Having recently written about goal-setting in the life of a Christian, I expressed how sad it is to watch a Christian, especially a young Christian, set his first and foremost goals that center around his net worth. In my last post, I discussed the impossibility of a wealthy person coming to salvation in Christ. Thankfully, some of them do come to Christ, but only because God is a miracle worker.
In this post, however, our attention is not upon the lost man who is wealthy, but rather the Christian who sets his eyes on the glamour and the glitter of this present world, desiring to become wealthy.
There is No Sin in a Christian Becoming Wealthy
I am an avid listener of Dave Ramsey, and I recommend him to Christians who desire to serve God with all of their being, including their money. Dave Ramsey spends a good deal of time emphasizing the fact that it is noble and good to make money. I agree. Dave uses the many scriptures in the Old and New Testaments that speak positively concerning making money. Rabbi Daniel Lapin, in his book Business Secrets from the Bible, stresses the same point – that it is a noble undertaking to make money. He, being a Jewish rabbi, uses the Old Testament scriptures exclusively to bring about this point. I agree with the assessment that making money is a noble and just cause.
Some indicate that making money, or at least making a substantial amount of it, is a sinful practice. This argument is counterproductive. To say it is acceptable to be lower or middle class, but it is sinful to be wealthy is absurd. Who employs lower and middle class people? The wealthy. When the wealthy become unsuccessful in their business endeavors, the lower and middle class people lose their jobs. Furthermore, do you really wish to participate in an economy where the only business owners, managers, and salespeople are those with no Christian values? Do you really want Christians to vacate those positions, leaving them open only to those who do not know Christ and have no Christian virtues whatsoever? In my view, this does not seem like a logical argument for a Christian to make.
New Testament Warnings against the Rich
While it is certain that the Bible speaks in a positive manner concerning wealth, an honest student of the Bible will readily admit that the same Bible gives many warnings to those who either are presently wealthy, or wish to become wealthy. Dave Ramsey, though I love his radio show and listen often, seldom (if ever) quotes a Bible verse that warns against being rich. Although there are many such verses in both testaments, I will quote and discuss only one. Let us look at the first part of I Timothy 6:9 –
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare…
Note that this verse is not speaking to rich people. Here, Paul is addressing “they that will be rich.” The word “will” in this verse indicates those who are exercising their will to become rich – they desire to be rich. They have goals of becoming wealthy. When a Christian sets goals that involve increasing their net worth – they will absolutely, positively, and certainly be tempted. It is not a matter of if temptation comes; it is a matter of when temptation comes.
A Christian does not live for money; A Christian lives for God. When a Christian begins to make it a goal to earn more money, this person will be tempted to let their walk with God go by the wayside. Sadly, I have seen it repeatedly in my twenty-plus years in ministry. I can almost write it in a mathematical formula. The more money a person takes in, the more their fire for God is snuffed out. There are exceptions, but they are incredibly few and far between.
As a Christian, your heart should beat for God and His kingdom. As a Christian, impacting people’s lives for the gospel should be your motive for placing your feet on the floor each morning. As a Christian, your children’s salvation and spirituality should be far more important than your goal of quadrupling your income by the end of this year. Unfortunately, many Christians suffer spiritually as they excel financially. You, fellow Christian, should guard against this with everything within you.
Three Temptations Wealthy Christians Face
The reason that it is nearly impossible for a Christian to prosper financially and spiritually simultaneously is because, as we saw in I Timothy 6:9, those who set out to become wealthy always fall into temptation. If you are a Christian who is in a position to make a substantial amount of money, I can think of three immense temptations that you are sure to face. These temptations are tests. If you fail them, your heart is not right with God. Sadly, most Christians fail them. If you are going to make money and be spiritual, you must pass these tests 100% of the time. They are not optional. They are not easy. They measure clearly your spiritual condition. You will either pass these tests or suffer spiritually.
The First Test – The Test of Priority
Your priorities speak of those things in your life that are most important to you. It is an incredible temptation for a Christian who makes a good deal of money to put business before God and family. While making money is necessary to provide for your family and to be able to give to the work of God, it should never occupy first place in your life. If I were to ask you who make money whether money comes first or whether God comes first, of course you will tell me that God is first, because you know that is the right answer. But does God really come first? How many worship services do you miss because the worship service interferes with making money? You spend hours at a time making money, but when is the last time you spent hours of quality time with your family? Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, identified her priorities as “God first, family second, business third.” I don’t know anything about the extent of her spirituality, but if she lived out her priorities in this order, she had her priorities straight.
Many Christians fail this test of priority for one simple reason. Sometimes, putting God before money will cost you. I wish I could say that if you always put God first, you will always gain financially. But that notion is simply not the truth. Sometimes it will cost you – in terms of dollars and cents – to put God first. You don’t mind paying money if you think it will yield more money later. Do you mind paying money to put God and family ahead of your bottom line? If you are right with God, you will take a pay cut to keep God and family ahead of your net worth.
