On Christian perspectives, and what I'm looking for:

[Funrider]

Look, I'm gonna be real: I feel most of you are telling me that, in order to fully live for God, I have to forget wealth, success, and influence, and just 'focus on God'. Again, I am making the efforts to do so, but I'll reiterate:

-I do NOT want to be broke and struggling to make ends me
-I do NOT want to have to work like a dog for the rest of my life
-I do NOT want to be angry and vengeful
-I do NOT want to be denied.

Honestly, and this is a BIG honestly, I feel most of you have given up on winning in life, and have accepted the LORD as a consolation prize, promoting his glory, but with you all accepting a mediocre way of living. I do not want to be mediocre, and I am searching for Christian who have both ACHIEVED a level of success, AND live for Jesus; people who have struggled first, but found the kingdom, and live with all that which is added upon them.

I'm seeking the kingdom, but understand this: I DO NOT want to live YOUR lifestyle. My aim is to win in life, to build a gigantic business that helps others, to empower other people to be wealthy, and to leave a legacy for my children and their children. If I can do so AFTER finding the Kingdom of God, that is my focus. HOWEVER, understand something folks:

-I REFUSE to live a mediocre life
-I REFUSE to be average
-I REFUSE to further listen to people who use Jesus as a crutch.

I wanna hear from people who have succeeded in Christ, not people who struggle day-by-day. I've had enough of struggling. I wanna hear from people who have WON in life, IN CHRIST. That doesn't necessarily mean financial wealth. I want to hear people who are building something, succeeding, and upwardly mobile AS A CHRISTIAN. I'm not knocking you if your ARE struggling, but please, spare me your endurance stories. I want to hear from WINNERS in Christ, not people refusing to rise up to the challenge.

...I can no longer take advice from Christians who are NOT where I want to be in life. Understand this. I CANNOT afford to cope and try to live with minimal basics. Our God is a God of abundance and multiplication. That's a fact.

I might have to take my search elsewhere, if that's the case.
Sorry if you're offended. Understand, I CANNOT AFFORD to live a mediocre, failing life. In Christ, people are supposed to be strengthened and renewed in a new being. I cannot listen to people who are NOT succeeding in that regard, and using Christ as a crutch and cop-out.

 

[ronnie2796]

.........................................

Umm,.....I give up. Praying for you.

 

[tourist]

.........................................

Umm,.....I give up. Praying for you.

Thank you as I am need of prayer. I will pray for you as well. I can relate to the giving up part.

 

[tourist]

Look, I'm gonna be real

I have decided to get "real" as well.

 

[Tintin]

Poor OP has to put up with us mediocre people.

 

[tourist]

Poor OP has to put up with us mediocre people.

We are only mediocre in our own minds, my friend. This is not necessarily the truth, as that can only come from God.

 

[Taith]

Well then. I am not quite sure what to say.
Seems to me that living for Christ is winning.

 

[JustAnotherUser]

 

[eugenius]

Build your giant business, make your millions, then donate them to the millions of people in need around the world. God does not want you to starve to death, but he does not want wealth to dominate your life either.

I can quote hundreds of Bible passages, and like the 160 minute discussion that Ravi Zacharias had on this at a University Open Forum, but I'm too lazy to find that much material. I can link to "let me google that for you"

 

[kenthomas27]

You're obviously educated - can read and write english, you don't seem to be worried about being hungry or needing shelter - that would probably be on your mind more so than the topic at hand, you're typing on a computer that's linked to others of like privilege around the world making you among the top 10% richest in the world, you don't want to have to work like a dog which is already dismissing 90% of the population of the world who have no such aspirations and who are committed to working much longer hours with greater effort than any dog on planet earth, and you don't want to be mediocre?

I think you're at something of a crossroad in your life.

 

[ronnie2796]

You're obviously educated - can read and write english, you don't seem to be worried about being hungry or needing shelter - that would probably be on your mind more so than the topic at hand, you're typing on a computer that's linked to others of like privilege around the world making you among the top 10% richest in the world, you don't want to have to work like a dog which is already dismissing 90% of the population of the world who have no such aspirations and who are committed to working much longer hours with greater effort than any dog on planet earth, and you don't want to be mediocre?

I think you're at something of a crossroad in your life.

Well said. Really.

 

[cxjonz]

Look, I'm gonna be real: I feel most of you are telling me that, in order to fully live for God, I have to forget wealth, success, and influence, and just 'focus on God'. Again, I am making the efforts to do so, but I'll reiterate:

-I do NOT want to be broke and struggling to make ends me
-I do NOT want to have to work like a dog for the rest of my life
-I do NOT want to be angry and vengeful
-I do NOT want to be denied.

