Michael Todd - Don't Get It Twisted
Today, I have an assignment to start a series that I think may go down in history as one of the most impactful series I’ve ever spoken because if you grasp the principles I’m about to share with you, it’s not just going to change your life; it’s going to change the generations that come after you. That’s right! Hear what I just said. This series is worth you taking notes, wrestling with hard questions, investigating, reading other books about it, and seeing what the Bible says. I want everybody in Transformation Church to be literate in the Word of God. So I’m telling you, don’t take my word for it. Go study it for yourself! I just want to be clear because some people think, «Alright, Pastor Mike said, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool.» I work hard to ensure that what I say up here, and what any communicator says up here, is backed by the Word of God so that you, on a Monday, Tuesday, or any day of the week, can go for yourself and research what God says about it because you know what? He can give you a better revelation than I can.
So today, I want to take us on a journey. Somebody say, «We’re going on a journey.» We’re going on a journey to talk about money. Now, the word of the year at Transformation Church is «Focus.» Say it again: Focus. And do you know that most of the time, you focus on money? How much you have or how much you don’t have—who owes you some? Oh, y’all know that dude that owes you $6 from the seventh grade, Jammarcus? I can’t stand him. Why does he still owe me $6? I found that as I was going through the distractions that pull us away, I realized that money, finances, also referred to as dough, cheese, guap, cheddar, bands—come on, help me out. What do you say—bread? Why do I have so many food analogies? Lettuce! Whatever you call your money—coin, that coin. Most of us, at some point on our journey with Christ, have been distracted by money.
Yeah. Can I make sure I’m in the right room? How many of us, on our journey with Christ, have, at some point, been distracted by money? Hands up! Hands up! We’re in the right room today! So, I thought it would be important for us to take the next four weeks. All I’m asking you to do is lock in for four weeks so that you get the totality of the revelation that God wants to give each one of you. I promise you it was a series like this that changed my family’s future. It was a series like this that allowed me to actually give God my heart at a level that didn’t just change what was in my hands; it changed my habits. I’ll tell you in a later sermon how pornography was eradicated from my life through my generosity and putting God first.
Because all money is, is a tool for God to see where He stands in your life. Hear what I just said. All money does is locate you. And I can locate every person in this room by where they put their money. And it’s going to be quiet in here a couple of times, and that’s okay. I said «Amen» to myself 32 times in the mirror before I came out here. But the truth of the matter is money is one of those things that makes people act funny. Have you ever known somebody who was really nice until you messed with their money? I mean, they were just right there, but when you got in business with them or you cheated them out of something or you didn’t do what you said you were going to do, it ruins everything. Most people have an intimate attachment to money.
Let me just talk about it. You may not classify it as that, but why do you feel different when you have it, right? When payday comes, you act like you lost weight and y’all know what I’m talking about. You get cute the night before when you felt busted. That little ding in your phone comes in—you’re like, «Oh my God, it’s time to go outside!» Just come on, let’s be honest. Why, when tax season comes, if you get a refund, it feels brand new? What happens when you lose something, like a car gets repossessed? Why does the repo of the car make you feel inferior and insignificant? It’s an intimate attachment. It’s more than just embarrassment. There’s some type of intimate attachment to finances, to money, to more.
And today, I want us to—everybody say—Focus! I want us to focus on what God has for us in this realm and culture of wealth. Hebrews 12:1 and 2, I told you I’m going to read it all year long: «Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, especially the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus!» Somebody shout to me—Focus! Focus! The pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame. And now, He sat down at the right hand of the Father—by the throne of God.
Every week, I must say this: fixing your eyes on Jesus gives you the faith to focus. Most of us have not asked Jesus what He wants to say about money. We learned it from people who didn’t learn it right. When you think about all the places you learned about money, they weren’t really the places you were supposed to learn them in. I know in school, I had one class about personal finances. At home, I knew my parents had money, but there was never a class teaching understanding about money because everybody’s doing the best they can with what they’ve got.
