But as we leave today I want you to forget everything I said for a minute, and think about this (hold up a bag of coins). I have two dollars in change here and I’m giving it away to the first adult that runs up here and gets it. Hey let’s not trample each other.
The majority of the world, 53% of the world, makes this or less per day. Now there may not have been a stampede up here if I was preaching to them, but I bet there would have been some real enthusiasm to get this bag, a day’s wage. And if you’re thinking its all relative, that 2 bucks doesn’t get them much more than our 2 bucks does.
I’m guessing the average working person in this room today makes between 100 and 200 dollars a day, you may have got up here with a little more urgency if I held up a couple hundred dollar bills. People on welfare with no children will make about 30 dollars per working day for doing nothing. The point is that we are stinking rich by the world’s standards. What would you think of someone who makes 50 to 100 times more than you make?
To those people who make 2 dollars a day we look like someone who makes 2 and a half to 5 million dollars or more a year. Would you call that rich? Whatever we do people, we better not complain, we better not ask God for more. If you gave away half of what you made, you would still be 25 – 50 times richer than most of the world.
Even if you lost it all, and had to go on welfare, you would still be at least 15 times richer than most of the world, so don’t worry about money, don’t take your eyes off God to focus on your finances.
Financially we are the richest people in the world, but Spiritually we are among the poorest, and that’s why I don’t feel called to go minister oversees to the poor. The spiritual need right here is far greater.