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Summary
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Chapter 17
IN THE WORLD, NOT OF IT
AFFLUENCE IN LIFE is a mixed blessing. Prosperity can make life much easier and provide a surplus of money to spread God’s Word. But it can also demand great amounts of time and attention. In fact, the urgency associated with a materialistic lifestyle can tyrannize you by demanding most of your energy. The situation becomes almost paradoxical in that while you can generate more wealth with fewer hours of work, you then spend more time worrying about it. People seem to be reversing earlier gains made by the reduced work weeks. For example, in America a hundred years ago, 100 man-hours were required to maintain an average standard of living. Fifty years ago, 60 hours were required. Today about 80 hours are required with both spouses working. However, this is a lifestyle that requires additional hours to provide for luxuries and indulgences beyond the necessities.
ls Bigger Better?
A generation ago, western society’s economic dream consisted of a comfortable home, a nice car, and a steady job. Today, that dream has grown to include guaranteed employment, retirement plans, a four-bedroom home, two cars, insurance for every contingency, a summer cottage and college education for all the kids. One’s possessions have become scorecards to define ”success.” Pressures to provide these luxuries are now so prevalent that many allow themselves to become encumbered with debts which eventually destroy them. Pressures to compete and expand rob even the most committed Christians of contentment. This ”bigger (or more) is better” mentality pervades all of society today, including the mindset of many Christians. God’s Word however instructs us to focus more on what is better rather than on what is bigger. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 TIMOTHY 6:6-7).
Complicated Lifestyles
Material things should be the vehicle to free us to serve the cause of Christ more easily and fully. But it is amazing how complicated they can make one’s life. Today’s world says, ”Whatever you see and desire, acquire.” God’s Word says, ”But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (LUKE 12:31).
This does not mean that you are to avoid all luxuries. God does not prohibit enjoying this world’s benefits (after all, they too are His). However, you are admonished not to get entangled in them to the point where you are diverted from fulfilling your primary purpose, that of serving God.
”No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer” (II TIMOTHY 2:4). Any teacher of biblical principles would be remiss if he did not warn Christians they can be tempted to trade their real inheritance for a bowl of soup, just as Esau did.
When the pursuit of ”things” becomes your focus in life, there is no doubt as to who you are serving. But probably a danger greater than becoming enmeshed in this world would be losing your first love and your only source of peace. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 JOHN 2:15). God’s Word teaches that focusing on material things is the greatest danger you face. Yet such a focus seems almost ”normal.” Abundance does not make you more content, for you are less content. Fear of losing the affluent way of life makes you willing to compromise by choosing the world’s way instead of God’s way. Thus Satan’s subtle trap of affluence has perhaps accomplished more than the persecutions of past centuries. In practical truth, many people are up to their necks in the world’s quicksand and need to read and believe that their treasure must be in heaven.
Dangers of Materialism
Indulgence Becomes “Normal”
When the economy does not supply the things people need for the ”bigger is better” lifestyle, they mortgage future generations to pay for them. Eventually more is borrowed than can ever be repaid. But the real reason this debt-funded economy inevitably fails is that it violates basic biblical principles. “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished” (PROVERBS 28:20). God’s Word says to discipline yourself in every area, not just the area of moral discipline. In fact, there are many more scripture references to financial discipline than to moral discipline.
Focusing On Worldly Success
Positions of authority in our churches and organizations can be awarded on the basis of material success rather than on spiritual maturity. Many Christians are both materially and spiritually mature, but somehow when we evaluate them, we tend to equate material success with spirituality. Thus, those who do not appear materially successful are often deemed less spiritual. God does not hold to this value system, for Paul wrote of the apostles: ”To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless” (I CORINTHIANS 4:11). If God’s reward system is measured by material assets, then one could assume the apostles were being punished. But if you believe that, just wait until the awards banquet in heaven.
