Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? (James 2:5)
Grandpa took my cousin and me deep sea fishing. The early morning salt air had our schoolboy nerves at DEFCON one. Everything took on new proportions—like the shark a fisherman caught early on.
My young mind was etched with the shock of the deckhand knocking the creature’s head against the rail. An hour later, the shark thrashed in its gunnysack and they thumped it asunder yet again. By the end of the trip, the animal was still gulping for air.
More recently, a shark of a different kind became etched on my mind. A Chinese pastor in the underground church asked me if it was true that people are poor because they fail to claim physical blessings from God. I recalled this heresy from American televangelists, running into it in Nigeria—and here it was again. How many times did we have to beat this lie over the head?
I coached the Chinese pastor from 1 Timothy 6:5 that says godliness is not a means to monetary profit. But do I heed my own preaching? In my world, we’ve learned to call it something other than prosperity gospel. But if you eavesdrop on our conversations, you’ll hear about our wealthy lifestyle and not about the kingdom of God.
I’m an animal lover and I never want to harm God’s creatures. My own prosperity shark, however, is the one predator I’ll continually bash on the head.
Prayer: Lord Christ, make me rich in faith and poor in my concern for wealth.