Posted on 11/04/2025 8:41:00 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
If wealth were altogether bad, why would we give it to the poor?
That would only make their situation worse, right? The very fact that God wants us to give wealth to those who do not have it proves it is intrinsically good.
So we must affirm the “good of affluence,” as John Schneider has put it, even as we also reckon with its dangers. We can be “godly materialists” (again, Schneider) but must always remember that our godliness should drive and control our pursuit of and use of material things. It is possible to have holy ambition that is fully consistent with biblical contentment; there is nothing biblical about being apathetic or indifferent. The Bible’s teaching on wealth is full of tension points.
…Wealth can be gained righteously or wickedly, and it can be used righteously or wickedly. There are righteous and wicked rich people, just like there are righteous and wicked poor people. The rich are not automatically condemned and the poor are not automatically justified. The world is more complicated than that.
Further, note that we have certain obligations that we cannot fulfill unless we are at least moderately successful financially
(Excerpt) Read more at pastor.trinity-pres.net ...
Incredible even what the likes of Elon Musk has done just in a few years. And I pray he will grow in faith…And that more of his peers join him.
there are almost 0 real Christians in the world today.
To find one would almost be like finding one family in the time of noah, or part of another family in the gomorrah area.
but it is very hard for a billionaire to go through the needles eye.
I have never met Musk and I have not yet decided if I even want to.
I volunteer. 🙋♂️
Billionaires having a bad rap right now is giving capitalism a bad name…even among the populist MAGA right.
Me too! 🙋🏻♀️
Heh, heh. It’s been said that riches can’t buy happiness. All I aks is for the opportunity to find out for myself. Ha haaaaa! 😜
The Federal Reserve was established to dispossess Christians. Fix that first.
I don’t understand how a Christian could get to the point where he would become a billionaire? It seems to me that he should have been sharing with the poor long before he had gotten to that point.
Matthew 19:21-22
Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me. 22 And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions.
There’s several Saints throughout the centuries that have done that - sold their status and wealth. There’s a reason Nuns and Monks have vowed lives of poverty. St Teresa in India for instance.
When you’re poor, you get to lay your head on our Lord’s shoulder in Gethsemane. I imagine there are billionaires that may read and believe the story but can they ever experience that closeness?
We don’t need more Christian billionaires.
We need more Christians to act like Christians. It’s not only the responsibility of billionaires to help the poor or institute social change.
Jesus commission is for all believers is to go and preach the gospel, not to affect social change through wealth or power influencing. The point is for people to be saved, not made more comfortable in this life while they’re going to hell.
A whole world of *Christian billionaires* are not going to change people’s hearts and cause them to accept Christ and be saved.
They are not providing those things because they're billionaires. They became billionaires by providing something people wanted.
In the sermon, I pointed out that many of the people God used most to accomplish his purposes on earth had great wealth — Abraham, Moses, Job, and so on. Sometimes we can be overly romantic about grass roots, bottom-up cultural change. I certainly believe God uses “the little guy” too and most Christians are not part of the elite (1 Cor. 1). But more often than not, those who change the culture are the wealthy and well-connected. Thus my thesis in the title of this blog post: We need more wealthy (even super wealthy) Christians who can use their power for good in the world. We need rich and powerful Christians who can use their influence to extend God’s kingdom purposes, support the church, counter persecution, etc. We need Christians who start and run businesses that are so essential, they become uncancelable. Social reformation usually comes from the top down — so we need more faithful Christians at the top.
No, we need people to pray. Changing circumstances does nothing to change the heart and save anyone.
His whole article meandered all over the place and took way to long to get to this point. It's a study in how to NOT write a defense of your position. It was tedious and simply rationalization.
The apostles on the day of Pentecost were neither rich nor powerful and connected, but they turned the world upside down. THAT is what we need today.
And money and connections are not needed to do it.
Even though I have never bought a lottery ticket, I have said that if I were to win a massive jackpot, I would not donate 10% to my church, nor to any one ministry.
That would be irresponsible and would relieve everyone else in the congregation of their responsibility.
If I did make a huge donation to an organization, I would cease any personal involvement with them because I would have an undue amount of influence.
That said, there’s a huge place for wealthy men in the church. I used to volunteer with a Christian camp. One day a couple pulled up and asked to see the camp and learn about the ministry.
He was a wealthy Christian businessman who was in the remote area looking at a nearby property that was previously a small church camp. He was going to buy it for hunting. After learning of the ministry at the Christian camp, he was intrigued. A couple weeks later he called and said “If I buy the old Church camp and donate it to you, can you use it for the Lord’s work? Even though they had no idea what to do with it, they accepted the challenge and have been using the property wisely ever since.
Without that one wealthy man and his somewhat spur of the moment idea, the ministry of that camp would not exist today.
I kind of expect that there has to be a time before the end where certain people will be able to feed thousands with some fish and loaves, turn water into wine, perform miracles that would be looked at as ‘even greater than the miracles’ performed in the scriptures, like John 14:12.
And money won’t be able to buy any of it.
Sort of describing an end times outpouring of His Holy Spirit, that will be a double portion, and money will no longer ‘talk’, it’ll be the Holy Spirit doing the talking.
The days of money doing all the talking has a shelf life..
“They are not providing those things because they’re billionaires. They became billionaires by providing something people wanted.”
The statement is true but incomplete.
They also need some luck at key points—and in the modern environment most used government resources—contracts, favorable regulations restricting competition etc.
Capitalism - The rich become powerful
Socialism - The powerful become rich
And seeing how rich Bernie Sanders is, that pretty much tells you where we are.
True.
Jesus changed hearts and one of the ways was by healing the sick.
Physically.
By your logic, Christians shouldn’t strive to be doctors or nurses. They serve no real good purpose.
By your logic, a 12 year old foster kid from Appalachia, diagnosed with cancer, doesn’t need healthcare, only a Gospel tract.
🙄
The Devil, the Fall of Adam - are behind many of ailments that afflict mankind. From illness to abject poverty.
Christ did not come just to save, but to *redeem.*
Fighting physical illness, feeding the hungry. Is spiritual warfare. It is being the hands and feet of Christ and doing His will on earth as it is in Heaven.
Jesus changed hearts and one of the ways was by healing the sick.
Physically.
By your logic, Christians shouldn’t strive to be doctors or nurses. They serve no real good purpose.
By your logic, a 12 year old foster kid from Appalachia, diagnosed with cancer, doesn’t need healthcare, only a Gospel tract.
🙄
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
- James 1:27
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