Tony Loeffler looks at spiritual and financial wealth

Tony Loeffler

In the past ten years, there seems to be an acceleration of an imbalanced prosperity doctrine within the body of Christ and to be quite frank, I am a little concerned. Some might think that because I'm not floating in finances and material things like boats, cars, jewelry, and other things that maybe I'm not the right person to be speaking out on this topic. However, let me assure you that the possessions I have in Christ are worth more than all the money in the world. The richest person on the earth cannot purchase these possessions though some have tried.

Several years ago, I felt the Lord calling me to step out by faith and trust Him to provide for our needs. It was getting difficult for me to manage both the ministry and my business and the stress was affecting my health. Something had to give and I made a decision to keep on with the work of the ministry. It hasn't always been comfortable because from that point on I needed to lean more on His provision than on the illusion of my own sufficiency.

Material things are nice but fall way short of the heritage we have in Christ, Jesus. I don't think the Lord ever intended for us to build a case for earthly financial prosperity when He responded to Peter in Luke chapter 18.

After Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes, and followed you," it is true that Jesus did say, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life." But what was this "many times as much" that we were to consider? Or better yet, what kind of currency do you think they have in the age to come, eternal life?

Maybe we should look at Proverbs Chapter 8, which speaks about wisdom's call. In verse 10 it says, "Take my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold for wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things can not compare with her." There seems to be something far more valuable than the earthly prosperity talked about so much these days in many of our churches.

Maybe it is just a matter of perspective in our teaching. I think many preachers and teachers today have dirt in their lens and that is why we have imbalance in our churches. Who is to blame? Should it be the preachers, teachers or students? You can take your pick but unfortunately, the mislead sheep pay the price for lack of wisdom.

Wisdom calls out and says in verse 17, "I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my field than choicest silver."

It could be that people like to flock toward the imbalanced prosperity because their treasure is earthbound for it says in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 19 and 20, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."

Well, there you have it. I think it is rather clear that the Lord doesn't want us to be overly concerned about these things on earth and certainly not to the point of obsession, which we seem to have in the Body of Christ today. People are seeking the materialistic things instead of the real blessing.

Just last night I took a break from writing at about 11:30PM. It was a clear night and I wanted to look at the stars. Where I live in West Palm Beach, Florida it is hard to see them because of all the night lighting. But not here in the Caribbean! It was an incredible view as I turned off all my lights and stepped out on my balcony. My first response was to take in a deep breath and just say, "Wow" to God. I mean this was awesome! I have never seen this part of the heavens with such clarity.

This was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. I couldn't help but worship the Lord and even asked if He would give me a shooting star as conformation of our intimate communication that evening. As I spent this time with my creator it made me almost speechless. Within ten minutes or so, there went a shooting star across the sky.

Some folks might say coincidence, but I knew better. I then said, "Lord it sure would be nice to see another one over there." Then I thought to myself, "Well if faith could move mountains, I wonder how many stars it can move across the sky?" Just as I was finishing my thought I heard that still small voice, the one that the bible says we will know, say to me with a little bit of humor, "Now son, don't be an imposter." I knew what that meant for the shooting star was to encourage my faith, not become the object of my faith.

I don't know how much those stars cost but I sure enjoyed the view and my conversation with God. All the money in the world and all the material possessions put together couldn't buy that moment. I have had other experiences like this and perhaps better in some ways. None of them can be purchased or even sold. They live for the moment and you stand in awe when they happen. One thing is that with all the prosperity we are preaching about these days, people miss the real gold because they are looking through a dirty lens and focusing on the wrong stuff. Faith is more valuable than riches and gold. For even the richest on the earth cannot purchase faith.

As I reflected a little longer looking at the star fields, I thought about hurricane Wilma that ravaged southern Florida last week. Like most people, we had some damage. What a powerful storm! I thought about how large of an area it covered at the time. But now, in comparison to what I was looking at in the Heavens, it was nothing. Then I thought for a while about the people in China, Africa, India and little old me, standing on the balcony. God, the creator of the universe was speaking to me. How could this be and why? All I could do was glorify and praise the Lord.

For a moment, I felt like my mind was going to go in meltdown mode. It just didn't make any sense to me. How could the God who created all that I am seeing for the moment and all that I can't see in other parts of the world, possibly care enough to spend a moment with me talking about shooting stars? Well, I know it's because He loves me and I am certainly glad that He is my father. I guess that makes me more than a millionaire.

Now I would like to offer one more thing to think about. In Chapter 14 of the Gospel of Luke in verse 33 through 35 it says this, "So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his possessions. Therefore, salt is good; but if even the salt become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear." This passage is spoken of just as the Lord was talking about being a disciple.

Please don't get me wrong; I do think that the Lord has a balanced prosperity doctrine for Christians. However in most cases, we are not hearing it in our churches today. What we need is more teaching on "True Prosperity" and less on this lower level stuff.