Money makes the world go round. It really does, but of course that’s just stating the obvious. Money is also one of the things people trust God with the least. And I don’t think the economy collapsing was really a coincidence, or just something that kind of happened. I think it should be a wake-up call to America, and to the world really. But I just have some thoughts on money that I want to share. Can I just say that the amount of money some people have, and what they do with it genuinely makes me sick? Like, watching television shows and seeing these rich and famous people (and let me just say that in order to get your own TV show now, crazy is the only requirement…just saying), and seeing what they do with all this money they have. People have HUGE mansions, for like only two or three people to live in. They buy expensive cars, and expensive clothing just for the mere fact that it’s expensive. People have two or three houses, big boats, maids because they can’t clean their own houses themselves…. What’s up with that???!! Even though I didn’t grow up with a lot of money, I’m actually extremely grateful for that because I know what’s actually valuable to me. And it’s not materialistic possessions. I’m proud of the fact that I usually don’t spend more than $10 on a t-shirt, because I know how to shop. I know where to go to get great things for good prices, and name-brands don’t mean that much to me. But some people spend thousands of dollars on a dress they are going to wear once. And yet there are people in our country and our world struggling just to get by. Does that seem right to you? It doesn’t seem right to me. I will admit that I too probably spend too much money on things I shouldn’t. But I came across these people once that were getting married…and they spent $19,000…on the CAKE. Just on the cake, that doesn’t even begin to cover the rest of the wedding. And to be honest I bet that cake didn’t even taste that good, because I ate an expensive cake once at a wedding and it was dry…I’m just saying. Anyway, that just makes me sick. That kind of money could feed a third-world country for probably a year. But instead it was going to be spent on a cake that a bunch of rich people were going to eat. Maybe that sounds harsh but I don’t care. TV shows like “The Real Housewives of Whatever Town” open my eyes to people who spend their entire lives trying to keep up with the “Joneses.” WHO are these Joneses and why do people care so much about them?
You know what else bugs me? Christian merchandise that’s so expensive. Bibles that cost so much… Christian t-shirts that cost so much. WHY! It’s just like how healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food… Christian merchandise is so much more expensive that secular merchandise and it doesn’t make one bit of sense to me. I don’t know, maybe I just don’t know where all the money goes.
I remember when I was younger, I got maybe $50 for my birthday. Not from just one person, it was a combination. I was SO excited…cause that’s a lot of money for a little girl. So I went to Wal-mart and spent all my money on toys. And I realized that $50 didn’t get me that far. You know why? Cause I spent it on stuff I was gonna outgrow within a year. I still look back and think what if I had been more wise with my money and not bought all these toys that I was going to get tired of so soon? Of course, I was only 9 or 10…but i’m much older now and I still find myself doing that. I’m starting to get better, but as humans I think we generally don’t do well.
Sometimes I see this among churches. It seems like so many churches want to be bigger and better, and they’re expanding. And you know what, that’s fine if churches are growing that’s great. But do you need to have the biggest and best building with all this eye candy? When Jesus preached, He had no microphone or fancy stuff….or a playplace (I saw a giant playplace inside of a church once, it was crazy!). He simply offered himself and the gospel…and thousands of people stood outside in the hot sun with not much food to eat just because they wanted to hear it. They wanted to hear the gospel so badly.
Jesus didn’t conform or alter anything about his message to try to pull people in. He believed that the people who wanted to hear, would hear. And he didn’t have to dress it up in any particular way because preachers shouldn’t be salesmen. I talked to my friend the other night, and she was telling me that we need to be careful when we preach the gospel we shouldn’t have to sell it like a salesperson. And I had to really think about it in order to make sense to me. And salesmen try to dress things up to make it look all nice, and they think of ways to make their product more appealing to the person they’re trying to pitch to. Should we treat God’s word like that? If you look at Jesus’s sermons, he didn’t make ANYTHING about them appealing. In fact, a lot of it was incredibly unappealing from a worldly viewpoint. I mean, taking up your cross and following him? Turning against your mother and father? Giving up your treasures and riches? Nothing sounded all that nice and great. It was simply the truth, and it wasn’t watered down or tied together with a big bow in a nice little package. And I even find myself doing that sometimes, trying to make church sound as appealing as possible. But that’s not being genuine is it? Because a lifestyle of a Christian shouldn’t be nice and fun. It means giving up things you don’t want to, and accepting things even when you don’t understand why completely. But that’s what it is. I’m not trying to be critical it’s just a thought that’s been bugging me that I’ve noticed about some churches I have visited.
I even notice it more-so with televangelists. They sit up there with there expensive suits and rolex watches and tell you to send them money. Where is that money going to? Yes, we should support other ministries; but God is very clear about 10% going to the CHURCH. Going to YOUR church. Sending money off to support other ministries and missions is wonderful; but God wants you to be in a church and be supporting it financially before you do anything else. If churches really want people to tithe their earnings, I think they need to think about where that money is going to, and if they are making wise choices. Back in Leviticus 36, Moses is giving the Israelites all the instructions the Lord gave him on how to build the tabernacle; and he lets them know exactly what he needs in order to make it happen. And the people started giving all their resources…they gave so much that in verse 6 Moses had to tell them to stop!! Because they had MORE than enough contributions…how crazy is that!! There are two pieces of this story that fascinate me…the fact that the Israelites gave so much that Moses had to finally tell them to stop…and the fact that Moses had to tell them to stop because they had more than enough to finish the project. Moses didn’t want to take more than what he felt he needed in order to complete God’s vision for His tabernacle. He could have easily continued accepting contributions from the people and done even more with it, but he didn’t do that. He stopped them. How crazy is that? Just an interesting part of the story to me.
So I don’t know…I guess it just makes me sick of what some people spend their money on. I don’t mean this to sound harsh or critical, but there are so many people out there that aren’t being good stewards of what God has given them. So many people refuse to give God 10% of their earnings, yet they throw it away on stuff that’s really not that important. And yet they want to be blessed by God. I’m trying to really tithe my money, not necessarily because I believe God is going to make me a millionaire, but because by tithing you’re saying, “Here God, I trust You.” But we shouldn’t just tithe, we should also be careful with what we do with the other 90%. Just a thought.
<3 B
