Go forth and multiply – God’s command in the Book of Genesis. How does that apply to money? Is that considered the prosperity gospel? Understanding the Biblical foundations of wealth and connecting it to our finances can be challenging. But to help us unravel this complicated issue, money expert Alex Cook joined us.
Alex is the founder of ‘Wealth with Purpose’ and is a regular on 20Twenty. He is passionate about equipping Christians to honor God with their finances by using sound Biblical wisdom.
There are a number of different passages in scripture that point us to this amazing concept. The whole idea that we be fruitful and multiply, was God seeking to use marriage as a tool to create Godly offspring. The early church itself also grew via multiplication. Today we need to look at how we can multiply our ministries to reach as many people as possible. Of course, we can then bring our finances into that too.
“I think that as Christians we should work out how we can multiply the impact we have,” says Alex. “We all have limited time. We have limited talents and limited treasure.
What can we do with what God’s put in our hands to make a difference and multiply?
From a monetary perspective we should be thinking about Corinthians 2:9 where it says that we can multiply the seed we have sown and increase the fruits of our righteousness, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”
The really important concept here is that God supplies the seed.
If we think about our lives and the financial resources that we have, God is the one who supplies it. He is our source of provision. We can sow our financial resources into all sorts of things, whether it’s helping those in need, funding mission, or our local church. But
it is God who will multiply those seeds, and this is where we can see enormous fruit.
Alex believes that there is a danger with the prosperity gospel idea, because it always brings it back to us. “It’s treating God as Santa Claus,” he says. “You give and you get more out of it. That transactional relationship with God is very dangerous theology. The reality is we want to multiply our finances in order to have a kingdom impact and help people in need.”
As believers, money should ultimately flow through us and through to kingdom activity. It’s not about getting what God gives us on earth. We should be using what we have to sow into things that last forever. The Bible promises that if we live a faithful Christian life, there’s every chance that we may be persecuted. All these things point away from the prosperity gospel, and encourage us to meet the needs of others with the money that God’s given us.
We should have that multiplication mindset to do good for others.
“Because a lot of people think of giving as an expense, I would like to challenge Christians to
think of giving as an investment in God’s kingdom,”
continues Alex. “When we do that, we will see amazing multiplication. And I would encourage Christians to think about the organizations they give to that have a multiplication impact. One example is Vision Radio. We’re essentially helping thousands of people across this nation to be reached with the good news. Another ministry I love Christians to sow into is the area of micro finance, where you are lending very small amounts of money to poor people.”
As Christians, we should give according to the means that we have. There’s a time to receive and to be blessed by others as well. If you’re in need you shouldn’t be ashamed of reaching out to others.
“There are a lot of things we can do. I think now is a fantastic kingdom opportunity to help people in Australia by giving them hope and giving them help.”
To listen to the rest of Alex’s chat with Neil about multiplying our finances, click below.
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