Cold Cash: More money=More God?
By Ben Mwine:
Let's face it; all of us have been victims or culprits of this thinking at some point. We use people's wealth to measure how “blessed” they are. In fact when someone mentions the word blessing, most of us instantly think about money and wealth, no? And yet we couldn't be further from the truth. In the good book, the good teacher tells us explicitly that “……a man's life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15
So where do we get this whole notion that the more money you have, the more God you have; that the bigger your faith, the more money God will give you; and that if you don't have enough it's because your faith is weak?
It seems that the world tends to think that the more money you have, the closer you are to being God. Could that be why the bible says you can't serve money and God?
I can't count the number of times I have been frowned upon at a gate because I came in on foot only to have the same guard refer to me later the same day as “Sir” simply because I showed up driving a big Pajero.
As a result we seem to have lost our sense of direction in terms of what really matters. The words of those who are rich seem to carry more weight than those of lesser mortals. In the same vein, those who are rich have bought into this fallacy and seem to think they are superior to the rest of the world.
They bark at their wives, waiters, bank tellers, security personnel, their employees, pretty much everyone who they think has less money than them. Does this sound familiar? “How can she turn me down, does she know who I am?!”, “Do you know I can pay your Salary with my pocket change!?” And so on and so forth.
The question that then has to be asked is this – Does having a lot of money change people, or does it simply bring out who they really are? Would love to hear your thoughts…
Editor
Founder and Editor in Chief of the Readers Cafe Africa
Comments (9)
Ayeza
I agree with you; more money does not equal to more God indeed...Church - we the church, have become slaves to this kind of thinking.
kathy
very true
Lischen Yumminess Makhura
"They bark at their wives, waiters, bank tellers, security personnel, their employees, pretty much everyone who they think has less money than them. Does this sound familiar? “How can she turn me down, does she know who I am?!”, “Do you know I can pay your Salary with my pocket change!?” And so on and so forth." What more can one say after this? ...
Aroriza
I think money gives people the confidence to be themselves......that's how one can tell that there are not many genuinely good people in this world. Most times we praise some people for being meek when what they are, is just poor. Give a man lotsa money and you will be able to know who he really is!Money only changes the the people around you. Like thatYiddish proverb goes, "with money in your pocket, you are wise, you're handsome, and you sing well, too".Thanks for this topic Ben!
Ayeza
too true Aaron, crazy but so true indeed.
Nick
Spot on Aaron!
Sarah N Nsiime
Does having a lot of money change people, or does it simply bring out who they are? I believe having a lot of money simply brings out who you are. If you are proud and arrogant; that is who you are; you just do not have the opportunity to demonstrate it when you have no money. If you are kind and respectful of people, no amount of money can change that.I had the opportunity to attend a lunch time prayer meeting years back. Prayers where conducted for people based on how much they gave. Those who were willing to give huge sums of money were given “special attention” and prayed for one-on-one. Those who did not have much to give simply placed their offering in the basket and had to make do with the general prayer at the end. This seemed to insinuate that the more you give 'in terms of amount of money' the more important you are and therefore the more deserving of 'God's blessings'. What about the widow in the bible who's offering Jesus commended yet it was only two coins? (Luke 21:1-4)More money=more God? Some church leaders also belong to this 'school of thought.'
Sarah N Nsiime
Does having a lot of money change people, or does it simply bring out who they are? I believe having a lot of money simply brings out who you are. If you are proud and arrogant; that is who you are; you just do not have the opportunity to demonstrate it when you have no money. If you are kind and respectful of people, no amount of money can change that. I had the opportunity to attend a lunch time prayer meeting years back. Prayers where conducted for people based on how much they gave. Those who were willing to give huge sums of money were given “special attention” and prayed for one-on-one. Those who did not have much to give simply placed their offering in the basket and had to make do with the general prayer at the end. This seemed to insinuate that the more you give 'in terms of amount of money' the more important you are and therefore the more deserving of 'God's blessings.' What about the widow in the bible who's offering Jesus commended yet it was only two coins? (Luke 21:1-4) More money=more God? Some church leaders also belong to this "school of thought."
Kizito "Kizzy" Katawonga
I strongly believe money is merely an amplifier. It just magnifies who you already are. Thing is though, we live in a highly material world. It serves to reason that having more material wealth would be more appealing and desirable to most and somehow, the church has joined that bandwagon with the whole prosperity Gospel. I believe God wants us to prosper but He is definately not an ATM machine you can activate by :sowing a seed" Having more money just means you have more money. God isn't necessarily part of that equation. Just ask the billionaires on Forbes list. I have a lot more God than them :)