For me, “to be rich or not to be rich” is not a question. I will be rich. And of course, I am talking about being financially rich, or, have a lot of income. The idea seems perfectly fine, so many people working every single seconds just for that. The only problem is, oddly enough, I am a Christian.
Mrs. Chapman (in case you don’t know her, she is a great person) has discussed with me about the matter of being rich. She says that we Christians don’t need to have a lot of money. What we need is being wealthy in love and some other noble characteristics. She talks about her husband, how he doesn’t have a lot of money and she has to eat a lot of beans, but she feels extremely happy living with him. I think it is great to be like that. Awesome story indeed.
Then last week, I went to the church and the pastor mentioned a verse. It’s Matt. 6:24,
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
So basically a person has to choose either God or money, and a Christian should be rich in his/her soul and mind instead. It’s funny how such a common sense like this is not so easy for me to accept. What I have in mind is different.
I think money is really useful. I don’t have to tell how many physical things we can buy with it (in case we have enough, yeah), but money can really help us to archive those other things also. For example, love. Money can’t buy love, true. But money helps maintain it. I have seen quite a number of couples have their loves given up because of financial issues. Money can’t buy life, sure, but it provides the access to be healthy, as one can pay to go to the gym and hire a professional trainer. Then can money do anything about faith?!! Tell you what, if I didn’t have enough money to go to
I am sure there are many Christians think like this some time: “If I don’t have to work until (whatever) o’clock, I would go and help some people with something.” What I see here is that if people don’t have to work for money, they can work for other things, to be better Christians. But then, the lack of money keeps them from all of the opportunities and they get busy all day making money. I believe that if a person doesn’t have to worry about money, he/she can think and do something else. That’s it, I learn business and learn about money, not so that I will think about money all the time, but to be able to not worry about money and be able think about other things. This is my way to be free from money and to serve God wholeheartedly.
Besides, with a lot of income, I can provide a good life for myself and the people I love. For me, it is really sad if my wife wants to buy something so badly and I just can’t get it for her. It’s also sad if my son needs $300 to join the basketball team and I can’t afford it. And I feel bad every time I go to church, because I cannot put more than $10 into the plate as I am still a poor college student. I don’t think money can make people nicer, but it really can help nice people to do all the good deeds that he otherwise cannot.
So bare with me if you find this post offensive or inappropriate. Share your thoughts with me and I may learn something good from you. Once again it’s me, Anh the exchange student.
2 comments:
Well thought out Anh. I agree. God can use all varieties of talents, gifts, and strengths for his kingdom, and for his kingdom to be as strong as it can possibly be, he needs all those various gifts that he has given us. Money is one of those. The Bible encourages working for money. The Proverbs are full of warnings against laziness. Jesus told the parable of the men who were entrusted with different amounts of money. The man who invested his and gave back an interest was praised above the others. This is not to say that those who have little money are in sin. All wealth is, eventually, from God, and as I said before, he needs all other types of gifts as well.
Money is indeed a blessing and can be used by God in many ways.
However, if I may, I would like to give a couple cautionary statements.
1. Jesus himself said, "It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:23) I think it is very easy for us as humans to start pursuing riches as a means to an end ("I'll use them to do good things!") and end up pursuing them as an end in themselves. The more money you have, the more difficult it is to be free of it. I'm not saying that it's wrong to work hard, provide for your family, or get wealthy. I am saying that there is always a danger of putting money above Christ that we must guard against.
2. Remember that, although God uses money, He is not limited by it. He could have brought you to Christ in a different way. He can help a poor man provide for his family. He can use a willing poor person just as easily as He can use a willing rich person.
Also, just because a person has more money it does not mean that he or she will also have more time to spend serving God. Often times as a person gains more, they feel the need for even more money. Instead of spending that extra time serving God, they spend extra time making more money.
So Anh, if God has gifted you and called you to make money and be wealthy, then do so. But remember to do EVERYTHING for the glory of God and remember to guard against putting money before God.
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