This is a personal statement, repeat: a personal statement not a scripture, but I’d rather someone tell me that I was prosperous in taking care of God’s people and not saying I was prosperous and it shows because I have a BMW. I have a BMW but someone I know just missed a meal; that just doesn’t sound right to me. How many people are living on the streets, looking for a meal, how many widows are struggling to make it, how many orphans are out there while we sit in an air-conditioned church with cushioned seats having a political rally as we complain that the government is not doing enough to care for the people; the same people in which God placed the burden of responsibility on the church. If I were pastoring a church now with a membership of 10,000 and each person gave $10, think of how many people can I feed with $100,000? Or let’s say $20 a month. I can take $200,000 to buy a home every month, and find a homeless family to put in it. 12 families would be off the streets each year. Now imagine if 100 churches joined together to do the same thing? How many people could we get off the streets or feed? School supplies for orphans, or clothes for the widows’ children? But instead, am I going to take that money and buy a house for ME?
Okay, I am hiring bodyguards after making that statement. Lord send angels to watch over me as I sleep. Don’t get me wrong, if God has blessed you, glory to God. I’m not saying that God won’t bless us, or that we should not have nice things. I have my eye on a Lexus, but I’m going to drive my Nissan until I get there. What we have is not the point, the key once again is FOCUS. Not the Ford Focus, but as being a minister, what is my focus or purpose for being one? What is my duty as a minister? Is it just about sitting in the pulpit or is it reaching out to help our fellow-man? Is it about getting to wear a fancy robe or is it being our brother/sister’s keeper? This is not to say that we should not have, nor get. Because Paul taught on this as well. He stated that as a priest he is entitled to receive from the people, however he was not placing a mandate or an expectation to receive from the people, because he realized that his main duty was to live and preach the gospel, and woe unto him if he does not preach the gospel. Because if he never received anything from man, he knows that His reward comes from heaven. (1 Corinthians Chapter 9).
