The Consequences of a Poverty Mentality
November 28th, 2007 | Michael Q. Pink
As I mentioned in Monday’s blog, I have asked John Muratori, author of the ground breaking book, Rich Church Poor Church, to guest host my blog for a few sessions. His insights are valuable and come from a deep understanding of Scripture and practical, experiential wealth creation. Now, here’s John…
The Consequences of a Poverty Mentality
From a business perspective, a Poverty Mentality presents a major stumbling block. No business can grow without generating sufficient profits. But from a spiritual perspective, this problem is much more profound.
Whether people believe it or not, there is a battle raging between good and evil. If we as Christians do not prosper financially, who do you think will prosper in our place? When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for the third time, satan’s offer was for all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. What could possibly be the glory satan spoke of other than the prosperity and financial riches under his dominion? Do you think he was concerned about aesthetics or power?
Today the illicit drug business generates $400 billion annually worldwide. The porn industry generates $200 billion. The gambling industry another $300 billion. Mysticism and occultism are good for $150 billion.
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV)
As the Church continues to wrestle with the issue of prosperity a battle rages for the very soul of this nation. God seeks to transfer wealth and prosperity to His children so we can confront this evil with good. The enemy of righteousness knows it takes resources and money to further his agenda. So too, a believer who produces great wealth and uses it to advance the Kingdom of God presents a deadly threat to the evil one.
John Louis Muratori is a sought after speaker with a unique message that crosses denominational and cultural barriers. He is a recognized authority in organizational management and strategic planning, advising numerous agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Mental Health. John has consulted many national ministries and mentors CEO’s, millionaires, and ministers across the nation. John is the founder and president of multiple companies and non-profit corporations. John is the Sr. Pastor of Calvary Life Family Worship Center in Cheshire, CT. He is also the Executive Director of Turning Point Christian Center, a nationally acclaimed faith-based substance abuse rehabilitation program. John has authored several books, including Seven Women Shall Take Hold of One Man and Rich Church Poor Church. He resides with his wife Carmela and two boys in Connecticut.
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November 28th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Hello!
I believe we are living in the end of the age and there will be a transfer of wealth. I also believe the Bride will take her place; as evil comes to full maturity, so will she. Thus prosperity will naturally occur because Christians will have FIRST prospered in their walk with the Lord. If we are not faithful with the little things, the day to day “stuff” of life, then our Lord cannot trust us with the true wealth of his Kingdom which comes from knowing Him intimately. Money in reality is only a very small part of the wealth of the Kingdom of God. As our focus is on Him and we die to ourselves, our selfish desires will change to His desires and we will usher in His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Oh what a glorious day that will be! This is a process that is occuring right now! It will not be an event. The Lord takes us from glory to glory into maturity in Him. The closer I get with Him by spending time in His presence and studying His Word, the more my desires change and the things that used to be so important are just falling away. As I learn to really trust Him, maybe one day He will be able to trust me with His riches which may include money to share with the spreading of His Gospel or it may include standing for righteousness and my life will be taken for that stance. The important thing is this: whether in life or in death, nothing or no one can take my life in Christ away, I am eternally His beginning now!! How utterly cool is that! Now that’s what I call safety! May He bless us all with the true riches of His Kingdom….KNOWING Him!!
November 28th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Cheryl:
You took the words right out of my mouth! Well said. I’d like to know more about the business world for Christians. I have sensed that the Lord wants me to set up my business after I retire from my present job in two years, God willing. Now for certain this business will require that I spend time in the Word and in His presence, and I’m glad of that because I would not want to run a business where He is not first in my life. And yes, why should the businesses that destroy people’s lives and their families make all the money and not Christians who will contribute to God’s kingdom agenda? Just to think that I could give more to missions through this future business gives me immense joy. Hallelujah!
November 28th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Re-read the parabale of the talents from this perspective. The three men which Jesus spoke about were in our terms today….”money managers” or perhaps “financial planners”. Look at the results of the two who increased or multiplied the fund they were given to manage versus the last one who basically maintained a miserly, fearful, poverty mentality.
