Standing Firm Forever

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? … Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.”
Psalm 15:1, 5 NLT

David winds up his list of required characteristics for those who wish to worship the Lord in His sanctuary. Inevitably, he turns to money, which can be a trap for unwary believers. Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). The requirement that those who lend money should not charge interest is perhaps, at least superficially, a problem in this day and age, where borrowers expect to be charged interest. But if we dig down a bit further into this requirement, we find Exodus 22:25, “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would“. So perhaps David was just meaning that money should only be loaned interest-free to poor people in need. Obviously, in Biblical days, it was expected that interest would be received on investments. Jesus said to the third servant in His parable of the Ten Servants, “Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?” (Luke 19:23). So, perhaps, David was meaning that those who loaned money should be charitable when it came to the poor, and not guilty of usury, the charging of interest at exorbitant rates, to everyone else. Banking today charges one rate of interest on loans, but a lower rate on deposits, the difference between the two rates providing sufficient money to fund the bank’s operations. But sometimes the size of banking profits makes us pilgrims wonder about usury.

David went on to write about those who accept bribes for lying “about the innocent”. Perhaps David was repeating Exodus 23:8, “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.” We read about how the guards at Jesus’ tomb were silenced, bribed by the Jewish religious leaders, in Matthew 28:12-13, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep””. Bribery was common in those days, and still is today, with corruption in some nations reaching epidemic proportions. Bribery is a sin, there is no doubt about that, and anyone guilty of giving or receiving a bribe excludes themselves from being able to worship God.

In Psalm 15, David lists all the characteristics that need to be present to qualify someone for God-worship. The person concerned must:
Live a blameless life 
Not do anything unrighteous
Speak the truth
Not slander or gossip about anyone
Not wrong their neighbours
Not speak evil of their friends
Despise and avoid those who openly sin
Honour their brothers and sisters in Christ
Keep their promises, come what may
Be charitable and fair when lending money
Refuse to give or receive bribes

David concludes with the thought that the believer who ticks all these boxes will stand, upright and strong, a God-worshipper beyond reproach forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We understand that there are things we have to do in our lives to qualify us for being able to worship You. We pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 

Truth and Money

Posted on by korgrocker

“But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.”
2 Peter 2:1-3 NLT

Peter warned his readers that false teaching will lead to corruption of the truth, lies and exploitation, and ultimately the loss of their money. He provided an early church picture of religious conmen peddling false ideologies and trying to get people to support them financially in the process. Fast forward two thousand years and we find one such doctrine today, which has come to be called the prosperity gospel. This is not just a recent modern phenomenon – it also manifested in the early church as a destructive greed heresy and the Apostles called it out as heretical false teaching. But in the “property gospel” the believer is told to use God and the Holy Spirit to do what they want them to do. The preachers of this “gospel” say that words themselves have creative power. What you say, prosperity teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favours you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus, God’s ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith.

The prosperity gospel movement suggests that if you give your money to God, then He will bless you with more money. Such adherents to this movement believe that God wants people to be prosperous. And perhaps to confirm that thinking, we read Scriptures such as Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it“. But there is a balance in Scripture. Jesus Himself warned about the love of money. In the Gospel of Luke we read about how a man asked Jesus to intervene between two brothers over the matter of their father’s estate. Jesus’ response was,  “ …Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12:15). Jesus went on to tell the story of a rich man who reaped a bumper harvest. He wanted to tear down all his barns and build bigger ones so that he could store up all his wheat. We then read in Luke 12:19 his response. “And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”” ‭‭But then Jesus ended the story with, ““But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”” (Luke 12:20-21). We must note what Paul recorded in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus“. ‭‭I say “note” because of the word “needs” not “wants”. So I might want to have a shiny new car, but do I need it?

Paul helpfully warned his protégé Timothe about the false teachers who were roaming around in those days. We read in 1 Timothy 6:4-5, 9-10 what Paul thought about such teachers. “Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. … But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows“.

