, I DO NOT believe Christians should sell all they have and give to the poor (Mark 10:21) and I AM NOT against one church being richer than another. I DO believe in the following listed verses; Matthew 6:24; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:10; Philippians 4:11-13; Matthew 6:33

24 No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

5 Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you”.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

11. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little.
12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.
13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Of these things I am sure above all else when talking about contentment, riches or materialism in the Church or Christian life. If some one wanted to give me a million pound, would I turn it down? of course not. If someone tried to take all I had would I put up a fight? Of course I would. The Bible teaches us many things, one of those isn’t stupidity.

We should not walk around in a super spiritual day dream accepting everything as the will of God, sometimes it’s not God and sometimes it’s not Satan either it’s just life and we have to deal with it the best way we can. Some times we win and some times we lose, and that’s the beauty of being a Christian it’s not a guarantee to a perfect life, just an interesting and varied one.

BUYING PEOPLE’S SALVATION

Satan has many tricks up his sleeve and one has always been ‘materialism’, ever since we were kicked out of Eden man has had it hard. If we are honest with ourselves we would all like an easy life, stress free, worry free and debt free, and Satan knows this.

My favourite story in the Bible is the one found in Matthew 19: 17-26

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

It’s my favourite story because it shows Jesus didn’t compromise even when confronted by what most would consider the perfect follower. But Jesus saw deeper, he saw a problem, a problem which the young man couldn’t overcome, and obviously and more importantly DIDN’T want to overcome. He was willing to give up unimaginable blessings and a life possibly greater than that of any of the disciples for some ‘transitory carbon based products’, material possessions, comfort for a small amount of time compared with eternity.

Yes, yes it’s all very well preaching contentment when you ‘have’ try doing it when you haven’t. A statement I would heartily agree with but one which shows you have missed the point entirely, Jesus saw beyond the possessions, or lack of possessions to the DESIRE of the man and saw that God was not first, the LOVE OF MONEY was paramount in his life. Even today we look on the poor as second class, as non-achievers, as though they have a problem or even illness. Wealth doesn’t always mean better, money is not an answer to everything. Owning a top of the range mobile phone or car is not comparable to having contentment in your life.

We talk about getting rid of poverty in the world by throwing millions of pounds at a country, we assume everyone wants to be like the west with material goods and bank balances, when what they really want is food and water. And dare I be controversial in this day and age and say what they first need is Christ.

Jesus Himself said in Mark 14:7-9

7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer.
8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.
9 I assure you, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be talked about in her memory.”

What is this!! Jesus putting Himself before the poor, how could He. Well sometimes there is a bigger picture, sometimes your spiritual well being is more important than your financial well being, your Soul is more important than your bank balance.

What is the point I am trying to make?

I am not saying don’t do anything, let me make that perfectly clear, I can hear minds going in over-drive already, what I am saying is money is not a ‘cure all’ medicine. Remember Acts 3:6-7

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

Peter saw past what the man wanted to what he needed, as Jesus saw past what the poor wanted to what they needed, His eventual death and resurrection.

WHAT HAS THIS TO DO WITH THE CHURCH TODAY

Where am I going with this, what has all this got to do with the modern church?

We are fast becoming a church which believes like the unsaved that money is a cure all drug and have woven it into the fabric of Christianity to the point that people preach, ‘if you are not a financially rich Christian then you are lacking in your spiritual life’. People are being brought into Christianity with the promise of financial reward and not repentance, and when they don’t get it, guess what, they return to the world even more disillusioned with God and vowing never to return. This is just one of the increasing attacks Satan has devised against Christians today.

People have this weird idea that because a Church is big with thousands in the congregation that it must be due to the hand of God, and that Satan couldn’t set foot in a church like that. Well I hate to say it but you don’t know much about Satan if you think a crucifix or Bible will scare him off. He’s not some movie vampire who cowers in a corner at the sight of garlic, he’s out there preaching with the best of them, he’s probably set up more churches than Billy Graham and 90% of what they preach is probably true but the other 10% is pure lies which will lead everyone that listens to a Godless grave. The best way to hide a lie is to cover it in truth. Most rat poison is 99% good and 1% bad, you have to get some one to swallow it before you can drive home the poison.

Remember Jesus doesn’t compromise just because you are ‘almost’ there. Satan isn’t stupid, he isn’t out of the game just waiting to be destroyed, he is a powerful and active Angel with all the powers and intelligence he was created with and an army of followers dying to do his will, in a world he has power over. Remember Luke 4:5-8;

5 Then the Devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 The Devil told him, “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them—because they are mine to give to anyone I please.
7 I will give it all to you if you will bow down and worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.”

Did Jesus contradict Him, no, because Satan has what he claims. It was given to him when Adam sinned.

If you are in a Church that promotes prosperity over contentment, reward over repentance then there is something seriously wrong with that Church. It may have thousands attending, it may be taking more in collections in a week than you make in a year, but that doesn’t mean God is backing it.

Why would a Church want millions in the bank, yes it could do marvellous things with the money, great, then do it. A Church isn’t a savings bank, remember the parable of the Talents. What God gives is to be USED not buried and saved for a rainy day. God blesses congregations and Churches for a reason, generally it’s not so you can build a bigger church to get more people in and so more money. That s not what it’s all about?

When a church gets to the point that the Pastor can no longer serve an individual then the church needs to divide into smaller groups or out-reaches into the community. People in the congregation should be nurtured and taught, new Pastors raised to take leadership in these out-reaches. Evangelists are great and we need them but anything they do is ruined when there aren’t the churches to accommodate the saved and hungry. As a congregational member you have to watch you don’t give your leader an ego which will make him fall. Many Pastors and Leaders have got too big for their boots; have turned from the presence of God because the riches of popularity and fame which have clouded their judgement.

CONCLUSION

No, a wealthy church is not by default a healthy church. Apart from basic common sense amount there should be no reason why a Church should hoard money in the way some are doing today, leaders do not NEED to live in million pound houses with 3 or 4 cars and if they don’t see a problem with that, then they should seriously look at what image they are portraying to the unsaved and to that matter, the flock they’ve been put in charge of.

God isn’t in the lottery business, He doesn’t sit in heaven dishing prosperity out to the lucky few. Prosperity teaching is wrong, it has ruined many, many lives and souls. Contentment is our starting point, once you have that mastered then what ever comes along you will act wisely and sensibly and be able to stave off the attacks of Satan as he pushes his materialistic message to the masses.