God has given us constant examples that Heis a God that wants us to increase and multiply so we can build the Kingdom of God. Yet, most in the church today have either a miserly or consuming mindset; and this does not increase or multiply the Kingdom of God and has developed into a since of proverty and lack. For example, this mindset is seen very predominately in mission work….It’s OK to build a new church for the local people and place them in a “building program” for a number of years. This will look good for the pastor’s resume and perhaps make the people feel good about themselves and what they have accomplished. But now the people feel as though they have “done enough”; we’ve buried the money(into our new building fund) becasue we knew you were a harsh master. This generates a poverty mentality. Recently I read an article from a very large mission board which said 85% of the churches they surveyed gave less annually to missions than they paid in annual utility costs. This same “poverty mentality” is then spread throughout the church and it is not doing what it has been commanded to do….”to make disciples of ALL nations.
Another example of the poverty mentality is the lack of people who are going forth in ministry or missionary service outside of their local church. One very large denomination who has over 10 million members has just over 5000 missionaries world wide. In India alone there are over 450000 villages with out one church. This includes cities upto 1 million souls who do not have a church planted in them.
The thing that must change is the mindset….from poverty to the increasing multiplying and blesing mindset of Christ.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) is also a prime example of “the wealth of the wicked being laid up for the just”. Notice that all three who recieved talents were called ’servants’. In the language of parables, this implied that all three had the same relationship with the master. However, the one with the single talent chose to bury his talent and was described as a ‘wicked and slothful servant’. Then his talent was taken from him and given to the ’servant’ who had shown the most productivity. That, my friend is a graphic illustration of the ‘wealth of the wicked being laid up for the just’. The concept of ‘wealth transfer’ must be understood in a from/to process. We need to understand where the wealth is coming from and where it is going to. Wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:1) and flows to those who are productive. Re-read the story of Joseph who was productive as a slave and became the number 2 man in Egypt.
We need to wake up and realize that those who are ‘wicked’ are not those who are ‘outside’ of the church. True, they may be in sin and need salvation. But don’t expect the Bill Gates and Warren Buffets of the world to suddenly repent and give you any portion of their money. The wicked and slothful individual in this parable was one who had the same master/servant relationship as the others in the story. He was labeled wicked because of his lack of productivity - not his relationship. He exhibited what many ‘Christians’ exhibit today - a poverty mentality.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
WELL SAID TO THE THREE UP ABOVE. I KNOW THAT GOD IS ABOUT TO OPEN THE FLOOD GATES OF HEAVEN TO THOSE WHOM HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL. KEEPING THIER FOCUS ON HIM AND SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WARNING TO ALL OF US - THE MONEY IS NOT FOR OUR PLEASURE BUT FOR THE BUILDING AND SUPPORTING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. WE WILL ENJOY THE BLESSING BUT DON’T LET IT TAKE YOUR FOCUS OFF OF HIM. RELATIONSHIP MUST BE FIRST OR YOU WILL BECOME A WORTHLESS SERVANT.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
First. The wealth and blessing God talks about Christians getting is in the Kingdom, not here on earth. Why would you want a lot of stuff here so it will be burned up.
Second, be careful. I hope everyone who reads his works and book is deeply grounded in God’s Word. For example he said . God seeks to transfer wealth and prosperity to His children so we can confront this evil with good.
Yet, Jesus said we would be persecuted and may even lose all of our possessions but we must not give up. Remember, your citizenship is not here on earth but is in heaven.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
We can see this “poverty mentality” alive and thriving in our churches and apparently in this blog as well! It’s goal is to convince the Church of Jesus Christ that poverty is piety, and that wealth is inherently evil. What a shame that we are scared of a tool God wants to use. We should know that Poverty thrives on fear. I’ll remind you that Paul encourages believers to put all things under their feet. This includes money. That means that whether you are wealthy or in lack, your faith and love and service for the Lord is steadfast.
