THE KINGDOM PRINCIPLES OF MONEY

Principle Number 2

Establish the right mind-set about money Part 10

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)

Just a word of advice; when we love God’s people we have to love even those who hates us or God – or both; not only those who love us. You love even those who hate you.  Jesus said to love your enemies. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5: 44)  You see; the love for money cannot do this. The love for money says; pretend to love those from whom you can get money and hate those who keep it away from you. Pretend to love them while they give their money and hate them as soon as they stop doing that. 

The bible says: “for the love of money is the root of all evil.” (1Timothy 6:10) Not money, the love of money. People who love money do not have to have any money to love it. You can love money while you don’t even have two coins to rub together. Such people want it at all costs - by hook or crook, they say. They are possessed by the love for money. They don’t care what others say; let alone what God says. As long as they can have money: to them this is what matters.  They don’t care how many people they hurt or kill along the way.  Money is the only important thing in their lives and they will do anything to get hold of it.

It is for this love of money that many people are driven into illicit behaviors. They kill for money. They will always device some dishonest means to lay their fingers on it. Risking their lives is not a big deal: as long as they can grab some. They love money more than life.  They are obsessed. They believe that money will solve all their problems. In fact they end up with more problems as soon as they get more money.

What surprises me is that the very same people who call money evil, do not want to part with it. See how much fight they will put up, should they be robbed change. They will kill you for that. They count it to the last cent. Yet they call money the devil. When the time for their salary increase comes, they employ the services of a trade union to help put more pressure on the employer for more of such “devils.” People are funny.  How can you pay someone to help you get what you call evil?  Is this how much you love the devil that you would even spend money to get him?  Go on strike to get more devils?  Incredible, isn’t it?

Such people don’t even pay their tithes: if they happen to be Christians. They refuse with their “devils,” yet they say they want to be holy. How can you be holy with so much “devils” in your bank account?  Some of such “devils” are in your pockets as you read this book right now.

The problem is that people have no problem picking up some slang. They pick up anything that sounds fashionable and never bother to check what it really mean. Nothing is said without a purpose. By so doing people end up saying things they do not mean and in the course of time they get hurt. When called to give account of what they’ve just said they say; “well I didn’t really mean it.” Haven’t you heard this?  You pick up a phone and dial a number and someone picks it up on the other side. You say; “May I speak to so and so?” “Oh! I am afraid he is not around” the answer comes?  What a funny answer! I once said to one of such people; why are you afraid? Is he not coming back? Are you always afraid when he is not around? The lady on the other side got embarrassed. You know why? Because she did not really mean she was afraid. She picked up a slang and never cared to find out what it really means.

Jesus calls this hypocrisy. Saying money is the root of all evil when you spend your entire life working for it, is indeed hypocrisy. I mean any normal person would not afford to spend even a second with his enemy - let alone the devil. How do you get it right to spend the whole of your life with the devil and never want to part with him yet you say you want to be holy?  Ridiculous!  Saying money is the root of all evil while everything you have is acquired through money does not make sense at all.  Why can’t we stop and think for ourselves?  Why can’t we say what we mean? Why do we have to pick up words that does not communicate what we mean?

We have been fed lies for a long time.  We have been following the mob for too long and never bother to check and think for ourselves. Should such people; by any chance tithe, they accuse the pastor and the leadership of the church of misusing the church’s money.  They want to control every cent that comes in. How do you control something that is not yours?  It was yours: past tense. As soon as you gave it, you lose control over it. Ownership passed from your hands to the next. Money that was once yours now belongs to the church.  If you want to control it keep it, don’t give it. You say; but they misuse it. It is the responsibility of the leadership of the church to use it wisely and to the glory of God. If indeed they misuse it; God, who is their employer, will judge them. “Who are you to judge another’s servant? (Romans 14:4)

I am not advocating that the church leadership should be at liberty to use the church’s money as they wish. The church’s money is God’s money and He controls it. Those who are entrusted to be custodians of such funds should be ruled by the fear of the Lord. There are cases; I am aware of where the church’s money is squandered on personal things. If you are a leader and you are using the church as a fund-raising scheme for your personal gain, God will judge you. He judged leaders who behaved in the same manner in the Old Testament and you are no exception. God’s property is a sacred property and it’s got to be kept that way.

  

Will this not be an exhibition of lack of knowledge at its finest point?  God says; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosiah 4: 6).  Not lack of weapons; not lack of money but lack of knowledge.  It is lack of knowledge that makes you want to control things that are not yours. Oh what a deception of the devil. He is a liar and a deceiver. The love of money is the root of all evil, not money; the love of money.  Money is not and will never be the root of all evil. Money is not evil and cannot be evil; it is not able to be anything on its own. It is how we feel about it and what we do with it that counts.