And the truth of the matter is most churches stay away from the topic, or they manipulate the topic. Okay, let’s talk real about it. They either stay away from it because they don’t want anybody to think they’re part of the prosperity gospel and that they don’t need anything, or you have people who are part of the poverty gospel. Broken-minded people can’t help with anything, always needing something—not because that’s where you started; it’s just you’ve never been taught out of that. You also have people who make $100 lines for everything. «Right, so today we’re reading Psalms 100. Everybody that gets a $100 seed in your hand—get a 100 pennies, get a $100 dime, get a 100 quarters.» There’s nowhere in the Bible that Jesus ever took up an offering because of another number being part of it.
So I just want to expose and acknowledge that there have been some practices surrounding money, especially in church, that leave all of us a little confused. And watch this secret about our money: Most people, the thing you don’t talk about is money. You judge and try to sum up what you think somebody has: «Carry the two, minus the three. I know how much those shoes cost.» But actually talking about it, actually asking people, «How do you do your budget? How do you honor God in this? How do you invest?"—unless you know, you know. But if you don’t know, you will never know.
And today, I’m going to be a living testimony for you. I’m Michael, and I used to have a poverty mentality. Over ten years ago, before I became the pastor of this church, I knew I was supposed to be able to handle resources and have wealth; I did not have it. I was in debt collections up to my ears. I did not understand credit; I had no investments. I even stole from establishments. I’ll tell you—oh God! Now, how real should I be today? I don’t know what the statute of limitations is—am I good? Okay! I used to go to discount stores and change tags to sell tags. I can’t be real! I’m going to tell you how poverty made me want to look like I had it. So much so that I put my freedom in jeopardy. I just want to make sure you know, I’m not talking down to you; I’m not trying to tell you that you need to do something that hopefully one day we all get to.
When I started this series, all I had was faith in the principles that God showed me in His Word. For the past decade, I’ve worked these principles that I’m about to share with you. And so today, and for the rest of this series, I’m not sharing with you as one hoping to reach this level; because of the faithfulness of God and my obedience to His Word, He has changed my relationship with money forever. My children’s children—I’m not telling you this so that you could say, «See? He’s doing well.» No! My children’s children already have resources. «Now, why are you not hiding that from us?» Because I want you to have it! I don’t want you to be in lack.
This is not because I’m the pastor of this church; I need everybody to hear me. This is because I’ve decided that God’s principles are the governing factor of my life, and either they work or they don’t, and we’ll never know if I don’t go all in. So, ten years ago, I went all in. I said, «God, either tithing works or it doesn’t. So every time I get any increase, I’m going to give you 10% of it.» And God, in His Word—this ain’t even my message today—said, «Test me. See if I won’t open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you don’t have room enough to receive.» I’m telling you right now, I am a recipient! I’m getting excited because I didn’t believe it could happen until it happened to me.
But I just wanted to let you know where I started so you don’t think this is something that I already had a leg up or a hand up in. I think it was the prophet Drake who said, «Started from the bottom, now we’re here.» The reason my relationship with money was very toxic is that I had gotten some of the principles that Jesus called important—watch this—twisted. Say the word «twisted.» Twisted. When we think about twisted, it means that something is tied around something else. There’s something that has now been turned and formed into something that takes on a different shape—it’s just a little bit out of sorts.
When I started to think about the title of this series, I said, «What has been more twisted in church than money? Nothing!» There are people who will not come to church right now, and their whole excuse is, «The church just wants my money.» Not to mention the fact you’ve never even given them your money! But I’m saying you’re holding strong on yours, but you won’t even go to church because they just want my money. There are a lot of things that are twisted when it comes to work and providing. There are a lot of things that are twisted when it comes to the difference between an offering, a tithe, and generosity.
It’s just twisted. Today, I want to clear all of that up. I want to give somebody for the first time the ability to see it how God sees it. Amen! And today, I know there are some people in here who have already made your decision. You’ve been walking with God for a long time, and you’ve made a decision that this is how I’m going to stay with God, and you’ve made a pact. And today, He’s calling you into the deep. He’s asking you to come out a little bit deeper.
