A Curious Encounter With a “Self-Made” Man
Not too long ago I was talking to a wealthy “self-made” man (or so he thought) and while I was in the middle of explaining the Gospel to him, suddenly out of nowhere he yelled out loudly, interrupted me and just about came across his desk violently. I was quite surprised and taken back by his angry reaction, although I made sure to not let him know that his outburst disturbed me. But I really didn't see it coming.
It really seemed that he was in quite a good mood at first (and he probably was until I brought up a subject that he apparently didn’t like very much!) and then in an instant he totally turned, like a rabid animal and became furious at what I said, and continuing to yell at me, he concluded that if I was right then “murders and rapists” could end up in heaven, which he expressed in no uncertain terms was not a heaven that he would want to end up in.
He totally objected to the idea that heaven could be gained as a mere gift. He made it quite clear that the only kind of “heaven” that he was interested in is a heaven that someone can work for, earn and deserve. Of course no such diminished form of heaven exists. The real heaven in all it's magnificent glories is way too valuable for any human to be able to deserve even in an eternity of lifetimes. Thank God for Jesus who purchased heaven for us!
You see the rich man I was talking to loved to work hard and earn things (which in itself is not a bad thing), but he went too far in his thinking. Even though, through his clever ideas and hard work he had built much in life, including two successful businesses (with a third even larger business on the way), as well as building for himself a massive sprawling mansion with nearly a dozen bathrooms and other outrageous amenities, nevertheless his thinking became corrupted and the idea of salvation as a free gift did not appeal to him at all, not in the least. Hardly easy-believism! (Easy-believism is something that the false works-for-salvation teachers often wrongfully accuse true Gospel teachers of preaching.)
Jesus said: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25
This does not mean that a rich person cannot be saved, but rich people can and often are far more difficult to convince regarding the Gospel.
The man did not like the idea of not being in control and not being able to achieve heaven through his own efforts and personal merit. He didn't like it one bit and it was an eye opening experience for me to try to share the free gift of salvation with him. I am thankful that I did and I am thankful that I was able to observe and properly interpret his wild over-reaction. For it pretty much explains what is going on inside most if not all of those who reject the Gospel in a more quiet way and don't visibly overreact as this man did, especially “self-made” people. But he did make sure to let me know that he was quite comfortable with the idea of doing good works and earning heaven through the non-Christian Catholic religious rituals that he and his family took part in on Sundays.
The Myth of the Self-Made Man
Personally, I don't believe that anyone no matter how successful is truly self-made, of course with the exception of people who “gain” through sin. This is referred to in the Bible as "ill gotten gain" and God should never be given credit for anything obtained through sinful methods. It would be blasphemous to give God thanks and praise for things “accomplished” through underhanded means. To do so would essentially be to blame God for such things. Thankfully most non-Christians who are involved in ill gotten gain do not give God thanks, praise or any credit whatsoever for what they have "achieved" and there is a reason for this. First, they are not Christians and second, they KNOW that they literally took what they have. They know God did not give it to them. Unfortunately may professing Christians do thank, praise and give God credit for many things that they obtain through false doctrines and underhanded methodology in the church, but that is another subject for another time.
I once marveled how another successful "self-made" business man, a young entrepreneur that I was talking with awhile back, how he literally refused to give thanks to God for the abundance of money and immense opportunities that he had amassed in life at such a young age (in his twenties). I mentioned God and that he should be very thankful for what he has and he would have none of it. He explained how he worked hard for what he had and he didn't think God played any part in it. I countered with some biblical insights that I thought might help him, but to no avail. I was truly puzzled. But then while driving home it hit me. I figured it out (by God's grace).
I recalled that earlier, in a prior encounter with the same young man, that he had mentioned that he employed some underhanded techniques and various trickery to gain popularity for his business, nothing illegal but nothing ethical either. He mentioned other morally questionable things that he took part in to accelerate the speed of his “success” And then it dawned on me. God didn't give this man his business or his alleged success. He took it! He stole it! So OF COURSE HE WAS NOT THANKFUL TO GOD! He knew very well that God had nothing to do with his alleged “success”.