If wealth is a stumblingblock to your faith, then by all means avoid it. Don’t allow anything to sidetrack you. But to think that all believers should avoid wealth and pursue only eternal riches, is to allow the “fear of money” to reign and give it a power that God never intended it to have.
The “wicked” and “slothful” servant in the parable of the talents was the one who “feared” his Master and was unfruitful with what was put in his care. He had a legalistic relationship with his Master.
Our God has big plans! Let’s not limit Him in our minds, and allow him to uses us for His Glory.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Very good comments from the Jesus lovers crowd. However, in my own business experience of 19 years being self-employed, I have seen VERY wealthy christians being some of the most stingy individuals that I have ever met. I am talking about the $50mil+ crowd. If this is the wealthy church today, then we are not ready to receive real wealth from the Throne Room. We are to use the funds for His kingdom, not for our own, as we own nothing, we are just stewards. The church in America is much too immature to handle wealth in these last days. What I see coming is a giant economic crash to disipline the church and wake up America. The dollar is going to crash; there is nothing backing it and never in history has a fiat currency lasted. We as the Body of Christ need to be ready, but in my lowly opinion we are not ready. So be prepared to serve others once this economic downturn hits. Sorry for the bad news!
Jay in Denver
November 30th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Hello, Jay. Your blog is an interesting take on the big economic picture in America. I think of Joseph and Daniel, who were each taken captive by stronger nations and planted in the households of infidels. Because they each chose to keep God’s commands and serve with excellence, God highly exalted them and prospered them DESPITE all odds stacked against them. This is a time for us to each get very serious about our relationship with God and let Him grow our faith to believe that since He is no respecter or persons, he can and will not only deliver us but prosper us if and when calamity falls. Keep speaking the truth- “Nothing is impossible with God!”
November 30th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Jay,
It is called a great awakening. A revival. The way I believe God is going to get our attention is through a economic crisis. Christian will once again have to trust God and not their wealth. Jesus said we will be persecuted and the way is hard. We try to make it easy and not hard.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Hello all,
I think there is good news and bad news on this. The good news is that we are not God! What I mean by this is that we cannot perceive all that He is doing in our limited ability to perceive correctly. We truly know in part and prophesy in part, and that’s humbling especiall for those of us in a materialistic society that seeks to control everything. I don’t mean materialistic in the sense of acquisition, though that is part of it. Moreso I mean that if we can’t see, it can’t be real. The reality is that even for Christians, this is a struggle
God is able to do both judge and bless at the same time. Actually, to be judged on this side of eternity is a blessing, rather than to wait until the final judgement.
True, there are many who are stingy who name Christ’s name, but I’ve also met many who are not with maybe not $50 mil+, but a lot of money.
The issue in all of this is our hearts as many have said here. Where is our heart at? Where our treasure is, there our heart will be. That’s immutable. To say that Christians can’t learn to prosper in the business world by learning solid principles is the same as saying that a carpenter cannot learn to build a good house by studying architectural principles. Laws are laws are laws are laws no matter who uses them. In fact, used in concert with God, they have MUCH more power than those who use them for their own selfish purposes.
I love what everyone’s written here, especially those I don’t necessarily agree with. In part, I think those are more important for me because possibly God is using them to help me grow. We are all the body, and as each does its part, the body grows, so I appreciate especially Kern, your comments. We need the balance on this issue. No one’s got it all figured out, we’re all learning.
Blessings to all!
Dennis
November 30th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Dennis:
I agree with what you said “I love what everyone’s written” which says that this can be seen through different Biblical perspectives and different levels of maturity in Christ. And yes, what matters is where our heart is with our wonderful Savior - He definitely needs to be FIRST in all things, business, money matters, etc., that we might do ALL things for His glory. I love all of you!
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:15 am
Where can I purchase this book?
July 20th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I’m very optimistic about the future, as we all get in touch with the Holy Spirit’s guidance for our lives! Jesus said He came to show us how to have an abundant life. Didn’t He? So let’s begin!