Last year I took a chance and reached out to an American estranged daughter of a mother struggling mightily with health issues and possible homelessness. Anyway, this angry daughter came back at me that I was trying to take her “money” and the prospects of her helping would not be forthcoming.
As most of you know by this time, I do not have a money-making ministry, and I am very poor by the world’s standards; yet, I am magnificently rich with the blessings of God as He teaches me and others through me the mysteries and meanings of fullness in His Word. So the worlds of the rich, American, angry daughter, and our poor ministry collided briefly. It was so uneventful, so nothing, that it barely sent a tiny ripple through the fabric of human existence. However, her wrong focus with her accusations of taking her money, rather than discussing solutions for her mother’s well-being, illuminated the “wealth” of the world that is worshipped without righteousness.
My ministry on Facebook began a couple years ago. I made all the mistakes most Western Christians make when they get on Facebook. I was exposed to so many impoverished, orphans, widows, oppressed, persecuted, and hungry, that I began contributing the little money I had to help others. You know what happened, right? The minute I started sharing my money, the floodgates opened, and demands came pouring into my messenger, my emails, and my phone.
One of my African friends explained to me that businesses in Africa are made off the finances provided by the rich Americans. That choice goods sent to Africa for the orphans, for instance, were culled for the best being resold or kept by the business owner, and just the remnants shared with the kids. That the money sent in donations often went directly into the pockets of the requesters without aid being shared. That children’s pictures were sometimes shared by different people to publish the harsh living conditions in poverty to receive donations.
When my Bank noticed that I was sending money to these different places to help the impoverished, they asked me to come in for a meeting. They were deeply concerned that I had fallen victim to the money scams and questioned me on the recipients of my generosity. Eventually, I came to the truth, and recognized that I was being used.
I stopped giving money. I offered teachings of the Word of God FREE to all. I enrolled hundreds of eager students into our Academy without charge to train Christians with the Bible and prepare them to carry on a ministry based upon God’s Truth. Immediately, thousands of requests came to me for the purchase of laptops, help with the Internet, printers, and money for incidentals. (I even got a request to help purchase goats, wedding attire and handkerchiefs for an upcoming wedding; when I declined, the request changed from goats to chickens). Students, though initially excited to attend classes, found that they had to actually study and do work without any new shiny computers coming their way. Quickly, enrollment decreased dramatically, and instead of hundreds of students we had just a few. The Word of God was not as valuable to them as the hope of receiving gifts and rewards from the rich Americans.
African and American lovers of money are EXACTLY ALIKE. Those who do not walk the path of Christ, those who reject righteousness in favor of worldly excesses and riches will do ANYTHING to get and keep wealth and fame. They will be at the top of the pyramid, making schemes to bring in that money at the expense of dignity, truth, holiness, family, and help. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! They climb over the orphaned, young, elderly, poor, mentally ill, oppressed, naked, sick, disabled, to reach the top pinnacles of glory in this world.
MONEY is the false god of the greedy. It is time for Christians to proceed with caution for all requests for money and recognize that it is NOT a righteous act to give attention to the unrighteous efforts and evasions of the seekers of riches.
