“The problem isn’t money.”

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith (Kindle Locations 2335-2336). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Here is the context of this statement. Larry says, “Today there’s also a strong tendency to read the Bible through the lens of a poverty gospel. This is the predictable pendulum swing away from the nonsense and excesses of the prosperity gospel, which claimed that God wanted everyone healthy and wealthy. The poverty gospel declares the opposite. It asserts that godliness is found in simplicity, suffering, and poverty. It has a built-in bias against wealth.”

He then says, “Try this sometime. Ask a group of younger Christians if the Bible says that money is the root of all evil. Nearly every hand will go up. But that’s not what the Bible says. It says that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that some who were eager to get rich wandered from the faith and brought great grief into their life. (1 Timothy 6: 9 – 10). The problem isn’t money. It’s the love of money and an eagerness to get rich that leads to spiritual compromises.”

Now in looking at this matter of the poverty gospel he goes on to say, “It has no room for a God who blesses us with good things to enjoy. Instead God wants us to live as simply as possible so that we can give away as much as possible. They won’t come right out and say it, but all you have to do is listen to their sermons and read their books, and it becomes clear that today’s money police are quite sure that no true disciple would buy a big house, drive an expensive car, go on a fancy vacation, splurge on a nice restaurant, wear designer clothes, or attend a church with elaborate facilities.”

Be careful. God wants to bless us but he wants us to love him more than the blessing. But he does want to bless us because he loves us.

Money is not the problem it is the love of it. The same could be said of our poverty. God wants us to love him and be obedient to him and to trust him in his blessing to us and to others.

So how are you doing in your attitude toward money?

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