Price in the hand of the fool!

       

                                                                                                    

King Solomon was a brilliant man, rhetoric in his speech, philosophical in his thoughts, logical in his analogies and raised many questions that demand extensive retrospection. One of it is this question that I thought was just brilliant. It goes like this, Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, Seeing he hath no heart to it? Proverbs 17:16. A serious question to ponder upon!  I was challenged when one of the Pastors in an open forum raised this question by asking, “how is that the many Christian scammers manage to receive funds over and over again, when someone who is honest and consciously careful, struggle to find resource for God’s work?”

The concerns grows when people witness many in Christian leadership positions call themselves as servants of God. They live with zero sense of accountability, fudging accounts, misappropriation of funds, take advantage of people for their benefit and personal amplification. And especially when the same portray as if God’s mission is in their hand, then it raises even more serious questions. If you are one among the groaners who is concerned, then I hear you dear people. I think Solomon when he raised this question had the same concern in mind. The sad thing in all of this is when the Christian world unfortunately assumes, that a person with a consistent fund flow of funds is God’s beloved candidate called to do God’s mission work in this world.

During my association with the international social agency, I used to visit many Churches and Church based organizations to monitor the program impact and fund utilization. Honestly, it would hurt so much. I would think, how one could claim being a servant of God, live so depraved using the name of Jesus, with poor accountability. I say this because the accounts would show so much of misuse, mishandling, and misappropriation of funds. Yet he would be thriving in his ministry. In such cases we are tempted to raise the pointed question of Solomon, “Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a food to get wisdom..” Well, it is not only about wisdom to buy; it can be anything.

In the Bible, we notice it disturbed David too, when he saw the wicked being more wicked, and yet flourishing and he was groaning and lamenting. We find this in Psalms 94:3 where he says, “Lord how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?” I understand when it comes to the one who don’t know God and whose “god” is money, they have the best share in this world and the means don’t matter to them. But what about the ones who claim to be Christ’s servant yet all they do is mishandle and cheat for money. The sad part is they live under the false belief that God has blessed them and want them to thrive in their mission work. Hence, all the wickedness gets endorsed.

I have heard from several leaders who claim to be the great servants of God making bold claims by saying, God does not have any other alternative besides them. And that I thought was a desperate, pathetic statement I have ever heard. C S Lewis responds to this so beautifully, “God does not need you, the reason He has chosen to need you is because you need to be needed.” Kenner American French Historian said this way, "I have no fear that God's work will be kept undone, I have every fear that it will be done without me.”.

God’s work can grow best without funds too. If brevity of fund is the challenge for ineffective mission work, then technically God must be blamed for the stagnation of the gospel work, not you and me. And since it is not true, which means there is something seriously wrong. Mission work needs bold people who are ready to lay their life for the sake of the gospel. This is what is said about Barnabas and Paul in Acts 15:26, “who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”. Do not worry if you are struggling to manage funds to the bare minimum. It is not always about your accomplishment but it about your faithfulness. It would be a blessing if you don’t always get what you want. Let me end with the quote by Oscar Wilde, “In this world there are only two tragedies, one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it”. For example Solomon had harem twice the size of the temple. Do you have a price in your hand, how are you going to use it?

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