16/08/2025
Many years of experience have convinced me that if money does not serve the kingdom, then it perverts, spoils, and destroys its owners. Therefore, our motives must be right when it comes to interest in gaining money and riches. If we realize we have gone off track spiritually, we need to humble ourselves before God and renew our covenant with Him.
This seminar is not about money and poverty in the world, but it does seek to answer the question, Is the Christian and the Christian church relevant to the eradication of poverty in the world today? I wish to address Christians, who have access to biblical solutions to this problem, and I want to tell you my opinions right up front: Christians around the world must become kingdom minded in order for us to help resolve the problem of poverty in our world today.
The purpose of the church is not to have people come in and sit down. Rather, it is to go out and change cultures by establishing God’s value system. Moreover, this includes God’s value system regarding money and wealth. Poverty is not God’s will for anyone, and it is outside kingdom purposes for Christians to be struggling in the area of finances, whether personal or societal.
Being kingdom minded is what the apostle Paul calls being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). I have talked about applying the principles of the kingdom to the Body of Christ in many places I have travelled to, and now I want to apply those same principles to individual Christians on questions of money, wealth, and personal finances. Remember, God’s kingdom principles apply to money as much as they do to anything else. World poverty is agonizingly real. It will never improve until individual Christians affect the culture of life, change the culture of nations, and improve their own financial situations. Thus, the economic growth of the world must be the priority of individuals in obedience to the teaching of Scripture and the principles of the kingdom of God.
