By Chuck Bentley

All of us have a theology of money, whether we realize it or not. And for us Christians, the church we attend has a theology of money. If you were like me, you probably never realized how much your behavior with money is controlled by your theology or philosophy of money. Here are some of the basics we teach at Crown.

1. God is our provider. In Genesis 22:14, He is Jehovah Jireh–the God who will provide. We look to Him to meet our needs.

2. God is the owner of all things. Psalm 24: 1 says, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

3. Since God is the owner of all things, we are his temporary managers or stewards. We are entrusted with the responsibility of managing God’s resources, not building our own kingdom.

4. The prosperity gospel is heresy and so is the poverty gospel. The Bible does not teach that wealth flows to the righteous or that possessions are evil. Both of these extreme theologies should be rejected. Luke 16:10-12 teaches that we are to be faithful to God with money:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

When we get our financial theology right, our actions will begin to be transformed as well.  God wants us to experience the abundant life and to thrive. This begins with knowing His Word and following His financial plans.

Originally posted 4/15/2015.