This series is called Wicked—not just because that movie is out and everybody wants to sing that last little run—that’s not why we did this! I almost got it! I just—that was close. If I practice a little more, I could—no! But this series is called Wicked: The Worship of Wealth. When I looked up what the word wicked means, do you know one of the definitions for wicked is «twisted»? Have you ever seen wicked furniture before? Wicker furniture? Okay, there we go! Thank you! Y’all had them! We don’t get them anymore. But back in the '70s, they had a whole bunch of wicker furniture, and it would have a lot of stuff twisted together to make something solid. It was twisted.
Today, I wanted to title this sermon «Don’t Get It Twisted.» Why, Pastor Mike? Because if you have a twisted perspective of money, it complicates, confuses, and constricts the life God intends for all believers to live. If you have a twisted perspective of money, it complicates, confuses, and constricts the life that God intended for you to live. Today, some of y’all have to be unbound or unwound when it comes to money. Don’t get it twisted! Giving is not about amounts; it’s about obedience! Somebody say, «Don’t get it twisted!»
Because some of y’all are sitting here like, «But I don’t have a lot.» God said, «I don’t need a lot.» He’s not asking you for something you don’t have. Very good! Somebody say, «Don’t get it twisted!» The church doesn’t want your money; God wants your heart! Now, you may have had a bad experience in some other church, but this church—during this whole series— we are going to be giving to other churches, other nonprofits, and other people—y’all have to understand this is not an offering we’re about to take. There is no building fund that’s going to get built. There is no «Feed the Children.» There’s nothing. Because of the faithfulness and the generosity of people who have heard this message over the years and been proactive with it, God has provided for His house. I’m trying to invite other people into this life because there’s a better life than the one you’ve been living. I feel like someone who has gone on a trip outside of the country.
How many people have been outside of the country before? Been on a vacation outside of the country? I’m going to tell everybody this just for your expansion: If you do not have your passport, get it! Oh my gosh! If you do not have your passport, get it! God has made a big world that many of us do not have the faith or the resources to explore yet. But I believe that just by that one act of faith, there is something that God is going to do for your mind and your heart. Because some of y’all need to travel. Yeah, you need to see more than you’ve ever seen.
Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Because I’ve been to some places, and I’ve been the one to come back and tell other people that’s a good place to go. This place has beautiful things here! This is how I feel on this journey of trusting God with generosity and stewardship. I’ve gone on this journey, and I’m coming back to tell Transformation Church: Hey, y’all, there are some good things out here. There’s a life that you did not even know about where the Scripture says it’s more blessed to give than to receive. Most of us have never experienced that. What I’m telling you is this is the level God wants you to live at. And right now, I’m fighting people’s generational—watch this—fear. I can feel it.
Some of us have held on to mechanisms and welfare programs, and things that you think are making your life easy. I’m not saying not to use the assistance that you receive, but what if I told you there was a better way that would take off the shackles from your life’s existence? What if I told you that God, who owns everything, desires to make you a dispensary—not of weed, but of resources? Oh God! What if I told you that He wanted the people that you’re around to be blessed because you’re there? What if I told you that you were supposed to be a secret agent of answering prayers, that God would allow you to hear things without needing to say anything about them? You can walk around and take care of things on God’s behalf!
Come on! I stopped praying that God would just answer my prayers, and I started praying that He would make me an answer to prayers. But the only way that happens is if we actually have faith to believe that God’s Word is true. And that’s why I don’t want you to get it twisted. You can only help at the level you have. So good! Did y’all hear what I just said? You can only help at the level you have. So today, I’m asking you to start helping at the level you have. Many of you have this magic amount, this magic time, this magic job security point—that’s when you’re going to be generous. It’s the truth! That’s when you’re gonna trust God. «If I could just pay off this car, if I could just pay off this debt, if I could just…»
That’s when I’m gonna start. And I want to say you’re lying. I just want to be very frank with you right now. Because I made those same promises too. And what happens is God tells us in His Word that how we practice one thing is how we do everything. He said, «Be faithful over a little; I’ll make you ruler over much.» What He’s saying is money magnifies who you are right now. Who are you right now? Are you generous right now? Are you faithful right now? 'Cause if God drops a $100,000, $50,000—Lord, drop it! I heard you! I like that faith, Mama Chloe! If God drops a $100,000, $10,000, $1,000, or $100 on you—this is what money does: It many times gives you amnesia. That’s good! Y’all gonna leave me up here by myself?
