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Escaping The Golden Handcuffs
Brian Mashburn
January 13, 2013
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Escaping The Golden Handcuffs
I read about a wealthy businessman who was talking with some friends about being the church. He said, "I've been thinking about what it means to follow Christ, so I had this made." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a custom-made, 24 karat gold bracelet engraved with WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?).
Perhaps all of us can relate to this man. We have an earnest desire to follow Jesus with our money, but a distorted execution of that desire.
I wonder if the culture you live in is delivering an invisible set of unchallenged assumptions that keep you from experiencing God. Did you know the Bible delivers a visible set of measurable boundaries that keep you from missing out on your experience of God?
Which ones are you living by?
So many preachers (including yours) dislike talking about Kingdom Economics. The reasons include fear of judgments ("all they talk about is money at that church!"), fear of hypocrisy ("that preacher sure drives a nice car to be saying such things"), and fear of making folks uncomfortable.
But any church that is actually of Christ - trying to be like Christ - must address money regularly, with forceful clarity, and culture-clashing resolve. Why?
Because Christ addressed it that way. And left unchallenged, our cultural assumptions will steal our heavenly treasure, replacing it with gold-plated ones.
Be brave. Let us all financially mature together in 2013.