From Tanzania to Ghana to Florida—and then home again.
For the first four weeks, I felt great, despite working 12–14-hour days with only travel days in between presentations and conferences. Then, the day before I left for Florida for another workplace discipleship conference, I came down with a cold. Then malaria. I limped home and promptly came down with poison ivy—because, of course, I had to subdue my garden when I got home! But I am fully on the mend now, and I am so thankful for the prayers that encouraged me and for our heavenly Father who sustained me through it all.
At one of the conferences, as I was being introduced, the bishop said, “May we all become millionaires after her talk!” I winced. Granted, in that country, being a millionaire is closer to being a “thousandaire” in U.S. dollars. But still—not exactly how I wanted to be introduced!
At the same time, I knew I needed to forgive quickly. You don’t know what you don’t know. He was hearing a theology of work for the first time and didn’t yet understand that while wealth creation is a gift, a command, and even part of God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18), it comes within the context of stewardship. We own nothing. Everything belongs to God, and we are accountable to Him for how we create, manage, and use what He entrusts to us. But I found myself being a bit bolder on this trip. Maybe I’m growing in confidence. Maybe the Holy Spirit is prompting me to speak more directly. Either way, I couldn’t simply pass over the comment. I had to call it out.
At the right moment, after unpacking a theology of work and our call to create value in this world—to solve problems and contribute to the flourishing of others—I came back to what the bishop had said. I told the audience: “For those of you who heard the bishop wish for all of us to become millionaires, my encouragement is: Be careful what you pray for. Many people can survive hardship—war, conflict, poverty, sickness, the death of loved ones. But few people can survive success.” Think about the people you know who have experienced significant financial success, power, or fame. How many have come through it well? Success can bring pride, arrogance, isolation, greed, and abuse of power. Even David and Solomon—men greatly blessed and used by God—struggled when they reached positions of extraordinary success. But there are also wonderful examples of people who experienced tremendous success without forgetting who they were or who God was: Joseph and Daniel. Both experienced power, influence, and prosperity. Yet neither forgot that his life belonged to God. Both continued to serve with excellence. The goal isn’t simply to survive hardship. We need to learn how to survive success.
I often return to Proverbs 30:7–9 when thinking about how we should pray regarding money:
“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
I think that is where many of us need to land—not too little, not too much. Enough is enough. Most of us are not equipped to handle the extremes of the wealth bell curve. Poverty can crush us. But extraordinary wealth can corrupt us just as easily.
There are thousands of biblical references to money and possessions. Scripture has a great deal to say about how we create, manage, use, and think about wealth. There is a reason for this. We need to be taught—and discipled—in how to create and manage wealth in a way that gives glory to God. Wealth is not something Christians should be afraid of. I have heard messages that essentially say, “Better to be poor and be assured of going to heaven than to be tempted by wealth and lose your salvation.” But money itself is not evil. Money is a tool. The question is whether we have the character and discipline to use it well. We need to learn how to view it, create it, manage it, and steward it. Too often, the primary message we hear about money is about giving. Giving is important. Generosity is essential to Christian discipleship. But there is no wealth to be shared unless it is first created. When was the last time you heard a message about Kingdom-focused wealth creation?
Lately, I have been asking everyone in my audiences to turn to their neighbor and say: “The bad news is that you own nothing.” They always laugh. Then I explain: God owns everything. We are merely stewards. I ask them to take out their phones and hold them up in the air. Then we repeat together: “This is not my phone. This is God’s phone. I am a steward of this phone.” It sounds funny, but it is a profound theological truth. The world sings a very different tune: “I earned it.” “I deserve it.” “It’s mine.” Even two-year-olds—with their very limited vocabulary—learn that word remarkably early: Mine! The gospel gives us a radically different perspective: It isn’t mine. It is God’s. And I am responsible for what I do with it.
I believe that God wants His people to flourish. I don’t believe God wants poor believers worshipping in churches that continually struggle with poverty. Nor do I believe that poverty should be romanticized as somehow more spiritual. Nations where Christianity is widespread yet poverty remains pervasive should cause us to ask hard questions—not about whether God is generous, but about whether His people have been adequately discipled in the biblical principles of work, wealth creation, stewardship, generosity, and economic flourishing. We need to teach this. And we need to disciple people in it. Not once a year. Not simply as a program. But as part of whole-life discipleship—regularly, intentionally, and practically, including in our Sunday gatherings and throughout the life of the church.
We are beginning to see this ripple across denominations in Africa. Not perfectly. Not consistently. But something is changing. Church leaders are beginning to see that workplace discipleship isn’t an optional add-on to the Christian life. Work, business, wealth creation, stewardship, and economic flourishing are all part of following Jesus. The church has a role in forming people who don’t simply know how to survive poverty, but who know how to create value, build businesses, employ others, manage resources, steward wealth, and use their influence for the flourishing of their communities—all while remaining deeply rooted in Christ.
We don’t want Christians who merely survive hardship. We want disciples who can survive success.
And we are thankful to God for what He is doing in His Church.