Who Wants to Be
an Apostolic Millionaire?
By Lance McElhaney
August 21, 2000
(Author’s
Note: This is the first of an initial six-part series on financial investing.
Yeah, that’s right, investing. You
didn’t think Apostolic Christians got mixed up in that kind of stuff?
Well, unfortunately many don’t. If
you’re in this category, I hope this series will help you get out of it.
The series will start with some basic principles from which to approach
this subject, move to practical application, and then introduce a little of the
fancy stuff.)
“For one million dollars; which
disciple of Jesus Christ carried the money?
Was it:
a.
Pontius Pilate
b.
John Rockefeller
c.
Judas Iscariot
d.
Warren Buffett?”
My eyes became large O’s and my
lips became a U. I can’t believe
it. The million dollar question and
he lobs me this softball. I
confidently began, “Well Regis, Warren Buffett was a singer and John
Rockefeller invented the phonograph, so it must be either….”
My response was cut short by a wee voice calling, “Daddy.
Daddy. Up Daddy.”
What? Who? Oh.
I opened an eye and discovered a two year-old standing next to my bed.
I murmured my reply, “Does this mean I don’t get the million
dollars?”
If you’ve had a similar dream,
you’re probably: A) a Christian
and B) like most other humans. The
fact is, winning a game show to become a millionaire really is dreamy, but
becoming a millionaire isn’t. Let’s
find out how.
Core Concepts: Who’s the
Owner?
The initial financial concept we can never forget is
this: Everything we think we own is actually owned by God.
Probably not a new idea, especially if you attend church regularly.
Fact is, there’s scripture for this one. The Old Testament states that “the
earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof…” (Psalm 24:1) The fact
that God made this whole shooting-match and can wipe it out whenever He wants
may bug our humanistic brains, but it’s still a fact.
Furthermore, income earning results from a
combination of talent, aptitude, ambition and good fortune.
All of these things come from our Creator.
He has given us the ability to create wealth.
So what we think we own we are actually only managing for Him.
Some get to manage more than others. One would think that the purest of heart would be allowed to
manage the most. In reality, this
correlation is sabotaged by our carnality.
The Bible explains this with the famous passage, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) This is why it is
important to maintain an understanding of who the true owner is.
Trading
Talents
Now, since we have this management responsibility,
we’d best set about to do it right.
Within God’s great creation, our society is, in fact, a very wealthy
one. We have been blessed
abundantly. Our responsibility is
to make those blessings go as far as possible.
The parable of the talents comes to mind. Matthew chapter 25 illustrates for us the fact that God
expects us to take our blessings and do something more than bury them.
This would apply to finances just as much as any of God’s other
blessings. In fact, my King James
version actually uses the word “traded” to describe the industry of the
servant given five talents. Without
digging into the Greek, I’d say this servant went into a little business
venture for himself. When he was
done trading, he had doubled his dough and returned ten talents to his lord.
Not a bad return. As for the
one talent servant…..oooh, not good. He
didn’t do any trading and was dubbed “wicked and slothful.”
The
T Word
The concluding act to stewardship is to return our
blessings to God. The fundamental
mechanism for this act is tithing.
I’ll not repeat a tithing sermon here, but I will make a few
observations. The Biblical design
of tithing ten percent is an elegant solution for returning God’s blessing.
It is relatively easy when enacted consistently.
It is equitable in that it places no greater burden on rich or poor.
It assures an increase in your return to God as your blessings (i.e.
income) increase. And it provides
the church with a consistent revenue source from which to operate.
Malachi 3:8-10 gives a pointed discourse
on the necessity of not only tithes, but offerings as well.
This passage plainly establishes the absence of tithes and offerings as
robbing God. It goes on to reveal
God’s ability and willingness to bless those who follow this principle.
The connection between God’s blessing and our stewardship to God could
not be plainer.
Several years ago a very
successful Apostolic businessman revealed to me that his goal was to
successively increase his tithe percentage.
At the time, he was already up to tithing at a 20 percent clip.
He also introduced me to the concept of not just tithing your money, but
also tithing your time. His
approach made a big impression on me. Clearly,
this man fully understood stewardship.
Finally, I conclude this first
article with a little notion adopted from my dad: Serve the Lord as if He were
coming tomorrow, but manage your money as if He were never coming.
More about that next time.
ninetyandnine.com
©
2000, Lance McElhaney
--------
Lance
McElhaney attends Calvary Tabernacle in Indianapolis, IN.
He received his B.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from Tennessee
Technological University and his M.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering in 1986 from
the Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently works for Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis
as a Process Control Engineer. Lance
currently holds no positions in any church, but he does hold the position of
father to a two year-old he calls Claire-bear.
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