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“False” has many meanings:

  • Not true or correct: For example, “a false argument”
  • Untruthful or lying: For example, “a false account”
  • Not genuine, real, or natural: For example, “false eyelashes”
  • Intended to mislead or deceive: For example, “a false rumor”
  • Disloyal or treacherous: For example, “a false friend”
  • Based on mistaken or irrelevant ideas or facts: For example, “false pride”
  • Not real; artificial; counterfeit: For example, “George Washington’s false teeth were not made of wood but of elephant ivory and cow’s teeth”

Today, we want to look at that word “false” in relation to what some stewards in the Church actually believe today!

 

False Promises Stewards Actually Believe

 

1. God wants you to be rich.

Your faithfulness with money equals abundant riches. 

1 Corinthians 4:2 states – “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

It clearly does not say wealthy and laden with stuff and money!  But it does say that the steward is to be found faithful. Can God make the faithful wealthy?  SURE. Is this to be the focus of the steward? NO! Remember that Jesus came to give you life, and life more abundant! Nowhere did he say that He WILL be giving you more “stuff.”

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17, NIV84)

Here are a few observations of this passage in relation to this false claim that God wants you to be rich:

  1. First, this was written by Paul to Timothy…to speak/share this to his CHURCH!  This was to be spoken to believers!
  2. Second, there ARE rich people in the church, and that is okay with God!  He placed them there!
  3. Third, those that are rich IN THE CHURCH, are to put their hope in GOD, not their wealth and stuff!
  4. Fourth, God is “pro-enjoyment!”  He is NOT a cosmic kill-joy!  He created joy and wants us to enjoy that which he rightfully shares with us!

God is NOT focused on you and me becoming rich! God is focused on you and me becoming faithful.

 

2. Poverty is always a sign of bad stewardship and/or God’s displeasure.

We do want to acknowledge that poverty is a result of sin. Poverty is a result of broken relationships in a broken world. 

It is a result of the brokenness of the world as it fell into sin.  This sin that has caused poverty could be because of the individual, what they did, or how they lived.  In other words, they brought this upon themselves. It is important to note that if you are in poverty it is directly related to sin. It may not be directly connected to YOUR sin, but poverty is a result of living in a cursed and broken world.

It is important to note that if you are in poverty it, is directly related to sin – either your sin, or it could be an outlier of another person or group’s sin! Please also know that it doesn’t mean that you are a hopeless victim. We believe it is the duty of the Christian to, where possible, seek to improve their situation and draw themselves out of poverty. What is the problem with poverty? Poverty obscures the image of God in the heart of mankind. A man trapped in poverty is unable to exercise the dominion that God has called him or her to exercise. Also, poverty has in the past, and still can today, caused the Believer to make poor choices and thus not bring Glory to God.

Poverty is not always a sign of poor stewardship, but it is important to note that poverty is, at times, a sign of poor stewardship. Just because you are in an impoverished situation, it DOES NOT mean that God is displeased with you. Remember, there are consequences for our choices, and that includes how we choose to use the money and resources that God places before us to steward.

 

3. More money will solve all of my problems.

Just ask Solomon!

According to some sources, King Solomon’s wealth contributed to several problems, including, idolatry, self-indulgence, neglect, and folly.

Money does not solve your problems For many people that receive it or fall into it, money actually creates many more problems like:

  • Wealth Can Lead to Vanity and Dissatisfaction
  • Increased Responsibilities and Burdens
  • Pressure to Maintain Status
  • Temptation to Trust in Wealth Rather Than God
  • Potential for Corruption: Wealth often attracts corruption and exploitation. 
  • Strained Relationships
  • Fear of Losing Wealth
  • Challenges in Discerning True Friends
  • Enticement of Materialism
  • And, there is much, much more that we could add to this list!

The hope that money will solve your problems, well, it is a false hope!  Can it assist in certain situations, yes!  But can it do much harm and damage on many different levels?  Absolutely! Remember, it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all kinds of evil!

 

4. Generosity will always come back to me many times over.

There are verses that promise certain things that would lead one to conclude that there is a 1 for 1 correlation between our generosity and God’s blessing. Verses like:

  • 2 Corinthians 9:10, NIV84 – “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
  • Luke 6:38 – “Give, and it shall be given unto you”. This verse suggests that the way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.
  • Proverbs 19:17 – “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
  • Malachi 3:10, NIV84 – “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

Does the Lord say that He will provide, and do so abundantly?  YES, but ALMOST always there are key conditions! But we cannot treat God like a cosmic vending machine, where we try to manipulate from Him certain material and financial blessings through giving. God KNOWS your heart! If you do your giving for personal financial or material gain, do you think that He would bless you?  He could, but His heart is focused on the weak, poor and hurting, and building His Kingdom!

  • Could He bless you? Yes.
  • Does He always bless you? NO.

