What Many Christians Misunderstand About Being Rich

Let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17 to 19.

1 Timothy 6:17–19

I'm going to read from here.

Alright, let's read together from the board.

Everybody want to go.

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

Verse 18.

That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.

Verse 19, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Let me read a different translation to us.

It says, Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, not to put their hope in wealth, which is uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous.

Somebody say generous and willing to share.

In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a found as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

So that they may do what?

Take hold of the life that is truly life.

If I ask many of us in this room today, are you rich?

You probably would say, No, I am not rich.

And then you will label to prove to me that you are not rich.

You might even have people in your mind that you consider to be rich, and you will say that, oh, because those people are rich, I am not rich.

You might say that the rich are the folks who work in multinational five Fortune 500 companies.

You might say that the rich people are those who work in IT and they make upwards of a quarter of a million dollars per year.

You might say the rich are the software engineers who work at Google, who work at Apple, who work at SpaceX.

You by the way, Elon Musk, by becoming the first trillionaire in the world, made all his employees, 4,000 plus of them, automatic millionaires.

Before, because SpaceX went public, they did their initial public offer um two weeks ago or so, he made all his employees, 4,000 plus of them, automatically they became millionaires by their stake in the company.

And that's a different parable for us.

So you might say that, oh, the rich people are those who work with SpaceX and work at Google and work at Apple.

You might say that the people who are rich are those who make six figures or those who own their own businesses.

You might say the people who are rich are the internet entrepreneurs and so on and so forth.

According to a Gallup poll, many Americans believe that a family of four needs about$85,000 to just get by.

A family of four needs about$85,000 per year to just get by.

And if you ask the same Americans, how much would you need to consider yourself rich?

How much would you need to consider yourself rich?

How much would you need to make in a year to consider yourself rich?

They will say, We I need to make$150,000 per year.

And if you ask them, what would your net worth have to be to consider yourself rich?

All your assets combined together, what would it have to be for you to consider yourself rich?

They will say a million dollars.

And I bet if you ask the people that have a net worth of a million dollars, um, who do you consider rich?

They will say those who have five million dollars.

You know, I watched this show by Ramit Seti.

Um, um, I will teach you to be rich.

How many of us know what I'm the show I'm talking about?

Okay, I will teach you to be rich, and it brings on couples to this show, and they from couples that make 40,000 a year, who are doing well, and couples that make whose net worth are upwards of a million dollars and who are in despair.

They are making they are making a quarter of a million dollars a year and they don't know how to spend the money.

They have like five, um, you know, two million in retirement, and they they are like they are like, I don't know what to do.

They are crying.

Some of them are crying.

The rich do cry.

They come on the show and they are crying, they're like, Oh, I I don't know what to do.

Yes, I know we we have this one million dollars in invested assets, but I just don't know.

It doesn't feel like it.

It's just it's just money on paper.

Because why the line of rich keeps moving?

What I'm trying to say is that being rich doesn't have to be clearing a particular line that once you cross it, you say, voila, I'm now rich.

Because the line keeps moving.

I remember when myself and my wife got married.

By the way, we got married as students.

I was a student, well, she was not a student, you know.

So I was a student, you know, when we got married, and you, of course, living on student salary.

Um, I think maybe if it was a good year, I was making$30,000 a year.

Then making$30,000 or less per year, and we will fantasize about you know, when we make when we start making$80,000 per year, and we'll fantasize what we're going to do.

We're gonna buy house, we're gonna buy a house, and we're gonna pay the house off in three years because now we are making$80,000.

We're gonna buy a house, we're gonna buy a house, what like 250,000, and we're gonna pay it off, you know, in three or four years.

You know, we're just gonna pay it off because you know our our cost, our our you know, uh expenses will be very low, and then we're gonna build houses in Nigeria too, on 80,000.

We were fantasizing because from where we were making some meager, so making three um, you know, 30,000 per annum, making 80,000 was like, wow, we I mean, we're gonna be bowling, man.

We're not gonna know what to do with the money.

80,000 per year.

Hey, we're gonna be bowling.

That was it, but then of course, our marriage began to get better, and that showed up in kids.