Honestly, and this is a BIG honestly, I feel most of you have given up on winning in life, and have accepted the LORD as a consolation prize, promoting his glory, but with you all accepting a mediocre way of living. I do not want to be mediocre, and I am searching for Christian who have both ACHIEVED a level of success, AND live for Jesus; people who have struggled first, but found the kingdom, and live with all that which is added upon them.

I'm seeking the kingdom, but understand this: I DO NOT want to live YOUR lifestyle. My aim is to win in life, to build a gigantic business that helps others, to empower other people to be wealthy, and to leave a legacy for my children and their children. If I can do so AFTER finding the Kingdom of God, that is my focus. HOWEVER, understand something folks:

-I REFUSE to live a mediocre life
-I REFUSE to be average
-I REFUSE to further listen to people who use Jesus as a crutch.

I wanna hear from people who have succeeded in Christ, not people who struggle day-by-day. I've had enough of struggling. I wanna hear from people who have WON in life, IN CHRIST. That doesn't necessarily mean financial wealth. I want to hear people who are building something, succeeding, and upwardly mobile AS A CHRISTIAN. I'm not knocking you if your ARE struggling, but please, spare me your endurance stories. I want to hear from WINNERS in Christ, not people refusing to rise up to the challenge.

...I can no longer take advice from Christians who are NOT where I want to be in life. Understand this. I CANNOT afford to cope and try to live with minimal basics. Our God is a God of abundance and multiplication. That's a fact.

I might have to take my search elsewhere, if that's the case.
Sorry if you're offended. Understand, I CANNOT AFFORD to live a mediocre, failing life. In Christ, people are supposed to be strengthened and renewed in a new being. I cannot listen to people who are NOT succeeding in that regard, and using Christ as a crutch and cop-out.

Perhaps you have the right idea. Go some place else.

 

[Animus]

Funrider, I see where you are coming from, and at this point I think the opposition you are facing is more a result of misunderstandsings, but we will see. I apologize in advance if this post is long and boring.

Wealth is not bad, in the same way that sex is not bad. Each of these has a context where they are good, and a context where they are bad. Wealth can result from hard work and dedication, both of which are admirable traits. But it can also result from dishonest dealings and unjust practices.

I am in Software Engineering, and I read that the best way to make money as a web designer is to make pornographic websites. There is a fork in the road, and at this moment, and not a moment sooner, I have to ask, "Who do I serve? God (justice, goodness, righteousness) or money (myself)?". Because ultimately, if I chose to go ahead and create that type of website, I would be serving myself, and not God. Fortunately, this is not the only way to make money as a programmer, but even if it was, I still would not be right in doing it. If that was the only way, I would be better to be broke and struggling then to go against the will of God. But as I've stated, it's not the only way, so someday I might become quite wealthy through honest work. But no amount of money donated to charity would please God if it came from dishonest gains.

This is why we have to first seek to do what is right, and if by doing that we can still become wealthy, then by all means. But a lot of people have come to believe, for some reason or another, that there is no honest way to become wealthy these days. They have seen movies about Wallstreet or the FDA or Big Business, or the Banks, and now they believe, without realizing it, that wealth can only be acquired by unjust practices. They believe that there is a big pie, and that rich people are taking more from the pie then they should. But this is not the case. It may have been the case in Jesus' time, but we can clearly see that it need not be the case anymore. Wealth can be created through trade. When Bill Gates and his gang sold a million computers they weren't robbing their customers, they were helping them. People gave him money because they wanted the computers more than the money, and Bill accepted the money because he wanted the money more than the computers. This is the basis of trade, and there is nothing sinful in the premise.

But of course people are sinful, and so where there are means of acquiring wealth there will be sinful means. And just as is the case with sex, more often than not the means are sinful. But this doesn't mean that you cannot have moral sex, and it does not mean that you cannot acquire a billion dollars morally. But while you go for your billion, you will be tempted to cheat, you will see ways to get closer that are not right, but could be easily taken. You will see that someone desperately needs your help, but you know that helping them will set you back, further away from your goal. You will see that investing in this one company will make you a lot of money, but the company promotes a sinful lifestyle. At this point, and not a moment sooner, you will have to ask yourself, "Who do I serve? God or money?" and at this point, you will have to do the hard thing to follow God. And considering you said "I do not want to work like a dog for the rest of my life", dishonest opportunities to get ahead may be very tempting.

When you say, " My aim is to win in life, to build a gigantic business that helps others" you can see how this could be interpreted, given what I have stated previously. The first part might seem as though you intend to serve yourself, but I see that the second part implies you intend to serve God. This is admirable, and so long as you do it through right practices there is nothing wrong with it.

