Serving Unrighteous Mammon

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Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 18-05-2009

Category : Bible, Church, Money, Religion, Richard Foster, Society

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This post was originally written in Jan 2008 but for some reason I never published it. Having stumbled upon it now, especially in the ‘interesting’ financial times that we find ourselves in, I thought I would throw it out there. – Rob

I am currently reading a book by Richard Foster; Money, Sex and Power. Written some years ago now, it looks at how we can formulate a proper Christian response to these three issues. Three issues, he suggests, that are crippling the modern Christian as we just don’t know what to do with them.

I’ve just finished section one; Money, and it has given me some food for thought. The main thrust of the discussion is to challenge the most popular view of money in the contemporary Church. That is that money is neither good nor evil, and that all that matters is what one does with it.

A different view of money.

This has been my view on the subject so I have found it interesting, and somewhat uncomfortable to have it challenged. Foster suggests that Money has a spirit all of it’s own. That it does, but it’s very nature, seek to control us and seeks our service and worship. Foster goes on to how we, as Christians, need to discover how we can enslave money for the use of the Kingdom of God.

Which master do we serve?

How do we know then if we are serving the idol Mammon? Examine the financial decisions you make. Do you buy what you want or what you need? I did have a perfectly good Sony MP3 player but now have an incredible sexy iPod Touch so this is definitely one for me to consider. When buying a house is the first question; what can I afford? What area can I afford to live in? How many bedrooms / bathrooms can my budget stretch too? Or is the first question; where does God want me to live? How many bedrooms / bathrooms do I need? You can of course apply this to the new car or holiday destination etc etc.

Are such decisions dictated first by the size of our savings and credit limit or are they dictated by God? I’m not suggesting that new cars are bad, that we shouldn’t buy a bigger house or go on holiday. Not at all. But the challenge to me has been to look at my decision making process when I am using my money. If the amount of money I have is dictating to me how my money is being spent then Foster suggests that Mammon has a hold that he shouldn’t have.

Being a good steward

Having money in itself isn’t a bad thing (be clear too that it’s not necessarily a sign of God’s blessings either, though it can be). We are called to be good stewards and as both Lewis and Willard have impressed upon me previously (Mr Foster joins the list now too) if we simply give it all away then this cannot fulfil that calling. We cannot steward, after all, what we do not have. Giving, however, is how we enslave Mammon.

All the power that money has over us is derived from the fact that we strive to get it. By fair means or foul money is “earned”. If, therefore, we are able to give it away we can then break this hold and power over us. Foster discusses some interesting ways of giving; And not just to “Christian” causes. We are called to invest in the Kingdom; to invest in what lasts. Some suggestions included, of course, regular, planned, giving to your church. Also, to be able to give reactively is encourage. One suggestion that I hadn’t herd before was to have a long term plan or budget for giving. i.e. I want to give x pounds to such and such a charity over the next 10 years and I am going to make it possible by investing in y way. etc etc. Giving to individuals, maybe to help fund education, medical bills, or some other need is also an option. It’s also worth remembering that a key aspect of giving is not to have to dictate how it is spent.

Slavery for the Kingdom

Jesus makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot server both God and Mammon. It is simply not possible. He commends shrude investment and even uses some very confusing phrases like; “make friends with unrighteous Mammon”, but there is not time to go into that one now.

Money is a dangerous customer that, when enslaved for the Kingdom, can be used to do a great deal of good. But always, Foster encourages, we must be on our guard. For even if we have conquered it; Mammon will attempt to counter attack. It is a dynamic spirit that will always seek to regain a foot hold.

Hopefully this has given you a taste. This first section has left me with some interesting challengers to consider. Be shrude, be eager to give, live simply thinking about what I need not just what I want, and be sure that my decision are made as a response to God and not as a result of how much money I think I have available. Money is there to be conquered and to serve me in my pursuit of the Kingdom of God, not the other way around.

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Church is Irrelevant – A Church for Tomorrow?: Part 1

Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 11-05-2009

Category : Church, Religion

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A couple of weeks ago I introduced the idea that a decline in numbers in the majority of western churches was not only a result of a lack of new recruits or even because of a disappearance of the younger generations but increasingly because everyday, average Christians are staying away.

This is the first part in my promised “A Church for tomorrow?” series. I am going to look at the idea that the Churches relevance has somehow impacted the the membership and commitment of everyday Christians to a local congregation. 

This is a common reason given by Christians  for not being an active member of a local congregation. Before we even attempt to look at it’s validity I think we need to first ask a couple of questions and try and put down some definitions.

  1. What do we mean by Church?
  2. What do we mean by irrelevant?

Church

The Biblical idea of Church is the collection of people that act as Christs physical body on earth. I think we would be hard pressed to find any Christian that would suggest that is an irrelevant idea. The world today, maybe more now than ever, requires a physical outworking of the grace and love of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, cannot be what people mean when using this reason for non-committal to a local Church.

So what is the alternative?

