Introduction
Christians often make the mistake of becoming gnostic in their thinking about life. We understand from scripture that we are to keep our mind on the things above (Colossians 3:2), but this passage is often misunderstood. It is not saying to ignore the physical life we live and only focus on spiritual things, but rather it is instruction to put to death our sin and live our lives according to God’s commands. That is why following the beginning of Colossians 3 is instruction on how to live in relation to one another. We are putting off sin, the things of this earth, and putting on Christ, the things that are above. All of this is to live in this life as God has called us to live. If we over spiritualize our life we are going to neglect to live a life that is glorifying God. He wants us to honor Him in all that we do, and that includes our physical, daily lives.
Wisdom from the Proverbs
We can find many wise sayings in the Proverbs, but the way some Christians think of life would negate the wisdom that we find there. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’ children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” If we categorize wealth as something that is “of this earth” then we are creating a contradiction between what God revealed in this proverb and what He revealed through the writer of Colossians. This cannot be so, scripture is consistent with itself. Therefore, we have to take the understanding mentioned above for what is “of this earth.” The earthy things are sin and disobedience to God. Here we see a good pattern laid out by God, those who are good will leave an inheritance for their children’s children. This means that we are to build up an inheritance in order to pass it along. Some might object saying, “but seeking wealth is sin!” It is true that seeking wealth can be sinful, but the sin is in making a god of money, or loving money more than God. Having wealth itself is not a sin, nor is building wealth. We see many examples in scripture of God blessing people with wealth, such as Solomon in the old testament and Lydia in the new testament. God also promises to bless his people with wealth and the proverbs make it clear that a righteous man will be blessed with many things, including wealth.
Part of Generational thinking is planning out an inheritance. Each parent should take the time to work on leaving an inheritance for their children and their grandchildren. Not all of us will be able to leave behind a large inheritance, and some of us may struggle to leave behind any inheritance at all, but it is a good pursuit to have. Instead of being impulsive and wasting money, we need to be wise and invest however we can. If we are able, we can even leave a family business to provide a place to work and income for the coming generations. Even if we make small steps in this direction, our inheritance can be turned into an even larger inheritance by our children. Our children can then in-turn leave behind an even larger inheritance for our grandchildren. We need to abandon thinking that leaves the next generation with nothing to build upon and pick up thinking that gives a firm foundation for growth and prosperity.
Is this a Prosperity Gospel?
Another objection to this could be, “well this just sounds like a prosperity gospel. Are you saying that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and happy?” It is true that we are promised hardship as Christians. We are going to be hated and persecuted because Christ was hated and persecuted. We have seen throughout history that Christians have lost their inheritance due to persecution, and it has led us to believe that speaking of any prosperity is going against the gospel. Yet, here we are, more wealthy and prosperous than all generations before us! To clarify, I am not saying that the gospel promises that we will be prosperous. This is due to the persecution of the world upon Christians, and it is due to sin. However, as we spread the gospel and sin is removed more and more, then we begin to see the effects of sin diminish. To this day we see Christians being persecuted around the world, some lose their lives, others have everything taken from them. Yet, there are parts of the world where this is not the case. The gospel has spread, and improvements have been made because of it. Each generation from the beginning left their inheritance, even if that inheritance was purely spiritual. Slowly, as this spiritual inheritance is passed down, room is made for physical inheritance.
Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we cannot defeat our flesh by the flesh. If we want to defeat the flesh, we must do so spiritually (Romans 8:12). As we put our flesh to death, we are able to live according to God’s law. This truth of the individual is also true of culture. As we spread the gospel and our cultures are won to Christ, we begin to put to death the fleshly cultures for spiritually mature cultures. You may be skeptical of this truth due to the current nature of our societies, but Christ has come for the nations, and they will be given to Him (Psalm 2). The inheritance of earlier generations of Christians was the message of the gospel at the expense of all they had. Today, we give the inheritance of the gospel to the next generation along with our possessions. This shows the effects the gospel has already had on our world.
As we put to death the things of the flesh, and teach others to do the same, we will much more be able to see God’s promise of prosperity turn from purely spiritual to both spiritual and physical. This is because Christ is redeeming all things, He is making all things new. You then are charged to leave an inheritance for the next generation. This inheritance may be largely spiritual as you raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but it can also be physical. Whatever you are able to leave behind, pursue leaving that inheritance, for it is good.
Look to the Ants
A lot of work will go into leaving an inheritance. It is not an easy task to leave an inheritance of any kind, it takes planning, dedication, and intention. The proverbs teach us not to be lazy, we are to be diligent workers.
Proverbs 6:6-11
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, 7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, 8 Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest. 9 How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”— 11 Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.
Even the ants, which God has made, work hard and plan ahead. We are instructed to look to these busy workers for our own lives. If you want to leave an inheritance, work hard for it. You aren’t going to get there being lazy. God has called each of us to work hard so that in all we do we glorify Him. He has called us to Himself and prepared works for us (Ephesians 2:10). One of those works is our children. God has given them to us to raise, but they belong to Him. He wants us to provide for them a future. God is using us as His invading army into this world to take dominion over it. Let’s take dominion and do it well. This means that we not only want to leave behind an inheritance, but we have to teach our children how to properly use that inheritance. The inheritance is there for God’s glory, not their own. Our children should not be spoiled or out of touch with reality because we have left them an inheritance. If we have raised them in Christ, we should not have to worry about this.
Conclusion
It is good for us to leave an inheritance to our children and grandchildren. If your understanding of the scriptures causes you to view advice from the proverbs as wicked or sinful, it is time to abandon your understanding. God wants us to work diligently to leave behind something for our children to build upon. We leave behind a building block, a stepping stone, so as the generations pass on God’s kingdom is built brick by brick, stone by stone. The nations will flock to Him, and His gospel will be preached in all the nations.