Riches and the Kingdom

Rom 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

When I newly became a Christian, I often wondered why there was no Christian that was among the first 10 richest men in the world. I knew Pat Robertson owned the Christian Broadcasting Network and that he must be rich, but he wasn't among the first 10 richest men in America or the world. My reasoning went along the lines that if God was powerful, then he could make it so that Christians would be the richest people on earth. Then non-Christians would see the benefit of being Christian and convert and so a lot more people would go to heaven. I must confess that thoughts about purpose and serving God for the right reason’s never entered my mind.

Now that I'm older in the faith, I have come to understand that calling yourself a Christian and having a fat bank balance do not necessarily go together. In fact, a man can be extremely backslidden and still be filthy rich. Paul talked about those who preached Christ for the sakes of their bellies. He also made remarks about people like Demas who had forsaken Paul and Christ for the pleasures of this world. There are a lot of people who started out following Christ, who wanted to do God’s will. Somewhere along the way, the pleasures, ambitions and cares of this world drew them away from Jesus. Some people love the applause of men rather than the applause of heaven. There are those who think that loving others is the greatest commandment. Some people have received ecclesiastical titles from other men and they and the people who look at them think that they and God must be first cousins. But if the truth were to be told, their hearts are far from God.   

Having riches is not evidence of a relationship with God. Conversely, a relationship with God could translate into riches. However, a relationship with God is characterised by the fact that we have right standing with God through his son Jesus and that despite all that goes on around us and in the world, there’s a peace in our hearts. Also, joy follows us because we know that we are in his will for us.

I know of quite a number of miserable men and women who have quite a lot of money. A few years ago, I remember reading the story of a German billionaire who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train because he had lost a few billion Euros in the stock market. But he was still a billionaire. God wants to give us stuff but he doesn't want the stuff he gives us to have a hold on us. We should be able to leave everything we have at the drop of a hat to follow Jesus, otherwise the things we can’t leave have become gods and idols to us, replacing God. That is not what God wants. He wants us to have a relationship with him such that whenever he comes looking for us, unlike the first Adam, we can boldly and confidently looking him in the face and say, “Here I am.”

JC Cruz is the author of the novel, DECEPTIO, a thriller which has the persecution of Christians for their faith as one of its themes. DECEPTIO, published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx.  He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story about love, rejection and redemption available here   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/