By Troy Titus

“Jesus said to His disciples: … Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.‘” Luke 17:1, 7-10.

Recently an ordained minister, worship leader, and Christian businessman was sharing with me how God had been speaking to him about improving his obedience. He was excited about what God was teaching him through trials and testing. He spoke about how the Lord was helping him with holiness, bringing him closer to the promise that he would be a “good and faithful servant.” Yet laced in his testimony, he continually spoke of obtaining God’s financial blessings, and he did so to a point where it revealed his purpose in serving God: to receive from God.

I’ve been there. Many years ago, I’d been too willing to accept what the “prosperity gospel” was offering. I began reading the Scriptures looking for confirmation that God wanted to bless me financially, that He wanted me to have good health, a long life, and much happiness. I convinced myself that the more that I gave to the church, the more God would give to me. I gave a lot, but for all of the wrong reasons.

The prosperity gospel is also known as the “Word of Faith” or “Seed Faith” movement, among other monikers. It has a history rooted in both Christian and secular thought which arose most recently in the late 1800’s in America. Some of it’s more recognizable forerunners include Oral Roberts, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagen, and Benny Hinn (who has recently denounced its core tenets). Today, it is embraced by Paula White-Cain, Joyce Meyers, Creflo Dollar, and Joel Osteen, among others.

It’s a belief that the Bible is a contract where God has made us promises that He will fulfill only when we obey Him in certain areas. Although God had made a covenant with the nation of ancient Israel, and has made a new covenant with His church, His promises are not contingent upon our actions. We need God. He does not need us. He is Sovereign and Almighty. He gets what He wants, and He does as He pleases.

Contrary to what proponents of the prosperity gospel teach, God is not obligated to bless us with wealth, good health, long life, or happiness when we walk in obedience to His Word. In fact, Jesus promises us a difficult life if we choose to follow Him. When we choose to truly become one of His disciples, we will face trials, suffer persecutions, and He will discipline us. Jesus tells us: “… any of you who does not give up everything cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33.

God may choose to give you wealth, but if He does, why? To live like the world lives? Or, to fund the advancement of the Kingdom of God? It is nearly impossible for the rich to enter into His kingdom, except that “there is nothing impossible with God.” Luke 18:18-27. So being a wealthy disciple of Christ is not easy, and requires His supernatural intervention. Desiring money violates His teaching that we must not worry about what to eat and what to wear, but must first seek His Kingdom instead. Luke 12:22-34.

It is easy to justify the pursuit of wealth. One may say, “I need money to live, and to support my family.” Yet, in this country, we live far above a standard of living that simply meets basic needs. Do we truly need large, flat-screen TV’s? Televisions in several rooms of our home? Computers, tablets, smart phones, and gaming consoles? Vehicles with back-up cameras and heated seats? So many items of (mostly new) clothing? Meals prepared for us by restaurants a majority of the time? Movies, sporting events, concerts, traveling for vacation?

Contrast those things with these words of Jesus Christ: You “must deny” yourself and “take up” your cross and “follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it to gain the whole world and yet lose yourself?” Luke 9:23-24.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for God is not in them. For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes … from the world.” I John 2:15-16. The “enemies of the cross of Christ” are described by the Apostle Paul as those whose “god is their stomach” and those whose “glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” Philippians 3:18-19. Most of us eat too much, and are far too concerned with what other people think of us. Some of us are social media celebrities, or attempting to become one. For what purpose? Are we seeking first the Kingdom of God?

Money is not bad. The love of money, however, is the root of all evil. Smart phones are not bad, but most people misuse them and frankly, do not need them. Modern technology is not the problem, the sin in our heart is the problem. Why are we wasting our prayers on asking God for more money for ourselves?

It is a grave mistake to claim that lovely Christians like Joni Eareckson Tada have never had a sufficient amount of faith to be healed. It is worse to err in thinking that when God takes a life “before their time” that it is a result of evil. God chooses our circumstances for His purposes. He sets the time of our creation, our birth. He sets the time that our spirits leave our dying bodies. He decides the level of comfort, amount of pain, types of problems, and events that we will face throughout our time on this planet. He is a good God. We need to re-think what is good, considering God’s perspective as revealed in the Book of Job.

“Do not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” to know God’s will. Romans 12:2. The world teaches us to love money. The “American Dream” is not Biblical. The Scriptures do not tell us to pursue home ownership and all that comes with it. “Career Path” is not in the Bible’s lexicon. The dark powers in this world have convinced a huge number of Christians to love the things that take away from our ability to serve God. We spend our time working for wages that barely pay for the lifestyle that we choose to live, serving masters, many of whom funnel their profits to anti-Christian projects.

If we are to emulate Jesus Christ, we must remember that He “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant ….” Philippians 2:7. We must “put to death … whatever belongs to [our] earthly nature ….” Colossians 3:5.

Our time is consumed with our work, financial, social, and personal obligations. It is taken up with caring for our home and our belongings. We spend it watching over our investments, our children, our spouses. We entertain ourselves for hours. Many of us can’t seem to find time to pray or meditate on His Word. If we do, it’s a small fraction of our day or week.

What do we make of the Psalmist’s vision of what it means to serve the Lord? “I lift up my eyes to You … as the eyes of the servant looks to the hand of his master … so our eyes look to the Lord our God until He shows us mercy.” Psalm 123:1-2. Picture a servant sitting at his master’s side, his eyes fixed at all times on his master, watching his hand for the slightest movement. A finger raising up, the servant jumps up to obey, to do the master’s pleasure. Does this image reflect how we spend our time? Are we serving the Lord at all times, attentive to His commands, listening for His voice, ready to obey without question or delay?

We are told that we must “obey the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” That this is the “greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:36-37. In John 14:23 we see that loving God is demonstrated through our obedience to Him. How do we love God, the Supreme Being, Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Ancient of Days, the Almighty? By obeying Him.

What does He require of us? Has He entered into an agreement with us to give us wealth, good health, long life, and happiness when we give him 10% of our income? The prosperity gospel preachers love to quote from Malachi 3:10, but what does the New Testament teach? These same preachers ignore a key truth in the Parable of the Talents. Matthew 25:14-30. In it, two of a master’s three servants double their money. The prosperity gospel ignores that the gold talents belonged to God, and the principal plus all of the increases earned were turned over to God (not a mere 10%). The servants didn’t purchase McMansions or BMW’s with the money. Most of the megachurch pastors and televangelists who preach “seed-faith giving” are living very large. Compared to most of those who followed Christ in the New Testament, so are we.

What does Jesus want? In John 21:15-19, we are given the answer to this most important question. Christ asked Peter, “Do you love me?” The man thrice replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!” Each time, Jesus responded, “Then feed my sheep.” We have work to do. We need more workers for the Harvest. While the (universal) church’s evangelistic and charitable programs struggle for funding, Christians live in big houses, drive expensive vehicles, wear the latest styles, own the best electronics, and spend much on food and entertainment for themselves.

Instead of asking God for more money for ourselves, we can ask Him to help us change our lifestyle so we can devote more time and money to fulfilling the Great Commission. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth … but treasures in Heaven.” Matthew 6:19.

We do not obey God in order to get paid back with blessings. We obey Him because we love Him.