Bible controversy: Craving wealthy and the pursuit of salvation.

Columnist: Thomas Twum



“Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served, and serve the Lord. Otherwise, choose this day who you shall serve.” When Joshua put this declaration before the Assembly of God’s people, many were those who openly declared for the Lord, but did not abandon the gods of their fathers. These gods, which the fathers served, would later mutate into a lustre-luring evil called the Mammon who will contend with God for the only seat in the heart of man.

From the 15th century onward, the church which was the focal point where people sought the face of God began to sell salvation for money. Special prayers and penance was guaranteed to the rich. The poor were made to feel scooped out of God’s plan of salvation, and so have continued till today. This sparked the beginning of the proliferation of mushroom churches, very charismatic they became and more agile in manipulating God’s word to achieve their material goals as we see today. The battle was set for God to upstage wealth at the heart of mankind.
Ken Eldred is the author of ‘God at work’. In his book, he made a compelling case about the relationship between God and wealth, arguing that, “God’s view of prosperity may be far more complex, and that many have drifted while trying to understand the relationship between wealth and righteous living to an extent that they often quote scripture out of context to support either extreme. Some view wealth as the evil enemy of righteous living, while others view wealth as an essential evidence of righteous living”.

Ken’s statement reveals a paradox of biblical picture puzzle. The New Testament gospel stance, which is the foundation of Christianity, views wealth as an evil enemy of righteous living. For example, during the temptation, Jesus rejected the wealth and power to rule over the kingdoms of the world when lured by the devil to bow and worship him, Matthew 4:8-10. In Luke 18:22, Jesus advised Christians about how wealth was going to be the bane to obstruct our salvation. We are witnesses to the instruction he gave the broken-hearted rich man who needed salvation, to shed his material ‘idols’ first and then join the ascetic lifestyle which his disciples led in those days; evangelising, poor and homeless and cut off from family. Again, Jesus gave a stunning warning in Matthew 19:24 to the world, that, those who pursue riches in this world, narrow their chances of going to heaven, and called on believers to boldly confront the choice, to either serve the true God or to serve the Mammon (the god of money) Matthew 6:24.

It wasn’t difficult to see where Jesus was coming from. Could rich persons claim to love God when so many are suffering around them? Rich people mostly alienate themselves from the poor, aligning themselves into a cartel of the privileged, nurturing pride and selfish attitudes, becoming prone to arrogance and over self-confidence, alienating the poor and needy from their fold. The trappings of power and the craving for absolute comfort baits their conscience and denies them the opportunity to accept that they are but selected vessels through whom God intends to provide bread for the poor. They deny God His glory in the eyes of the poor, thereby, turning them into enemies of God, James 4:4. Paul, for this reason, revealed in 1Timothy 6:10 that, money and evil are bedfellows, and that believers to shun the love of money, Hebrews 13:5. Poverty, although very distasteful and hard to bear, draws people to seek God as James 2:5 declares, “God has chosen the poor of this world to be RICH IN FAITH and to inherit the kingdom of heaven.”
Ironically, the New Testament gospel disconnects from the Old Testament message about this notion of conflict between God and money. Ken’s description of wealth being an essential evidence of righteous living is attested to by the Old Testament. For instance, Deuteronomy 8:18 states, that wealth is an endowment from God. 1Samuel 2:7 also notes that, it is God who makes some rich and others poor. Again, Proverbs 10:22 states that, wealth is blessing from God. How come a blessing from God turns out to be evil, one may ask?

The answer may not be far to fetch; money do not have godly nature at all until we focus our attention to making it one. When we invest our hope and security in money, work our sweat and blood for, defend it with our lives and consider it foremost above all thing instead of using it to serve God’s objectives and neighbour, money becomes God.

This is what God says we should do with wealth; 1). Because there shall always be poor people in the world, the rich must be responsible for them, Deuteronomy 15:11. 2).The rich should lend their money to God by reaching out to the poor and needy, He would repay in multiple fold; Proverbs 19:17 and Deuteronomy 15:7. 3). Sell your possessions and give to the poor and pursue heavenly goals, Luke 12:33. Here is where we all are found wanting. The Churches are now business entities who love money more than its members. The church members are looking for ways to buy free salvation ticket with the death of Jesus on the cross which all they need is to openly declare that He died for your sins, rather than take responsibility to share neighbour burden. We love God, but who can do without money? No one can serve two masters!