Wealth can be created.
The Lord obviously does not share the communist notion that there is only so and so much wealth in the earth. Socialists say that for social justice to ensue a well meaning government has to come, take that wealth, and redistribute it equally. All this does is punish the one who worked hard, while old lazybones gets a free ride. It discourages effort. In the end everybody will turn into a sluggish lazybone. (I wish government would understand that.)
But no: the cake does not have to be cut up and distributed equally: it can grow.
My having lots of money does not mean that somebody else has less now! Wealth can be created.
Since God gave this power to every believer, nobody needs to be jealous at the rich man. The God who made him rich wants to make us wealthy, too. So, rid yourself of envy right now. The Lord will not bless envious people. (Check the tenth commandment.)
Since God gave you the power to create wealth, let me share something on divine capitalism today.
How do we harness it's phantastic power, how do we get it to produce?
How can we get money to come our way?
God is not the gaudy rich person who indiscriminately throws fistfulls of money at everybody coming his way. Who then is worthy (in God's eyes) to roll in the dough?
Are you ready?
The one who creates wealth by creating value.
You will have to be useful and create something of genuine value for others to be eligible for big money.
In exchange for his money you give your business partner something useful, something that he wants or needs, something that enriches (!) his life. Your neighbor's welfare has to be on your mind.
You are truly successful only when your customer is content. (Your "customer" might be your boss, your congregation, or your literal customer, in case you run a store.) If your reasonable customer is content you are worth every penny you make.
Remember: He who is useful is eligible.
Do not even think of trying to get something for nothing.
Who is not worthy to be rich?
Simply the person who does not add any value to his business partner, such as the get-rich-quick-schemer, who is out for the fast buck. Or the Mafia man, (what's his product?), or the peddlers of destructive vice, such as boozers, porn peddlers, crack dealers, etc. They don't add value to your life, they destroy.
Make no mistake: the way to wealth is straight and narrow. It is rigged with booby traps and land mines.
Paul says: "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6, 9+10.)
It ist best not to set one's sights on gaining wealth alone, but rather on adding value to our neighbor's life.
It is okay to be rich, but let's heed Jesus' words about the rich fool, who tore down his barns just to build bigger ones. (Luke 12, 13.) This man's money did nothing but sit there. Then he died unexpectedly. And thus all his business prowess had been for nought. Let's be rich toward God first and think of treasure second. Let's be on our guard against every form of greed.
We need to keep our priorities straight.
Well. That said, the promise still stands: we can create wealth.
How might we go about?
1. In order to get wealthy you have to absolutely love your job (or your product).
Your job has to be so much fun that it might as well be your hobby also. Only in this case will you have enough energy and focus to stay at it long enough to strike it rich.
There are no fish in the air or birds in the sea. So: Are you labouring in your field of calling?
Are you the right person at the right time in the right place? If not, you will not be able to muster enough faith to make it big. If you are constantly on your way to somewhere else, you might as well forget it. You need to find your niche! And after you found it, settle into it.
You have to believe in your ability to produce (and in your product). If you don't: that will prove to be your most serious handicap. Incompetence or frustrated listlessness are a sure way into mediocrity and financial weakness.
Work at becoming an expert in your field once you found it.
The prophet said about Jesus cleaning the temple: "Zeal for your house will consume me." (John 2, 17.)
And nobody can deny that the Lord loved his job and was an expert at it.
2. Your job giving you maximum pleasure will pull you through the rough patches, because you will need a tremendous amount of self-discipline on your way. You will need stick-to-it-ivity since you will not get rich overnight. (There are no overnight successes in God's kingdom. Most overnight successes have been 20 years in the making.)
Stick it out in the hard spots.
Jesus had to face Gethsemane. He literally sweated blood. But it was his good pleasure at all times to do the will of the Father. "Not my will but thy will be done." Thus he earned "The Crown."
Paul lived through moments of indescribable glory in his quest of erecting God's kingdom. But he also faced plenty of tortures and trials. The knowledge of doing the right thing, (the thing of his calling), pulled him through until he laid his life down for Jesus. Paul said: "I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9, 16.) He was under the same compulsion as Jesus: zeal for God.
3. Once you found your niche, be creative.
Don't be fooled into thinking that activity equals effectivity. It doesn't. Don't waste your time with side issues. Do the important thing. Do the work that brings the funds in. Everything else is of secondary importance.
Don't sort your advertising material: call prospective customers. Let somebody else do the sorting.
The twelve sorted the 5000 and split them into smaller groups. Jesus prayed. He did not undertake the timeconsuming job of ushering himself. He delegated it and stuck to the important work. On that evening God made Jesus wealthy enough to feed 5000 men and all their families as well. (No wonder they wanted to make him king: he gave them plenty of food without making them work for it.)
So: don't clean your machine: use to produce.
Don't clean your church: study and pray for the services! (Your volunteers are probably better cleaners than you anyway.) In the same vein: spend more time with God than with your friends.
Enough said.
4. Don't believe that you are going to be happy or content once you are rich.
Your money will have to serve others for you to experience fulfillment among all your bags of dollars.
Jesus said: "To give is more blessed than to receive." (Acts 20, 35.)
Once a pious and rich young nobleman came to Jesus inquiring about eternal life. Even though he was very rich and had kept God's commandments all his life, he still felt unfulfilled. He still spoke to Jesus about his desire to reach a higher level with God. He wanted eternal life.
Jesus' answer is classical: Go and give your goods to the poor. And then come and follow me.
He tells this young man: Eternal life is not found in wealth or in the sheer keeping of religious commandments. It is found in a relationship with the living Lord, in an ongoing personal walk with him.
Jesus did not command this young man to go and become poor and without means by giving his riches away. Rather he encouraged him to start a benevolent fund, much like the Rockefeller Foundation, or another philantropical organization. The Lord encouraged this man to let his money work for the common good and to come and follow him.
The young nobleman wouldn't do it. He despondently left Jesus. He was one of the victims of wealth.
Don't fall into the same trap. Don't serve money, let money serve you. Don't chase it, let it chase you.
Work on being useful and see, if God won't open the floodgates of opportunity for you.
"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men." (Proverbs 22, 29.)
Sincerely your's in Him,
Gert Hoinle, Editor of Teaching News
Copyright (c) 2000 by Gert Hoinle