You know, as your marriage gets better, you begin to have kids, you know, and then 80,000 became like, oh, what's this thing gonna do?

80,000.

I mean, where would 800 80,000 get to?

And then you move to Maryland.

Ah, if you are living in the heartlands of Illinois, the the crops land of Illinois or in Michigan, maybe 80,000 can carry you somewhere.

Now you move to the northeast.

Ah, you know that 80,000 cannot get you anywhere.

Why?

Because the line keeps moving.

The challenge is if we don't feel rich, we are going to continue to try to get rich.

And one day we are going to pass that rich line, and we're not going to realize that we're already rich.

And therefore, we are not going to be good at being rich.

We are not going to be good at being rich.

Apostle Paul instructing Timothy, who was the pastor at the Ephesus Church, was telling Timothy, command those who are rich in this present day not to be arrogant.

Command them to be rich in what matters.

Command them to be rich toward God, command them to be rich.

What I want to do today is to show you that you're already rich.

I want to show you that you're already rich.

And while you may struggle to accept it that you're already rich, it is the truth.

It is the truth that you're already rich.

So I have goodness and badness.

Who wants the which one do you want first?

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

You want the bad news first?

You want the bad news first and then finish with the good?

Alright, well, in my notes, it's the good news first.

So we're just gonna stick with that.

It's good news first.

We're gonna end with it on a bad note.

Alright, the good news is you are rich.

The good news is you are rich.

I don't mean that as an aspiration.

The the way you're saying it, and I don't mean that as let the weak say I'm strong.

You see, some of us are taking it as uh it's let the weak say I'm strong.

No, that's not what I'm saying.

This is not aspiration.

I this is a statement of fact.

The good news is you are rich.

That's the good news.

This is not aspiration, this is statement of fact.

This is empirically backed.

You are rich.

You are rich.

Remember the times when you used to pray for the things you now have.

Remember the times when the things you now have used to be prayer points.

You are rich.

You are rich.

You are rich, and you have rich people opportunities.

See, if you have kids, for example, we we have kids, we can expose them to libraries, we can expose them to books.

That is rich people opportunity.

That means rich people opportunity, you know.

They can they can go to the beach, they can go to the zoo.

That is rich people opportunity.

You know, now this is rich people's opportunity growing up.

Oh my goodness, beach, beach, the only beach closest to us is Bar Beach, and I never got there once.

Bar beach.

Oh my goodness.

Baby was in Lagos while living in the lay fair.

Don't don't bug my mother, don't bugger too much, don't bugger, bar beach, but now you can you can take you can take your children to the beach, you can take them to the zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo in Ibadan, zoo in Lagos.

Where are you going to see the zoo?

Where even if you see the zoo, the the liar will be like this.

The liar will be struggling to survive.

It is rich people's opportunity that you can do that for your children.

Take them to the library, it is rich people opportunity, take them to the zoo, take them to the beach.

You have you can go to a hospital and expect to be treated with dignity.

That is rich people stuff.

I don't know if you understand what I'm saying.

You can go to a hospital and expect to be treated with dignity.

They won't ask you for police reports.

They won't say you have to sign a police report before you treat you and you are bleeding.

You are just involved in an accident.

Then you can call 911, that is rich people opportunity.

That you can call 911 and expect a response in two minutes or less.

That is rich people opportunity.

I'm trying to show you that you are already rich.

You can give somebody ten dollars or twenty dollars and it doesn't affect your bottom line.

Are you hearing what I'm saying?

You can give somebody ten dollars or twenty dollars, and guess what?

It doesn't affect your bottom line.

It doesn't mean that you are not going to have dinner to eat, it doesn't affect your bottom line.

That is rich people opportunity.

Ecclesiastes chapter 5, verse 19.

Ecclesiastes 5:19

Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 19.

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

Look at what the wisest man that ever lived says in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 19.

Ecclesiastes 5 · chapter mention

It says, As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor.

This is the gift of God.

This what is the gift of God.

Everyone in this room, we have been blessed by God.

We have been blessed by God.

I want you to internalize that.

Internalize it, believe it.

You have been blessed by God.

Yes, let it enter into your heart, let it enter into your subconscious.

