Dear Unbeliever - Why Do Preachers Live Extravagantly?
Dear Unbeliever,
I would like to claim that we are kind of “Besties” now since you’ve been following my letters. Welcome to Letter 6 and today I will try to address your concern on why you think some preachers or religious leaders lead extravagant lives yet, we try to guilt you (Unbelievers) for spending your money anyway you please? Well, I don’t know many extravagant preachers but if you’re referring to the ones who own “Mega Churches'', private airports and private jets, driving in Bentleys and own private Islands and have some cash stored in foreign banks, then let’s have a bit of a discussion here.
I’ve been studying the bible more lately and I really haven’t come across any scripture that says it is wrong to make money or have wealth. People who live and work in the Kingdom of God are not supposed to be average, poor and hungry. Matter of fact, the earth and everything in it belong to our Father Jesus so we are entitled to the riches and glory in it. When God anoints His men and makes them shepherds over thousands of flock, it comes with thousands of blessings as well. The same way the healthcare industry needs money to fund it, the spiritual care industry is just as relevant if not more, and needs resources to operate it. Men and Women of God do not DEMAND money from their members - the bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” This means that when Believers give, they are giving out of what they have been blessed with to support the work of God and the leader at the helm of things. I don’t see anyone criticizing King Solomon for living an extravagant life and why? It is because God was the one who blessed Him with it. In Deuteronomy 8:18, it is revealed that the Lord gives us the power to get wealth (paraphrased). So if I am a child of God and working His field, He has every right and at His discretion to bestow wealth and riches upon my life. Now, if I abuse that blessing or misuse it for anything other than living a comfortable life and blessing His Kingdom and the world at large, there will be severe consequences for me in this world or the next.
What I am expressing here is that, you (Unbelievers) are allowed to spend your money and wealth anyhow, we are also allowed to make money righteously but we don’t have that ‘extravagant spending’ exemptions as you do. What you see these men and women of God owning doesn’t mean abuse. Why do secular celebrities feel the need to fly private jets? Efficiency correct? Because they have to get to a stadium where Thirty Thousand plus people are waiting for them to perform. Any regular flight delays can affect these many people won’t it? Why is that different from servants of God also getting to multiple destinations to minister the word of God to thousands of souls who are waiting to hear it? While the secular world believes that they are blessing people through their entertainments and all, we are blessing God’s Kingdom by setting people free from bondages and bringing them to the knowledge of Christ Jesus. The question to ask is what is your wealth doing for humanity and the Kingdom of God? If it is not blessing anyone, then you can call it wasteful. If we (Believers) do not use the wealth and riches we are given to bless His Kingdom, we will pay for it dearly. You on the other hand, no one will hold you accountable on how you spend your wealth and riches. We have someone we need to give an account of our lives to - Jesus our Father and Lord.
I have heard many Unbelievers misquote and misinterpret this scripture to tell us Believers that we shouldn’t aim for riches and wealth since we think it’s evil - 1 Timothy 6:10 KJV, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Let us be clear that the scripture says “the love” of money. Anything you love, you put your heart and soul into and when you do that, it will lead you to evil. Money is power and when people have more riches and wealth than they need or want, it can cloud their judgement and they can abuse it and cause a lot of evil with it. Money falling into the right hands can do a lot of good. Look at all the wealthy men in business - how much good they do with their monies and wealth, donating to charities and helping to alleviate poverty in many countries.
I learned recently about the Four (4) levels of economic realms: 1. Survival zone, 2. Comfort zone, 3.Luxury and 4. Extravagant zone. Both Survival Zone and Extravagant Zone can lead you to sin and away from God. Believers must strive to be in the Comfort Zone where all the needs are met and in the Luxury Zone where their wants and certain quality of life is available to them as well.
My prayer for you this week is that, even if you do not have a relationship with Christ Jesus, use your resources to bless humanity and not to waste it. Blessing humanity is blessing the Kingdom of God. May you be blessed when you go out and blessed when you come in this week. AMEN!