I think this must be the weekly gathering of people that, generally speaking, happens on a Sunday morning.

Irrelevant

So a dictionary definition is; “Unrelated to the matter being considered”.

Where church is concerned; “the matter being considered” can only be one of three things (or more probably a combination of them).

  1. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
  2. The world “out there”
  3. Me

Using our Biblical idea of church, I don’t see how being Christ’s physical body on Earth is unrelated to any of the above.

How about the weekly gathering being unrelated?

I would suggest that a weekly gathering of believers is indeed related to God. I would find it difficult to argue against this.

Whether or not it’s related to the “world out there” is possibly contentious. Different models of Church will have a slightly different emphasis. Some will strive to be welcoming to “outsiders” while others will strive to equip their members to be ready for their interactions during the rest of the week. In reality I’d imagine most are somewhere between these two extremes.  So, with that said, I would suggest that Church, is indeed related  to “the world out there”.

So what about me? Is the Church related to me? I think that here lay the crux of the issue. Is the Church doing what I want, in the way I would want it to happen, when I would want it to happen?

I fear that, while all individual Churches will have varying degrees of success in it’s relation to the first two points it will never be exactly what I would want it to be.

Challenge

Is the Church irrelavant? I would suggest no. I would even suggest that it is possible more relevant now than it has ever been. However, as a western Christian it is becoming increasingly challenging to commit to a local body of Christians.

Apart from finding it difficult to commit to anything at all we are increasingly mobile.  Almost approaching nomadic in movements from place to place and therefore not having any great ties to a particular location. 

We are persistently encouraged to shop around in every other area of life. If the product we are consuming is not quite to our taste, or we simple fancy a change, we shop elsewhere.

We are increasingly busy. Work, friends, family, hobbies, etc. All put massive pressure on our time. Being part of a Christian community takes investment and our time is precious.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Church needs to stay in touch with the modern world. A valid charge can be leveled at many a Church door, of all denominations and styles, that it lives its life as though it was still the 20th century (or worse). But this issue is only increased when Christians dissociate themselves.

Being a member of a local Church can be a challenge. It is certainly effort (even hard work) and requires time and commitment. But let us all be clear that these are the issues. Irrelevance, I would suggest, is not.

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A Church for Tomorrow?

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Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 27-04-2009

Category : Church, Religion

I have a series of posts lined up which have be floating around my head for a while. I feel it is time that these thoughts come to fore; partly inspired by some on going discussions with a good friend and mentor of mine about how the modern church is supposed to reach, help and serve Albert Rd (our short hand for the non-Christian masses), partly inspired by a great post I stumbled upon by Wess at â??gathering in lightâ? (Unless a grain of wheat falls: the church in 25 years), and partly because the local church of which I am a part is in the process of looking at what we are doing now, how we go forward, and why.

In general, the number of regular church goers in British churches is in terminal decline. This is especially true in the 16 â?? 30 age bracket. There are certain individual churches and certain types on church that buck this trend but as a broad sweeping statement, which I am not going to try and backup with statistics of any kind (*smile*), the church will run out of members in the next 50 years unless something changes.

Put in simple terms, as the older generation dies off. They are not being replaced by young blood. Thatâ??s not to say that there are not lots of young Christians out there. But they are, in the main, shunning the Church.

This is not just a problem reserved for the young. Increasingly people over 30 are also finding it more difficult to commit to a church. For whatever reason folk are choosing to either just dip in and out of a church community, or to disassociate themselves all together.

There was a time when the main question was why do people who are not Christians not seem to show any interest in what we do as Church. Now I fear the question is why do Christianâ??s not seem all that bothered either.

So why has this happened? And should we care?

Why?

Ok, so I donâ??t really have an answer here. But I have a couple of common suggestions.

  1. Church is irrelevant.
    Whatever that means.
  2. We are victims of other peoples success.
    Because of the battles of a by-gone age Church is easy, comfortable, and eventually, boring. There is no challenge, itâ??s just dull.
  3. Busy, busy, busy. We are just too busy.
    Sunday is my only day off. I want to sleep in, watch the football and spend time with my family. When else am I going to do it? And as for midweek, not a chance. Iâ??ve got three kids and I work sixty hours a week. You get the idea.
  4. We just donâ??t get the point of Church.
    Stand up, sing a song, sit down, sermon, stand up, sing a song, force out the pleasantries, run. A week until we have to endure again. *sigh*

Iâ??ll try and tackle each one of these in upcoming posts (and probably a few more besides when they come up).

Should we care?

Why does it matter? Those who like church go, those who donâ??t, donâ??t. If Church dies out then surely itâ??s just some form of Christian evolution. The way it should be

Unfortunately I donâ??t think we can get away with that. The New Testament is very big on us meeting together as a family of believers. We need it, and more than that, our local communities; the towns and cities where we live out our lives need it.

Maybe the â??should we careâ? post should come before all the â??why people donâ??tâ? posts, but thatâ??s the way Iâ??m doing it; unless I change my mind. So stay tuned. 

 

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