We pilgrims have a straight but narrow path before us. There will be many attempts to turn believers away from the way of truth, attempts coming from both inside and outside the church. False teaching may sometimes be difficult to discern, because it often starts with a subtle, almost imperceptible, emphasis on a particular Scripture, and those believers who swallow it head off down a path that extrapolates into a place where they shouldn’t be. Some preachers will focus on their own passions and inadvertently introduce an over-emphasis on particular Biblical truths. This can lead to a church out of balance, not necessarily venturing into “false teaching” but neglecting other truths in the Bible. But in it all, we have God’s Word. His whole counsel encapsulated in a place where we can find Him and His heart. So we pray for protection and guidance daily. And we check out what we hear through studying God’s Word.

Father God. Once again we pray that You protect us from false teachings and lead us in the truth everlasting. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paying Taxes

Posted on by korgrocker

“Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honour to those who are in authority.”
Romans 13:6-7 NLT

Well, here are an unpopular couple of verses. The civil authorities have the right to impose taxes on their citizens, and these can be a constant source of tension between the governments and the people. Paul wrote that “government workers need to be paid” but things have gone a lot further than that, with taxes extending into supporting welfare payments, health, defence and so on. In the UK tax year just finished, over £1000 billion was raised across every tax source, an extraordinary amount I think we can agree. But Paul’s writings were clear – pay your taxes. And the reason he gave was that the “government workers” are “serving God in what they do”. 

We pilgrims, living in a 21st Century society, can get caught up with the perceived injustices of a system that has gone far beyond what Paul ever considered. I wonder what he would have written today? But, then, I think his letter wouldn’t have changed one jot. In John 17 we can read Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and in it He made it clear that we are part of the world, the societies, where we live. In John 17:15 Jesus said in a prayer to His Father about His disciples, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one”. To me, Jesus was saying that we are entrenched within the world system, with all its implications, including the need to pay our taxes. Earlier in His prayer, Jesus said, “Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are” (John 17:11). To Jesus the important principle for His disciples was unity and love for each other, joy, righteousness and holiness, all principles of the Kingdom of God but considered less important in the secular societies in which we live. God knows that we are obliged to pay our taxes, and that is part of what constitutes our “needs”, something that Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”.

Over and above our obligation to pay taxes, we are encouraged to present our offerings to God. This usually means giving money so that our spiritual leaders can be supported and encouraged as they devote their lives to caring for their flock, their congregations of God-followers. Our money also supports the buildings and other necessities that go to form our churches (though, sadly, in some denominations the buildings and infrastructure seem to have become more important than the people). But our offerings to God can also include our time and possessions. We hold all that we have in open hands, making what we have available to God. 

Father God. Everything that we have belongs to You. Please help us to be good stewards. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Love of Money

Posted on by korgrocker

“Give me an eagerness for your laws 
rather than a love for money! 
Turn my eyes from worthless things, 
and give me life through your word.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:36-37‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Aah! The love of money. It is only a matter of time before it emerges from the dark recesses within a person’s heart. I suppose there is a spectrum, from the money-dominated Scrooge, gloating over his piles of cash, through to a money-denying monk living a life of austerity in a bare cell. But we are all on that spectrum somewhere. Money has its uses of course – it lubricates the wheels of life in our secular and materialistic societies, and we need it to survive – but it can dominate our thinking. If we let it.

The Psalmist sees the danger of a life with a pecuniary focus. He sees the importance of dwelling in a place of eternal currency rather than in a world populated by “worthless things“. It is interesting that the Revelation picture of the new Jerusalem includes so many precious jewels, pearls and gold. What is considered of value in today’s world will be considered building materials in the world to come. Ubiquitous items of little value when compared to our Almighty God. 

But for the pilgrim working his way through this life, what is the correct balance between money and God? Jesus could see the dangers of getting this wrong, and taught that the service of both at the same time was impossible. He said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” The key is in the use of the word He used to describe how we see and use money – “enslaved”. The Psalmist was trying to get to a place of the correct balance, where money would be used but not worshipped. A place where the value of money would be eclipsed by our great and glorious God and His Word. 

The pilgrim of course needs money to make his way through this life. But he must not succumb to the temptation to acquire more and more glittering temporal objects, call it “stuff” if you like, at the expense of the eternal jewels in God’s Word. The one will be left behind when we pass the Great Divide. The other will be waiting for us on the other side. Let us join the Psalmist in declaring our eagerness to mine those precious jewels and nuggets from His Word so that we can accumulate them in our hearts and lives. A last word today from Jesus. “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”