Kingdom EntrepreneurshipMuestra

The Transfer of Wealth

When money comes into our accounts, we tend to think of it as deservedly ours and at our disposal. But God’s Word reminds us that when we get too attached to our money, things end disastrously. Instead, we can experience tremendous blessing when we align ourselves with God’s work in the world, channeling our wealth into His purposes.

While 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil’ and ‘some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs’ (1 Timothy 6:10), the Old Testament also recounts times when God instructed His people to plunder the wealth of a city He had delivered into their hands. These truths may seem incongruous, but building a highly profitable business so you can fund Kingdom projects isn’t the same as selfishly hoarding wealth. Paul tells Timothy that some people – not all – wandered away from faith in Jesus because they loved money too much. The difference comes down to allegiance. If your allegiance is to God, you’ll prioritize wealth-building for Kingdom purposes. If your allegiance is to yourself, you’ll edge God out of your life.

To be part of what we might call the ‘transfer of wealth,’ we must prove our allegiance to God by being faithful with what we have now, so that over time He can trust us with more. In Luke 19:11-27, Jesus tells us a story to explain this principle of wealth transfer. A nobleman is heading off to a distant land to be crowned king. He gives ten of his servants a mina each (worth about $30,000 in today’s economy). When he returns, the first servant, who has shown allegiance to the king by investing his one mina, has turned it into ten (or $300,000). The king puts him in charge of ten cities (with budgets that would equate to billions of dollars). Thank God for the areas of your life in which God has given you an increase, as you’ve increasingly shown allegiance to Him and His Kingdom. Thank Him for doors He’s opened for your business because of your financial faithfulness and intentionality around supporting Kingdom endeavors.

Theophilus is a great example of a wealthy first-century dignitary whose allegiance was to God and who used his wealth to fund the wages of the disciple Luke, so Luke could follow Jesus and document the events of His life and ministry. It’s particularly significant that Luke, a medical doctor, was around to verify and record the healing miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps there’s a Luke in your life – someone who is uniquely positioned to serve God and who needs practical or material investment to do so. How is God prompting you to help?

If you’re called to business, know that it’s a noble, exciting, challenging endeavor. You have the potential to be mightily used by God to take Kingdom ground. Surrender every aspect of your life to the Lord and commit your wealth to Him and His Kingdom.