"-I REFUSE to live a mediocre life
-I REFUSE to be average

-I REFUSE to further listen to people who use Jesus as a crutch."
God wouldn't want you to. He calls us to do as much as we can. It is secular society that wants us to be content with eating, drinking, sleeping, and then dying. God wants so much more for us. We are called to live by the spirit, which is an intense call to rise beyond the regular life that seeks to sustain it's own flesh. Did the apostle Paul life a mediocre life? Not from what I've read. God used him to help change the world. I wish more Christians refused to live a mediocre life.

However, you will likely not hear Christians that have "Won in life" in Christ. Part of this winning would be getting rid of their pride, which usually amounts to thinking about yourself very little, if at all. These people will be thinking less about winning and losing and more about what God wants them to do next. But I do empathize with you. Often we hear about Christians that are still struggling with themselves, which might make us wonder if Christ really has the power to save. But as I've mentioned, once Christ has finished the good work that he started, we are more likely to see it than hear about it from the person themselves.

However, there is a lady at my church who is just like this. She is super wealthy, because she is very high up at a big bank in Canada. She is very kind and down-to-earth, and she is always trying to get the young adults at my church a job at the bank. She always runs the church plays, and I always see her smiling. I've never heard anyone say a bad thing about her. My friend, who works at the bank at the moment, told me that she was once notified by the bank that she was being robbed because she was losing so much money, but it was actually just that she had been donating so much money that they thought she was being robbed. I've never once heard her talk about money though. She has a very nice home, with an indoor pool, and she loves to have people over to enjoy it. But from what I have heard, she is insanely busy, and works a ton, and so she isn't married. She is an extraordinary women and I find her inspirational.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Well then. I am not quite sure what to say.
Seems to me that living for Christ is winning.

You're right. Whatever the world lies to us about, His is the victory which He is graciously pleased for us to be associated with (1 Corinthians 15.57).

 

[penknight]

You're obviously educated - can read and write english, you don't seem to be worried about being hungry or needing shelter - that would probably be on your mind more so than the topic at hand, you're typing on a computer that's linked to others of like privilege around the world making you among the top 10% richest in the world, you don't want to have to work like a dog which is already dismissing 90% of the population of the world who have no such aspirations and who are committed to working much longer hours with greater effort than any dog on planet earth, and you don't want to be mediocre?

I think you're at something of a crossroad in your life.

That's a very good way to put it.

 

[Simona25]

You're obviously educated - can read and write english, you don't seem to be worried about being hungry or needing shelter - that would probably be on your mind more so than the topic at hand, you're typing on a computer that's linked to others of like privilege around the world making you among the top 10% richest in the world, you don't want to have to work like a dog which is already dismissing 90% of the population of the world who have no such aspirations and who are committed to working much longer hours with greater effort than any dog on planet earth, and you don't want to be mediocre?

I think you're at something of a crossroad in your life.

Before you give him an advice, you must first declare your salary and all your incomes so that the OP can make an idea whether you are reliable or just a mediocre christian that holds Christ as a "consolation prize".

P.S.: make a video about you, your giant house (something like MTV cribs), your wife (a model, of course), your food, dog, cars etc.

 

[penknight]

You're getting the wrong idea. We do have goals for ourselves, however if those goals compremise the standard of living God set for us then we'd rather abandon those goals. None of us want to be poor or work excuriatingly hard, but we are (or some of us) are fully prepared to endure it if it comes to that. Notice that I said ENDURE it not accept it as the way we should live for the rest of our lives. We humbly wait on God to answer our prayers and we have faith in His timing and in His decision. Search the scriptures for your answers, you'll never truly understand unless you go look for yourself, because you're basically asking us to look into God's word for you when you ask questions like that. I'd venture to say the first two times you made threads about this is understandable, but now you're dragging this on too much. The rest depends on how much you're willing to put your faith in God and how long you will wait. There is no shortcut. If you want reassurance, then you have it. You'll always be miserable if you keep focusing on this, it's not worth it. Try finding happiness in the life you have now, because you never know when your time will be up. What you receive depends on you. If you have a rough time understanding the bible then I recommend that you visit biblehub.com the commentary should be a big helpit was me for anyway.

 

[Sjwho2]

Funrider, just give to charity what you can spare.

Modern christianity does not follow jesus's teaching to the letter anymore, so actually helping the poor isn't really a staple for them.

 

[Tintin]

I think the OP's attitude is hugely prideful. He's acting like a pompous ass. All I hear from him is whinging and complaining that he's stuck amongst the little people. It's a huge turn-off. Some people are called to have great wealth but that's to help others, not themselves. Ugh! Ain't nobody got time for dat!

 

[Sjwho2]

Some people are called to have great wealth but that's to help others, not themselves.

I don't know if you'd prhase it as "called to have". More generally "steal from" is the correct term.