The Ministry & The Marketplace
Many of you know that there is a recurring theme, a thread of revelation that’s surfaced in recent years. I’ve heard this move of God described as “an end-time transfer of wealth.” The Lord has instructed me about Job and Joseph as end-time examples. The fact is- God is
invading the secular arena. His kingdom is bigger than just the church!
While some people don’t desire to deal with issues of money, our Lord Jesus didn’t hesitate to address it. (Luke 19:11-27) It is a core issue to anyone concerned for being a disciple of Christ and it is a major paradigm shift if we are to walk in new apostolic ways.
God isn’t broke! Indeed, there is plenty of money to fulfil the Great Commission… it’s just in the wrong hands. But God has a program in place to fix it and to finish it! The good news is that fixing the problem involves great favor and blessing flowing generously to God’s people!
I awoke one morning with these words repeating themselves in my mind, as though the Lord was instructing my spirit in the night. It’s only two sentences but it discloses a divine exchange and it uncovers a devilish problem. (I reported this in an word last year called “Men
with Money and the Mantle of God.”) It seems primarily addressed to pastors battling old traditions or to apostles and prophets needing funding, but it also speaks to people with property or financial power who love the Lord.
“Either men of God will lay their ministries down at the feet of men with money,or, men with money will lay their resources down at the feet of men of
God.”
“If you trade your mantle for money, you get neither in the end.If you trade your money for the mantle, you will obtain both.”
What follows is my consideration of these thoughts based on thirty years of being a pastor, of being on apostolic teams, of having prophetic insights, and also frequently being involved in the business arena. In all arenas of labor, leadership and resources were always critical issues. Anyone who has been a pastor for any length of time has probably had this experience: “Preacher, if you’ll just handle the preaching and leave the finances to us, we’ll make this church great!” In other words, yield control of the money to those who are not called
or anointed by God to be church leaders.
Why is this idea problematic? From my experience, here is an undeniable fact: Whoever controls the money also controls the church.
Years ago, I came to the realization that the battle to succeed in the ministry is primarily over two things: the mantle (God’s anointing, for example, Elijah’s mantle- the grace of God in someone’s life to give wisdom, knowledge, authority to build the church or win the war) and
the money (financial resources- power to do things, affect situations, or support workers). Both these things empower God's leaders to fulfil their calling to make disciples, to bless the poor, and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
I understood this word I heard to mean that if a man of God gives away his authority or anointing in order to be financed, then he forfeits the power to fulfil his purpose and thus becomes a hireling, someone no longer sent from the Lord to be received with honor, but rather, of diminished rank, merely hired by the people.
The anointing from the Lord rests upon the lives of those whom He sends. That anointing on their gifting and calling (who they are in Christ) is their mantle of authority, the divine grace that causes them to be effective in the work of the gospel. It is more precious than gold. Value your ministerial gift; stir it up; treasure it highly. It is the Lord working through you.
Why is there a conflict between money and the mantle? Ideally, there should not be any friction. But corrupt hearts can yield to temptation. Jesus said our heart cannot serve both God and mammon. The Spirit of God says, “Unto Jesus shall the gathering of the people be. At Jesus’ feet shall the wealth of the nations be laid.”
The activation of God’s covenant to create wealth is part of the apostolic equipping for the end of the age. The end of the church will resemble its beginning as recorded in Acts. “…all who were owners of lay them at the apostles’ feet…”(Acts 4:34)
Not all preachers or pastors are apostles. Denominations have created unbiblical titles. The Latin word for missionary corresponds to the Greek word for apostle, but religious traditions have gutted its original meaning. Now, church groups often send someone out and call them a missionary, but in fact they are simply a deacon or a teacher or a preacher or a pastor who happens to have crossed an ocean. Crossing an ocean doesn’t make someone into an apostle. Apostles are Christ’s sent ones, sent by Him to a specific place, to a specific people, to accomplish a specific purpose. They have the fruit to prove their apostleship not only by the divine grace they embody but also by the credentials of signs, sons, and seals that testify to their being sent from God. (I hope to release more teaching on this topic soon in my study, Apostolic Career Mapping: A Matrix for Evaluating the Maturity, Ministry, and Mindset of Young Apostles.)
Anyone on an assignment from the Lord has God’s help, but also the devil’s resistance. Opposition is not an indicator that you missed God. In a dream, I once overheard two angels having a discussion. One asked, “Where do apostles come from?” The other angel answered, “Out from under great pressure.”
The Opposition you face is proportionate to your degree of authorization. Your suffering is related to your assignment. The anointing attracts angels- of all kinds! So don't be surprised when resistance occurs. Open doors may be accompanied by peril and attack.
Don’t be alarmed at fiery trials. Opposition to God’s servants is ultimately from The Resistor. Satan, who hates the kingdom of light and opposes it at every turn. However, the devil usually uses ignorant or evil people to accomplish his wicked schemes. The devil employs untaught, misguided, or malicious people as pawns, making them think suspiciously or behave arrogantly so as to control the church’s money and thus choke off the supply for fulfilment of the vision.