When it comes in, somehow I know I’m supposed to do something. I know, but them boots, that vacation, I deserve a break—I need to go! So instead of waiting for an appointed time, I have to practice—watch this—principles. And so today, I want to bring you to Proverbs 11:24 that says, «The world of the generous…» I’m going to read it out of the Message version because it feels real good. «The world of the generous gets larger and larger.» Somebody say, «I will be generous!» I will be generous! Come on! By faith, I will be generous! I will! One more time to break generational patterns: Somebody say, «I will be generous!»
And some of y’all find it so hard because of the family you came from. They weren’t generous with juice. Oh, y’all know some of y’all are stingy juice people! Uh-huh, one glass! One glass! And y’all know what I’m talking about. And now you’ve found yourself living in a whole different tax bracket than your family, and you do the same thing to your kids. «How many cups of lemonade is that?» I just want you to evaluate where that came from. If you can’t be generous with juice—and you can fill in the blank for whatever your thing is, right? —I want your world to expand. The world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy, the juice jackers, gets smaller and smaller. 'Cause the one who blesses others is abundantly blessed. You want to live a blessed life? Be the biggest blesser you know! You want your world to expand? Look around and see what you can give to somebody right now. You want your world to explode?
Go find somebody who’s where you used to be and give them what you wish somebody would have given you! Y’all don’t hear me! The world of the generous gets larger! Yeah! But you can’t be neutral in this. If you’re stingy, it constrains you. And so that’s why I found out in my journey—write this down—generosity is all about the heart. Money is just a neutral tool that is directed by the heart and the hand of the person who holds it. So you give me money, it’s going to do something different than if you give my daughter, Ava, money. Not because she’s a bad person, but because where her heart is right now, right? —is on Squishies! And I don’t know if any of the parents know what Squishies are, but they’re pointless little things that have some type of gelatinous material on the inside and they cost 20-some dollars in different colors. So when Ava gets money, her heart says Squishies, so her hand goes into her pockets. She has started a whole business; she’s selling brushes. She got Charles, she got Jay, she got Vic, she got her grandpa.
Today, I’m not playing! For a week and a half, she’s been making bracelets at the house so she could come to the place where she knows there’s a captive audience. She’s a businesswoman, y’all! And she is selling them from $5 to $12. Got my Cash App! She has already made $50 this morning and asked if she could come early with me to church. As soon as she sees people, she says, «Hello! Would you like to buy a bracelet in a Ziploc bag?» I bought one! But what I’m telling you is when she gets the money, her heart and her hand are focused on Squishies. Now, it’s Squishies for Ava, but it might be a mortgage for you. It’s Squishies for Ava, but it might be shoes for you.
Okay, let me just read the Scripture: Matthew 6:19. Hey y’all, this is Jesus talking. «Don’t store up for yourselves treasures here on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves can break in and steal.» But what I want you to do instead—this is Jesus talking—"Store up for yourselves, hold on, treasures in heaven.» Hold on! I can make an investment here on earth that shows back up in heaven? I can make an investment today that is eternal? Tell me more! «Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. Here we go! For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.»
I got this scripture twisted for years, and I thought it said, «Where your heart is, your treasure will be.» It’s reversed! Wherever you, by faith, put your treasure, your heart follows it! Put your treasure in your home—your heart is making sure nobody gets scuffs on the floor! Take your shoes off! Take your shoes off! Take your shoes off! Because you can’t… Y’all got people who can’t even sit on their own couches! Plastic on the couch! Y’all know what I’m talking about! You go to your granny’s house and you can’t eat with silverware—you can’t use—uh-uh, that’s the fine china! Wait, that’s a fork! But wherever you put your treasure, your heart pops out! This is where it’s telling you to focus—this is Jesus talking. He said, «The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.»
