Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
April 21, 2002 - W0216

Whatís your definition of success?

Nothing tests the fiber of our heart, our faith, our character and our commitment than the way in which we handle money. Families have been torn apart because of a conflict over a deceased parentís estate. Marriages have turned from love to hate over arguments about money. Even Christians abandon their faith when choosing between morals or position, morals or money, and morals or fame. Money can test the very essence of our character and convictions!

You may be surprised to know that the Bible has a lot to say about moneyñhow we earn it, spend it, give it, invest it and even how we squander it. In fact, one of every three parables Jesus told deals with the subject of money. The bottom line? Jesus said the way we manage money is a strong indicator of how we will handle eternity: ìIf you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?î (Luke 16:11, NLT).

The way we handle money also tests our greed factor: Is giving and tithing easy or tough? Do we give just because we think it will come back to us? Sometimes churches propound a theology that if we give to God it comes back to us. This is commonly known as a ìprosperity teaching.î God becomes a means to an end that benefits yourself. But the Bible teaches us that giving is important. We are to give in order that others may hear the Gospel and be ushered to Jesus.

Question 1: (Itís a tough one!) Can you be trusted with the true riches of heaven? Hereís how youíll know: How trustworthy are you in stewarding worldly wealth?

Question 2: Do you tithe regularly? Do you give above and beyond your tithe? If not, what might be holding you back? How might you begin to get on a path to tithing today?

ìThe Common Battle of Rich and Poorî

THE GREED FOR MORE

We live abundantly but constantly want more and more. The unfortunate truth is that we can even have a tendency to become greedy. God knows that, and so He provides the only antidote against greed: giving. Not only does it inoculate us against the vice-like grip of greed, but t also helps us to handle prosperity when it does come. Otherwise, prosperity wonít be enough; weíll always want more.

Thatís what happened with the late, great billionaire Howard Hughes. Someone asked him, ìYou have billions, so how much is enough?î His answer: ìJust a little bit more.î Howard Hughes died an unhappy, lonely man who believed the myth that acquiring more equaled success. He had much to live on, yet nothing to live for.

The same cancer can creep into the church if weíre not carefulówhere we desire Godís blessings for our own desires more than to fulfill Godís will. But even if He does bless us, weíre still not content. Weíre too willing to throw aside our faith in pursuit of the worldís definition of success no matter what the cost. So what is true success if it is not synonymous with money?

Question 3: What is your definition of success? Explain how coming to know Jesus has impacted your definition.

Because we always want to correct back to the Scriptures, letís see how the Word defines success:

ìMen of depraved mind and deprived of the truthÖsuppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentmentî (1 Tm. 6:5-6).

Not only does it tell us that godliness is NOT a means of gain, but if we examine that Scripture, we see that God provides us with an equation for true success:

Godliness plus contentment equals true gain.

Increasing God (ìgodlinessî) plus decreasing want (ìcontentmentî) equals ìtrue gain.î Now that we have the formula for true success, letís break it down to really understand it. First of all, what is godliness?

1.                  GODLINESS: A GENUINE DAY-BY-DAY WALK.

ìAnd Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took himî (Gen. 5:24).

It must have pleased God so much that when He was walking along with Enoch, all of a sudden God just took him up to heaven! So too does God want to walk with us and talk with usóin such an intimate, close relationship that He might just be tempted to sweep us off our earthly feet.

The moral of that story is this: If we want to increase godliness we have to spend time with God. Just hang out with Him. The more time we spend with God the more we hear Him, think like Him, and perceive things from His point-of-view. (And He really has the best view!) Then when we get off track, He can correct us quickly and weíll understand. On the other hand, if we spend time with the world, we become worldly. If we spend time with oneself we become selfish. But spend time with God, and we become godly.

