Does God Want Us All to Be Rich?

Blessings for obedience to God were promised to Israel thousands of years ago, before the time of Jesus. It is dangerous to take promises from the Old Testament and apply them to ourselves. Israel was very much God's chosen nation. We are not God's chosen nation. The church might be the people of God but even then, it is unlikely that all the promises made to Israel would equally apply to us. Before the time of Christ also means that they are living under a different covenant with God, as the death of Jesus began a new covenant. We must remember that we are New Testament Christians and that much of the Old Testament does not apply to us.

Deuteronomy 28:1-8. The Israelites were told that if they diligently obeyed God's commands he would set them above all the nations of the earth. They would be blessed in the produce of their fields and in the sizes of their herds and flocks. They would be victorious in battle. The enemy would come towards them in one direction and flee in seven. Israel was God's chosen nation. America and Britain are not. There is no guarantee that, if we were a godly nation, that we would be able to win wars against incredible odds. In Malachi 3:8-12 Israel is accused of robbing God by not paying their tithes. The whole country is under a curse. 'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. See if I will not rend the heavens and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room for it.' The Americans use this as a proof text to tell us that we should give ten per cent of our money to the Lord's work. The Israelites tithed a tenth of their crops. That would be equivalent to us giving a tenth of the money that we spend on food. Some Christians in a poor country used to give a tenth of their rice. A tenth of gross income is too much. It is a huge financial burden on people who have only a quarter of their money left after they have paid the bills. It is in excess of a Biblical requirement which was for a different people living in a different time in a different relationship with God. And it makes Pastors too wealthy. If you pastor a church of 3,000 people and they all tithe, that gives you 300 times the average wage. Some of this will pay for the church building and some of it will pay for the event stewards and the car park attendant. In a big church there might also be more than one pastor. But even then, the pastors could pay themselves 50 times the average wage. They will not feel guilty because they just see this great wealth as a sign of God's blessing. Pay ten per cent of your money to your local church and God will bless you too. And all these Pastors ever talk about is God blessing your finances. There are some YouTube channels I don't watch because I know that the pastor of an extremely large church will be talking about God blessing your finances. All of his sermons are about that.

I often hear people quote Proverbs 10:22, 'the blessing Of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow to it.' I would like to quote another verse from the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 30:7-9, give me neither poverty or riches. Too much and I may forget about God, too little and I may be tempted to steal. What does the Bible really teach about money? Many people quote 2Corinthians 9:6-9, those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully, God will make his grace abound to you so that you may be all sufficient in everything, and they ssy that it's only when you have an abundance that you can give to the Lord's work. This ignores the full context of the story, that in the previous chapter, the apostle is praising the Christians for giving out of their poverty. 2Corinthians 8:1-5. The Christians in Macedonia were suffering great affliction and deep poverty but their abundance of joy overflowed into deep generosity. They gave more than they were able. They gave sacrificially. Frank Viola said in an American book that if you struggle to afford books like this one you should pray to get a better job. It is only when you have an abundance that you can give generously. Rubbish. The Macedonian Christians gave generously out of their poverty. Poor people can give sacrificially. Rich people can afford to spend money impulsively and can give £100 without needing to worry. A poor person decides to only give £20 because they're not sure whether they have enough money to pay the bills at the end of the month. Which is most generous? Which will God honour more?

When we read Psalm 23, The Lord's My Shepherd, we like to imagine God leading the sheep to lush pastures like the English hills, where you can quite often climb up a mountain and see sheep grazing. There are often waterfalls and flowing streams in such a place. But English sheep do not need to be led to green pastures. They can find them easily. As the Bema podcast says, this is a psalm about herding sheep in a desert. The closest thing we have to a desert, in England, is a beach with sand dunes. Imagine leading your sheep to the little tufts of grass there and trying to find little puddles of fresh water. The apostle Paul knew what it was like to live in poverty and knew what it was like to have plenty. He had learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Philippians 4:10-19. The Bible was written in the iron age. People were poor. Harvests were unreliable. There were no knives and forks and the standard way of eating food was to mop it up with bread from a plate. When I make a casserole I deliberately use too much gravy so that, after I've finished, I can enjoy mopping up the gravy with bits of meat and vegetables in it using at least two slices of wholemeal bread. Imagine if every meal you ever had was like mopping up watery stew with pieces of bread. The Bible was not written in 21st century England or America where the apostle Paul, as a self employed tent maker, might have had a reasonable amount of money.

The Bible says that godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the world and we take nothing out. If we have food and drink, we should be content with that. People who want to be rich get into all kinds of trouble. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 1Timpthy 6:6-10. Prosperity teachers with their own private jet, beware. Or are there legitimate reasons for having a private jet? I remember Kenneth Copeland being interviewed by a woman who had caught him walking from his house to his car. A man in a suit, who was either his security guard or chauffeur, looked at her suspisciuosly. Kenneth Copeland waved his hand, as if to say, leave her alone, let her interview me. She asked, 'Do you have a private jet?' He said yes, he had one, and he used it for work. When he wasn't using it, he loaned it to other ministers. America is a big country and you have to travel a long way. The Christian singer Vicky Beeching wrote about bands doing a 40 day tour and living on a bus. The Christian musician Keith Green bought a light aircraft because he got tired of driving to the airport. He was killed when his plane crashed in 1982. If you're going to give a lot of money to a Christian organization, give it to one that prints a full annual account of their figures, including how much of that money is actually salaries to their staff.

Norman Dennis wrote a book entitled The Invention of Permanent Poverty. He gave me a free copy because it became obvious that many people at his public meeting had stolen the book. I said that I didn't have the money to pay for it but wouldn't have stolen it. He was amazed by this and gave me a free copy. Permanent poverty is when you define poverty as simply having less money than the average person. That way 10 per cent of the population will always be below the poverty line. If people are better off than they were 50 years ago, the poverty line has moved. In England the retirement age for women was recently raised from 60 to 66. A woman in her 60s was on the news complaining that she was disabled, only able to work part-time, and living on £300 a week. 50 years ago, you would have been supporting an entire family on a wage that was not worth much more than that. It just depends on what people think is a lot of money. I live on £300 a week. I've got enough money to buy a new mobile phone or a new pair of shoes. I've got enough money to replace my old car if it starts breaking down too frequently. I don't feel poor.

What does the Bible say? Seek first the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:25-34. Concentrate on doing the kind of job that God wants you to do. Don't worry about money, God clothes the grass of the field and feeds the sparrow. And be generous, even if in poverty. Give and it will be given unto you. Luke 6:38. By the measure that you give it will be measured to you in return. I don't think much of your Christianity if you've got to be in a comfortable financial position and have plenty of money left at the end of each month before you can give to the Lord's work.

When I lived with my parents I used to tithe my dole money. I had no overheads. Tithing my dole money was easy because it was such a tiny amount. Just give £20 a month, that was a tenth. The time I got a job was the time my dad told me he was too old and arthritic to climb under my old car and repair it anymore. I had to buy a new car. 7 years later, my parents had moved to their retirement bungalow and there wouldn't have been room for me. God provided me with a job when I needed it