The reality of important things
"Money, money, money, money... money
Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it"
(For the Love of Money, Music and Lyrics by The O'Jays"
There is a lot of talk about money these days... the lack of it, the excess spending of it, the borrowing of it. The gains and losses are totaled up for us neatly on a daily basis by numbers moving across the television screen at lightning speed, with fortunes being made and lost in seconds, rather than months or years.
In the developing nation of Kenya we are not immune from it either. When mobile telephone giant Safaricom offered shares of the company to the public at a initial public offer price of five shillings a share, the average wananchi (person) went crazy. Promises of getting rich quick abounded everywhere for this eagerly anticipated IPO. Even people were coming to me asking for an "investment" of 2,000 shillings (the minimum number of shares were 400) that they were sure, once the price skyrocketed, I would receive my original money back and they a windfall profit.
Months later, the stock stands at 3.30 shillings a share with few of the original investors recouping their losses. Yet somehow out there, the elusive dollar signs (or shillings) are always out of grasp, promising but seldom delivering. The opposite however is untrue as well. Poverty does not equal piety, as most of our slum-dwelling congregation can attest to.
The lives of so many people who are immersed in chronic poverty can be measured by one's view of wealth. To many, they came to the city for "a better life" far from the dreary day-to-day routine of village life, herding animals or raising crops. Opportunity or jobs are promised in great abundance, so they sell all they have and find out that work is scarce except for those in power and privilege and they remain permanently stuck in misery. Meanwhile, the relatives upcountry are not dissuaded and expect them to make good by sending money and gifts home whenever they travel back to the village.
The love of money is an enticing kind of bondage that is crippling not just people in the world, but us as Christians as well. Either we make the mistake of making money our idol, or we trample it underfoot, thinking it useful for nothing good in this world, when in fact the scriptures teach neither. In fact, Jesus commended the children of this world (He seldom does elsewhere) for being more wise and shrewd than the children of light. While worldly people often use money to gain advantages for themselves, we Christians seldom use our wealth to gain advantage for kingdom priorities. Often this results in rather a miserly, prideful approach that does nothing to advance God's kingdom, but brings a bad reputation upon Christians.
"Freely we give, freely we shall receive." By using godly wisdom and prayerful insight God will give us the answers to all our financial questions in the resources He has entrusted to us. We just need to get out of the way and loosen our grip on our wallets so that God can work for His glory, and yes that includes me first and foremost. I have no right to hold back anything from God, since He gave His only Son, and held back nothing from me.
Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it"
(For the Love of Money, Music and Lyrics by The O'Jays"
There is a lot of talk about money these days... the lack of it, the excess spending of it, the borrowing of it. The gains and losses are totaled up for us neatly on a daily basis by numbers moving across the television screen at lightning speed, with fortunes being made and lost in seconds, rather than months or years.
In the developing nation of Kenya we are not immune from it either. When mobile telephone giant Safaricom offered shares of the company to the public at a initial public offer price of five shillings a share, the average wananchi (person) went crazy. Promises of getting rich quick abounded everywhere for this eagerly anticipated IPO. Even people were coming to me asking for an "investment" of 2,000 shillings (the minimum number of shares were 400) that they were sure, once the price skyrocketed, I would receive my original money back and they a windfall profit.
Months later, the stock stands at 3.30 shillings a share with few of the original investors recouping their losses. Yet somehow out there, the elusive dollar signs (or shillings) are always out of grasp, promising but seldom delivering. The opposite however is untrue as well. Poverty does not equal piety, as most of our slum-dwelling congregation can attest to.
The lives of so many people who are immersed in chronic poverty can be measured by one's view of wealth. To many, they came to the city for "a better life" far from the dreary day-to-day routine of village life, herding animals or raising crops. Opportunity or jobs are promised in great abundance, so they sell all they have and find out that work is scarce except for those in power and privilege and they remain permanently stuck in misery. Meanwhile, the relatives upcountry are not dissuaded and expect them to make good by sending money and gifts home whenever they travel back to the village.
The love of money is an enticing kind of bondage that is crippling not just people in the world, but us as Christians as well. Either we make the mistake of making money our idol, or we trample it underfoot, thinking it useful for nothing good in this world, when in fact the scriptures teach neither. In fact, Jesus commended the children of this world (He seldom does elsewhere) for being more wise and shrewd than the children of light. While worldly people often use money to gain advantages for themselves, we Christians seldom use our wealth to gain advantage for kingdom priorities. Often this results in rather a miserly, prideful approach that does nothing to advance God's kingdom, but brings a bad reputation upon Christians.
"Freely we give, freely we shall receive." By using godly wisdom and prayerful insight God will give us the answers to all our financial questions in the resources He has entrusted to us. We just need to get out of the way and loosen our grip on our wallets so that God can work for His glory, and yes that includes me first and foremost. I have no right to hold back anything from God, since He gave His only Son, and held back nothing from me.
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