You are genuinely rich.

Yes, and I know some of us are pushing back and hey pastor, uh, you know, you know you don't know my way of life, or you don't know how my life is set up, you don't know how my finances are set up, you don't know how much I make, I'm not rich at all.

You may say you are rich.

But let me give you two statistics and I maybe this will help you.

If you make thirty-four thousand dollars per year, if you make thirty-four thousand dollars per year, you are in the top one percent of wage earners in the world.

If you make thirty-four thousand dollars per year, you are what?

Yes.

If you make two thousand eight hundred dollars per month, you are what in the top one percent of wage earners in the world.

That's how rich you are.

You are in the top one percent.

That's how rich you are.

And if you make$85,000 per year, you are in the top 0.1% of wage earners in the world.

That's one tenth of one percent.

You are in the top one-tenth of one percent if you make$85,000 per year.

And all of us in this room will make more than$34,000 per year.

Yes, more than 35,000.

So you are rich empirically, you are rich.

You know, I want to be sensitive and I want to say that I'm not minimizing the real needs that we all have.

I'm not minimizing that.

I'm not minimizing the real needs that we have, I'm not minimizing, you know, those of us that that really feel like things are tight.

You, I mean, I'm not minimizing that.

That is that is the case sometimes.

That can be the case, and you know, there's some things that you want to do or you think that you should be able to do right now, but you are not just able to do so, you're not just able to do those things.

So I acknowledge that.

But all of us, listen to me, all of us in this room, we're gonna drive back to our home.

All of us in this room, we're going to drive back to our home in our own vehicles.

You're not going to take public transport.

You're going to drive back to your home in your own vehicle, and you're going to you have the ability to order pizza this afternoon.

You can order pizza or some takeout this afternoon.

Take a picture of that takeout that you ordered, and on your fancy phone, upload that picture onto Instagram.

Yes, on your fancy phone, upload that picture onto Instagram with unlimited data.

And you understand what I'm saying?

You can upload that thing onto your phone, is not is not dumb phone, it's a smartphone.

And you upload it onto Instagram and you expect people to like it, and you expect people to share it, and you expect people to do all sorts of things.

That is the sign that you are rich.

I want you to work with me.

I want you to work with me.

If you ask many rich many people in the developing world today, describe those who are rich.

Describe those who are rich.

You see, you are the picture.

You and I are the picture of rich people for many people in the in the developing world.

You and I are what?

We are the picture of rich people for people in the developing world.

If you ask somebody, they will say you rich people have cars, rich people have cars.

Some of them are so rich, they have a second car, they have one for daddy, and they have one for mommy.

Yes, they are so rich, they have two cars, some of them are so rich, they build houses for their cars, they call it garages, and they drive their cars into the garage so that the elements don't have to, you know, beat on their cars.

Some of them are so rich they have three car garages, they pack one in one garage, the second in another garage, and they put all the junks that cannot fit in their mansions on the third side.

They're so rich.

This is the picture of rich people.

This is the picture of rich people.

You are so rich, man.

You are rich.

You have a garage.

Nana has a garage.

She parks a beautiful car into her garage.

You know, you're so rich.

You are rich.

They will tell you that rich people are those who have walking closets.

Walking closets.

Some of these walking closets, they are bigger than the ounces of people, some people in some parts of the world.

And these walking closets, they have, you know, two rungs, one rung on top, another wrong at the bottom.

They are so rich, all the rungs are filled with clothes.

And on Sunday morning, they will walk in their walking closets and they will put their hands on all their clothes like this and put their hands on their clothes, and then they will say, Oh, I have nothing to wear this morning.

That's the picture of rich people.

That's the picture of rich people.

You are the picture of a rich person.

You are the picture of a rich person.

The reason you don't feel rich is because you consume everything God gives you instead of trying to be rich towards God.

That's the reason you don't feel rich.

And God says, Command those who are rich, command those rich people among you to be rich, to be good at being rich.

There is a way to be good at being rich.

Apparently, there is a way to be good at being rich.

Command those who are rich among you to be what?

Good at being rich.

Not just to think about themselves alone.

And if you're going to be good at being rich, the first thing that we are going to have to do is to admit it.