To be continued….
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Dear Unbeliever - You Are Right - Most Christian Believers Are Broke and Poor
Dear Unbeliever,
First let me thank you for taking an interest and indulging me while I share my thoughts and opinions thus far. This is part 5 of my letter so if you are just stumbling on this, please start from part 1. You wonder why we (Christian Believers), preach abundance and prosperity yet most of us are poor and miserable? Well, that cannot be enticing, can it? I mean, you don’t even believe in what we believe in yet you’re doing well on your job, you’re OK financially and have all your basic needs met while we Believers seem to be struggling to even put food on the table.
You know, for a long time I also associated Christianity with being broke and poor all the time because as I was growing up in the church, I saw most of the church members in that situation with just a handful living well. These were usually made chairmen or supporters of church events and it was always the same set of people. The rest of the members could barely make ends meet, their landlords were kicking them out for the most part and literally in survival mode all the time. Apart from the people I saw, my own household was in that range. There were some days of comfort and some days of survival but I was still seeing God move and use my mother mightily. For a while I thought God doesn’t keep His word - why should my mother, who chose to live religiously and serve Him with all she had, go broke some days? While she made sure that we had everything we needed, I didn’t have everything I wanted. To be honest with you - that drove my desire and pursuit to even leave my country, come and settle here in the USA and for a very long time, my idea was to work my behind off to get all the things I needed and wanted in life. Well, that journey has been an interesting one that we will have to chat about some day. God has blessed my efforts and now that I know better, it has truly been Him who allows me to have any and everything I have been able to get in this land thus far. I will not even try to pretend here that I do anything on my strength. Whatever breadth I have, it’s just by His mercy and grace and He daily replenishes me and expands my capacity.
As I started to study the bible, I noticed how God was very sympathetic to the poor and strongly encouraged us to look out for them and support them. So, I asked myself, why did He allow people to be poor if He knows it’s not a good thing? I mean the bible says the “…earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” - Psalm 24:1 KJV, which means that if we call ourselves children of the most high God, then we really should lack nothing but we lack so much. To add to my confusion, I found this scripture: Proverbs 22:2 ESV; The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all. Did God really make some rich and others poor? I don’t think so and here’s why. He revealed through Jeremiah 29:11 that He had plans for us when He was forming us – these plans were actually to prosper us and give us HOPE for the future. Poverty and lack doesn’t look like hope and prosperity to me. So NO, He didn’t create some rich and some poor. However, He blesses us according to our abilities and capacity to handle the things He bestows on us.
I have come to see and believe that most Christians are broke and poor because of our mindsets and understanding of the things of God. We still lack those principles of creating financial independence and building wealth because we sit in churches that do not teach a balanced doctrine. The spiritual growth and personal growth of individuals should be taught hand in hand. Feeding the spirit alone is not enough, we need to give Believers the Kingdom tools needed to grow financially as well. Jesus is a huge advocate for our financial success. He doesn’t want to see us lack when we are living in a Kingdom filled with abundance. For those who also receive these tools, they don’t put it to practice. Somehow, they believe that it will divinely happen that one day they will wake up and there will be millions sitting in their bank accounts. That’s called magic – not God’s hand. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen God divinely intervene in financial situations especially with me that blew my mind but He did it in such a way that I wasn’t sitting there waiting for it to fall from the skies. He presented the opportunities and with prayer and obedience, I trusted Him and worked these opportunities. Then, He used the opportunities to bless me. I secretly wished He would have just given it to me without my effort at all but, how else would I have matured? If He had to spoon feed us with everything, we will forever be infants looking for milk. King Solomon with divine wisdom taught us to go to the ant and learn its way, (Proverbs 6:6-11 paraphrased). This advise has fallen through the sides of the ears of most believers. We snooze and slug as if every day were a Christmas holiday. We don’t develop habits of effectiveness and efficiency.
