Below is a copy of the response I received back from the pastor of the church I'm currently attending. I was hoping for more dialogue on the subjects of misquoting scripture and teachings on giving. It would've been interesting to get more of his thoughts on these subjects. Oh well.
TO: Bill Linton
FROM:
DATE: November 7, 2006
Dear Bill:
I may have fallen into the trap that speakers do from time to time in trying to make a point by referencing something that I certainly do not believe. I think what I said was that we live in a world where God does not pay our Visa bills for us, and you can understand how people could get to the place where they believe God helps those who help themselves. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
I do not believe God helps those who help themselves. I understand very clearly that the Scripture teaches otherwise. I believe otherwise. I thank you for your vigilance.
Sincerely,
2 comments:
Hmmm... I'm assuming he and yourself take the phrase to imply a sort of prosperity gospel. I'm sure you realize that God does take pride in and may certainly bless those who are obedient stewards. We should not come to expect it, however, solely on the basis of perceived self-righteousness.
That's the danger and why I chose to write the letter in the first place. Prosperity gospels are absolutely false and give people a false sense that they can do something to garner favor from God, like He's some Santa Clause in the sky. In America, the land of the rich, it can be very easy to mistake God's material blessings upon us as a sign that we have done something right in His eyes. However, we have to be very careful not to fall into the same old trap which has entangled prideful self-seeking humans (of which we can all identify) since the fall. That is to crave material blessings over spiritual. This was the first recorded sin of Cain, which later led to his 2nd recorded sin (lying to Able), which led to his 3rd recorded sin (murder), which led to his 4th recorded sin (lying to God).
God's pride in us has much less to do with what we do which gains honor for ourselves or material possessions and wealth, but much more how closely we emulate His son Jesus Christ. Of course we can see from scripture how little Jesus was concerned for anything material, unless it glorified the Father.
God is much less concerned how we manage our money (unless it leads towards loving generosity) then how we manage our hearts and minds. If we look back at the story of the Talents we'll see that God is most likely not concerned with money, but spiritual gifts and how we use what He gives us (whether wealth or wisdom) to glorify Him.
Until we (all rich American Christians) realize we are the rich young rulers of our day, we will forever be bound to the material wealth we have been blessed with. Once we learn to let go of it all (see the gospel references to Nicodemus & the book of Acts, for starters), we will begin to learn that true blessings come from above and work from within.
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