Hebrews 13: 5, 6: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”

Dr Tong started by saying that the scripture passage for this session is a difficult one. This is because everybody needs money. No one would admit that they are greedy for money, yet no one would admit that they do not need money. Every one of us know the power and lure of money, and we know of people who betrayed others, gave up their families, youth, reputation, country all for the sake of money. What exactly then is money, and why does it exert such strong influence over our lives?

Clearly, even the church needs money to preach the gospel or conduct her ministries. We can affirm first of all that we all need money. Money in itself is neutral. It can be used for good of the world, and it can also be used for great evil. Different people react differently towards the neutrality of money.

Dr Tong related a few incidents to illustrate this point. We hear often from government officials that for the benefit of the nation, a certain stand is being taken. This means that our national principles are based on self-interest. But when we live our lives based on considerations of benefit and loss, we will not be able to live a life based on the fear of God and His principles. Then we will be opened to the seduction of money.

Dr Tong said that he has met a few people in his life time who would not be seduced by money. An engineer in his own church rejected a huge bribe of US$180,000 when he was asked to approve a shoddy project. Another couple in Taiwan found a winning lottery ticket and surrendered it to the police station rather than claim the top prize. Dr Tong said that he was deeply moved when he read about the couple in the headline news, and said that they would bring glory to God if they are Christians, but shame to Christians if they are non-believers. This is because there are people in churches today who became rich through unethical manners.

The Bible clearly tells us that there is nothing wrong with possession of wealth. The right to private ownership of wealth is actually protected by God. Even the basic human right as proclaimed by the United Nations include the right to own property, and this is again based on scripture. The last of the 10 commandments declares that one is not to ‘covet your neighbour’s house, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour’ (Exodus 20:17) Therefore, the right of ownership is protected by God. We are then free to aim to increase our possessions, and plan to develop our business through legitimate means and channels. But does this display a greed for wealth?

We need to separate the greed for wealth from legitimate development of our businesses. The philosopher Max Weber wrote an important book at the beginning of the 20th century, entitled “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”. Weber observed that wherever Protestantism flourished, wealth inevitably followed. In other words, a protestant typically becomes wealthier. Weber believed that the key difference between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic would be in that the Protestant is conscientious in his work, and devote all his work to God, not to man. So this theology of stewardship compels Protestants to do their very best in whatever task they undertake, resulting in better performance and hence generating more wealth.

We can observe this phenomena clearly in the 20th century. The best industrial products do not come from Muslim, Hindhu or Buddhist countries; they all came from Protestant societies. Dr Tong said that the best Japanese watches cannot compare with the best Swiss watches, because Switzerland had been influenced by the Protestant spirit. The Protestant Netherlands has a better economy than the Roman Catholic Belgium. The same goes for Germany over France, England over Spain, Switzerland over Italy, North America over South America. All these are related to the Protestant influence over the society. Dr Tong said that with strong Protestant influence, wealth is generated rather than looted; so America in her history does not have too many colonies, because she can generate her own wealth. The Protestant believes in high thinking, low living. So he can keep generating wealth and would not waste them away, creating a positive cycle that keeps on generating more wealth.

Does that mean that the wealthy would necessarily be lousy spiritually; or that only the poor can be spiritual? Scripture clearly has many wealthy saints, including Abraham, David, Solomon. David in particular was a person after God’s own heart, and he was very wealth. It is therefore possible for one to be both wealthy, and spiritual. The key command from scripture is for us not to love wealth or be greedy for it. Money can be a good servant, and a terrible master. When we have full control over our wealth, we are truly free. Conversely, we will be slaves toward our money.

Dr Tong shared that some time ago, one of his member in Indonesia, a elderly lady who was not very wealthy, brought US$55,000 to one of his preaching station as an offering. The pastor in charge of that preaching station asked Dr Tong if he should surrender the money to the headquarter church where Dr Tong is. Dr Tong replied that perhaps God is leading the sister to support the preaching station and its ministry. The lady died about half a year later, and Dr Tong said that clearly she was a person who had mastery over her wealth. In contrast, many of us leave our money to our children, and they fight over it after we die. The key thing is that we need to have mastery over our money while we are still alive.

The famous American Industrialist Andrew Carnegie said that it would be a shame if one were to die a millionaire. In other words, one has not been able to figure out how to dispose of one’s income before one dies (and has no more ability to direct the use of one’s possessions). Dr Tong pointed out that the Americans have a very different concept of wealth from the Chinese. The Chinese believe that when he uses money, somebody else is taking it away from him. But when he saves money, he is keeping the money for himself. The American however, believes that when he spends, he spends his own money. But when he saves, he is saving it for others. Basically, the American believes that the right to use money in anyway he pleases proves that the money belongs to him; while the Chinese believes that only when the money is kept would it belong to him. In the end, China is still poor after thousands of years of existence, while America is the wealthiest nation in the world after only 250 years.

