8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Restoring Christian Wealth: Coming to Terms - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Restoring

Christian Wealth:

Corning to

Terms

Brian Abshire Ph.D.

Chapter two i Brian

b s h i r e ~

tmpubiished

book 11 f7eaith and Poverty: Restating Chtistia1t

TFeaith. J new chapter appears in each

issue.

n order to get a handle on the problem of restoring

Christian wealth, we first need to make sure

that

we

understand words

in

the same way

that

Scripture does.

In

modern usage, the term

poor

usually means anyone

who

is not

economically well

off

and

the term "rich"

means anyone

who

is. People look at the two words as a

spectrum with poverty

on

one end

and

wealth

on

the other.

Furthermore neither end of the spectrum is set in stone,

thus, as cultural economic standards

change, the definition

of

"rich"

and

poor

changes.

For

example,

most

people today

would consider a family

poor

if

seven people lived in four

rooms

~ n c l u d i n g

kitchen), with no

running

water and

had to

use

an

outhouse for

sanitation. Yet, my family lived

in

a

tiny two

bedroom

house

and

did

not

get inside plumbing until 1960 - and

we were NEVER considered poor.

In

fact, flush toilets

were considered a luxury

in our

community

and many of

our friends and extended family members in rural Maine

"enjoyed" the same "rustic

comforts

well into the late

sL {ties.

In

my case, my parents placed a higher priority

on

paying

off

the mortgage

than on

having creature comforts.

But times have changed. The socio-economic standard

has risen, and so has the definition

of what

it means to

be

poor.

This relativistic approach

to

defining the terms hinders

our

understanding of the Biblical perspective

on

wealth and

prosperity in several ways. First, the

poor

in America

are NOT like the

poor

in Africa where the extremes

of

wealth and poverty are

much

greater.

In

Africa, the

poor

are literally destitute, wearing cast

off

rags, living

in

shacks

made of packing cases, o ften wi th

no

access

to

clean water

or

electricity, and literally

on

the verge

of

starvation.

They

have a saying there -

Corn

is king." There are so many

Africans unable

to

obtain even the barest necessities

that

whoever controls the corn supply - the major source

of

food - controls the nation. I

am

sure you have seen

the pictures of their children's bellies swollen from

malnutrition (usually

as

an attempt to make you want

to

support

some charitable organization).

But

you very seldom,

if

ever, see such sights among the

poor

in America.

The

vast majority

of

Americans living

below the "poverty line" have electricity,

running

water,

inside toilets, and televisions,

not

to mention full stomachs.

Many of them have cars.

Their

children

get an

education,

even

through

college,

if

desired. Surely everyone has wised

up to the "will work for food" carriers on every freeway

on-

ramp?

\Ve

used to have a requirement that every potential

deacon, as a part of his training, would find such a person

and offer them some work for a day's food (yard work, light

cleaning, etc.). In the five years we had this requirement,

NEVER ONCE

did any

of

these people

EVER

take us

up

on

the offer. To

d1e

contrary,

our

deacons were cussed

at, had signs thrown at them and even threatened with

physical

harm

for offering work. The signs were simply a

scam, purely for advertising purposes

to justify begging.

And

some research

has indicated that a good location,

and the right appearance can make

a man a couple

of hundred

dollars

a

day,

tax free I once saw a sign

in

Bend Oregon dut

said,

Who

Am

I

Kidding; I Just Want Some Money

for Beer." I was almost tempted to

give the guy a couple

of

bucks just

because at least he was being honest

In

fact, when you do find destitute poverty in America,

the "victims" usually fall into one

of

three categories;

1) drunks and drug addicts, (2) chemically imbalanced

individuals who will

not

stay on their medication, and

(3)

teenagers

who run

away from

home

to live

on

the street.

Of

course, the people who need medication are legitimate

candidates for the tide "poor,"

as

we shall see shortly

(a

significant number

of

the "homeless" in America were

made that way by the closing

of

the institutions

in

which

they once were kept precisely BECAUSE they were not

responsible enough to stay

on

their medication without

supervision). But

on

the other hand,

both

the chemically

addicted and the street teens have clearly made lifestyle

choices that have caused their poverty. In other words,

they are destitute because they are unwilling

to

make the

changes necessary to provide for their basic necessities.