One tool he deploys is greed, inflaming men’s hearts with lust for power or fame or money. Idols are usually silver and gold (Psalms 135:15) and all covetousness is idolatry. (Ephesians 5:5) To covet something is to grasp for or to be greedy for something or someone that is not yours to possess or was not given to you by God. “Freely you have received, freely give.” Coveting is selfish while grace is manifested by gratitude, generosity, and releasing resources away from ourselves.
The apostle Paul associated the ability to give generously with great grace, and used the example of our Lord Jesus to illustrate this truth. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 NAS) When did He become poor?
Not while He walked the earth with His apostolic team, for He had many supporters and contributors Luke 8:3 shows us that many of these donors were women who partnered with Him in His ministry. At His trial and crucifixion, His garment was a seamless robe, very expensive. He gave away offerings to the poor and received expensive sacrifices of perfume. He fed and housed a travelling team of perhaps dozens of people.
When did He become poor? First, in His incarnation, when He stepped into our world of grit and grime and time-bound limitations, a dismal and bleak environment when compared to the eternal glory of His Father. Second, when He laid aside His divine prerogatives to exercise
authority on His own volition and instead submitted as a man does to God and did only what the Fnaked and impoverished on the cross, exhausting the punishment due us for our lawlessness ever since Adam’s fall.
But today, Jesus is not broke! He walks on streets of gold and wears radiant glory as a garment. Revelation 5:12 says, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (NAS) Jesus deserves dominion… He earned it!
While Jesus awaits His triumphal return to receive His kingdom on the earth, He has anointed servants of His kingdom who are preparing the way by extending the gospel to the end of the earth. That gospel of grace produces eternal life in those who believe. It also produces a
new kingdom culture, a new lifestyle, a transformed people who not only worship God in church but also transform their education, their government, and their secular social order by responding to God’s word. Those servants of Jesus are anointed in two primary areas: As Priests in the house, and as Kings in the marketplace. All of us are part of a kingdom of priests and kings (Rev. 1:6). All of us serve Jesus as Lord whether we are “on staff” at a church or on a payroll at General Electric.
In God’s kingdom, all vocations are holy, although some workers are set apart by the Lord to be devoted to the Word of God and to prayer and should live off the tithe. The tithe is called in the Bible “holy unto the Lord” and is intended for God’s servants. We are not to rob God’s
servants by defrauding them of the tithe. To do so invites a curse upon us. Every Christian should at least tithe and, by God’s grace, give generously above the tithe. (For more on this subject see my book, “The Thief in the Storehouse.”)
Ideally, men with money will adopt sanctified ideas regarding resources and will team up with men of God to advance Christ’s kingdom. In the process and along the path of pursuing God together, these businessmen and land owners or wealthy people will also become men and women of God and become known in heaven as partners with apostles, fellow-laborers in the work. Just like we expect men of God with an anointing to have pure motives, likewise, the Lord is now expecting the same thing of those He has entrusted with financial resources.
Ultimately, it is a matter of resolving key issues of faith:
1) Do I have enough faith to trust this leader and to share or invest in his vision?
2) Do I believe that God really is the source of my blessings? Is there more to come if I give?
3) Do I believe that God has sent this person-- that the Lord has brought truly us together?
By picturing prosperous Christians teaming up with men and women who carry apostolic grace, I am not at all discounting the wonderful flowering of a new understanding regarding the majority of believers: that is, there are believers anointed by the Lord to succeed in the
educational, financial, and governmental areas and they carry a similar anointing to that of apostles and prophets, those pioneers who can see the needed transitions and can build on new ides or principles of Godly conduct so as to become a blessing to many others.
For more insight on this pivotal topic, I have a new 60 minute teaching tape called “Outside the Sanctuary,” which can be ordered by mail for an offering of any amount.
Because this subject is so important, I want to include a bibliography of related reading material produced by sound scholars which I have recently studied. Here is that list of books: Lasting Investments by Kent Humphreys (NavPress), Changing Church by Peter Wagner (Regal), Anointed for Business by Ed Silvoso (Regal), and Good to Great by Jim Collins (HarperBusiness). Jim Collins also wrote Built to Last. Both of his books address the issue of transforming our endeavors so as to succeed in our God-given mandate from one generation to the next. My wife and I have also been discussing an excellent book we read years ago but she is now re-reading, Managing Transitions, by William Bridges. It has profound insights into handling corporate changes and how it affects us personally. Most of these books can be order from our new on-line Christian bookstore: www.touchedbygraceministries.spreadtheword.com
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© 2003 by Ronald Wood, President of Touched by Grace Inc., P. O. Box 12749, Wilmington, NC 28405, USA. For more resources, visit www.touchedbygrace.org. Feel free to copy & share this article with your friends. Please keep this contact information attached. Thank you!
