The Love of Money

Let us be honest and sincere to ourselves, and tell ourselves where money should stand in the life of a Christian.

We want to tell ourselves the truth, because we don't want to be counterfeit Christians, whom the Master will tell on that day, "I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers." We want to be genuine Christians, whom the Master will tell, "Well done, good and faithful servant; come and share your master’s happiness."

We want to tell ourselves the truth about how God wants Christians to see and treat money. A truth you may never hear in any church in the world. I mean, churches serve Mammon, so they are not inclined to tell you this truth. If you know one church that does not serve Mammon, tell me. We can debate it in the comment section.

Six days ago, I wrote that Jesus actually said that you CANNOT love God and money at the same time [Matthew 6:24], that it is practically impossible, that it is either you hate money and love God, or you hate God and love money. Surprisingly, the post got many "likes," compared to the number of likes my posts get on the average. Maybe the people who "liked" the post didn't understand what they read.

Well, let me put it explicitly: Jesus is saying that whoever loves money actually hates God.

Now, the big question: Do you love money?

Let me put it differently, lest we deceive ourselves: Do you want money? If you want money, you love money. And that actually means you hate God. It is as categorical as that.

It is easy to claim to love God, and everybody claims to love God. But Jesus gave us acid tests for such claims. One is: "If you love me, keep my commandments." Another one is whether you love money or not. If you love money, you don't love God. Full stop. Jesus said that you CANNOT love God and money at the same time.

Therefore, you MUST hate money! Otherwise, you don't and you cannot love God.

Do you see why I will never have large followership on Facebook? Imagine telling people to hate money. Something that is essential. Something the Bible says that it answers all things. Moreover, I am contradicting great "men of God," like Adeboye, Oyedepo, Kumuyi and Oyakhilome.

Nonso Chukwudum must be insane. Well, Nonso Chukwudum is saying what Jesus said. If Jesus was insane, then it is good to be insane.

I repeat: To TRULY love God, you MUST hate money! There is no such thing as loving money and loving God at the same time; it does not exist. Whoever tells you that you can love money and love God at the same time is a devil. So many devils are reputed as great men of God in this country called Nigeria and all over the world. Servants of Mammon parading themselves as servants of God. Shame on the devil!

When you truly hate something, you don't want it, you reject it. So, when Jesus implied that you cannot love God unless you hate money, he is indirectly saying that for you to love God, you must reject money. This is not pleasant at all.

Certainly, this is not the gospel today's Christians know and preach. Imagine standing on the pulpit of a church, and telling people to hate money. How many Christians will accept that? Are there really Christians who hate money? Are you one of them?

We all need money. There is no gainsaying that. I need money. You need money. How come Jesus is telling us to hate (reject) what we need? It is the same way he told us to hate and reject the world, even though we are in the world. He wants us to hate and reject the world by dying to the world. Likewise, he wants us to hate and reject money by dying to money.

Paul said, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." [Galatians 6:14]

Paul is saying that through the cross, he has been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to him. In other words, he is saying that through the cross, he has died to the world, and the world is dead to him. It is through the cross that one can die to the world, even while living in the world. Likewise, it is through the cross that one can die to money, even though he needs money.

The cross is the will of God. God wants us to die to the world and to money through His will.

To die to money through God's will means that I will not receive any money unless God told me to receive it. When I receive the money God told me to receive, I will not spend a kobo (a dime) unless God told me what to do with the money. God will be the one to decide what I do with EVERY kobo (dime) of that money. That is how God wants us to hate and reject money. By not taking any money unless God told us to take it. By not spending a kobo unless God told us what to do with the money.

This means that I will not do any work or business unless God told me to do the work or business. If God told me to do business, He will be the one to decide the particular business I will do, where I will do it and how I will do it. Even the scale of the business will be decided by God. And, of course, God will also decide what I do with EVERY kobo I realised from the business. I may have N200,000, and my (house) rent is N200,000, and it is due, but God may tell me to take the money and give it to my neighbour who is telling people lies about me.

If what I described above is not how you deal with money, you don't hate money. You have not rejected money. You love money, and that actually means you hate God. God said so, and it is so.

Shalom.