A Different Take on Money and Wealth 正视金钱与财富
Author: Bro Goh Hun Keng
Translate: Sis Charis Ong
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The Bible that Christians read touched on the topic of money and wealth in many sections, including the parables that Jesus told. Scholars have estimated that money and wealth were mentioned nearly 2300 times throughout the Bible. Matthew 6:21 states “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The Lord Jesus understands the reliance human has on money and frequently uses parables on money to educate or rebuke His listeners. Yet, we can also observe that money itself is a neutral object – it is neither good nor bad. Since ancient times, money has been a tool to store value, so that it may be used in exchange for goods with equivalent value, and the money one received can be used to purchase other goods needed. As such, money is essentially a tool that we cannot do without in our lives, benefitting those who possess it.
The love for money drives some to go against truth and resort to unscrupulous means to amass wealth. The biblical teaching on money is directed towards human and the human heart, not money itself. Since we know that money itself is neither spiritual nor evil, we may make prudent use of it. Seek God’s help and work hard to earn more it so that we may not only increase our offering to God, but also improve the quality of life of our family and those in need. On the hand, we may also understand that all that we have belongs to God, and we are mere stewards of it. God gives according to everyone’s capability to manage, and we must make good use of what was given to us, rather than bury it in the earth. To the good and faithful servant, God gives him more, and from the faithless and lazy servant God take away even what he had.
So how do we ask for more from God? When the poor widow sought help from God through Prophet Elisha, Elisha instructed her to borrow as many receptacles from her neighbours as she could. Then, she took whatever she had left in her own bottle and started pouring into all the receptacles she had borrowed, and even when they were all filled, oil flowed still from her own bottle. Only when her son said there were no more empty bottles, did the oil stop flowing. The widow sold the oil, repaid her debt, and had leftovers for their days ahead. It is evident that God wants to give to His people as much as possible, to fill whatever bottles we have prepared to the brim. The bigger the bottle, the more you’ll receive. As such, if one is willing to give to prepare the receptacle, the blessings from God in return will be bigger.
文:吴汉卿弟兄
“因为你的财宝在哪里你的心就在那里.”
基督徒所读的圣经里，有多处讲到金钱与财富的事，其中包括耶稣讲的比喻。有学者统计，有将近二千三百处经文是讲到与钱财有关的事情。马太6:21提到“因为你的财宝在哪里你的心就在那里”。
主耶稣知道人对金钱重视和依赖，常用金钱有关的比喻教训众人。但我们也可以发觉，金钱的本质是中性的，没有善与恶之分。自古以来，钱是用来储存价值 (store value)，以便在需要的时候与别人换取同等价值的东西，而收到你钱的人，可以用来买他所要的物品。所以金钱是一种介体或工具，是人生活中不可缺的，让拥有它和使用它的人们得益处。
人因贪爱钱财，以违反真理和不道德的手段积攒钱财。圣经中对钱财教训的对象是人心和人，并非指金钱本身。既然知道，金钱与财富并非不属灵或邪恶，所以应加以善用，寻求神帮助，勤劳去争取更多，除了可以增加我们奉献的额度外，同时可以提升家人生活的素质、帮助有需要的人改善生活。另一方面，我们或者都明白，一切我们所拥有的，都是属于神的，我们不过是受托的管家，祂按各人的才干把金钱产业交给人管理，我们必须将所托管的钱财善用出去而不是埋在地里。那忠心勤劳的管家，主人还要多加给他，不忠心又懒惰的，连他所有的主人也要拿回。
如何向神求更多呢？当贫穷寡妇向先知以利沙，求神帮助时，先知吩咐她去向邻舍借容器，越多越好。然后她把家里瓶子里仅剩的一点油，倒入所有的容器里，直到全都满了，油还从瓶里流出来，当她儿子说没有容器了，油就即刻停止了。寡妇把油卖了，还清债务，剩下的当作生活费。 可见，神要供应给求告祂的人是越多越好，要充满我们所预备的容器，容器大，得到的就大。因此，人若肯付出，去预备容器，付出越大，得到神的 赏赐，也就会更多。