Money and the Kingdom of God
Brian Hathaway
Talking about money and materialism to about 250 university students, I held up a $10 note from which I had just cut off a one centimetre square corner. I was explaining that this one centimetre square was equivalent to the seventeen cents given to God from every $10 that all Christians around the world earn. I then cut a two millimetre square from the one centimetre square to illustrate the amount given to God that leaves the country of origin - about one cent from the seventeen cents.
"In terms of the Kingdom of God, where does the rest of this money go?" I asked the audience. There were a few murmured responses."Well, most of it is non-productive and is wasted in terms of God's Kingdom," I continued, and to illustrate the point I proceeded to set fire to the remaining part of the $10 bill. The response of the students was most interesting. Some were nearly frantic as they saw the $10 consumed by the flame.
Excerpt from Reality Magazine, Issue 28, 1998 [ www.reality.org.nz ]
Brian was the National Principal of Bible College of New Zealand. His particular interests were encouraging congregations to integrate evangelism, the ministry of the Spirit and social concern. We are indebted to him for his encouragement and advice (see Summer 2003-4 newsletter). This material is partly taken from Brian's two books Living Below With the Saints We Know and Beyond Renewal-The Kingdom of God.
