"Money is the Answer"
(The following is a supplement to the previous blog entry, Slave to the Lender.)
One of the relatively obscure verses distorted by some Charismatics, particularly some of the advocates of the "prosperity gospel," is Ecclesiastes 10:19, which says, "A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything."
Some of the prosperity teachers, John Avanzini being one example, have inferred from this that God himself is recommending money as the solution to every problem and the way to achieve any goal. Then, it seems that to devote an extraordinary amount of attention and effort to getting rich is nothing other than to follow a biblical teaching on how we ought to live. After that, it is only a small step to the mindset that to "seek first the kingdom of God" is to seek first to get rich, to seek money before anything else.
This is not just a hypothetical distortion of Scripture and an imaginary slippery slope — there are in fact "Christians" who teach and practice this, and they assure themselves that they are in full agreement with Scripture. In fact, from their perspective, they are the only responsible and obedient ones — while all the other Christians are working hard to spread the gospel through preaching, they have a larger vision and a smarter approach.
You see, if they can get rich, then they don’t have to preach to or reason with the unbelievers — they can just buy them. The unbelievers don’t respect the gospel, but they respect money, so if you have more of it than they do, then they will listen to you. Money is the key to getting people’s attention and making an impact in the world. After all, the Bible itself teaches, "…money is the answer for everything."
Again, I am not being sarcastic, but this is a close paraphrase to the actual statements that some of these people have made. One of them told me that the apostle Paul failed in his ministry because he was never as rich as Solomon, and thus he never wielded the full resources and blessings that God has given to every believer in Christ. On the other hand, once we have attained the extreme prosperity that Solomon enjoyed, then all the unbelievers will come and kowtow to us. This, according to this person, is effective gospel ministry.
I have discussed this type of thinking in my article, "Kingdom First." But let’s also take a look at this verse in Ecclesiastes.
To correctly understand this verse or almost any verse in the Bible, you must take into account the immediate context provided by the surrounding verses, and then also the general context of the entire book.
The verse itself provides a contrast between "money" and "a feast…and wine." A feast and wine have particular uses and effects, but in contrast, money has many uses and effects. This is a statement about the true state of things, but in itself, the verse does not tell you what to do with this information. It would be wrong to immediately infer, "Therefore, you should regard money as the most important thing in your life, and you must seek it with all your might."
Anyway, right now, I don’t want to spend time gradually broadening our scope and to discuss everything that we encounter as we do so. If you wish to study the passage in greater detail, you should consult a reliable commentary on Ecclesiastes.
For our purpose, it is enough to go straight to the conclusion of the book and read what the author intends for us to get out of Ecclesiastes: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (12:13–14).
Fear God! Keep his commandments! For there will be a judgment! This is "man’s all" (NKJV); this should be our whole concern. From the very beginning, the author has been trying to show that all the things and the ways of this world are "meaningless," and after an extended discourse on the things and the ways of this world, the conclusion is that our whole duty is to fear God and keep his commandments, for there will be a judgment.
So, the author is not persuading his readers to pursue the things and follow the ways of this world, or to be enamored with all that he has described between the beginning and the ending of Ecclesiastes. But his point is precisely the opposite, that these things are vain, futile, and meaningless. The meaning of life is stated in the conclusion, that is, we are to fear God and keep his commandments, knowing that he will judge all men. Since this is the point he is making, any inference from any verse in Ecclesiastes that is inconsistent with this is a false inference.
Thus we are to seek and obey God, not Mammon (Matthew 6:33). According to the teachers of the prosperity gospel, it is as if it is God himself who commands us to seek Mammon, so that we are to seek God by seeking Mammon. But this perversion is condemned by verse 24, where the very point Jesus makes is that the two are mutually exclusive, not mutually supportive.
Recommended:
Vincent Cheung, "Kingdom First"
Vincent Cheung, Godliness with Contentment
Vincent Cheung, Commentary on Philippians