SERIES – Google or God?
THEME – Poor/Rich
TEXT – Proverbs 13:7 & 2 Peter 1
Open
In 1881 Mark Twain first
published the story “The
Prince and the Pauper”
This treasured historical satire,
played out in two very different socioeconomic worlds of 16th-century England, &
centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day:
·
Edward, Prince of Wales
·
and Tom Canty, a street beggar.
During a chance encounter, the
two realize they look identical and, decide to exchange clothes and roles--a
situation that briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters.
The Prince, dressed in rags, wanders about the city's boisterous neighborhoods
among the lower classes and endures a series of hardships; meanwhile, poor Tom,
now living with the royals, is constantly filled with the dread of being
discovered for who and what he really is.
This story has been told many
other times over…
·
“Trading Places” with Dan Ankroyd and Eddie Murphy from my
childhood
·
Barbie movies for my daughters – Princess &
Pauper – Popstar & Pauper
Why is it so interesting? Why so
clever?
What does Twain’s story grab hold
of deep in our core that keeps our attention?
·
Is it because we want to know what it’d be like
to live rich if we consider ourselves poor…
·
But we live in the richest country in the world
monetarily… Do we want to know what it’s like to live poor if we are ourselves
rich?
Both of those things seem way too
surface level.
It begins to tug at some things
that are rooted deep within us
·
How do you feel about those who are poor (er than you)?
·
How do you feel about those who are rich (er than you)?
·
What do you think is God’s role in those with
wealth and those without it?
I think Twain’s story actually grabs
some Wisdom that is still true today – a truth for all of us:
Poor and Rich have never been about your bank account, but
about your heart.
In fact, Solomon… dubbed the
“wisest man who ever lived” actually says:
- Proverbs
13:7 One pretends
to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor,
yet has great wealth.
- The
wisdom of the world says this is about money… the Proverbs see it
differently.
Let’s pray…
Google now processes over 40,000 search
queries every second on average, which translates to over 3.5 billion searches
per day and 1.2 trillion, searches per year worldwide. Our culture is searching
desperately for wisdom!
We are in the middle of teaching
series called “Google or God?”
We’ve been talking about the fact
that God has revealed incredible truths in His Word for living wisely in many
areas of our lives. His wisdom nurtures
an incredible life that we can’t possibly imagine. We can access His wisdom OR run to Google for
the answers.
God’s wisdom is not just
answers... Rather God’s wisdom comes from understanding that we are His
Children first. When we know this, we can search the wisdom of God through the
power of the Spirit and live from a different place. We can, through an
intimate relationship with Father, begin to understand how God sees things.
Word
Twains Prince/Pauper story is
intriguing because it taps into that wisdom a little.
Google… our community… our
culture will tell you over & over again that…
·
Climbing the ladder
·
Having the right education or experience
·
Getting a better paycheck
·
Living in the right neighborhood
·
All will lead you to a position of wealth.
I think that Twain must’ve spent
some time reading Solomon’s proverbs though. He understood that what’s on the
outside may not have anything to do with the person’s financial standing.
Solomon said things like…
·
16:19 “It is better to be of
a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the
proud.”
·
28:6 “Better is a poor man
who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”
Rich and poor have always been
about a mentality… and not about finances. Many times in my life I have seen so
many of my family and friends always looking for…
·
The next great purchase
·
The better job
·
The greener grass on the other side of the fence
·
Share a personal/family STORY here.
Where have YOU been searching for your wisdom in the area
of wealth?
Google will give you a financial plan, but the wisdom of
the Word will lead you toward your heart.
Poor and Rich have never been about your bank account, but
about your heart.
You can have the mentality of a
poor person and have millions in your bank (scrooge).
You can have the mentality of a
rich person and have nothing in your bank (mother T).
Paul tells us that we are to have
the “mind of Christ.”
Bill Johnson says that “I cannot afford to have one thought
in my mind that isn’t His.”
What was Jesus’ mindset?