He’s saying that if the person handling whatever it is has light on the inside of them, everything is going to be light about that thing. That’s why when people say, «Money is bad, money is bad…» No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! The love of money is the root of all evil! But money—He said if you’re pure in your intentions, you got light in your heart, you want to be generous, you want to do the right thing with it—He said when I give you money, that thing works for the kingdom! But if your focus… I’m trying to give y’all the principles! Here we go! «But if your eye is—watch this—and I love that they say unhealthy; if your perspective is unhealthy, if you were raised by parents who did money in an unhealthy way, if you got into a hard time and you developed some habits that are kind of sketchy but not quite illegal—that’s unclaiming people on your taxes who don’t live in your house—that’s a lie!
No, I just… But if your eyes are unhealthy—watch this—your whole body will be full of darkness! And if then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Verse 24—watch this! No one can serve two masters! Do y’all see how chronologically important it is for Jesus to talk about all of this? He says don’t put your treasures in just the stuff you see around here. He said your treasure is the place that’s going to locate your heart! And don’t make sure that—make sure that your eyes are not in darkness; they’re in light! And then it says, 'cause no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other! Listen, you cannot serve both God and money! Jesus makes this so clear that I have to make it even clearer to you, because most of us get this twisted.
And I want to just acknowledge one more time that the church has many times done a horrible job at painting this picture—watch this—without a request attached to it! So it feels like manipulation! It’s like you’re going to tell me all these things I need to do, and now I need you to take from what you do not have, and I need you to give it! And what that leaves people feeling is used! And I want to apologize for any leader that has stood on a platform that has been raised and used money as a tool to manipulate! That is wicked! Today, I want to take the power out of that problem, and I want to put our focus on the actual principle, 'cause the enemy wants to twist it! That’s what he’s done from the beginning—he takes the truth and twists it just a little bit so you can get distracted! And so when it comes to money, most people have taken the little truth that they have, like, „I know I should be doing something with money,“ but they don’t like the way they do it.
And as long as it’s twisted, he can keep you in a place that is either full of greed or full of poverty! And today, I feel a passion and a burden to help move you and progress you forward in trusting God on the principles that He’s called you to! Somebody shout at me, „Amen“! Okay, so here we go. The first thing I want to change about money is your mindset. Money always starts in the mindset. So that’s why we have to talk about your heart. When you think about somebody being wicked with money—okay—when you think about someone who’s greedy or rich or something that’s not positive, what are some of the images or the people that come to your mind? When I thought about it, this goes back to my childhood. I thought of this picture right here of this cartoon character.
Can you put it on the screen for me real quick? He was a duck that had a lot of money! And there was a part of me that loved him swimming in the coins, the diving board into the coins! This is Scrooge McDuck! I love that! But there was something about him that seemed very wicked. It seemed like he never shared with anybody! He had those nephews that were orphans, and it seemed like they were always begging! It just felt not good. And then I thought of this guy right here, um, Bernie Madoff. Now, many of you may not know who he is, but this guy right here is responsible for the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. When we looked him up, it said he is responsible for the disappearance of almost $65 billion. People lost their retirements, their homes, their investments, and obviously, he made it disappear. He’s like, „Watch this magic trick; it’s like gone.“
Okay, that’s what I thought was wicked. But do you know when I started to search my heart and ask myself what I have classified as wicked? I came up with a very vulnerable answer that I want to submit to you today. Many times, wickedness is seen in people who have just a little more than we do. We think people are wicked if they have just a little more than we have. Why do they spend their money on that? How did they get that? They’ve gone on two vacations this year. I’m exposing just little foxes that you don’t even think about, but they’ve taken root in your heart. Right? Many times, we start to classify people we don’t even know by the little things we do know. Today, the Holy Spirit told me, „Michael, I’m going to define what’s wicked.“
And today, I’m going to give you two things, and then we’re going to move on, so are you ready for next week? The end of Matthew 6:24. What does Jesus call wicked? Just write that down—what does Jesus call wicked? Y’all, don’t miss this: no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other because you cannot serve both God and money. The first way to be wicked—write it down—is worshiping wealth instead of God. This is what wicked looks like: us climbing the corporate ladder, doing everything we can to get a dollar, giving up relationships so we can get more resources, walking in, watch this, greed and stinginess to ensure we’re the only ones positioned. God says if you stand on this mountain, you’re wicked. Think about it. Because when you worship wealth, you express your love for it. Worship is just expressing your love for something.
