The following is a message from Pastor Zac Poonen on, "The Right Attitude to Money."
People used to think that all wholehearted Christians must be poor. Now there is the teaching that wholehearted Christians must be rich. Both are unscriptural extremes.
The two masters Jesus tells us we cannot serve (we must hate one and love the other) are God and mammon (which is money).
If money rules over you, you cannot serve God.
If you are not faithful in unrighteous mammon, how will God trust you with the true riches of Heaven: revelation from God's word, transformation into Christ's character, and anointing for the ministry.
To be devoted to God is to despise money. You must come to the place where if you gain money it doesn't excite you, and if you lose money it doesn't depress you.
The flesh is a fantastic lover of money.
People are reluctant to give to God because they have not been properly taught what God says in this area.
Everything you possess on earth (your money, your property, etc.) belongs to God and not to you.
The mindset of a tither equates to the mindset of a thief who thinks that they can take what belongs to God - and what they have only been able to earn through God's grace - and give Him only 10%. God deserves it all because it all belongs to Him.
We are not doing God a favor when we give money to His work or His children. We are merely giving back that which originally belonged to Him which He gave us as a loan to use.
Not all believers are going to be equal in eternity (I Corinthians 15:41b). Each will be rewarded based on how they have lived in this world.
We must learn to be righteous with money like Zacchaeus. If we have taken anything unrighteously, we must repay it.
Work hard to earn well (II Thessalonians 3:7-14).
Do not become undisciplined and lazy. The glory of God has departed from many a believer because they stopped obeying in the small things.
Don't be wasteful (i.e. time, money, etc.), but be faithful with what God gives you.
Many Christians have debt because they have not lived disciplined lives.
God's riches will be given to you if you are faithful in little things.
Hi. Our attitude to money definitely should be that we are willing to give as it is God who provided in the first place. However, the statement "To be devoted to God is to despise money... You must come to the place where if you gain money it doesn't excite you, and if you lose money it doesn't depress you" is something I partly agree with. I don't despise money as it is not evil in itself, it is Biblical not to love money but I don't see money in itself as a sinful commodity, but I definitely want to grow in the attitude of being neither excited by gain nor depressed in lack, that is a holy attitude I believe God wants me to develop in. I do not agree with the statement about the tither having the mindset of a thief, that is a judgemental generalised statement about people who tithe, I tithe out of my understanding of God's word, as an act of worship, I don't think that the 90% left is to squander in foolish ways just because I tithe, I also use some of my money for ministry work/helping others at times, as I'm sure some others who tithe do, but if the preacher is against people tithing that is his view. Thanks for your articles anyway. God bless and guide you always.
I cannot speak for Pastor Poonen, but here is what I got from what he says here.
** The comment about "despising" money comes from Matthew 6:24 (and Luke 16;13).
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
God often uses the sentiments of "love" and "hate" to denote how extremely estranged our devotion should be to one thing vs. another (i.e. Luke 14:26). Our love for God ought to be such that what we feel for money could be akin to "hatred" or "despising" it.
** The point I believe Pastor Poonan makes about tithing is the principle behind it that God expects us to give "10%" of our earnings. However, the reality is that all we have belongs to God and is His for us to do with as He dictates. Now certainly there is no tithing command for a born again Christian, however if God leads someone to give 10% of their income to a church, another amount to ministry, another amount to helping others...such is His business. Yet the mindset that a "tithe" meets our financial obligations towards God is wrong. While this may not be your view (praise God!), it is definitely the view of some who tithe. We should be seeking God on what to do with 100% of our resources for it is all His.
I have summarized the message to the best of my ability, but my summaries can never replace the benefit of listening directly to the message and should never be taken as direct quotes from the speaker. It could be that listening to the message (if you have not already) might give a different perspective than what I have summarized here. Please blame me for any issues in documenting the message and not the speaker.
By the way, that caveat about my summaries goes for any speaker I post on the blog. I try to summarize, but never judge the speaker on my summaries as they could be skewed by my perception of the message. Thanks :-)
Sound post and Sound teaching from Pastor Zack Poonen, we need more preachers like this, speaking the truth about the word of God, thanks again, God bless, 1 Love.
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Hi. Our attitude to money definitely should be that we are willing to give as it is God who provided in the first place. However, the statement "To be devoted to God is to despise money... You must come to the place where if you gain money it doesn't excite you, and if you lose money it doesn't depress you" is something I partly agree with. I don't despise money as it is not evil in itself, it is Biblical not to love money but I don't see money in itself as a sinful commodity, but I definitely want to grow in the attitude of being neither excited by gain nor depressed in lack, that is a holy attitude I believe God wants me to develop in. I do not agree with the statement about the tither having the mindset of a thief, that is a judgemental generalised statement about people who tithe, I tithe out of my understanding of God's word, as an act of worship, I don't think that the 90% left is to squander in foolish ways just because I tithe, I also use some of my money for ministry work/helping others at times, as I'm sure some others who tithe do, but if the preacher is against people tithing that is his view. Thanks for your articles anyway. God bless and guide you always.
ReplyDeleteHi Susanne-FaithWoman,
DeleteI cannot speak for Pastor Poonen, but here is what I got from what he says here.
** The comment about "despising" money comes from Matthew 6:24 (and Luke 16;13).
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
God often uses the sentiments of "love" and "hate" to denote how extremely estranged our devotion should be to one thing vs. another (i.e. Luke 14:26). Our love for God ought to be such that what we feel for money could be akin to "hatred" or "despising" it.
** The point I believe Pastor Poonan makes about tithing is the principle behind it that God expects us to give "10%" of our earnings. However, the reality is that all we have belongs to God and is His for us to do with as He dictates. Now certainly there is no tithing command for a born again Christian, however if God leads someone to give 10% of their income to a church, another amount to ministry, another amount to helping others...such is His business. Yet the mindset that a "tithe" meets our financial obligations towards God is wrong. While this may not be your view (praise God!), it is definitely the view of some who tithe. We should be seeking God on what to do with 100% of our resources for it is all His.
I have summarized the message to the best of my ability, but my summaries can never replace the benefit of listening directly to the message and should never be taken as direct quotes from the speaker. It could be that listening to the message (if you have not already) might give a different perspective than what I have summarized here. Please blame me for any issues in documenting the message and not the speaker.
God Bless!
By the way, that caveat about my summaries goes for any speaker I post on the blog. I try to summarize, but never judge the speaker on my summaries as they could be skewed by my perception of the message. Thanks :-)
DeleteSound post and Sound teaching from Pastor Zack Poonen, we need more preachers like this, speaking the truth about the word of God, thanks again, God bless, 1 Love.
ReplyDelete