I have also seen the work ethics of most believers and it’s nothing to write home about. The bible admonishes us to work at everything as if we are working for the Lord, (Colossians 3:23 paraphrased) but most Christians don’t obey this order from God. Honestly, most people wished they didn’t have to work at all but somehow magically made money. The tardiness, dishonesty on the job and just doing enough to get paid mentality is why most Believers will continue to lack in this Kingdom. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus gave a parable and most of us Christians are like that man who had the one talent and went to hide it. We cheat the employer – using work time for our personal stuff and God is quietly watching it all. Some of us have done it for so long we actually believe God approves of it and we are literally shocked the day He strikes. Your employer is also asking for God’s help to protect him from cheating men and bless his business so he can bless others – who do you think God will listen to and help? Your employer because he is blessing more people in God’s kingdom than you are! If there is one thing I have come to know about God and not to mess with at all, it is that He is a God of principles and He will NOT compromise who He is for anyone. He said in His word that when your obedience is complete, He will punish all disobedience which means if I don’t obey, I’m at the mercy of whatever life throws at me as He will not defend me (2 Corinthians 10:6 paraphrased). God hates disobedience and most Christians are rebels when it comes to obeying God. Hence our suffering.
The other reason I found as to why Christians are broke is because most of us have not mastered the principles of stewardship in the Kingdom of God. We are not owners; we are stewards of whatever God blesses us with including our children. Unfortunately, most of us have managed our lives very poorly. Lack of financial management has landed us broke and some poor. Don’t get me wrong, there have been real catastrophes that are beyond human control which landed most people in debt and other tough financial situations. Satan knows where to hit Believers hard and it’s in our financial independence. He will not let you get there because His goal it to steal our time to focus on anything else but God. If you’re working 3+ jobs here and there just to make ends meet, where will you find the time and energy to study the word of God and even pray? In most unforeseen financial hardships, God in His mercy intervenes by giving us a pathway to get out of it. BUT, there are some people who had and have no reason to be in lack or poverty if you see the amount of income and resources God has blessed them with. A lot of us have not learned to live within our means or save for raining days. Whatever we see we must own it and here lies our pathway to being broke. There are Christians who feel the need to have a new outfit for church every Sunday and guess what, if you have the means do it but if it renders you broke, why do it?
A lot of Christians are also afraid to give because we believe we won’t have enough left. We haven’t learned the principles of blessing others with our time, money and resources. Giving activates reciprocity. Giving sows a seed in people lives – as they pray and thank you with their “God bless You”, the heavens hear them and they return it to you. The law of cause and effect which is also called Karma, is at work in us every day, every time. What you put out will come to you. We should never forget that. When you give it will be given to you, when you take it will be taken from you. That’s why some people always have enough to lend while others never have enough but always borrow.
My dear Unbeliever, it looks as if I am agreeing with you on most of your concerns about us and you are right – I do agree with you because I see these issues front and center as well and I will not cover up anything to deceive you into coming to Christ. On this issue of poverty and lack, I can go on for pages but I hope I have given you enough reasons to understand why we preach abundance and prosperity yet we struggle, while you are thriving on your jobs even when you don’t believe in God. You see, the same principles you apply to your lives to create your financial independence and wealth is available for us all but most of us Believers are disobedient and we don’t use them. Being in Christ and following Christ does not mean you should lose your principles of building financial independence. You have to apply them because God wants us to prosper to that we can live comfortably, bless His Kingdom and bless the rest of the world. I also believe in spiritual manipulation, territorial effects and etc. that have genuinely rendered some people poor and these are the people God encourages us to help and be there for them. I know a God who blesses efforts and can deliver you from any and every situation.
As you go about your week, I pray that you will remain diligent in whatever the Lord has blessed you with. If there is any financial door that is closed in your life, may the Lord open it for you. May the Lord give some of us a second chance to be good stewards of the things He will bless us with. Above all, may the grace of the Lord that gives us the power to create wealth rest on all of us this week and always. AMEN!
To be continued…
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Dear Unbeliever - Yes Most Christian Believers Are Hypocrites!