Inhibiting Obedience to God
Nothing inhibits Christians obedience to God more than the tug of material comforts. Once you adjust to a lifestyle of comforts, it becomes difficult to surrender them to serve God. Although God does not call everyone to what is traditionally called “Christian work,” He can and does use Christians everywhere. To be used by God, Christians must be willing to serve Him regardless of the cost. ”What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Iesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (PHILIPPIANS 3:8).
Whenever someone asked Christ what was expected of His followers, He inevitably tested their willingness to surrender everything for God’s sake. Unless we adopt this same attitude, we cannot be trusted with material riches because we are apt to use them to indulge ourselves or to build larger barns in which to store them.
Adopting An Attitude Of Superiority
Since everything belongs to God, even the wealthiest among us should be humble. It is sad what material success seems to do to our ego and pride. Those given increased responsibilities in this life must take care to exercise them with great caution lest they forfeit eternal rewards for temporal ones here and now. ”Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (PHILIPPIANS 2:3).
Indifference Toward Needs Of Others
You begin to be deceived in our material affluence when you begin to think everybody shares in it, for the vast majority of people in this world go to bed and wake up hungry. They love their children as much as we do, but every day they hurt inside because they cannot provide even the barest of necessities. Most are not lazy or evil, but are poor. They are the ones Christ describes in Matthew 25:45: ”He will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” It is not a lack of compassion or caring, but most often passive indifference. Because you do not personally know any really poor people, you are usually wary of the give away plans of many ministries. But you should not let the phonies keep you from helping those legitimately in need. Giving to feed the poor and homeless is a command, not an option. Providing for the poor is one of the greatest lacks and biggest challenges for Christians today.
Remember that God wants you to know how to deal with life’s sticky problems. He provides counsel for your financial affairs, i.e., your earthly treasures. He desires not only that you be saved, but that you live happily and prosperously after you are saved. Because money problems are often at the root of many personal problems, you need His help. God is interested in your material welfare. But He is even more concerned that you understand earthly riches are merely symbols of His goal for eternal riches. He wants you to gain wealth that is lasting, durable, eternal.
Earthly Wealth And Real Riches
Earthly wealth is only a small portion of genuine riches. Those rich by earthly standards or those who have an abundance of time may in reality be poor. Earthly wealth is relative. Real or genuine wealth includes eternal riches which you receive through faith in God. A good name, for example, is a more important measure of wealth than possessions. Jesus enlarged on this when He said, ”And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy, and to walk among serpents and scorpions and to crush them. //??Nothing shall injure you! However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven” (LUKE 10:19-20). Real wealth then is not measured so much by earthly power as by the love in which we are held by our heavenly Father.
Establishing A Balance
God has individual plans for each of us; how one family spends is not necessarily the pattern for another. The measure common for all of us is a balance between using material things wisely and being controlled by them. To attain such a balance, Christians must put serving Christ first and make all other considerations secondary. Your giving should reflect this commitment, and your goal should not be a mere tithe (tenth), though that should be your minimum. Each increase in income should be reflected in your outreach before it is reflected in your lifestyles.
God places Christians of varying income, intelligence and influence in every level of society, expecting them to minister to those around them. But it is difficult to minister to others if you are mired in the same ”mess,” especially if you become so preoccupied accumulating ”things” (even to improve a future ministry) that you are unavailable to God for use now.
One day each of us must stand before the Lord and give an account of our stewardship in this life. Be sure you make it count for eternity. ”For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (MARK 8:35-36).
Summary
Again the principle is clear and bears repeating. The purpose of a Christian’s business is to display the character of God. God’s actions are clear towards those who ignore His precepts:
”…since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you…” (PROVERBS 1:25-26); ”…since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes” (PROVERBS 1:30-31).
The result of obedience, on the other hand, is quite different:
”If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (DEUTERONOMY 28:1).
God asks you to make a choice:
”But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers “served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.”
”But as for me and my family,
we will serve the Lord.”
JOSHUA 24:15
Next: Chapter 18: The Law And The Profits
Previous: Chapter 16: Accountability
Chapter 17: In The World, Not Of It
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