A second problem with defining

poor in

a relativistic

way is that we tend to unconsciously impose out own

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meaning on Biblical categories, thus missing what God is

really saying abou t the issue. Thus , the Bible defines poverty

far differendy than

modern

social workers.

The

Aposde Paul

says that Christians are to be content with food and covering

1

Tim

6:8). Therefore, the true definition of poverty is

when one cannot provide either

of

these basic necessities

for himself or his family. A necessity is just that, something

without which you cannot survive.

In

Scripture, the

poor

are

those who would starve or freeze without assistance, not just

those having a lower than average income (let alone those

who simply cannot afford a 36 TV, better cars, or for their

kids to go

to

a

good

college).

However, just lacking necessities does not necessarily qualify

a person in Scripture

as

being poor. The Aposde Paul is

clear that

if

a

man

will

not

work, neither let

him

eat 2

Thess 3:10).

Those

who CAN work, but WON'T work (or

whose work is contrary to God's ways), are

not

poor, but

something else.

The Book of

Proverbs calls such people

fools

and

sluggards,

and

they are

to

be treated differendy

than the poor.

Both

the

poor

and the fool might be

hungry and naked, but we are obligated to help only the

poor. We are to allow the fool to experience the pain of his

own folly until he changes his ways.

So, there

it is. The

Bible defines a

poor

person as someone

who finds himself without the necessities of life through

no

fault

of

his own. Perhaps God sent a hailstorm that destroyed

his crops, or a drought that caused a marginal piece

of

land

to provide even less yield than usuaL Maybe an invading

army came through and took all of his livestock or thieves

ransacked his house and stole his property.

It

could be that

he was sick or injured and could not work Maybe a father

died and now his widow and orphaned children are unable to

provide for themselves.

In

other

words, Biblically speaking, a

man is to be considered poor when he lacks food or covering

DESPITE his best efforts to the contrary.

Today, applying the biblical definition, a

man who

loses his

factory job because the plant closed

down

and there are no

other industries

in town

to provide work could qualify as

poor. A woman left destitute because her husband abandons

her

and her children could fit the definition of poor. Certainly,

some widows and orphans could be considered

among

the

poor.

And

therefore, such people have a legitimate claim to

the generosity, love and charity of

the

covenant community

We are not to take advantage of

that

person's plight and

oppress him, or steal from him, or neglect him lest we incur

God's wrath and be impoverished ourselves (pvbs

22:16).

A fool,

on

the other hand, is

in

dire economic straits because

of

his refusal to live according to God's commandments

and principles. In Proverbs, a fool is NOT someone

on

the

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wrong side of the intellectual bell curve, but someone who

consistendy and stubbornly refuses to live

in

a godly manner.

Folly is a moral problem, not an intellectual one - the

fool

has said

ll

his heart, 'there

is

/10 God.

I,

Thus, he thinks

he

can

live his life based

on

his own standards, rather than God's,

as

autonomous man.

He

despises wisdom and knowledge 1:

7). He

is wise in his own eyes

26:12)

and therefore does

not

seek

nor

does he take counsel from others.

He

is more

concerned about speaking his mind than learning 18:2).

His hatred

of

wisdom and refusal to submit to God's Law

has direct consequences

on

his socio-economic situation.

For example, a young man

who

addicts himself to drugs and

thus cannot hold down a job is

not

poor but a fooL A

young woman who gives herself sexually to a

man

and gets

pregnant, only to

be

abandoned by the father of

her

child,

may be economically destitute, yet the Bible would not call

her

poor. Instead, it would show her

as

forced to live

with the consequences of her folly. A

man who

spends his

paycheck

on

buying lottery tickets

in

the hope

of

winning

the jackpot has

more

than just a problem with basic statistics

- he is expressing a religious faith

in

the nature of the world.

A man living

in

defiance of God's principles of living debt

free, who racks up incredible consumer debt on his credit

cards and then goes bankrupt and loses everything,

is not

one of d1e poor, but rather one

of

the fools.

