Christians and money (Matthew 19: 21)

F

Flavio

I always found this passage from the Bible very controversial and puzzling:

'Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' (Matthew 19:21)

Does this mean Christians should not have money? And if they are allowed to have money, are they less worthy than those without any possessions?

I honestly don't see anything wrong with material possessions per se. They can be a great spiritual tool and even the most pious organizations need money to survive.
 
Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV
You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

I think this verse pretty much sums it up. God blesses us and gives us the ability to be well off.

Hosea 4:7 ESV
The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame

This verse tells us that people push God away when they start to do better for themselves and they lose their glory from losing the blessing of the Lord.
 
Flavio said:
I always found this passage from the Bible very controversial and puzzling:

'Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' (Matthew 19:21)

Does this mean Christians should not have money? And if they are allowed to have money, are they less worthy than those without any possessions?

I honestly don't see anything wrong with material possessions per se. They can be a great spiritual tool and even the most pious organizations need money to survive.
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I have heard it taught that Jesus was addressing the man's heart condition: the man was more concerned with 'wealth and stuff' rather than the lost souls of people. It is a message we need to hear today. Jesus wants our hearts to be in tune with Him; not the things of this world. If we are following Him-He will be our source of wealth; in His Glory not of our own works.
 
Greetings:

(He) is talking to just this one very rich guy.The guy is so deep in thorns,he needs a brush fire.Middle class folks just
need to make sure their offerings given in an appreciative mode don't go under 9.99999 %.


bye
never to use the guilt-trip (T) word
 
Flavio said:
I always found this passage from the Bible very controversial and puzzling:

'Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' (Matthew 19:21)

Does this mean Christians should not have money? And if they are allowed to have money, are they less worthy than those without any possessions?

I honestly don't see anything wrong with material possessions per se. They can be a great spiritual tool and even the most pious organizations need money to survive.
Click to expand...
It was the rich man's god. Give up your god and follow Me is what Jesus was saying...
 
As far as I'm concerned; myself that is, it is my belief that our Father taught me a lesson. Just for me-

I had money, nice things, and a well paying job. I really enjoyed my work. It was very challenging both mentally and physically. Yet corruption started and with corruption a feeling of getting away with more and more starts compounding.

I lost everything I had; or IMO, God saw to it that it was taken away from me.

Money and corruption was corrupting me. Drinking, doing drugs, and getting to where I felt invincible and was headed spiraling towards certain doom.

After loosing everything, I tried to make a comeback, only to loose it all again.

For me, it dawned on me what was going on, God was working things out.

I now have close to nothing; some clothes, my bibles and few Christian books, and that's pretty much it. I don't try and acquire things. It brought me to trust in Him and I feel inner peace and happiness.
 
dUmPsTeR said:
As far as I'm concerned; myself that is, it is my belief that our Father taught me a lesson. Just for me-

I had money, nice things, and a well paying job. I really enjoyed my work. It was very challenging both mentally and physically. Yet corruption started and with corruption a feeling of getting away with more and more starts compounding.

I lost everything I had; or IMO, God saw to it that it was taken away from me.

Money and corruption was corrupting me. Drinking, doing drugs, and getting to where I felt invincible and was headed spiraling towards certain doom.

After loosing everything, I tried to make a comeback, only to loose it all again.

For me, it dawned on me what was going on, God was working things out.

I now have close to nothing; some clothes, my bibles and few Christian books, and that's pretty much it. I don't try and acquire things. It brought me to trust in Him and I feel inner peace and happiness.
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Welcome back! :) Haven't seen you in a while. I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. God didn't take it away. God put laws into place that when you're doing what He wants it's blessed and if not, then it's not blessed and the devil swoops in and steals it away. But God didn't take anything away. That's the philosophical thinking we get from Job. But if you read chapter 37 and study what Elihu said, you'll see. I hope this helps.
 
Abdicate said:
Welcome back! :) Haven't seen you in a while. I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. God didn't take it away. God put laws into place that when you're doing what He wants it's blessed and if not, then it's not blessed and the devil swoops in and steals it away. But God didn't take anything away. That's the philosophical thinking we get from Job. But if you read chapter 37 and study what Elihu said, you'll see. I hope this helps.
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Thank you, thank you very much. Yes, I'll be sure to check out Job 37.

I'll be trying to post why I was gone soon. It's a cross between a bad dream and blessings.

And it's great to be back.
 
If a man's possessions are what is keeping him divided from God, then he really has to get rid of it. Many of us have to make some sort of sacrifice if it is really keeping us from being in the fullness of the faith.
 
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