A Princely Sum - clarksons.org

Sunday is
garbage day.
Get rid of
your trash so
it doesn't
stink up
your life!
If the truth be known, many Christians wish their Prince would be
more like Al-Waleed, handing out liberal amounts of money and
attending to our financial requests with extravagance, not just
generosity. To be clear, Jesus sometimes does that, blessing us
materially, well beyond our need or expectation. But the Bible doesn't
guarantee that will always happen, despite what we hear from the
many promoters of health and wealth theology — the erroneous idea
that God will always give us prosperity if we just have enough faith
and give "seed money" to Christian ministries.
First made popular during the "healing revivals" of the 1950s, this
prosperity gospel sees illness and poverty as curses God will break
when we come to him with enough trust. Supporters cite passages like
Malachi 3:10, which were never meant to apply to all people in every
time. "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse...,' the prophet says. 'if
you do,' says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, 'I will open the windows of
heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have
enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!'"
While the Scriptures say God will supply our needs, it's a perversion
of the gospel to teach that faith and obedience will always get us
material riches. Jesus and his disciples lived simply and taught us to
do the same, and to expect hardship in this life. The core of the gospel
is spiritual riches: forgiveness of sins and peace with God; love,
acceptance and purpose found in Jesus and his church; the assurance
of joy and strength for life; and the promise of eternity with God.
For some, that's not enough, or it can wait. But in God's eyes, it's
wrong to take the focus off Jesus and put it on human desire, or effort.
We can't earn or deserve God's favour, not even through obedience.
Instead, we must learn to rely on him and his goodness and put first
things first. "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live
righteously," Jesus said, "and he will give you everything you need."
(Matt. 6:33) Maybe not everything you want, but none of us in this
part of the world has any right to complain, and nothing compares
with our spiritual prosperity. Ours is a Prince among princes.
VOLUME 37, NUMBER 9
March 18, 2012
A Princely Sum
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal gives many of
his subjects the royal treatment.
In the desert, people line up single file
and hand the Saudi prince's assistant
written requests. Most ask for a cash, a
car, or help to pay off a house. Staff go
over the letters and the prince grants a
thousand wishes every month. Over the
past 25 years, he's given away tens of
thousands of cars and billions of dollars.
"I believe every person, when God gives
them all these blessings, has a
responsibility to give back to the world," he
says. "You can't just stack money. It's not right."
And Al-Waleed is awash in blessings. With a reported net worth of
$20 billion, he's the richest person in Saudi Arabia and number 26 on
the Forbes list of the world's billionaires. A nephew of Saudi King
Abdullah, the prince made his fortune in real estate and the stock
market, starting with astute investments in an American bank and in
Apple, just before founder Steve Jobs turned around the company.
Today, Al-Waleed's holdings include a hefty stake in the Fox empire,
Time Warner, and even Twitter. Owner of the world's largest private
jet and an exquisite yacht, the prince has 200 cars, including Ferraris,
Lamborghinis and a diamond-encrusted Mercedes. He lives in a
shimmering $300 million palace with 317 rooms with Italian marble,
silk carpets, gold-covered faucets and 250 televisions.
In 2004, Al-Waleed donated millions to the victims of the tsunami
in Indonesia and has paid out millions more to increase godwill
among Christians and Muslims around the world. His representative
says the prince has given $2.5 billion to charities in 70 countries.