Such people

try

to live contrary to God's Law, and make

foolish choices, the consequences

of

which lead to personal,

familial and economic destitution. Furthermore, because

the fool is opposed to God's principles and wants to live

autonomously, his problem is

not

merely that he makes

BAD decisions: he is in fact rendered unable to make good

decisions that maximize his assets and improve his economic

situation.

Though

we will discuss this more

in

a bit, we must understand

that the world works the way it does because it was created to

reflect God's glory and nature. There is order and symmetry

in the world. There are principles of cause and effect

because creation mirrors the unchanging attributes of a

personal Creator. To live successfully, and prosperously, we

must

understand God's nature, and conform our actions to

the

way things are, rather than the way we think they ought

to be.

For example,

as

I write this, I am trying to grow grass on

a barren yard.

But

if I want to enjoy a rich green yard next

year, I have to do more than throw out some seed and hope

for the best. Grass grows in a certain way, in conformity to

certain physical principles God has built into the very nature

of

Creation.

f

you want the grass to grow, you

must

plant

the seed and keep it moist until it germinates. The soil must

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have nutrients, and the temperature

must

be

warm

enough

so that the seeds will sprout. Plant

the

seed too deep and the

sprout will never make it to the surface. Plant it too shallow

and watering it will wash away the seed. Fail to keep it moist

and the seed

will not

germinate. Plant the seed too early and

a late frost may

kill

the sprout.

Plant

it too late and an early

one might do the same. Over-water it and the seed may rot.

All the bes t intentions

in

the world will

not

help you

if

you

violate certain fundamental principles. You either plant grass

according to the way that

God

has designed His creation to

work, or you end up with mud a nd weeds.

In the

same

way

our lives must be lived wholly and

completely in accordance with God's ways if we

want

any

kind of prosperity. Wisdom here means understanding the

way that God's creation works, and

then

acting accordingly.

In

one sense, it

is

just

what

an inventor does;

he

studies the

way things work in the "real" world, and then figures out a

new means to take advantage

of

those principles

in

order

to create a device that does something new. But,

if

he

acts

contrary to God's creation, he makes a fool of himself. The

19

th

century saw quite a number

of

attempts

might have

borne

more fruit. Thus, your efforts were not

wise because they were

not

in accordance with the way that

God governs His creation.

Now

you are saying

to

me,

But

I am

not THAT

stupid " I

am sure you are not. However, I have a known a number

of

men who did not do their homework to determine

if

a

business venture was really

worth

the investment

of

their

time and energy and so wasted precious, limited resources

on failed attempts that eventually impoverished them. For

example, George was a Christian

man

who believed he

could become financially independent by investing in rental

properties.

He

picked

up

a number of properties dirt cheap,

and

then

with a little "sweat equity" (which we will talk more

about later) turned dilapidated slums into reasonably nice

apartments.

Of

course, he did not have the capital up front

to buy the apartments outright, so he had to borrow money

from the bank. But he was convinced that the money taken

in from rent would not only payoff the mortgages (and cost

of

improvements),

but

give him a healthy profit each

month

as well. George literally rubbed his hands in anticipation

of the "cash cow" he had created.

to create a "perpetual motion" engine which

would, once started, run forever. Such

attempts were always doomed, because

men

did

not

understand (or simply ignored)

certain fundamental laws of physics. But

their ignorance (or in some cases chicanery)

did

not

stop some from spending their lives

trying to invent such a machine,

nor

others

from investing in them.

[God

promises to

bless

those

who

seek wisdom nd

curse those who

refuse it.

Unfortunately, George couldn't

do

math

very well and miscalculated

how

much

rent

he would have to charge in order to pay

all the bills.

He

also did not

do

sufficient

research to determine the market value of

the rentals in the lower class communities

his apartments were located in. In order to

Only God is infinite; ll men have limited

time and resources. Investing limited time and resources

in

one area means

not

having

them

available for another.

Investing them contrary to the way

God

has ordained

creation to operate therefore wastes precious, limited assets.

For example, say you want to be an oil magnate. Watching

reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies has convinced you that if

Jed

Clampett can become a millionaire, so can you. Thus,

you decide to drill for oil

in

your back yard.

