THE KINGDOM PRINCEPLES OF MONEY

Principle Number 2

Establish the right mindset about money - Part 4

Pastor Maselo Mosomane

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” (Matthew 25:14-18)

Fellow preachers, I am speaking to you! Do you really believe some of the things you say in the church about money? Can you practice some of these things you say about money in real life? I doubt. But if you can, then I need to repent. If you cannot practice what you preach, how do you expect others to do so? One day; and not very long, you will be booed, attacked and thrown out of the podium by an angry congregation. Preachers; are we blinds leading the blinds? Is our preaching only leading to knowledge and not action? God forbid!

We need money to preach the gospel. Did you know that the gospel is free? Yes, it is. Yet the means to preach it is not. Thousands and thousands of rands are needed to pitch up a tent for one to hear the free good news about Jesus. Check how much fuel is needed for a preacher to come to your place to share a message of hope. It doesn’t matter whether the preacher comes by foot, bus, train, taxi or airplane. In some instances he may come riding a donkey but the truth is, his time has to be compensated by those he preaches to. Irrespective of which mode of transport was used, the fact remains; money was spent to have the gospel reach you. The message in this book is free but the printing and packaging is not. The message through emails, internet and all sorts of digital facilities is free but the digital infrastructure is not.

This is a serious matter and it needs sober consideration. Jesus said in Matthew 10:10; “a worker is worthy of his food.” The Holy Spirit through Paul said; “Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?” 1 Corinthians 9:6-7. Every preacher of the word is worthy of his reward. “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.” It is a biblical principle that every preacher of the word must derive his or her sustenance from the people he preaches to.

This is so obvious yet many of us pay little or no attention at all. It is expensive to be saved. Someone paid for our salvation. It is true that Jesus paid for us to be saved. He did that when He shared His blood on the cross and died. This cost us nothing but it cost Him life. But this time we are talking about a payment made in hard cash: in rands and cents. Someone paid and we got the gospel free and; here we are saved and sound. Money has an important role to play in the spreading of the gospel.

We may play hypocrites and deny it. It does not bother God. The truth is; soon and very soon your needs will betray you. It won’t be long before the supermarket teller requires from you a figure that does not match what is in your wallet. Why would you wait until this late to open your eyes to the reality? Why would you have to learn the hard way when there is a better way to save your embarrassment?

The spreading of the gospel is hindered by our lack of money or our unwillingness to handle money by God’s rules. Because of lack of it we don’t contribute; because of greed we hold back what we have and as such frustrate the move of God. Poverty, greed and selfishness hinder people from contributing to the work of the Lord. If no one contributes, we might not hear the gospel and as such remain in our sins. “…And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

It is heartbreaking to draw attention to the fact that preachers are paying their own expenses to preach the gospel. “Or is it only Barnabas and I (Paul) who have no right to refrain from doing manual labour for a livelihood [in order to go about the work of the ministry]? [Consider this:] What soldier at any time serves at his own expenses?” (Corinthians 9:6,7a) (Amplified version) We all know that this is not how it ought to be; and God makes it clear in His word through Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as we have just read. When we, as believers, remain financially illiterate, we allow such things to happen. Do you see what the deception of the devil is all about? It is about scaring people away from money and keeping them poor and miserable. Friends, it is painful to be poor. It is painful not to be able to educate your children. It is painful to have bills piling up without any hope of settling one. It is painful to look into the eyes of a starving child not knowing where the next meal will come from. I am saying this because I know what it is to be poor and I hate it.