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| (Detroit) |
Once upon a time someone left our church because they didn't like what I was preaching about money.
I was preaching through the four Gospels. It took seven years to get through them! Jesus talks a lot about money, and it is all negative. "Money," said Jesus, is an alternative god that competes for our worship.
This person was all about making lots of money, and didn't like hearing what Jesus says. My guess was that they didn't like Jesus because of watching too much prosperity gospel TV.
So, what is a pastor to do? Keep preaching what Jesus is teaching. Pastors are not, Eugene Peterson says, to give in to the cultural sirens. He writes:
Pastors, "you are not the minister of our changing desires, or our time-conditioned understanding of our needs, or our secularized hopes for something better." (Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Kindle Locations 244-245)
If you are interested in what Jesus says about money, then must reading is:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