Dear Unbeliever,
Welcome to Part 4 of my letter. I hope you have read the first 3 parts of my letter because I don’t want to lose you in thoughts and it will be very beneficial for you to start from the beginning. That said, this part of my letter addresses a key concern that Unbelievers have towards us Believers. How do we get to condemn you (Unbelievers) to hell, playing God and judging over your lives when you see our (Believers) hypocrisy on full display? We secretly do the same things you do and even worse but then we call you all kinds of names and act so pious on Sundays or when we are in church. We say one thing and do another.
Full disclosure here? I concur with you. Most of us Believers have not earned the right to even convince you to change your lives let alone judge or condemn you. God is the ultimate judge - because He’s the only one who sees our hearts and knows our innermost thoughts. I am just as dumbfounded as you are about the hypocrisy of most Christians, but, I have to remind myself that as long as we exist in the flesh and blood, the imperfect lies wait for us. Christian or not, we are just as human as we all can be - so fallible. However, when the Spirit of God comes to dwell in you, He is the only one that can bring true transformation. Don’t be confused yet - most Christians do not have the indwelling of the Spirit of God, aka, the Holy Spirit. I told you earlier we will talk about Him at some point. You see, you cannot carry the presence of God or His spirit and still live in sin. He is holy. The God that we serve is also omniscient and omnipresent. Luke 12:2 ESV: “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” There’s nothing He doesn’t know and nowhere under the sun or up in the heavens that you can run and hide to commit some kind of sin that He does not see or know about.
Do you know that Jesus cannot stand hypocrites? Oh if you will indulge me, I’ll give you a few scriptures. Matthew 7:5 ESV: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Yes He hates hypocrisy with passion because it misleads people and drives away people like you who think that is who He is, but I am here to tell you that God hates hypocrisy. The people that say they love God but then you find them doing the same things you are doing, they truly do not love God. In Matthew 15:8 NIV, Jesus even reiterated that “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”. Yup - He knows the hearts of every so-called Believer who does not do His will but calls themselves followers of Christ. In John 8:1-11, there’s a story of a woman who was caught in the act of adultery and the law demanded that she should be stoned to death. Do you know that Jesus stopped them from stoning her? He only asked them a simple question - “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Do you know they all left and none of them was pious enough to lift a stone over this woman? Yes - the so-called law-abiding and religious people were not even in right standing with God yet, they were going to pass judgment on another person because she had sinned.
Do you realize now that God doesn’t even condemn you? So if He doesn’t condemn you, then let me assure you that no human being has been given that authority to condemn another human being. God hates sin, EVERY kind of sin. He is a holy God. He is without blemish. He also knows our weakness as humans and because of that, He gave us a pathway to enable us to live a life free of sin. That pathway is accepting His son Jesus Christ and living as Christ lived. The Bible is our roadmap and guiding light to living a righteous life. Personally, as I continue to study the word of God and fellowship intimately with Him through prayer, I see my life being transformed daily. The spirit of God deeply convicts me when I am in the wrong and He gives me a chance to make it right. I’ve learned to forgive easily, and to also apologize and ask for forgiveness if I cross the line with anyone. It doesn’t diminish who I am but it helps me stay in alignment with the Spirit of God and I also like to live my life with a clear conscience. I sleep better :).
So, as you go about your lives this week, I want you to ignore these people that 2 Timothy 3:5 ESV talks about, “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people”. In other words, those Christians who do what you do but then condemn you, avoid them! Be rest assured that anyone who judges those who practice sinful things and yet do them themselves will not escape the judgment of God. (Romans 2:3 paraphrased). God seeks for you and He desires to make Himself known to you so that such people will not push you away from Him. I hope by now, if you’ve still been following my letters, see a different Jesus Christ than what the tainted Believers have made you think of Him? He loves you more than anyone on this planet will - even your own parents or children cannot love you as much. I want you to meditate on that this week and I look forward to you reading part 5 of my letter next week.
To be continued….
XOXO,
Lady Abena.