From the archives of Oral Roberts
A pastor gave his first sermon to his brand-new congregation, and he preached on giving. Afterwards, the people all came around and began to shake his hand and compliment him. One brother, however, waited until the crowds had gone. He was known by everyone there as a “pillar of the church.” He told the pastor how glad he was to have him at their church, and then he said, “There’s one thing we don’t talk about in this church, however, and that’s money.”
The pastor said, “Oh, I’m glad you told me that. I’ll have to form a committee and I’d like you to be the chairman of it.”
The man said, “What kind of committee?”
“Well,” the pastor said, “You’re going to have to redo the Bible and give me the kind of Bible you want me to preach from. If I’m not to preach about money, you’ll have to take out the parts that deal with money. Thirteen of Jesus` 39 parables deal with money and you’ll have to take those out. Jesus also talked about money at other times and you’ll have to take out those verses, too.
And then there’s Paul, who talked about taking up offerings from the churches and giving it to the poor saints in Jerusalem, not to mention Paul’s teaching to the people at Philippi about giving and receiving, and, about how God would supply all their needs. In fact, you’ll have to take out all the references to giving because giving includes money. You’ll also have to take out III John 2 which talks about prospering, because money is a part of biblical prosperity. And then you’ll have to go to the Old Testament and deal with all of God’s promises to bless and prosper His people. Your committee will have a lot of work to do!”
The man responded, “You know, Pastor, on second thought, I think you’d better preach what God leads you to preach.”
Many people don’t like it when we preachers preach about money, but the fact is, God cares about ALL the needs of His people being met, including their financial needs. He wants His people to be whole in spirit, mind, body… and in their finances. Third John 2 says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” That’s my prayer for you today!