So when some people are not thankful at all to God for what they have and they give Him no credit, there may be a bigger underlying reason for this. For the immoral and unethical, they know that God didn't give them their "gain" or "success". Why? Because they lied, cheated and stole to get it. And so it makes perfect sense that they are not thankful to Him.
God Gets The Credit For Anything We Accomplish Legitimately
Not only do people obviously not create themselves, it is God who should also get all the credit for anything that any of us accomplish legitimately.
This is what the Lord said to Israel. But in an indirect and more general way this applies to all mankind:
But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth... Deut 8:18a
It is God who has given us our minds and our hands to work with. So it is He who is ultimately deserving of all credit for our ability to work hard and prosper.
Here is the full context where we can see that this passage was written specifically to Israel:
(17) And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.(18) But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto your fathers, as it is this day. (19) And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. (20) As the nations which the LORD destroys before your face, so shall you perish; because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. Deut 8: 17-20
Powerful stuff. Now of course this was not written to everyone so we cannot just do as false teachers do and apply this out of context anywhere that we want, or twist this around and try to use it as a cloak for greed, etc. But even in innocent pursuits, this passage still cannot be applied directly to any group other than Israel without violating the context in which it was written. Nevertheless, Christians should definitely take heed because Christians are branches that are grafted into the vine and so Christians are related to Jewish people in and through Christ, yet in an indirect non-physical / non-actual-bloodline sense of course.
Regardless, this passage still sets an important precedent and shows us important insights into how God thinks and operates as does so much of the Bible. And any man or woman would be foolish to not heed the important warnings contained here.
Pride Can Be a Killer
For the self-reliant achiever, the go-getter, the alleged self-made man or woman, the Gospel of Jesus Christ can represent an insurmountably difficult thing for them to believe. Self-reliance is the basis of pride which is the opposite of humility and we know that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (see James 4:6).
It seems clear that the more prideful a person is, the more that they tend to be self-sufficient, the more they tend to believe in their own merits and the more they tend to resist the true free grace Gospel. The false highly self-sufficient self-righteous doctrine of Lordship Salvation is incredibly performance-based, works-based and merit-based (although cleverly cloaked to appear to be the opposite) and so this very dangerous and heretical message appeals to the prideful. Lordship Salvation is far easier to accept than the simple message of faith alone in Christ alone, which the enemies of the Gospel outrageously claim they uphold. They do not. These people are not being truthful whether they realize it or not.
There is nothing remotely easy about trying to get the message of the free grace Gospel across to a prideful person. I have experienced this many times first hand when talking to a variety of people, not just the rich man I mentioned. These people will fight the true salvation message tooth and nail. It's like trying to pull a freight train up hill with a rope. There is a LOT of resistance.
Prideful people tend to believe in the allegedly all-powerful and almighty self. They will bring up things like, “If what you are saying is true, then that means God would save even a murder who turned to Christ?” They don't like that idea. Never mind the account of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:32-43. They don't want to hear about how the thief was saved through faith alone in Christ alone without any repentance of personal sins or any good works (there wasn't any time for the thief to even do any good works! It was too late. He was dying).
And so these people want nothing to do with such an allegedly “easy” Gospel. They don't want to be in a heaven where former thieves and murderers dwell. Yet these same people are hypocrites who murder and commit adultery daily in their own hearts. Jesus basically equates unwarranted anger against another as having similar weight to murder and He equates lust with actual adultery (see Matt 5: 21-22, 27-28) and yet these people are so sure, so utterly convinced in their own minds and hearts that they are better and more deserving of heaven than actual physical murderers and adulterers who have repented towards God, have repented of their self-reliance and have turned to Christ.