If you are going to be good at being rich, the first thing you're going to have to do is to admit it that you are already rich.

Somebody say, I'm rich.

I am rich.

I mean, I again I don't mean that in a in an aspirational form.

Just say, I am rich.

I am rich.

Yes.

It may make you feel somehow, it may make you, you know, your everything in you may be maybe fighting it.

But guess what?

It is the truth.

It is the truth.

It is so it's a truth that you don't need to be ashamed of, you only need to be comfortable with it.

If you are taking notes, please write this down.

God has blessed me with everything I need.

Write that down.

God has blessed me with everything that I need.

God has blessed me with everything that I need.

Now let's talk about the bad news quickly and as I begin to round up.

So the good news is you are rich.

The bad news is you are rich.

The good news is you are rich.

The bad news is you are rich.

Because riches would pose the biggest, one of the biggest challenges to your spiritual growth and to your spiritual development.

Rich is have this thing about it that it can pose the biggest challenge to you.

It is one of the biggest challenges that you will have to overcome to be an effective follower of Jesus Christ.

This idea of riches.

It is one of the biggest challenges that you would have to overcome if you are going to be an effective follower of Jesus Christ.

Mark chapter 10, verse 17 to 22.

Mark 10:17–22

Mark, Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10, verse 17 to 22.

Mark 10 · chapter mention Mark 10:17–22

Jesus, Jesus' encounter with the rich ruler.

It was not about doing, it was what?

About being.

So this man was already starting out on the wrong foot, asking about effort.

What effort must I put in?

What effort must I put in so that I can inherit eternal life?

What did Jesus say to him?

Jesus says, so Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good?

No one is good but one that is God.

Verse 19.

You know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother.

Verse 17.

And he answered and said to him, Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.

Verse 21.

And Jesus looking at him, loved him.

Another way of saying that, he pitied him.

Jesus loved him and said to him, One thing you lack, go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

And come take up your cross and follow me.

What did verse what does verse 22 say?

Are you putting it on the screen?

Verse 22.

But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

It was sad when Jesus said, Go say something, go do something.

You asked what you could do now.

Yeah, I'm gonna give you an assignment.

Go do it.

It was sad.

It was sad.

Luke chapter 18, verse 24.

Luke 18:24

Luke 18, verse 24.

Luke 18:24

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, he said, How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.

For it is easier for a cameram to go through the eye of a needle, in the eye of a needle, how tiny the eye of a needle is, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

So the good news is you are rich.

The bad news is you are rich.

The good news is you are rich, and the bad news is that riches, these riches that you have, these riches that have shown you, proved to you that you have, can be your greatest stumbling block in being an effective follower of Jesus Christ.

Let me show you three disadvantages on problems or challenges with being rich.

Number one, it is harder to depend on God when you are rich.

Three disadvantages of being rich.

It is harder to depend on God when you are rich.

You see?

When we're in Nigeria, we depend on God for everything.

You depend on God for electricity to do your homework.

If Nepal brings light, you say thank you, Jesus.

Think about it.

Now you the absurdity of this begins to dawn on you.

But then the absurdity was not we were not in touch with the absurdity of the statement.

When Nepal brings light, when light comes, we say thank you, Jesus.

You see?

We say thank you, God.

But now, if if if light goes, you don't start praying here.

You either call the power company or you get a text on your phone telling you that, oh, we're working on it.

You know, you get a text telling you, oh, is we're working on it, a tree fell there, you know, that's why we're working on it.

It's because of the storm and up and things like that.

For health care, you know, for earth care, you have to depend on God.

If you had an accident, you better pray.

You better pray that somebody takes you to the hospital and that the hospital they take you to, they don't start asking for police reports before they treat you.

We depended on God for everything.

We had to depend on God.

But now that we are rich, it's harder, it can be harder to depend on God.

And Jesus taught us to pray like this give us this day our what?

Our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

What was the last time you prayed for your daily bread?

Don't you take it for granted?

What was the last time you actually prayed for your daily bread?

So it's harder to depend on God.

It can be harder to depend on God because you are rich.

Number two, it distracts you from true priorities.

