Contributor: Leye Olayiwola
Introduction: The message on the transfer of wealth from the sinner to the church is not new. It’s been around (and is still is) for quite a while and has become one of the popular theme in the prosperity gospel messages. Will there really be an end-time wealth transfer? This is what we will be looking at from the perspective of the scriptures.
- AN IN-DEPTH PEEK INTO PROVERBS 13:22
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for [the hands of] the righteous.”
- The happiness of men depends less on their external conditions than on their personal virtues.
“A good man is satisfied from himself.” The effects of a man’s habits are transmitted to his children, and even to their descendants. They derive from his character a sufficient and a permanent inheritance.
- The instruction of a good man is an inheritance to his children. The habits which a young man acquires under his father’s eye are the foundations of his character. Even talents are subordinate to virtues, and good affections are of more importance in human life than the most splendid ornaments of an unprincipled mind. He who adds to good paternal character the principles of liberal knowledge and the views of a liberal mind sends his children into the world with those precious endowments without which the wealth of the rich serves only to render them more conspicuously contemptible or unhappy.
- The example of a good man is an inheritance to his children. The character of a father lies at the foundation of his influence, and the effect of his paternal solicitude depends on it. His habits are his most successful admonitions.
- The care and protection of providence are an inheritance to a good man’s children. A good man will use his best endeavor to qualify his children for the business and duties of life; but his chief dependence is on Providence. He commits his children to God. His paternal labors are sanctified by prayer. It is an ever-working law that God “shows mercy unto thousands of them that love Him,” and to their children after them.
- The kindness of faithful men is an inheritance to a good man’s children. Their success in life must in part depend on the assistance and the friendship of other men, and the purposes of Providence in their favour are accomplished by means of those whom God raises up to assist, or to guide them. God selects the instruments of His purpose from all the variety of human characters. Kindness done to the child of a good man may become the means of transmitting virtue and prosperity through successive generations.
- IS THERE ANY BIBLICAL SUPPORT FOR END-TIME WEALTH TRANSFER?
- First consider the similarity between Proverbs 13:22 and how Jesus approaches the concept of giving in Matthew 6:19-21. Jesus says, “lay up treasure for yourselves in heaven.” When we give we are storing up riches in heaven. The wicked on the other hand are not setting aside for eternity and that is the contrast we should draw. In Luke 12:16-22 Jesus shares a parable that conveys this same idea. Those who are laying up treasure in heaven will benefit in the end. Those who are not will see all they have done pass out of their hands.
- The teaching on wealth transfer rises from a fundamental flaw that argues that ALL Christians should be rich. It fails to take several other factors into consideration. First wealth is relative. Bill Gates is wealthy to most people, but to a Haitian who makes about $90 per year an average earner in any developed world is a Bill Gates. Second it fails to consider that only in America and other developed countries can the wealth we enjoy even be contemplated. The average daily wage on planet earth is $2.
- Also, there is no scriptural support for this teaching in the New Testament especially as it relates to what we are supposed to be actively believing God for. We should also be weary of building a doctrine or basic belief on a single scripture (Matthew 18:16)
- As the Church does its job and gets people born again, there will be more people giving their tithes and offerings for the work of the Lord. But we need to be careful about coveting the world's money. We shouldn't be so concerned about getting sinners' money transferred into our hands. Our concern should be getting their hearts transferred into the Kingdom. We should be focused on their receiving what we have (eternal life), not on our receiving what they have (material goods). Paul said to the Corinthians, "I seek not yours, but you" (2Cor. 12:14). As a minister, he was not focused on their money, but on their souls.
- The Apostle John said the following about some ministers who traveled with the Gospel:
“because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles.”
[3 John 7]
Other translations of this verse emphasize the point:
"... accepting nothing from the heathen" (Goodspeed)
". . . taking nothing from the people of the world" (Beck)
".. . and declined to take anything from pagans" (Moffatt)
"... and they accept no help from non-Christians" (Phillips)
Our job is not to try to get the wealth of the world. Our job is to faithfully use the wealth we already have through faithful giving to the cause of the gospel) to get the Gospel out. Statistics indicate that twenty percent of church members provide eighty percent of church revenue and that the average American Christian gives only six percent of his income to the Lord's work. Imagine where we would be if those percentages were where they ought to be!
Conclusion:
The Bible does teach that when the Church returns with Jesus after the Tribulation and He sets up His Millennial Kingdom on earth, we will be inheriting all of the wealth of the sinners at that time. There is nowhere in the New Testament where we are supposed to be focused on getting their money now. Instead, we should be concentrating on seeking the hearts of the unsaved and faithfully using the finances we already have.
Part of this teaching was taken from “THE MIDAS TOUCH” by Kenneth E. Hagin