ChristiansFree.com
Not too long ago I was talking to a wealthy “self-made” man (or so he thought) and while I was in the middle of explaining the Gospel to him, suddenly out of nowhere he yelled out loudly, interrupted me and just about came across his desk violently. I was quite surprised and taken back by his angry reaction, although I made sure to not let him know that his outburst disturbed me. But I really didn't see it coming.
It really seemed that he was in quite a good mood at first (and he probably was until I brought up a subject that he apparently didn’t like very much!) and then in an instant he totally turned, like a rabid animal and became furious at what I said, and continuing to yell at me, he concluded that if I was right then “murders and rapists” could end up in heaven, which he expressed in no uncertain terms was not a heaven that he would want to end up in.
He totally objected to the idea that heaven could be gained as a mere gift. He made it quite clear that the only kind of “heaven” that he was interested in is a heaven that someone can work for, earn and deserve. Of course no such diminished form of heaven exists. The real heaven in all it's magnificent glories is way too valuable for any human to be able to deserve even in an eternity of lifetimes. Thank God for Jesus who purchased heaven for us!
You see the rich man I was talking to loved to work hard and earn things (which in itself is not a bad thing), but he went too far in his thinking. Even though, through his clever ideas and hard work he had built much in life, including two successful businesses (with a third even larger business on the way), as well as building for himself a massive sprawling mansion with nearly a dozen bathrooms and other outrageous amenities, nevertheless his thinking became corrupted and the idea of salvation as a free gift did not appeal to him at all, not in the least. Hardly easy-believism! (Easy-believism is something that the false works-for-salvation teachers often wrongfully accuse true Gospel teachers of preaching.)
Jesus said: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Matt 19:24, Mark 10:25
This does not mean that a rich person cannot be saved, but rich people can and often are far more difficult to convince regarding the Gospel.
The man did not like the idea of not being in control and not being able to achieve heaven through his own efforts and personal merit. He didn't like it one bit and it was an eye opening experience for me to try to share the free gift of salvation with him. I am thankful that I did and I am thankful that I was able to observe and properly interpret his wild over-reaction. For it pretty much explains what is going on inside most if not all of those who reject the Gospel in a more quiet way and don't visibly overreact as this man did, especially “self-made” people. But he did make sure to let me know that he was quite comfortable with the idea of doing good works and earning heaven through the non-Christian Catholic religious rituals that he and his family took part in on Sundays.
The Myth of the Self-Made Man
Personally, I don't believe that anyone no matter how successful is truly self-made, of course with the exception of people who “gain” through sin. This is referred to in the Bible as "ill gotten gain" and God should never be given credit for anything obtained through sinful methods. It would be blasphemous to give God thanks and praise for things “accomplished” through underhanded means. To do so would essentially be to blame God for such things. Thankfully most non-Christians who are involved in ill gotten gain do not give God thanks, praise or any credit whatsoever for what they have "achieved" and there is a reason for this. First, they are not Christians and second, they KNOW that they literally took what they have. They know God did not give it to them. Unfortunately may professing Christians do thank, praise and give God credit for many things that they obtain through false doctrines and underhanded methodology in the church, but that is another subject for another time.
I once marveled how another successful "self-made" business man, a young entrepreneur that I was talking with awhile back, how he literally refused to give thanks to God for the abundance of money and immense opportunities that he had amassed in life at such a young age (in his twenties). I mentioned God and that he should be very thankful for what he has and he would have none of it. He explained how he worked hard for what he had and he didn't think God played any part in it. I countered with some biblical insights that I thought might help him, but to no avail. I was truly puzzled. But then while driving home it hit me. I figured it out (by God's grace).
I recalled that earlier, in a prior encounter with the same young man, that he had mentioned that he employed some underhanded techniques and various trickery to gain popularity for his business, nothing illegal but nothing ethical either. He mentioned other morally questionable things that he took part in to accelerate the speed of his “success” And then it dawned on me. God didn't give this man his business or his alleged success. He took it! He stole it! So OF COURSE HE WAS NOT THANKFUL TO GOD! He knew very well that God had nothing to do with his alleged “success”.
