“We cannot afford it”
If we are to preach effectively it is bound to cost us something. It will cost us time and energy, both in preparation and in actual preaching. And it will cost us money.
An ecclesia considers the possibility of holding an extra-special effort. The inevitable question is: “Can we afford it?” After counseling his books, the finance brother makes his statement: “Our balance amounts of x$. Collections average about y$. Experience has shown that appealing to the ecclesia makes very little difference. They are fed up with appeals —and who can blame them ? Sorry, brethren, but the truth is we cannot afford this ambitious effort.”
We cannot afford it — is this really true? It would probably be more correct to say that we are not willing to afford it. Or, to express it more starkly, we think we have better uses for our money. New homes, new cars, expensive clothes, new color TV sets, new trailers, vacations in distant lands: these tell their own story.
A delicate subject
It’s hard to talk about money. Nobody knows just how much other people have, nor how much they give away. And even if all the facts were known, no two people would agree regarding priorities in giving. Because of these things and because most of us tend to regard our money as our very own, those who suggest uses for other people’s money have to tread delicately.
But should we be so inhibited ? Paul instructed Timothy — a comparatively young man — to “charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate . . .” (1 Timothy 6:17,-8).
A Stewardship
Imagine the surprise and indignation if such a message were given, when appropriate, by a modern Timothy. “The cheek of the young upstart! Who does he think he is — telling me what to do with my money.”
My money ! This is not according to the Scriptures. We and all that we possess belong to God. “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
We are stewards entrusted with God’s money. Are we faithful stewards, or are we wasting our Master’s goods?
Many of us really need Timothy’s admonition. Judged by the standards of Paul’s day, or even compared with our grandparents, many of us are rich indeed. Yet we tend to look at people who are wealthier than ourselves, and plead poverty.
Idols of silver and gold
More than ever we need Timothy’s admonition because we live in an age of materialism. Money and the fussy playthings that money can buy are the idols of our age. Although the Lord said that a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth; although he added that the life is more than meat and the body more than raiment—most professing Christians simply do not believe him. People judge the quality of men’s lives by the amount of money they collect, and the abundance of material things that they gather around them. People with great possessions have ‘got on.”
These modern, gentile idols steal men’s hearts and their lives, and make them poor indeed. Dependent upon whether they have or have not, people have a false sense of security, or unreasonable feelings of insecurity; they feel established and important, or deprived and wretched. Modern idolaters either provoke one another or envy one another, according to the measure of their ‘success.’
The extravagant living of the affluent countries fills many in the deprived countries with feelings of envy and ambition. Thus the idols of our age alienate from God and bedevil human relationships.
The ultimate irony is that those who seek material things as a protection, have in the end to devote their lives to protecting their expensive gods.
The Object of Life
The Lord’s words, quoted above are found in Luke 12. Here he tells his disciples that they must be different. The nations of the world are obsessed with material things. Instead of regarding their possessions as things that contribute towards life, people think of them as the object of life. But the true object of a Christian’s life is the kingdom of God: “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (verse 31). Immediately afterwards come those sublime words: “Fear not, little flock (that is, do not be anxious about these things that contribute towards life, but are not the object of life); for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” If God is pleased to give you the kingdom, He can surely supply your lesser needs in the meantime.
A Question of Priorities
Our destiny is thus determined by our priorities. If our great desire is to amass material wealth, we may fulfill that ambition and we may not (certainly we shall not hold our ‘treasures’ for long), but we shall not be in the kingdom. If, on the other hand, our great desire is to be in the kingdom, we are assured of a place in the kingdom, and a sure supply of necessary things until that kingdom comes.
Do we then want to be in God’s kingdom? We may quickly reply that we don’t want to be left out. Of course we don’t! Nor will those who will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom, and themselves thrust out. The question is not whether we want to be left out—obviously nobody does. It is, rather, whether we have a great desire to be in.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One