Now

drilling

equipment, and the trained technicians needed to operate it,

takes a considerable

upfront

investment. But the potential

rewards are enormous, so you decide to take the risk. To

finance the project, you take out a second mortgage,

get

all

your family and friends to loan you

money

and VOlIA you

find oil, right? Well, not if there is

no

oil in your backyard. Oi l

tends to be found in certain types of geological formations.

f

your land isn't the right kind of land, no matter

how

hard

you

try or how

much money you spend, or

how

fervendy

you pray, you will NOT find oil.

And

because you have

invested everything you had in THIS endeavor, you do not

have those resources to invest in OTHER endeavors that

pay the mortgages, he had to raise the rents,

beyond the price that

most

people wanted

to pay to live in those areas; thus, he had a

recurring problem finding tenants. Furthermore, he failed to

appreciate the kind of tenants he

most

likely

Ivo lld

find

in

economically depressed areas. The tenants routinely trashed

his apartments, and then skipped out of several

months'

rent.

Politics being the way they are these days, he found it almost

impossible to evict tenants

who

refused to pay their rent

while destroying his property.

In

order to pay the mortgages

every month, George found himself working two and

three jobs just to make ends meet. He ended up bankrupt

because he did not do his homework carefully enough and

consider

ll

the options.

Wisdom

in

one sense is learning how

God

governs His

creation so that we can harness our limited time, energy and

resources most effectively for His glory and Kingdom. He

promises to bless those

who

seek wisdom and curse those

who

refuse it. George

not

only lacked wisdom, he refused

it.

When

friends tried

to

sit down with him and explain why

his "plan" was going to fail,

he

would

not

listen.

He

became

angry and embittered against his brothers in Christ because,

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"You are trying to dest roy my dream "

\Vell,

his dream

became his family's nightmare until

God

finally put a stop to

it

by taking

EVERYTHING away.

How

does

God

make wisdom available to us?

God

does give

us some wisdom through natural revelation. Solomon says,

"Go to

tbe

alit

"(6:6). Even sinful

men

can learn

SOME

things

about

God

by diligendy observing the creation, even if they

deny the Creator. There

is

a doctrine called common grace"

which refers to the grace

God

gives to all men as opposed

to dle grace He gives only to the righteous).

God

causes the

rain to fall and ilie sun to shine

on both

dle righteous and the

unrighteous. And since ilie principles of prosperity are built

into ilie very fabric

of

creation, occasionally

men

can find

wisdom and prosperity iliis way. I would argue that, in our

day, ungodly men who succeed in spite of any knowledge

of God's word are borrowing from two thousand years of

acquired wisdom handed down by Christian influences in

our

culture. \'Vhether iliey realize

it or

not, admit

it or

not, iliey

are living

on

borrowed intellectual capital. However, Romans

1:20ff

is

clear dla t eventually

God

will curse rebellious men.

Thus, over ilie long term, they cannot sustain their prosperity

(remember, "tbe

JJJealtb

o tbe JJJieked

is

laid liP for tbe ligbteolls, "

Pr.13:22).

But most importandy, we learn wisdom ilirough God's

word, ilie Bible. God's word is given

as

the clear, sufficient,

necessary, and authoritative revelation of God's will for

our

lives. It

is in

Scripture

that God

Himself promises

to enlighten our eyes and make our paths straight. As we

meditate

on

and study His character, nature, and attributes

as

revealed in Scripture, we can then relate these to the natural

world around us. And in so doing, we can subdue dle earth

for His glory.

A fool will have none of iliat.

The

world must conform

to HIS way

of

looking at things because,

at

ilie

root

of

his being, he is in rebellion to God, and wants to be God

(Gen 3:5). Paul puts it this way in Romans,

(2)rofessillg to

be

JJJire tbey

betallle

fools"

(Rms 1:22). Autonomous

man

insists

that dle world must operate according to his belief structure,

and therefore makes a fool

of

himself (often using your tax

dollars to subsidize his folly).

The

ancient Egyptians thought

rubbing fresh wounds with horse manure would help healing.

