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Being a Christian and being wealthy can seem like an oxymoron. I confess I have struggled with money and faith.
As a Christian should I give it all away and go live a life like Mother Teresa?
Or as a Christian, how do I recognize my gift of serving others through education and business?
Could it be that the Bible is the best business book ever written?
Today, I will share a bit of my story of how becoming a Christian helped me to grow wealth like never before.
>> [02:41] I have always been focused on success thinking. Whether I am teaching future engineers, working with professionals, or helping others start companies, I am always focused on ways to help them become successful.
>> [05:44] Our culture connects wealth with evil. These messages are powerful in music, movies, the news, social media, and even in schools. So Christian wealth seems an oxymoron.
>> [13:05] I started to become service-oriented and think a lot about how I treated and served my customer (and my boss).
>> [19:08] I begin to see my gifts. What I thought I was good at was wrong and the source of a lot of my struggle. I found my gift and served better knowing it.
>> [23:01] The work I did was becoming more valuable because I was using my gifts and not being timid and hiding them. I paid attention to the needs of others, saw a place I could serve, and served.
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Great podcast Dale, I appreciate your tying Christian principles to some of the tangible benefits in the marketplace. I don’t hear many folks talk about how Biblical principals are good for business in as practical a way as you did in your episode.
Thanks Ed. The topic has certainly generated a lot of emails;)
I really enjoyed this. There is a glaring lack of real, practical talk about successful Christian entrepreneurship and I’d love to hear you dive deeper into it.
I think all too often as Christians we have mentally melded the ideologies of service and suffering as if they were interchangeable. This was typically “programmed” into us from an early age if we grew up in church (especially here in the South). The “Forsake all and follow” ideology.
But following Jesus does NOT mandate a life of poverty or want. There is NOTHING noble about limiting your ability to serve others by forcing yourself into a life of poverty. Jesus WANTS us to live a life of abundance so we can use those gifts to help others.
This has never been more clear to me than over the past year as a first-time dad. There’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do for my son. So Matthew 7:11 has taken on a whole new meaning; “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
I know how much I want my son Trevor to grow up and live a life of abundance, how much more so does He want that for those of us that are His children?
Serving others with your talent can (and should) benefit both the giver and the receiver. Or as my friend Ezra Firestone so eloquently stated, we can “Serve the world unselfishly and profit.” When you truly seek to serve others unselfishly to the best of your ability you should allow those you serve to reciprocate their appreciation. Which as you mentioned, “thank you” typically comes shaped like dollar bills.
As Christians, we should adopt a far more open mindset about money. It’s not a taboo subject, and if Jesus had no problem discussing it, why should we be uncomfortable with it?
Money is NOT a sin.
Success is NOT a sin.
Prosperity is NOT a sin.
The Bible actually tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our heart. He WANTS us to be successful (he also wants us to work for it, but that’s a story for a different post lol).
I’m looking forward to more podcasts focused in this area!
…And planning on, as that pastor so aptly stated to you, growing into new levels of service!
Thanks, Tracy – well said in your comment “There is NOTHING noble about limiting your ability to serve others”!