A brief moment of reflection this evening has left me with another thing to ponder over. If we accept the following two bases:
- That Jesus showed that God does not give out financial rewards as blessings for those who honour him, but that God instead has an inclination to the poor and the oppressed – thus refuting the thinking behind a “prosperity theology”
- The concept of God’s blessing on people, both corporately and individually, is a definitively biblical principle and as a result; should find a place in my theology
We are left with some fairly gaping questions in the tension between these two positions (at least as they sit in my mind) – specifically:
- What does it mean to be blessed by God? What is God’s blessing? Is anything good that happens to me a “blessing”?
- How ought I react to “doing well financially”? If a sudden financial gain that seems to have no logical explanation was to happen to me, has that come from God?
I’m sure there are more questions, but I’m tired (and lazy), and so I want to hear some responses. Because otherwise this will leave me hanging around with no understanding at all of what God’s blessing actually means.