GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT BELONGS TO CAESAR.

GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT BELONGS TO CAESAR!

 

It isn`t so often that I write about money and the economical aspect of one’s Christian life, but today I want to do that. In Norway and Sweden one must send the yearly income-document to the Tax Inspectorate around the first of May. I sent both to Norway and Sweden yesterday because I tax to both countries. I receive pension from Norway, but I live in Sweden and receive the same rights in Sweden as a Swede.

When I was doing this, I remembered what I was reading about in Matthew 22:15-23. The Pharisees wanted to entangle Jesus in His talk, and they sent out their disciples and some of the Herodians to ask Him questions. They asked Him: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said: “Why do you test Me, your hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.” They brought Him a denarius. Jesus said: “Whose image and inscription is this?” They answered: “Caesar.” Jesus answered them then: “Render therefore Caesar the things that are Caesar`s, and to God the things that are God`s.  They were surprised by His answer and they left Him.

Different countries have different laws about taxes. Even the two neighbouring countries Sweden and Norway have different laws when it comes to taxes. None of us can make our own tax regulations but must follow the laws of the country. We are allowed to ask if there is something that we do not understand, but we cannot refuse to pay even if we disagree. Christian accountants have experienced that sisters and brothers in Christ have tried to force them to write wrong numbers in order to reduce the tax. That is cheating and that is sinful. If the accountant agrees to do that, he or she is also sinning. They become partakers of dishonesty. The devil is called the father of lies. All lying is sinful. I know the story we read in Joshua 2 about Rahab. She lied to save lives. I also know of people who have lied to save Jews or to spread Bibles in counties where Bibles were forbidden. I can assure you that nothing is written in the Bible about lying to reduce taxes.

I have attended Bible-school, and I have hade a few Bible-school students living with me. Most of them have paid the rent and behaved well, but I have also met those who walk around bragging and saying that they live by faith. Some of these do not pay their rent and they expect others to take care of their obligations. That has nothing to do with faith. If you have faith, you have faith to pay all your obligations. God might sometimes bless us through other people, but not because you demand that.

We can go back to Matthew 22. There Jesus says that they should give to God what belongs to God. What is belonging to God? We can go to Malachi 3:6-13. We are reading about tithing and offering. God said that they had stolen from Him by not coming to Him with their tithes and their gifts. God is actually saying that they come under the curse by not doing that. They should bring the tithes to the storehouse, and they would have food in their house. They could test God in that way and God would open the floods of heaven over them. This scripture is often used when they collect money in the church. Many are saying that the local church is compared with a storehouse. Gifts of offering are collected in addition to tithing. Many are saying that what was in the Old Testament should be practiced today. Many have come to me with a guilty conscience if they haven´t been tithing every month. They might have been giving to other Christian organizations or covered the urgent need of somebody, but the pastor is saying that they should give to the storehouse, the local church.

I find this a little difficult. We are now living in a new covenant where everything is belonging to the Lord, not only 10 percentage. I feel that my life, my time, my belongings, my money and my apartment belong to the Lord. I have given everything to Him, and I am asking Him to help me to use everything to His glory. How do I use my time and how do I take care of my ,temple, my body? Can I make somebody happy by driving them? I want everything of mine to bear fruit. That includes my money. I am not giving to every need around me but ask the Lord to show me where to sow. I give much more than ten percentage to God, but it could be to other things than merely the local church. I understand that the local church is totally dependent on money to function, but the leaders of the church also need to ask God how to use the money. I recently heard that some Christians had invested great amounts of money into a project that went bankrupt. They lost their money. What God starts, succeeds.   

I sometimes watch a program on TV helping people with great debts. They cannot handle their economy. I believe that our Helper the Holy Spirit will help us Christians to use our money in a responsible way.

The Bible writes a lot about sowing and reaping. We should sow in fruitful soil. The more we sow, the more we reap.

In Matthew 6:24 we are warned to have money as an idol. I do not believe that it is sinful to be rich. We need many rich Christians sowing into the kingdom of God. They sow and harvest because of God.

ALLOW THE LORD TO MASTER YOUR MONEY. GIVE TO GOD AND PAY YOUR TAXES WITH JOY.

Mother Else