Fighting the Four Evils

Many professing Christians mistakenly think that whenever the Word of God says that one is not to seek mammon, it means that one should not work. Nothing could be further from the truth. No where in the entire Word of God does it says that the purpose of work is to earn money. When God said to Adam and Eve : " Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth " (Genesis 1:28), He did not say even to the slightest that one is to have dominion over the earth for return. Instead, He simply commands humanity to have dominion over the earth. In Genesis 1:26 where it says, " And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth ...

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth (Ephesians 4:28). The Bible has much to say about helping the needy. One sure way as to how to determine whether a person is filled with the love of God in him is whether he has concern for the needy: But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (1 John 3:17). Apostle John makes it very clear. If a person does sees a needy person, and has no compassion for him, the love of God does not dwell in Him. He has no love. The spirit behind this verse is that how can a person say that he loves if he cares not for the needy. Such love is one that manifests in compassion, and is not stingy, or begrudging, nor proud.  While 1 John 3:17 especially refers to loving a needy brother or sister in Christ, it spirit is of the agap...

Work is indeed part of God's design for Creation (Genesis 2:1-15). So, work is good because God created it. However, since the rise of the Protestant movement which taught that hard work is for the purpose of accumulating wealth, the entire Church has been blinded by the idea that work may be done for mammon. This idea is an extremely subtle one, in perverting the purpose of work which is for the glory of God, in serving Him, as one which can be done to serve not only God but mammon as well. Jesus made it extremely clear that no one can serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). Yet, so many in the modern Church do not realise that that is exactly what they are doing, and that is is precisely the stronghold that satan has over the modern western Church. Claiming that hard work is for accumulating riches, or even ultimately for one's family to 'enjoy' such riches, is itself to deny that work is for God. Many use 1 Timothy 5:8 to justify serving mammon: But if any pr...

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful (Matthew 13:22). The Bible warns that riches are deceitful, not the love of riches, but riches itself. Jesus had much to say about riches. He rebukes his disciples that no one can serve both God and mammon (Matthew 6:24), not being anxious about basic earthly needs (Matthew 6:25-34). He rebuke the rich young ruler who was not willing to lay all things down to follow Christ for not doing so, and turned to his disciples and warned them that they must also do so (Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-27). He rebuked the man who demanded his 'fair share' of his inheritance to not seek the abundance of possession, with the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). Many Christians try to construe Jesus' teachings on mammon as that which only relates to money, and not other things which are sourced by money ...

The book of Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature. Many commentaries simply regard it being about 'enjoying earthly pleasures', by which they mean, enjoying it in the Epicurean sense, rather than in the proper Biblical sense. Implicit in such commentaries and popular thought in the Church today on what Ecclesiastes means is a human-centred view of pleasure.  It is implicitly assumed that such gifts are for humanity to glorify itself, rather than God being enjoyed for what they in and of themselves, rather than being for the purpose of glorifying God, toiling for God. Ecclesiastes therefore is a commentary on the perversion of God-given gifts such as work, by which humanity turns them into things to find contentment in apart from God, without even giving Him thanks. So, hence Solomon's narrative in Chapters 1 and 2 about the vanities of his pursuits of such things: So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me...

Many in the modern western Church rightly regard careerism as worldly. Careerism can be defined as a pursuit to achieve earthly professional or business success for personal glory. It is an achievement-orientated pursuit that is focused on earthly achievements. It craves for the fame one can have in one's profession, the money, and thrives on pride in achieve what one can achieve in one's own strength.  There is a difference between working hard and careerism. A person may be a very diligent and wise worker who strives to serve his employer, but not be a careerist. A careerist may be one who is not a truly hard worker and faithful servant of his employer, but be one who is lazy and unfaithful to his employer, but yet "succeeds" in obtaining promotions because of his flattery of his boss. However, careerism need not be so outwardly crass, where all one does is seek earthly achievements. As long as one treats one's work as the ultimate means of satisfaction or s...

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)     The typical westerner who is in his middle age loves to talk about his retirement, looking forward to the a life free of children being around, greater intimacy by being themselves, never-ending holidays, and of course, a bank account full of money to spend on anything one wants. He or she looks forward to such a temporal material haven, and does not care about the suffering or hardships of those around him or her.  The hardships of those living in poverty, homeless, lonely or ill are that which he could not even afford to care about for a moment. As such, he seeks nothing but what is called "career progression" which is si...