Dr Tong related another incident when he helped two elder sisters when he first became a preacher. Both unmarried ladies lived in a small room and were sick. So Dr Tong brought one to the doctor (because the other one refused and wanted to save money), paid for everything including the medicine. But when the sisters died later, their relatives found 13 kg of gold bars buried underneath their beds. The question therefore is whether such a thrifty lifestyle was warranted at all.

Addressing this issue directly, the first thing we can affirm would be that ownership of private properties is not wrong, and indeed is a right protected by God. The question therefore is why would one want to increase one’s wealth? Dr Tong declared that there is nothing wrong if one seeks wealth because one needs it. Scripture tells us that even the ants would store food for winter (Proverbs 30:25). The desire to want more can come from the desire for perfection. This desire for perfection comes from the fact that we are made in the image of God, and God is perfect. So we would not be satisfied with what we have, whether it be wealth, intelligence, knowledge, etc. and we keep wanting to improve ourselves. This is the mark of being a human, where ales a pig would simply be satisfied regardless of the environment it is in. So Dr Tong affirmed that if we seek wealth because we need it, there would be nothing wrong with that sort of motivation.

However, if one seeks wealth because one is constantly making comparison with others, and want to outshine another person, one would fall into the endless cycle of greed over money. When one becomes dissatisfied not because of need, but because of comparison, one would be having a wrong motivation. But this is something that is very difficult to avoid. The apostle Peter after following the LORD for more than 3.5 years could not escape this habit. When told by the LORD that in his old age, he will be bound and led away (John 21:21); his immediate response was to compare, and ask what would happen to John. So many a times, our bitterness comes not from suffering, but from comparing and jealousy. Many poverty also comes not from lacking, but from comparing, resulting in a grumbling and complaining spirit in life. We need to search ourselves and ensure that we do not have such a bitter spirit.

Another reason why we seek after wealth could be because we have no faith in God. When we have no faith, we naturally have anxieties. When our faith increases, our anxieties will surely decrease. Many Christians would say that they have faith, and at the same time, they also have anxieties. This cannot be. Our LORD promised that He will never leave us, nor will He desert us. Without faith in the LORD’s promises, we will go around in circles in our life, and lead a life of anxiety. We may seek wealth to replace our lack of faith in God. Dr Tong said that he once read about a wealthy man who lamented that his wealth is only enough to take care of 14 generations of his descendants.

We are greedy for money primarily because we are not satisfied with what we already have been given by the LORD. This is the key reason and the key lesson we need to learn, that is we need to be satisfied with whatever that the LORD has arranged for us, and work within that arrangement. This was first preached surprisingly not by Jesus Christ, but by John the Baptist. When asked by soldiers what they should do (Luke 3:14), John the Baptist told them not to extort money and accuse others falsely, and be contented with their pay. A soldier could have easily used his weapon to get more wealth illegitimately, but John the Baptist admonished him to be contented with what he already had. In the same manner, the author of Hebrews wrote that we are to be contented with what we have.

The important thing therefore, is to know what is legitimate and what is not. We need to handle all things in the right spirit. One need not be ashamed of wealth, or fame; but one should not betray himself because one wanted wealth or fame. We need not escape from wealth of fame as well if they came in a legitimate manner. We need to be contented with what we ought to receive naturally through our work and effort. We can enjoy the fruit of our legitimate labour, but we need to flee from selfish and evil desires.

We should seek for the blessings from Zion and the blessings that God had set for us, and be contented with what He wanted us to have. We should never go beyond the teaching of Christ and seek after illegitimate gains for our own selfish purposes. A person who seeks unrighteous wealth cannot possibly be a person who fears God. Many want to win the lottery and pray for it day and night. Others try gambling. Yet others attempt deception and fraud. And Christians even steal from God by withholding their tithe from the LORD. Proverbs 20:23 tells us that the LORD detests differing weight. In other words, we must lead a consistent lifestyle, and not yield to greed for money.

Dr Tong ended the session by encouraging all to do the right thing and lead a life contented with whatever the LORD allows us. In so doing, even our descendants can be blessed by the LORD. David said in Psalm 37:25 that in his life, he has never witnessed the righteous abandoned or their children begging. Let us trust in God's provision and not fear that He will let us down. We are to always remember that money can be a good servant, but a terrible master.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.