They didn't catch

on

to the truth even when tetanus and

gangrene claimed iliousands

of

lives. Medieval doctors,

basing their medical practices

on

Greek philosophy, thought

most diseases were caused by imbalance of the blood and

bled the sick, often killing

them in

the process.

And

the ancients were not the only ones to live

in

folly. As I

write iliis, California

is

suffering rolling blackouts caused by

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a severe power shortage. Apparendy, unbiblical and ilierefore

untrue environmental beliefs led to a gap in building new

power plants for over a decade. The green minded political

leaders believed that conservation would not only provide

for all the state's power needs,

but

save the environment as

well. However, ilie population grew, high tech businesses

expanded, and conservation was

no

substitute for ilie

increased demand for electricity. Yet, they refused to build

more power plants because of ilieir fundamental

a

PliOli

presuppositions about the "dangers" of economic growili

and the "value" of conservation. As a result, the entire

state is now literally (not to mention, metaphorically), "in

ilie dark." Their religious beliefs

about

the world led them

to act foolishly and contrary to the way creation

is

actually

governed.

Now, getting back

on

track, if poverty can be defined

as

anything less than the possession of basic food and covering,

wealth can be understood as anything

ABOVE

iliat. \'\7ealth

allows a man to feed his family

on

meat

as

well as grain,

to give

them

wine as well

as

water,

to

give

dlem

oil with

their bread cf. Pvbs 3:9-10).

The

wealiliy man can own a

larger house, wiili better furnishings and comforts, which

actually can make him

more

productive, and thus even more

prosperous. I

do

a

lot of

work in front

of

a desk (much

of

it these days

on

the computer). For years, because we were

living very frugally, my only chair was a folding one that

crippled my back after just a few hours of work. However, as

ilie years passed, and

God

blessed us widl increasing material

prosperity, I could afford a proper office chair with lumbar

support.

It

is even made

of

leather (which keeps

me

from

sticking to it during ilie summer). My productivity has more

than tripled simply because I can now afford

what had

once

been considered a luxury.

In the same

way,

because a wealthy man has more ilian just

the basic necessities,

he

can then divert some of his assets

to create more wealth. He can, for example: invest in ilie

purchase of more land; hire more laborers (perhaps some of

those

poor

folks we talked

about

earlier); provide funding for

new businesses; store up for his old age, when he may be less

able to work, so that he is not a burden

on

his children; etc.

Furthermore, wealth allows him

to

give his children a better

education

not

only in quality, but also in extent. A wealiliy

man can afford to let his children stay in school longer, an

absolute necessity for some callings, which in turn improves

ilieir own long-term financial situation. Furthermore, he has

the assets to help them fund

THEIR

vocational endeavors;

for example by supporting iliem with the basic necessities

while they start their own businesses; which in

turn

frees

even MORE capital that they can then use to invest and

improve their economic situation.

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Finally and

most

importantly, wealth allows Christians to

finance the extension of God's I

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or other fuels for they lacked the metallurgy to create the

engines that could burn it. They never imagined breaking

it down and making it into plastics. There was an entire

petrochemical industry literally sitting under their noses, but

they never even imagined the possibilities.

Nowwhat

if God

is

offering His people similar opportunities, but because we

lack the wisdom, we see

them

only as noxious substances

that stain our clothes and offend

our

noses?

There

is

no

doubt

that we are to be content with food and

covering; and

({colitelltlJlel1t

}vith

godlil/ess is o great

gaill J

1 Tim

6:6).

But

there is a difference between contentment and

complacency. Many Christians

do not

seem to grasp that

their lack of economic progress results not only

in

limiting

their own options, but also

in

restricting the opportunities

of

their children, and therefore the spread of the Kingdom. A

man can only do so much

in

this life. Much must

be

left to

his godly descendants to carryon Passing down a physical

inheritance to children committed to extending the kingdom

means that we can make a long-term investment

in

extending

God's work. Increasing wealth generation by generation

means more and better Christian schools, more missionaries,

more Christian hospitals,

more

charitable organizations;

in

short more opportunities to minister to others. Wealth is

not an end in and of itself (Lk 12:13-34), but a means - the

meanS

of

bringing the whole earth in submission to God cf.

