wow, this article is the most unhelpful i've ever seen on this site. I don't think Jesus would say it's cool to own expensive cars considering our rabbi Himself did not have even a place to rest his head. I dont know where it becomes cool if we, as followers of Christ, think it more important to have a luxury car than instead having an appreciation for luxury cars, buying a more economic model and giving the difference to those who could use a meal, or a few weeks off the street, or water (our brothers and sisters in africa probably dont think it's that important that we have a BMW.

frankly i dont think Jesus upholds the idea that if you give you'll be blessed with material blessings. Jesus painted this picture that following Him would mean sacrifice and alienation from the world...not a means to gain material goods and become more prominent in the world.

i couldnt say one is not a christian because they have a bmw, but i think it's irresponsible to say that God would like the idea of you driving a bmw when there's people dying (quite literally) all over the world for medical aid, or just plain clean water or food.

this article just sounded childish when i read it. it's not easy to give up the taste for luxuries, but as a christian can they truly be afforded? how can they be justified. let me point to the 1 Timothy 6:4-10 where it says even

in reference to teachers to avoid "...[they] think that godliness is a means to financial gain" v5
and
starting in verse 7 paul writes "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

it seems to me to be saying that if someone is teaching that following God is a means to material gain, or as mentioned in this article, material blessings, than that teacher is to be avoided. Does God bless monetarily? yes. does He think you should have a bmw instead of giving even more away? investing it in people rather than yourself? eh i wouldn't be so sure.

i think it's a good idea to give til it really hurts and truly sacrifice. and if you can give so much away and still afford jaguars and bmw's how...bad is it really hurting?

i'm not saying i rock with giving til it hurts and then some no it's as hard for me as it is for the next guy but... i'm not gonna try and rationalize it away to say "well God prolly wants me to keep this money for myself since i'm a pretty good christian" (i'm not accusing you of making that statement at all, that's just my thought on it)

I dont want to be divisive with this, but as i read more and more about this ministry that says God wants to bless us with bigger houses and high paying jobs and all these luxuries i get physically sick.

God bless you all.

Thanks for the comments Andrew, I want us all to remember that this magazine is a sort of "open source" conversation. To pose questions, give our opinions and wrestle with truth. This is such a hard topic, because you can take it so far down the slippery slope. The fact is, we all live in luxery compared to most 3rd world countries...the question is, what does living like Jesus really look like in such a blessed, well-off nation? I don't know, I struggle with this all the time. I mean it may not be cars for you..but I am sure there is something you are passionate about that you get the best of the best in... For me it's bball shoes. Should I get the best $130 shoes or get the $40 shoes and give the rest away to charity? A much smaller scale than the car issue, but we all have to struggle with it. Great comment Andrew, I encourage anyone else to chime in on this subject.

I think the point of the article is that it is God's will for us to prosper. The fact is you can do very little in this world without the finances. If you want to buy a BMW with your money then fine...it's your money. The Lord gives you the power to get wealth to establish His covenant. The key is that as Christians we must live to give. I give much of my finances away every month for the kingdom of God but always have more than enough for my wants and needs. God wants to use people to fund His kingdom. The issue of what, where, and how to spend money comes down to the heart. It's the love of money that is the root of all evil. Not money or BMW's. God willing (which He is) I'm going to use His power to get wealth to give billions of dollars into the kingdom of God, get billions saved, healed, and set free, and have the houses and land I desire, cars, and whatever else. God is big! The problem with all of these places in the world is that they don't know it's God's will to prosper them and they are looking for a hand out instead of the wisdom to change their circumstances...and it doesn't matter if you are in the USA or Ethiopia, the word of God works anywhere.

"Earn all you can, save all you can, so you can give all you can."

-John Wesley-

I like Jason's response. Since when did Christianity turn into starving ourselves? With my convictions, that almost seems rejectable to the will of God in by rejecting His blessings for my life. If God wants to bless me with a nice car, let Him. To be honest, to buy a slightly lesser expensive car and give money to charity seems very "Christianeeze" to me and "religion"..."works". Too many times, I believe, we fill our hearts with Christian works that we become so focused in them and almost forget Christ, and the Lord's will for our lives. It is so menial to ask questions of whether it's ok to own nice things if you're a Christian. God's will for a person's life is unique from person to person and that's the blessing in operating within the Body of Christ. I'm so sick of people pointing the finger at the rich. It has to do with the heart. Your convictions are your convictions and although it seems like the good, Christian thing to do in donating money to charity, is that necessarily God's leading in your life? I believe we are held more accountable to following the Lord's will, then to intervene, and do what we believe to be the Lord's will. Rather, we need to be more Spirit led, than what we assume to be Spirit led because how could it be wrong to do all this and that for the Kingdom of God? I despise the "What would Jesus do?" statement because although we are to become like His Son, we AREN'T His Son. We aren't perfect. We are to do what the Lord leads us to do because for His plan, we must all be doing His part for our life with Him leading, and not us....and that includes us not taking control of our Christian lives by doing all Christian things. The moment we start doing whatever would seem nice and beneficial to the Kingdom of God, that's when we start worshipping religion and not a relationship. Let God lead you, not your assumptions. There are too many traps when we start assuming that this and that would be Godly, so why wouldn't we do them? Be very careful. The Devil easily distorts. We are accountable to following His will for our life. It comes down to prayer and conviction. Scripture is 100% truth, but is a tool for our relationship with God. We must not be misled by assuming that because we have a relationship with the Bible, we have a relationship with the Lord. One's calling doesn't mean it's the same for another's. We must be Spirit led, especially when it comes to doing works based upon our faith.