I have a question I hope some of you can help with.
It is understood amoung most Christians that you are to put God above all things, including money and material possesions. It is also understood that the love of material things, even if you don't put them before God, can be dangerous. I understand that many greats in the Bible suffered prison, poverty, etc. But a friend holds that, because salvation is the only thing that is ultimately important; therefore we should give most of our "unnecessary" income to charity. He says the instance of the "rich young ruler" asking what he must do to be saved was not just an example of how not to put money above God, but to basically take a vow of poverty.
I held the view that was not the message of the tale. That if we were to do that, not as a response to an order from God but as a general rule, our economy would not be the prosperous one we know, as it is that way in part because of the ways we use our financial resources. He retorts with the poor woman who gave all she had. The amount was less than what the other more prosperous givers gave, but God loved her gift most because it was all she had.
Of course, he rightly asked for biblical support for my position, other than a couple people (like David) who happened to be rich. He says that any scriptures I can bring ( overflowing "blessings" when you tithe, etc.) can't be accounted to financial or material gain because the "blessings" or "properity" could be interpreted as "spiritual peace", "harmony", etc.
My question is this...
Is it biblical to understand on the whole, that running your business and household in an honest, fair, and biblical way, results in prosperity which, more often than not, includes reasonable financial (material) prosperity?
Is it biblical to understand on the whole, that running your country in an honest, fair, and biblical way, results in prosperity which, more often than not, includes reasonable financial (material) prosperity?
Is it biblical to understand it is appropriate to financially reap and enjoy the fruits of our labor, as opposed to automatically giving all "unnecessary" profit to charity?
If not, then pretty much all "Christian's" I know have some real explaining to do.
Thanks, and all the best.
