It’s a Friday afternoon, the sun is out and I’m feeling amazing after a productive week of work.
On impulse, I bus downtown, walk into a Foot Locker and decide to purchase a fresh pair of Nike Roshe Ones.
For some odd reason, a pressing question skims through my mind as I carry the shoe box to the cash register.
Do I really need this?
Likewise, a second thought passes through my mind.
You have the money, treat yourself!
The battle didn’t last too long, I bought the shoes and indulged in the sweet, beautiful new shoe fragrance.
However, the thought never left me after that moment.
Is it okay to be indulge in material gain, even a little bit….at all as a Christian?
I’m not talking necessities like food and shelter.
But what if you just wanted to buy the newest pair Sony HeadPhones or travel to the other side of the world, not out of a necessity but for enjoyment.
Personally, I’ve never really been opposed to any of these ideas (that’s why I bought those shoes).
However, I felt lead to press into this question to see what God ultimate had to say.
For this reason, for a moment, let’s forget everything we know and see what the Bible says concerning this.
1. The Ultimate Goal in Anything
In 1 Corinthians 10:23-31, Paul begins to instruct the church in Corinth concerning how they should approach eating food sold in markets and those offered to idols.
Upon providing these instructions, he spoke these famous words:
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God
1 Corinthians 10:31
I believe the implication of this statement goes much further than eating or drinking.
In whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Therefore, when it comes to the topic of Christianity & materialism, I believe the true question is this:
Will God be glorified through my enjoyment of materialistic things?
Scripture speaks much of this in Ecclesiastes 5:18 –> 6:9, divinely written by God through King Solomon.
It is important to note that Solomon was a very wise & wealthy King, attributes which were both given to him by God (1 Kings 3:1-14).
Now let’s begin to answer this question.
2. The Ability to Rule Over Wealth is a Gift from God
18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 ESV
In this passage, we see that God is able to provide wealth and possessions to certain individuals.
The first key to these passages is that King Solomon recognizes wealth as a gift from God, not something we have ownership of or have “earned” by our own merit.
Likewise, like any gift of God, we do well to be stewards of wealth and possessions, rather than allow it to rule over us.
Secondly, God also gifted such individuals with the capacity to be grateful for such gifts.wer to enjoy
This scripture lets us know that God also provides such individuals with yhe power to do 3 specific things with their wealth:
Power to enjoy them:
Pretty self-explanatory here.
Enjoy what God has given you.
Bought a brand new pair of shoes you didn’t need but were able to afford? Enjoy them
Took a solo vacation trip somewhere overseas? Enjoy it!
You deserve it! God’s blessed you with the ability to enjoy this!
This is a gift from God, that He has given you the ability of enjoying what He has given you.
Ultimately, this stems from the realization that these things are truly gifts given by the Lord and walking in a state of gratitude, rather than entitlement or even guilt.
Furthermore, this also implies the great joy of giving away wealth/ possessions , as scripture also states that “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:32-35)
Power to Accept his lot:
The Amplified version uses the term “portion” rather than “lot”.
In essence, God enables us to be content with the “lot” or “portion” that He has given us.
This demonstrates a level of gratefulness and appreciation towards God and what we have been specifically given.
Looking to those who have “less” or “more” than you would stain your capacity to enjoy the lot God has specifically given you.
In fact, God spoke of this early in the Old Testament among the 10 commandments concerning covetousness which simply means a strong desire for something especially in the possession of another
I suspect that there were many individuals in early days of Israel christianity that were not rich like Job or Abraham or King Solomon. However, those who had been given this gift would have the capacity to look at their own lot in life and gladly accept what the LORD had given them.
Economical status is not what connects one believer to another, but rather our delight in the LORD through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.
Notice how in the parable of the talents, the two servants that were “good and faithful” did not look to each other and compare why they did not receive the same lot. Furthermore, God does not describe why He gave one of them 5 talents and the other 2 talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
They rather, stewarded what had been given to them individually for the glory of God.
All this to say, we should ask God to give us the capacity to accept our current lots in life regardless of wealth status, knowing that everything good gift ~ whether $1 or $1M is ~ is ultimately from the LORD.
Power to rejoice in his toil
Lastly, He provides those whom He’s blessed with wealth and possession with the power to rejoice in their toil (labour, work).
Simply put, God expects us to rejoice in the work (He has given us) which supplies the wealth (He also gives us).
Or to put it plainly, God gives us the ability to enjoy our jobs. *Click here to see a blog concerning this topic*
So in summary, God expects individuals whom He has blessed in wealth and possessions to enjoy what they have, to accept what they have been given and to enjoy in their labour!
As it is written, the power to do these 3 things is also a gift from God.
What does this mean for us?
Our prayers should run deeper than asking the Lord for things in life, but rather to give us a heart of gratitude for what He has already provided.
The reason why He expects such a response is presented to us in verse 20:
“For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart”
Ecclesiastes 5:20 ESV
A true follower of God will not value anything in his/her life – whether vacations, new homes, new cars, etc – to be more valuable than God Himself. Hence why they will “not much remember” or regard the days of their life, nor anything in it.
Their treasure/ delight is in God.
3. The Desire to Want More is Sinful
Here’s where it gets interesting:
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?
7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 6:1-9 ESV
King Solomon is essentially saying that those whom God has blessed with wealth & possession, yet have no contentment from these gifts practice a grievous evil.
Whether they are given a thousand years to live, they enjoy no good.
If they are blessed with many children and lack nothing, their souls are never satisfied.
So what’s the difference between the people describe in this passage against those in described in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20?
Contentment.
Those whom God has occupied with joy (in Him) are not dependent on materialistic things to sustain their joy. Henceforth, they are content with whatever materialistic blessing God gives to them.
However, if our heart’s delight is not rested in the joy of knowing God, we will forever be on a goose chase to delight in more things to fill that void. Just take a look at verse 7 in the scripture above:
“All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet HIS APPETITE IS NOT SATISFIED“
Having more than enough but not having the ability to be content with anything. This is what’s described as a “grievous evil”
A similar tone from Solomon is stated in prior verses:
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income, this also is vanity
Ecclesiastes 5:10 ESV
For more insight, also read the parable of the “Rich Fool” in Luke 12:13-34
Overall the lesson here is this.
Wealth and materialism should never rule over us. Rather we rule over it.
The only way this can be, is if we allow God to rule over us, so that whether or not He blesses us with an abundance of wealth, our joy remains unchanged, in Him.
In doing so, we are able to appreciate every good gift from God and be content in them.
So let’s end by revisiting the question at hand.
Will God be glorified through my enjoyment of materialistic things?
The short answer is a resounding:
Yes! This is a gift from God according to Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Assuming our contentment, peace, joy, identity is not rested on it but rather in God.
Now…
Before abruptly declaring ourselves innocent from the love of money, and assume that we are genuinely content in Christ, let’s test ourselves with the following questions.
Are we content with where we currently are?
Are we content with what God has currently given us?
If all you had was a Bible, your prayer life and the wilderness…would you be at peace?
If there was a heaven without God, would still want to be there?
Whether it be money, possessions, vacations, success in work, success in ministry, etc , all these can be idols, unless our souls are satisfied fully in Him.
Be occupied with the joy of knowing God & enjoy every good gift He has given you without letting them rule over you.
Soli Deo Gloria
Soli Deo Gloria 