Results May Very (Broken Finances, part 2)
I’ve already shared my concerns over Greg Soohoo’s sermon in “Broken Finances, part 1, which you can find here. The second half of the sermon was not a sermon at all but an interview with Gary Natisch, a Mosaic small group leader.
The interview was primarily about Gary’s struggle with loosing his business, his job, and his home. I don’t pretend to understand the incredible difficulty that Gary and his wife must have had to deal with as they went through such a troubling time in their life. My struggle is the use of his story as a means for encouraging others who might be in the same or similar circumstances.
Gary’s primary point is to trust in God who does not change and when we are faithful to tithe, as Gary did, God will bring about a change. The interviewer added to this by saying that “If we do our part…God seems to show up more.”
The problem with Gary’s conclusion and Mosaic’s leaders for using his subjective experience is the New Testament does not teach any such thing. Just because we trust God, and show that we trust him by tithing in the midst of our financial troubles, does not mean that our financial hardships will come to an end or our circumstances will not get worse. A perfect example of the opposite of Gary’s story is found in Hebrews 10:32-34 which says:
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Now these people also trusted in God, the God who does not change, and their homes were plundered and they were even thrown into prison. The point, I hope, is clear. The use of subjective experiences are not proof of how God works in everyone’s life. Some he may bless, but others my find themselves in deeper financial straits. Some may die, and others may live. Some may be spared persecution, others may suffer daily in persecution. In any of these cases God is unchanging, but the way he deals with us may differ depending on his plan, not our desires. The hope we should be giving people in times like these is not “Do what’s on your heart” but cling to the greater reward, the greater possession found in heaven, which is the person of Jesus Christ.
Mosaic Madness 