There is so much in your post, most of it generalizations, I will try to answer a few of them.
For one thing, Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler to sell all he had because it was bad that he was rich. The rich young ruler said that he was doing all of the things that Jesus' commanded, and asked how could he get into heaven. Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow Him, and the rich young ruler could not let go of his money. If the young ruler had been able to release that money, he would have received multiples of that money back both on Earth and in Heaven. Again, God does not intend for his people to hoard up wealth to themselves, their prosperity is intended to be used to further the Gospel.
However, this is not to say that believers should live as paupers. If a believer is giving as God commands, that person should expect to be blessed in return, that is God's plan, and therefore, if a believer's giving is at a high enough level, he very well might be able to drive a BMW with a license plate that says "AWSMGOD" on it, without his giving being affected by purchasing said automobile. What better witness of God's ability to bless his people is there than a believer being able to say, I gave $XXXXX.XX to the ministry last year, and God blessed me with a raise, or some kind of windfall, outstanding trading, etc. and I was able to not only give $XXXXXX.XX this year, but I was able to buy this nice house and this nice car. The Bible says that if you put God first, "all of these things will be added to you." Things in this case are not spiritual things, this is talking about possessions, again not to be hoarded up, but to live a good life here on Earth. It is not meant for believers to live a sparse life here on Earth while we wait for our Heavenly reward.
The problem with underfunding of programs to help inner city youth, the mentally ill, etc. has nothing to do with believers driving BMW's, in fact if more people were practicing the principles I have discussed, there would be ample money for these causes, and there would be many more believers driving nice cars and living in nice houses.
As you said, the Bible does say that the love of money is the root of all evil. It also says that where your heart is, that is where your treasure will be. The key to this is not how much money you have, but whether the money "has" you. If, as with the rich young ruler, you are unable to let loose of that money, then yes, that is the love of money and that is wrong. However, if you have quite a bit of money, but are able to give any or all of it, then you don't love the money, and it doesn't have a hold on you.
There are scores of ministers on TV espousing different principles, some of them are right on track, others are way off, and there are varying degrees in between. The ones who teach the truth do not "twist" verses to make their points, just as I have not to make mine. Again, there is a clear plan in the Bible for a believer to be prosperous, and it doesn't start with money, it starts with a heart for people and a heart for giving. The money comes to the believer as he proves that he is willing to give it into "every good work." God gives seed to the sower, sow more seed, and get even more seed to sow, that is God's principle of multiplication.
Your original post said that God's plan for prosperity did not work for Jesus and his disciples, and I posted what I did to show that that wasn't true. You have great disdain for the wealthy of this country in general but then you lump into that the messages of "gospel preachers" who you feel are misleading people. Again, some of them are not teaching the correct principles, but the fact remains that God's principles work. Bill Gates' giving has nothing to do with God's principles, because as far as I know, he is not a believer. Comparing that to the widow's mite is irrelevant. Generalizing that the stock market is a picture of what is wrong with America is also too broad, there is fraud and deceit in the market, but the market itself is not inherently bad, rather it is a significant part of the engine of growth of this country, and provides capital for companies which in turn engenders growth in jobs, commerce, and people's economic standing in general.
I don't begrudge someone who makes a sizeable income because of their athletic or thespian talent, if people are willing to pay to see them do what they do, they should share in those earnings. As with the above, the key is not how much they make, but what they do with it. Since many of them are not believers either, it is not likely that much of that money will end up in the hands of someone who will use it for the greater good. It would be amazing to see what this country would be like if everyone practiced the true, unadulterated principles of the Bible. Clearly that will never happen, but you can't simply dismiss those principles out of hand as a result, or say that teachers who teach them are twisting words or misleading people. As with anything, you have to take things on a case by case basis, and compare apples to apples. You generalize things such as "did the apostles live as Americans today?" Which Americans? If you pick an American who is practicing the principles above, then to a large extent, my answer is yes. If you pick a Pastor who is teaching his congregation correctly, and both espousing and following the principles above, again I say yes. If you pick Kenneth Lay, then obviously no. |