So when some people are not thankful at all to God for what they have and they give Him no credit, there may be a bigger underlying reason for this. For the immoral and unethical, they know that God didn't give them their "gain" or "success". Why? Because they lied, cheated and stole to get it. And so it makes perfect sense that they are not thankful to Him.
God Gets The Credit For Anything We Accomplish Legitimately
Not only do people obviously not create themselves, it is God who should also get all the credit for anything that any of us accomplish legitimately.
This is what the Lord said to Israel. But in an indirect and more general way this applies to all mankind:
But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth... Deut 8:18a
It is God who has given us our minds and our hands to work with. So it is He who is ultimately deserving of all credit for our ability to work hard and prosper.
Here is the full context where we can see that this passage was written specifically to Israel:
(17) And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.(18) But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto your fathers, as it is this day. (19) And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. (20) As the nations which the LORD destroys before your face, so shall you perish; because you would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. Deut 8: 17-20
Powerful stuff. Now of course this was not written to everyone so we cannot just do as false teachers do and apply this out of context anywhere that we want, or twist this around and try to use it as a cloak for greed, etc. But even in innocent pursuits, this passage still cannot be applied directly to any group other than Israel without violating the context in which it was written. Nevertheless, Christians should definitely take heed because Christians are branches that are grafted into the vine and so Christians are related to Jewish people in and through Christ, yet in an indirect non-physical / non-actual-bloodline sense of course.
Regardless, this passage still sets an important precedent and shows us important insights into how God thinks and operates as does so much of the Bible. And any man or woman would be foolish to not heed the important warnings contained here.
Pride Can Be a Killer
For the self-reliant achiever, the go-getter, the alleged self-made man or woman, the Gospel of Jesus Christ can represent an insurmountably difficult thing for them to believe. Self-reliance is the basis of pride which is the opposite of humility and we know that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (see James 4:6).
It seems clear that the more prideful a person is, the more that they tend to be self-sufficient, the more they tend to believe in their own merits and the more they tend to resist the true free grace Gospel. The false highly self-sufficient self-righteous doctrine of Lordship Salvation is incredibly performance-based, works-based and merit-based (although cleverly cloaked to appear to be the opposite) and so this very dangerous and heretical message appeals to the prideful. Lordship Salvation is far easier to accept than the simple message of faith alone in Christ alone, which the enemies of the Gospel outrageously claim they uphold. They do not. These people are not being truthful whether they realize it or not.
There is nothing remotely easy about trying to get the message of the free grace Gospel across to a prideful person. I have experienced this many times first hand when talking to a variety of people, not just the rich man I mentioned. These people will fight the true salvation message tooth and nail. It's like trying to pull a freight train up hill with a rope. There is a LOT of resistance.
Prideful people tend to believe in the allegedly all-powerful and almighty self. They will bring up things like, “If what you are saying is true, then that means God would save even a murder who turned to Christ?” They don't like that idea. Never mind the account of the thief on the cross in Luke 23:32-43. They don't want to hear about how the thief was saved through faith alone in Christ alone without any repentance of personal sins or any good works (there wasn't any time for the thief to even do any good works! It was too late. He was dying).
And so these people want nothing to do with such an allegedly “easy” Gospel. They don't want to be in a heaven where former thieves and murderers dwell. Yet these same people are hypocrites who murder and commit adultery daily in their own hearts. Jesus basically equates unwarranted anger against another as having similar weight to murder and He equates lust with actual adultery (see Matt 5: 21-22, 27-28) and yet these people are so sure, so utterly convinced in their own minds and hearts that they are better and more deserving of heaven than actual physical murderers and adulterers who have repented towards God, have repented of their self-reliance and have turned to Christ.
ChristiansFree.com