How then should we think about money, wealth, success and prosperity?

12 Pillars and a Prayer is about money.  Its also about whether not its ok to be wealthy.  Yet again, 12 Pillars is a way to think about all the aspects of wealth and God's blessings (including material) on our life.  I have often found that the church tends to polarize itself around this issue.  On one hand, there are the prosperity teachers whose major tenet is to "name it and claim it".  While this philosophy initially glitters and hops, it often becomes the seed of considerable discouragement and even resentment.  After all, if you name and claim it and it doesn't happen you don't have a lot of wiggle room to explain it.  You've either got to say the philosophy is wrong and dismiss all notions that God may want us to enjoy wealth, success and/or money, or be mad at God for not giving you what you wanted.

One the other hand, we've got those locked into poverty thinking.  If I had to guess, I would say this thinking is much more pervasive in the church and is much more destructive.  Poverty thinking says that to have money somehow obstructs our ability to know and have a healthy relationship with God.  Poverty thinking denies a man or woman his/her dreams and screams at us to "Stay in the box!  Its not safe anywhere else!"  Those locked into poverty thinking may allow themselves "reasonable" dreams, but never believe that those big dreams, those ones you think about when you think about "what would I do with the money if I won the lottery", could come true or are even permitted.  And when the possibilities of something greater present, those stuck in poverty thinking quickly retreat to their structured, safe schedules never allowing themselves to tap into that creative side of God that He has placed in each one of us.  Thousands of untold inventions, companies, medical breakthroughs and technological magic have never happened because of poverty thinking.  

Unfortunately, poverty thinking is also deeply embedded and supported by religiosity or a religious spirit that squelches any attempt to break out of the status quo and pursue Godly vision and use God-given talents.   Poverty thinking says the good is ok, but great is too much and moves you away from God.  Poverty thinking is supported by such scriptures as "its harder for a rich man to get into heaven than to pass through the eye of a needle".  But what's the context of these words?  How does this jive with centuries of Jewish thought based on Torah law that says part of the covenant God established with Abraham and was echoed through Moses, includes financial and material blessing (see Pillar 2, Deuteronomy 28).  These promises and covenant was played out in the lives of many biblical heroes (think Solomon, David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and on the list goes)?  In my opinion, a poverty mindset is much harder to deal with because of its subtleties and its shiny religious coat.  But make no mistake about it.  Poverty thinking chokes the life out everyone it touches and prevents an individual from reaching their God-given potential.

So while the church polarizes itself around these 2 extreme positions, how then shall we think about money and wealth and prosperity? Six years ago I found what I believe to be a biblical philosophy or way to think about money.  It was the 12 Pillars and a Prayer.  It literally was a divine download and has changed my life completely.  I have been living this now for 6 years and have seen new measures of peace, progress bringing my finances under control and a richness to my relationships that I did not previously experience.  While most people know how to add and subtract, balance a checkbook and understand the basics of money (i.e, its wise to spend less money than you make), most of us run into problems with our thinking about money.  Most of us lost out when we spent money we did't have to try to achieve something we really didn't need.  Most of us have gotten ourselves in trouble when we mismanage money for emotional reasons that somehow made us feel better at the time but ended up tying a noose around our necks!  So the question is not "Does God really want us to prosper financially?" but rather, "How then do we think about money, wealth, success and prosperity?"

I tackle these questions in my latest book, 12 Pillars and a Prayer and I look forward to discussing these issues on our 12 Pillars and a Prayer blog site each Friday throughout the year.  As always, we invite your thoughts, comments and feedback.  See you next week!