I'm challenging us with, I'm telling us some of the challenges of being rich.

Because the good news is you are rich, and the bad news is you are also rich.

Rich is can pose one of the greatest disadvantages, one of the greatest challenges to you, to your spiritual development and to your ability to follow Jesus effectively.

It is harder to depend on God.

And number two, it distracts you from true priorities.

Our wealth can distract us from true priorities.

There are those who are so rich that they forget to eat dinner with their family members.

When was the last time you sat with your family members and you just enjoyed a good meal?

You understand what I'm saying?

You just sat down with your family members and you enjoyed a good meal.

Just sat down, maybe at a restaurant or in your house and you just enjoyed a good meal.

That is a sign of riches.

But some people are so rich, they are going, they are pursuing money, they are walking, oh, they are walking they are walking over time, they are they are running over here, they are running over there because they are so rich.

The fellowship of the brethren is a priority for you if you're a true follower of Jesus Christ.

The fellowship of the brethren coming together in fellowship must be a priority for you if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ.

But it's possible that you are so distracted because of your many riches, because you are attending this class, attending that class, trying to make ends, meeting to do that, that you neglect the fellowship of the brethren.

Because when you are rich and you have rich people opportunities and you have rich people prospects, it can distract you from true priorities.

It can distract you from true priorities.

Relationships that should add to your life.

You refuse to invest in them because you have rich people's opportunities.

Relationships with your spouse, relationships with your children, spending time, one-on-one, quality time with your children.

True priorities can become neglected because we are rich.

And finally, because of our time, let me end here.

One of the greatest challenges that you can have because you are rich is that you have greater responsibilities.

You have greater responsibility because of what God has given you.

Jesus said, To whom much has been given, much is also required.

To whom much has been given, much is required.

This is speaking to you, this is speaking to me, rich people.

To whom much has been given, much is also required.

To more is required of you, more is required of me.

And that's the bad news.

Because a lot of us are using all that we have on ourselves.

And God says, Command those who are rich in this life, who are rich in this age, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous, to be willing to share.

Then they will lay up treasure for themselves and have a life that is truly life.

They will have a life that is truly life.

We are going to be a church of believers who are good at being rich.

The landmark church will be a church of believers who are good at being rich.

Somebody say amen to that.

Yes, because God has given us more than we need, and we are going to be good stewards of what God has given us.

Yes, we are going to be rich in good deeds in the name of Jesus.

We're going to be rich in what matters to God in the name of Jesus.

Let us be on our feet and pray.

We're going to be rich in what matters to God in the name of Jesus.

Let us pray.

Let us be on our feet and let's pray.

In the name of Jesus.

To whom much is given, much is required.

Can you just whisper a prayer to heaven and say, Father, I know you have given me much.

Thank you for the much that you have given me and help me to live up to much that is required of me.

Just whisper that prayer in 30 seconds.

Say, Lord, I thank you for the much that you have given me, and I I ask, oh God, that you help me to live up to the expectation of the much that you require of me.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

Much is expected of me.

Much is expected of you.

You are the one that is not expecting much from yourself.

You are the one that is not expecting much from yourself.

God expects much from you because He has given you much.

Yes, He has given you much.

Father, I pray this morning that you will help me to live up to the expectation of the much that you have for me.

In the name of Jesus.

In Jesus' mighty name, we have prayed.

In Jesus' mighty name, we have prayed.

Father, we thank you for all the blessings that you have given us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for all the blessings that you have given us.

Thank you for opening our eyes this morning to see how much you have given us all that we need.

Thank you because we do not lack anything good.

Yes, there is nothing good that we lack.

You have been so good to us.

You have given us so much.

Thank you for giving us health, for giving us a sound mind, for giving us cars, for giving us homes to call our own.

Oh, Father, we are grateful.

Please accept our thanks in Jesus' name.

Father, we know that much has been given to us, and we are praying, oh God, that you help us to live up to the expectation of the much that you have for us in the name of Jesus.

We want to be rich in the way that brings glory to you.

In the name of Jesus, we want to be rich in a way that helps people to come to know your son Jesus Christ.

In the name of Jesus, help us, oh God, in Jesus' mighty name.

We have prayed.