Fariza

Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you.” But, in Acts 2, we see the early church living in such radical generosity and unity that “there was not a needy person among them.”

These ideas might seem to contradict each other, but together they show both the reality of a broken world and the transformative power of the church that Jesus Christ established here on earth.

On one side, Jesus is being honest with us. We live in a fallen world, and human choices and their free will lead people into poverty. On the other side, He is telling the church that we are responsible for one another. Not just internally, but outwardly — to the poor, the hungry, the orphan, the widow.

We have to remember that the church was never meant to observe suffering from a distance. We were designed to solve problems because Christianity has the answers to every world’s biggest problem.

We are children of the God who created existence itself!

So why do Christians so often forget this? And if God owns everything, why do so many believers still struggle financially?

I have spent most of my adult life in the West, moving through Protestant and non-denominational evangelical circles, and I want to be honest about something that has been bothering me for years.

Most Christians have financial issues. Most Christians are broke.

I have sat in churches where the offering basket was passed around to people who clearly could not afford to give. I have watched ministries beg for donations while the lead pastor drove off in a luxury car. I have spent years of my professional career at Christian non-profits that were chronically underfunded.

We are constantly walking with an outstretched hand, waiting for someone to help.

I have seen sincere, faithful believers, people who loved God deeply and gave generously, struggle to pay their bills decade after decade. And nobody seemed to think that was strange.

So, how did we get here?

It is paradoxical to me that a generation raised on the Prosperity Gospel is still struggling financially. That message promised blessing, but the only one consistently seeing that harvest is the man behind the pulpit. The mansions get bigger, the cars fancier, and the clothing flashier, while the congregation gets poorer.

Sow a seed, and the Lord will bless you. Why does the seed always grow in only one direction?

Isn’t that strange?

Bad teaching after bad teaching has kept Christians in a perpetual cycle of financial instability. We have been taught to fear money, avoid it, or blindly give it away, without ever being discipled in how to steward it. multiply it, ot use it for the Kingdom.

And then there is the misuse of the tithe. The purpose of the tithe, rooted in the Old Testament storehouse principle, was to ensure there were no needy people among you. It was a community safety net. It was King’s infrastructure. And somewhere along the way, it became a budget line for buildings and salaries, and the people it was meant to protect were left on their own.

What would it look like if we actually functioned like Acts 2?

The early church did not have non-profits because it did not need them. They sold what they had, shared everything, and took care of each other so completely that need was simply eliminated within the community. Nobody was left behind. Everybody was taken care of, and as a result, they turned the known world upside down — not with marketing strategies, but with the sheer force of radical, sacrificial love and generosity.

That is what the Church is supposed to look like today!

Imagine what that would free us up to do — to move into every sphere of society with resources, vision, and influence — business, finance, entertainment, governments, education, and the list goes on.

The Church was never meant to live as a constant charity case with its hand always stretched out.

We are meant to shape and change civilizations. We have been doing it for hundreds of years, and we ought to continue being that light in the world.

But here is the hard truth: money is a test most people fail. Most people and most Christians love money, despite what they might say or share. Money amplifies who we already are and reveals what is already inside us, and so God, in His wisdom, distributed resources carefully. The question is whether we, as the Body, are being faithful with what He has already placed in our hands collectively.

So what do we do?

Start where you are. If you are in a church where the tithe is being hoarded rather than deployed for people in need, ask questions, have the conversation. If you have been given financial knowledge, skills, or opportunity, use it and bring others with you.

Expand the Kingdom of God with your resources!

Stop treating money as something too worldly to talk about in church, because the early church talked about it constantly. They just handled it differently than we do.

So let’s continue being the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth, because we don’t have much to waste.