Matt 28:19-20).

Now, of course, there is nothing wrong with being working

class. The work is honorable, and

God

can and does use

manual labor

to provide for Christian families. But many

Christians

who

are called

to

working class vocations

could be much more prosperous

if

they but understood

wealth biblically. f they are working

in

their vocation with

confidence that they are called to it by

God

and producing

absolutely all the income they are capable of producing in

that field, well then they are blessed and should be content.

In fact, they are wealthy in that they have more than mere

food and covering. Those

who

are called to working class

vocations ought to stand head and shoulders above

all

others in their field, being singled

out

for their diligence

and stewardship (Col 3:23). They should be innovators in

their fields, coming up with new

and

better ways to be more

productive

on

behalf

of

their employers.

They

should work

circles around their worldly co-workers.

They

should love

what they do and go to bed at night thanking God for what

He's given

them

to do. They should be entirely satisfied with

the provision He makes through their work, or be willing to

work a second job, just to have the privilege of doing

what

He's given them to do.

But often Christians working in lesser paying jobs are not

operating

in

their calling from God Indications of dus

6 he COUNSEL of CHALCEDON

would include dissatisfaction, longing for or even coveting

things they cannot have, feeling stuck

in

their job, not

being able to pay all the bills, living paycheck to paycheck,

or feeling that they don't have the ability to provide all that

they wish for their families.

When

God gives a

man

a calling,

He gives with it contentment and joy in the

work

and the

ability to live within the means provided by that work. Why

are so many Christians satisfied with living

on

the edge?

Or

if

they are DISSATISFIED, why are they unable

to

make

the changes necessary to either reduce their consumption

or to increase their prosperity? The point here

is that

many

Christians are capable

of

doing and being much

more

and

extending their influence much further than they do, either

within their current calling, or by understanding that they

are

in

the wrong calling and making necessary changes. But

because they are satisfied with

too

little, or

too

lazy to escape

from their position in life, or simply insisting on living life

according to their own rules, they squander the gifts

God

has given them.

Even those called to the working class should expect, over

time, monetary and career advancement

by

God's blessing.

They

should still expect to be, over time, ahead

of

their

worldly counterparts through a combination of financial

reward from their satisfied employers and Godly frugality

in

their lifestyles. Many working class people, living by God's

financial principles, are

in

far better financial positions than

those with higher paying jobs

who squander their money on

consumption and play.

With that said, I yet maintain that, with all the advantages

of

wealth, i.e., the greater opportunities, and

the

greater

potential for dominion, not to mention the greater degree

of just plain comfort) , Christians should desire a measure of

financial success.

Now, is this fair? Are we saying

that

everyone can

or

should

be rich? Well, no, there will always be economic differences

between people because of the scarcity

God

built into the

world. And as a result, some things are always going to be

valued more

than

other d1ings, including

human

skills. God

gifts men differently. If you have skills that are highly valued,

then you can become more prosperous than someone

,vithout those skills. Obviously, some people are just plain

smarter than others, more talented, more astute, or with

abilities that are more in demand and therefore they can

usually expect to receive higher incomes than average.

For example, doctors make more money than factory workers,

because not everyone can become a doctor, there are fewer

of them, and their services are in universal demand.

t

takes

a certain IQ and years of hard, diligent study to master the

skills necessary to become a physician. It also requires a

8/12/2019 2003 Issue 2 - Restoring Christian Wealth: Coming to Terms - Counsel of Chalcedon

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fuston lg Ch,istiew Tf7ealth: Coming to Terms

considerable financial investment to get that education, an

investment that must payoff in higher wages later on down

the line. Factory workers however, generally speaking, do

not

need an advanced education, do not have to wait years to

start earning income since they can be trained fairly quicldy

on-the-job, and for the most part, working on an assembly

line does not require as complex a skill set as a physician

needs. Therefore since the skills required to become a doctor

are less common

than

those for a factory worker, there are

potentially far more people competing for the assembly line

job, than there are for entrance into medical schools (though

the medical establishment restricts the

number

of schools

and students for their own reasons). Where there is more

competition for jobs, wages go down. And, where there is

more demand for a particular skill set, wages go up.