One of the elements of true success is increasing godliness by spending time with God. But thatís not automatic. You have to choose to spend time with God because our tendency is to be pulled towards self and the world. Thus, I canít think of a better way to increase your godliness than by doing daily devotions. With daily devotions you read the scriptures, start to renew the spirit of your mind and develop a mind like Christ. He then starts to change you from glory to glory into His image. Even though you donít feel like you measure up, meet with Him everyday. Stay with it and donít give up!

Question 4: How is your life different when you spend a lot of time with God? How is it different when youíre doing daily devotions?

A young prince suddenly became king when his father died unexpectedly. There was just one catch: he was plagued by a deep-seated fear that he could represent his people well. The reason was thisóa deformity caused a severe curvature of his back. He was hunched over and could never stand to his full height.

One day he commissioned a sculptor to form a statue of himself with one condition: that the statue be standing tall with his arms spread open, as if ready to embrace the onlooker. People questioned why the normally humble prince would do such a thing. But he had his reasons. The young king came out early every morning and stood up against the statue, stretching himself against it and forcing himself to match its posture. So vehement was his stretching that the strain would cause him to shake. Day after day, month after month he painstakingly tried to match it. Finally, the fated day came when the back of his head and back touched the statue and he was able to stand straight.

That image is the same picture of each of us and our daily devotions. God gives us the design for a bright future and a hope. God wants us to bring ourselves to match up to that image though we seem to fall short. Why? Because one day we will begin to feel the touch of His image beginning to merge with our life. There is no better way to increase godliness than to spend time with God every single day.

The first element in the formula for success is godliness. The second element to true success is learning to be content:

2.                  Contentment: Choosing to be Satisfied.

If weíre waiting for circumstances to dictate our contentment then weíll be waiting forever. If pay, status, or position determine how content we are, then weíll never achieve contentment because even if we get close weíll always want just a little more. The elusive target will constantly keep rising out of our reach.

But do we qualify to be content? Indeed we do. Hereís the test: ìIf we have food and covering, with these we shall be contentî (1 Tm. 6:8). Most of us arenít starving and we all have clothes on (thank God!) so that means we should be content. However, our society tells us we live discontented lives. And weíre always going after happiness somewhere, everywhere, anywhere instead of following after God. Like godliness, contentment has to be learned.

Hereís one tip that might help you with your level of contentment:

?        The accumulation of money is not a noble enough goal for the investment of your life!

ìBut those who want to get rich fall into temptationÖFor the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pangî (1 Tm. 6:9-10).

The words ìlonging for itî in the original Greek means ìto stretch oneself out in order to gain something.î Some people long to get richóso much so that it is not far off to say that these people are almost possessed with the idea of being rich that they begin to compromise their good sense, morality and faith.

Question 5: Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to do anything to get itÖ even abandon your faith? Share with your group or cover this in individual prayer.

Lastly, God instructs us about what to do when God blesses us.

3.                  Steward prosperity well!

ìInstruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeedî (1 Tm. 6:17-19).

Whether God gives you a gift of influence or affluence, you are accountable to Him for the way you steward that gift. Do you use it for self or to serve others? It may include finances, but that is not the goal for investing your entire life. You will certainly miss life if you think it is. You see, true success is godliness plus contentment, and nowhere in that formula does it necessarily mention money.

Sometimes we think the goal of true success is out there and we live a life of discontent always searching for it. God says, ìI will instruct you in such a way that you will take hold of life indeed and not miss it.î Remember money might buy you a bed but not sleep, companionship but not love, a house but not a home, entertainment but not happiness, religion but not salvation. It may even buy you a passport to anywhere on the face of the Earth, but not to heaven.

You see, when all is said and done, if we miss Godís definition of success we miss it all. God wants to give us an eternal perspective so that we may understand how to steward earthly finances. Then He can unleash the true riches of heaven into your life!

Taking Action: How are you stewarding your giftsówhether than includes finances, your abilities, and time? Are you satisfied with how youíre doing? Or how do you plan to invest these things for Kingdom purposes & Kingdom impact? Be specific in setting forth a plan of action.

Summarized by Rhonda Pang