From what I gather in Scripture, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  If you are seeking self-gain, my inclination would be that He may choose someone else to bless, for HIS Kingdom’s sake!

 

5. I’m the owner

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” (Psalm 24:1, NIV84)  

THIS IS CLEAR!  GOD OWNS EVERYTHING! Yet, many believers are more focused on ownership (as the world dictates) than stewardship, as the Lord speaks to it in His Word. Listen, there is nothing wrong with ownership language.  Private property and ownership is a good thing. but we have to recognize that God is the one that really owns it all!  You and I are called to care for what God has entrusted to us to “own” here on Earth. 

Let’s take a moment and look at this thought: Owner vs Steward:

We acknowledge that in an ultimate sense, God owns everything and we own nothing. Yet, everything that God has entrusted to us is ours by right of stewardship, not by right of ownership. That does not negate the reality that we have an ownership stake here and now over certain things in a temporal sense. We are temporary owners from a human perspective. But from an eternal perspective, God owns it all! It would be good for the believer to start shifting their mindset to that of stewardship.  When talking about “owning” something, it may be good, for your heart and mind to speak also about HIS ownership and your stewardship. Why do this?  Here is one of the best reasons: The problem with an ownership mentality is it cultivates hoarding, anxiety, greed, and discontentment.

 

6. God wants your best life now!

The reality is, if your best life is right now, you are on your way to hell.

The term “abundant life” appears in the Bible in John 10:10b, which says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

“More abundantly” means to have a superabundance of something.  Many people equate this “abundance” to money and possessions.  But did you ever think that this phrase “Abundant life” may refer to a life full of joy and strength for the spirit, soul, and body, the joy of knowing you have eternal life as stated in John 17:3, where Jesus states “that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”?

The secret to living an abundant life is contentment.

 

7. Rich people can’t go to heaven.

Remember, you and I are justified by grace and not by financial faithfulness or even faithlessness!

Consider running back to a previous episode , #51 which asks the question if one can be rich and also be a Christian?  

We stated earlier in this podcast, that in Paul’s writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, we read that there were rich people IN THE CHURCH back in those days, as they are also in our churches today! God is not delineating entrance into heaven by wealth, possessions, or bank account balance. It has been, and always will be, salvation through faith in Christ as one’s only hope of their heavenly entrance!

 

8. Maximizing joy and security in this life is a top priority!

In a parable that Jesus told (Luke 12:13-21), the rich fool thought that this life was all that there was. He wanted to maximize all joy and security in this life. But in reality, he did not recognize that the fields were God’s fields. The crops were God’s crops. He did not look for ways to put God’s wealth back into circulation. He didn’t ask God or others what he should do. He asked himself and was focused on himself! Clearly, this rich man in the parable was self-absorbed and self-focused.

To him it was about money, wealth, surplus, possessions, and “security” with that.  We use “security” in quotes because there really is not security in wealth and possessions – you can look back and see what took place in the life of Job!

All that Job had, and all that he lost!  Job did lose it all, and he had the right heart about it:

      1. And [Job] said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21, NIV84)

Your wealth (if you have it) is not secure. It can be here today and gone tomorrow! Instead of maximizing your joy and security for these short days on earth, consider maximizing using what God has put in your care to steward to bring many, many others with you to Glory one day!

 

Stewardship Application

We took time in today’s episode to look at the “falsehoods” that impact stewards.  There is value in doing this, but there is one step that is better, greater, and will help you and me both in the days to come to expose counterfeits – those false promises that many believers and some “Christian” churches teach.  What is it that one ought to do?  Listen to this brief story:

When an aspiring agent of the U.S. Treasury is going to learn how to detect counterfeit money, how do you imagine that they are taught to tell the fake stuff from the real stuff? Do they look at counterfeit bills? Do they learn about color-shifting inks, watermarks, ultraviolet glows, and fiber quality? Certainly not! Their training consists of one thing and one thing only: endless hours of touching, ogling, and sniffing real money. For if a person knows what the genuine article looks like then they’ll never accept a counterfeit.

If you are not sure of the truth, then study the truth through spending more time reading and studying the Word of God!  

As you do, if you have questions, look at commentaries, ask questions to your spiritual leaders and Pastor, and seek out good Godly people who are level-headed and you have witnessed their steadfastness to the things of the Lord.

In this time of removing the “false promises” you may have to turn off some, or ALL of the sources of unbiblical messages, run from the materialism and the ever destroying lies about money and its security.

Get back into reading your Bible and faithfully attend a solid Gospel centered church! Submit yourself to the teaching of your church and to the fellowship of the saints. 

Knowing the truth helps fend off counterfeits. Remember this:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32, NIV84)

Brother or Sister listening right now: Hold to His teachings, and you will know the truth – and will be set free!

 

Next Steps

 

 

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