Thus

doctors, who are needed by nearly everyone, demand higher

fees from this angle

as

well.

The point

is

that not everyone could become a doctor, even

if

they really, really wanted to,

and

tried really, really, hard,

and every day closed their eyes and visualized themselves

starring on ER. Some people just simply aren't able, because

God

hasn't given them the ability, to be doctors.

And

the

same is true of many other fields. Not only are particular

levels of intelligence needed, and various levels of financial

investment, but also suitable temperaments and desire

on

the part of the candidates. Therefore, there will always be

a disparity of economic achievement because people are

different (and God created them that way on purpose).

However, there is another factor here,

as

time goes on, and

as

people apply God's principles,

EVERYONE

benefits.

The

rich may get richer, but

in

a godly society, the wealth flows

throughout the entire culture raising the economic situation

of everyone.

The

real income of the average laborer has

increased many-fold in the past hundred years. Everyworking

American can enjoy things today

that

just a few decades ago

would be considered luxuries. I remember a story from my

youth of a Roman Emperor who

had

a series of stations

set up where ice from the Alps could be brought to cool his

drinks during the hot summers. Now, EVERYONE can have

ice, on demand Things have changed haven't they?

But

going back for a second,

what about

the

man

who

COULD be a doctor (i.e., he has the intelligence, personal

skills, and temperament necessary)

but

instead restricts

himself to working at a factory? Is the factory job really

the best way for this

person

to invest his life? Is

he

being a

good steward with the gifts which God has given him? What

about the man

who

COULD make $200,000 a year, but

instead settles for $20,000, even

though

God has not clearly

called

him to

do so and

he is not

providentially hindered

from improving himself?

And

yes, many Christians make

just this decision. We'll explore this

in

more detail later.

Apart

from basic ability, there are

other

reasons why

Christians live just

on

the cusp of prosperity, but never really

make it over the edge and the reasons are clearly delineated

in the Proverbs. Apart from God's sovereign intervention,

which must be humbly accepted, Christians over the long

term

ought

to

experience increasing economic prosperity

in whatever vocational calling God has placed them.

Furthermore,

if

believers

DO

find themselves struggling

just

to

make ends meet, their financial distress may be

because they are unwittingly (or otherwise) violating specific

principles of God's word. It

is

NOT that wealth is easy

or

simple to obtain, or that everyone can be "rich" (which many

people think of as living a life of indolent ease, with every

whim

being gratified). Nor am I contravening Paul's warning

about people ~ v h o lvant to

get

lich ill

this life

(the reason for

that warning will become clear later). But instead, generally

speaking, there is a relationship between wise living and

economic prosperity: if

we lack the one,

it

usually explains

why we are missing the other.

Therefore, let us meditate on a brief survey of the most

relevant Proverbs on prosperity and poverty, and then see

how they apply to our real world living experience. Careful

attention here to the principles

God

has built into the very

structure

of

His creation just might help us to understand

our present financial situation, and provide the means to

improve it. By understanding the terms

poor

and "rich,"

"wealth" and "poverty," the way God has defined them, we

are

n

a position to move

on

with our study

in

"Restoring

Christian Wealth."

Proverbs for Further Consideration:

11:15 'The lich mall's }vealth is

his

fortress, the rl n of

the

poor is

theirpoverty.

10:22 lilt is

the

blessillg of

the

Lord that makes lich, and He adds 11

sorro}v to

it.

22:7

'The lich

mles

over

thepOO/;

alld

the borrOlJJer

becomes

the

lender's

slave.

23:4-5

liDo IIOt }veary YOIII:selj to gaill

}vealth,

cease from

YOHr

cOllsideration

of

it. rVheJJ

YOII

set

YOII,.

ryes all

it,

t

is

galle.

For

}vealth

ce11aill/y makes

itself }villgs like

all

eagle that

flies

tOlvard

the

heaven.

Rev. Brian M. Abshire, B. A., M. A., Th.M., Ph.D.) lives

in Spokane, WA where he pastors Highlands Reformed

Presbyterian Church. He has been married to Elaine for

24 years and has six children.

the

COUNSEL

ofCH LCEDON

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