I once knew a Christian who owned two businesses. He sold one of them, accounting for a decrease in his net worth in the long term. Why did he do it? To give more time to God and family. It cost him money to make such a move, but he did not lose. He won. He passed the test of priority.
The Second Test – The Test of Integrity
You don’t have to be in business long before you realize that it is easier to make money and keep money if you refrain from being completely honest. Dear Christian friend, it is always a sin to be dishonest to make or keep money. If you are right with God, you are honest in all – 100% - of your dealings with your fellow man. It is certainly a temptation for a Christian business person to slightly bend the truth to collect a dollar. You may be just a little dishonest. No one may ever find out. But God knows, and you are not right in His sight if you bend the truth just ever so slightly for financial gain. Being right with God in this area means that you are honest with your clients, with your vendors, with your employees, with the insurance companies with which you deal, and with the IRS. Making money and not claiming it on your tax return because “they paid in cash” is not morally right. Lying on an insurance claim to obtain more money is ungodly. In business, the Christian will have plenty of opportunities to bend the truth for the sake of making a buck.
In order for you to be a man or woman of integrity, you must be honest 100% of the time. Anybody can be honest only when it benefits them financially. If you are honest 75% of the time because in those times it benefits you to be honest, you are just like the atheist in business – he does the same thing. But Christians – Christians who are right with God – are honest in absolutely every transaction. The catch is this – sometimes being honest will cost you. Which would you rather have – an extra dollar gained by stretching the truth just slightly, or your integrity? Would you rather be able to brag because you pulled the wool over someone’s eyes in a business deal, or would you rather be able to lie down at night and look up to your Creator and say that you did the right thing even though it cost you? Your honest answer will show whether or not you pass this test. If you are not honest 100% of the time, you have failed. Sadly, many Christians when making money fail this test.
The Third Test – The Test of Contentment
I hate to hear a motivational speech given by a person in business. They tell different stories, outline their points differently, and speak with different styles, but they all say the same thing – “Be a millionaire;” “Get more;” “Don’t settle with where you are;” “Set goals and do whatever you have to do to accomplish them;” “Exert blood, sweat, and tears to strike it rich.” What is wrong with the connotation of many of these themes? They go against the entire spirit of the New Testament. While business leaders admonish you to “go higher” and “get rich,” how does that message contrast with the message of the New Testament? Look at Hebrews 13:5 –
Be content with such things as ye have.
As a Christian sets out in business to make money, it is a tremendous temptation to want more. Money is like sugar. Most people cannot eat just one Oreo cookie. When you taste one, you want another. When your hands handle a little money, you want more.
I cannot put in all the disclaimers here. I am not out of touch with business principles. I understand that, from a business standpoint, if a business doesn’t continue to grow, it starts to die. I understand that business owners must constantly calculate how to increase revenue, decrease expenses, and where to invest money to yield the most profitable gains possible. I may come across like I do not understand these things, but I do understand them. In a sense, business owners must never be content. They must always seek to improve.
It is the same way with our spiritual lives. We should always seek ways to improve our devotional time with the Lord. We should always try to improve our time of worship, our level of giving, and the effectiveness of our witness to the world. In these ways Christians should never be content. Spiritually, we should always be growing.
However, Christians should at the same time be content with whatever monetary possessions we have. Have you ever thought of what made Satan fall from heaven? In one word, Satan fell from heaven because of discontentment. God gave Satan a great position, along with great wealth. Satan, however, was not satisfied. He said, “I will ascend;” “I will go higher;” “I will be like God.” Satan’s love for his wealth caused his fall. This is the meaning of I Timothy 6:10, which states that “the love of money is the root of all evil.” It was Satan’s love for his wealth and his discontentment that caused his fall, bringing about the evil in the world as we know it.
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, lived in heaven, being equal with God. But He was willing to forsake the splendor of heaven and come to earth to give his life as a sacrifice for your sins and mine. He forsook heaven to become a man. He was not only content with what He had; He was willing to take a demotion. He took an incredible step down to do what the Father wanted Him to do.
Business owners inevitably deal with other business owners. In doing so, you are constantly surrounded by people whose goals in life include more wealth, more money, more cars, more real estate, more boats, more toys, more vacations – more, more, more. It will be tempting for these goals to become your own. Sadly, many Christians fail the test of contentment.
A Christian who makes a good deal of money should, in a time of devotion, take their spouse’s hand, and ask themselves some serious questions, such as, “If we never make more money than we make right now, are we truly content?” Or, “If God calls us to sell everything and give the profit to a missionary, are we willing to do so?” The honest answer to such questions will speak volumes of your spiritual condition.
Are you more like Satan, demanding to “go higher” and “get more,” or are you more like Christ, willing to take a demotion? Do you desire more of the world, or more of Christ?