He was willing to leave the
“wealth of heaven” for the “poverty of the earth…
Did Jesus suddenly have no money
when he came to earth? Did Jesus suddenly not have access to the wealth of
heaven? This has been misread many times.
NO in His appearance and
condition He may have appeared to have nothing, but in His mindset, He remained
a Prince in Pauper’s clothing… choosing to bless those “poor” in the eyes of
the world with the wealth of resources from Heaven. Jesus’ heart was always RICH!
When we receive our new identity
in Christ, not only do we get a new name & purpose, but we are to leave our
earthly father’s house – his way of thinking exchanged for God’s way – his
heart towards rich/poor not our earthly upbringing.
We are carrying the DNA of the
blessings of faith. Abraham’s DNA. The church’s DNA. The DNA of Jesus himself.
There is so much more we have access to than we realize.
2 Peter 1
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he
has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them
you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world
because of sinful desire.
Graham Cook says it this way, “You stand in a puddle, when I would
give you the ocean.”
Wealth mentality isn’t about
money or idolatry, but about our freedom.
We discover this through an
intimate relationship with Father God… and through nothing else. A mentality of
“wealth” …a mentality of living rich or poor comes from knowing who we belong
to …what family I am a party of.
Poor and Rich have never been about your bank account, but
about your heart.
Our circumstances suddenly
transform as we begin to BELIEVE Differently about them.
·
What is your mentality towards life?
·
Do you think like a prince/princess or a pauper?
·
What do you believe about God’s role in this?
o GOOGLE search “does God make me
poor?”
o
There is a lot of garbage out there
o
God did NOT make you poor…
·
When God changes your heart… and you begin to
believe differently… your whole heart posture towards wealth begins to shift.
In the book “Culture of Honor” by Danny Silk,
they tackle this very topic. Explain chart.
|
|
Poverty
|
Middle Class
|
Wealth
|
|
Possessions
|
People
|
Things
|
One-of-a-kind
objects, legacy, pedigree
|
|
Money
|
To be spent
|
To be managed
|
To be invested
|
|
Food
|
Enough?
Quantity
|
Like it?
Quality
|
Served how?
Presentation
|
|
Time
|
Present is most important
|
Future is most important
|
Tradition/history is the most
important
|
|
Destiny
|
Fate. Can’t
change much.
|
Choice. Can
change the future with good choices
|
Generosity.
Can and should change the environment and society around them.
|
|
Worldview
|
Local setting
|
National setting
|
International view
|
|
Drive
|
Survival,
relationships, entertainment
|
Work,
achievement(s)
|
Financial,
political, social connections
|
You may think this is silly, but
the way we think about food
says a lot about our heart posture toward being rich or poor. EXPOUND
Destiny further points this out through…
•
Defeated?
•
Hard Work?
•
Blessed to be a blessing?
•
Leif Hetland’s – 3 Chairs
Think about worldview – as church goers
what is your view of God’s movement on earth and our role in it?
•
My church?
•
My nation?
•
God’s kingdom?
Poor and Rich have never been about your bank account, but
about your heart.
Close
Proverbs opens us up to the reality that even money cannot change your
heart.
Proverbs 13:7
One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
•
A rich heart is a genuine heart – never given out of task, compulsion or obligation but out
of love & freedom.
•
A rich heart is a generous heart – existing to be a blessing, a benefit and a benefactor to
those who have less than we do.
•
A rich heart is a giving heart – not striving to go where one can’t, not out of false
humility, not trying to be something they aren’t… but living open-handed with
all possessions, talents, influence, and time.
•
What are you pretending to be today?
•
Are you living from your heart transformed? A heart molded and shaped by the Spirit… a
heart strengthened by a relationship with father God.
As we close, I want to pray over you that your heart would be
rich… that no matter where your life is at financially that you would have the
“mind of Christ.” One so renewed with the knowledge of how the Father sees you
and has made you, that you would want to live open-handed with every blessing
you receive…
•
With the
grace that He’s given you to change your heart.
•
With the talents
that He’s given you to change your world.
•
And with
the resources that He’s given you to benefit those less fortunate.
•
In Jesus’
name… Amen!
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