Some of y’all, God can say something, and you won’t get up. If that job says something, you’re up at 6:00 a.m. You worship that. I’m just trying to tell you what the real deal is. God asks you for a little more time, and you say, „What’s the point?“ If your job asks you for a little more time, overtime, He calls this wicked. Your family needs you to be there for them, and you would rather replace your presence with presents. „I’ll buy you the new Jordans; I’ll get you the new PlayStation.“ And they need affirmation. They need you to say, „I’m proud of you.“ They need you to say, „Hey, I’m here, no matter if you fall, no matter if you fail, but I’m giving you the life I never had.“ Do you know you’re ungrateful? When I was a child, I didn’t say no. And they said, „But you still needed the same things.“ I needed to be seen, heard, and loved.
God says, „When I trusted you with a child, but you put your career before the child, I call it wicked.“ Y’all, this is not just about a bunch of money. This is about worshiping something that was meant to be a tool. This is like going to a hammer that will build the house and praising the hammer instead of being in awe of the house that the hammer builds. And God says the whole system has made us turn into people God never intended for His children to be because we want to be on this mountain with a bunch of wealth. But this is not the only mountain. I just want to make sure everybody knows. We’re almost done, but I just need you to hear this revelation: this ain’t the only mountain. There’s half of us that are on this mountain. If you’re honest, all the stuff on your Instagram feed, you’re trying to figure out how to rent a Lamborghini, start some type of business, and scale it 10x, 10x, 10x. You’re trying to do—no, I’m not. And I’m not mad at any of that. But is it tainting your heart in the process?
And today, I’m believing that some people who are on this mountain are going to take a step down, and you’re going to say, „You know what? Maybe this is not the right place for me to build my life.“ I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with money. I want you to have lots of it. I want you to be able to help people. I want you to take care of all your needs. I want you to live debt-free. Do y’all hear what I’m saying to you right now? How many people want to live debt-free? The Bible says to owe no man anything except to love him. How many people want that to actually happen in your life? Y’all don’t even want it—that’s crazy! But worshiping wealth instead of God is wicked. Say it with me. It’s wicked.
So if there’s any place in your life where resources have more say-so than God, you might be living a wicked life—twisted. And today, I believe by the Holy Spirit, you can be untwisted. Okay, Matthew 25:19. Oh, I love the Bible! Because this is a story that most people know, but they miss the context of what Jesus is saying here. The person who loves money and worships it is twisted, and they’re wicked. But there’s another person that I think y’all skip over right here. Matthew 25:19, a master goes away and entrusts these guys with his resources: one with five, one with two, one with one. Verse 19 says, „After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they used his money.“
Whose money was it? Because the master gave it to him. They used his money. Verse 20: the servant to whom he had entrusted—I like that word—he trusted him with something. He trusts us with something. He trusts us with resources. He entrusted them with five bags of silver. He came back with five more bags; he doubled it. „Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I earned five more.“ The master was full of praise and said two words. Now, everybody talks about the „well done“ being only in heaven. When I get to the pearly gates, all I want to hear God say is „well done.“ Well, let me tell you, He’ll say it down here. He’ll give you a well done before heaven if you follow His principles about finances. I’m trying to get a well done this month. I’m trying to get a well done this week. I’m not trying to wait until heaven to get a well done. I want a well done! Right?
Okay, He said the master was full of praise. „Boy, you did it! Just like your daddy! Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this large amount.“ Now, the one with five had the most. He gave one five, He gave one two, He gave one one. But He called the one He gave the most a small amount. Could it be that what God has trusted you with so far was just a test of what He actually wants to do in your life, that the most you’ve ever had He still calls a small amount? That makes me happy because in my best years, when God was blessing from the left, right, east, and west, I hear Him still saying that was just a small amount. Okay, He said, „You’ve been faithful with a small amount, so now there is a reciprocating action. There’s a chain reaction. When you’re faithful with a small amount, I will give you many more responsibilities.“
I like that, and I could preach a whole other message about it because when you handle money right, He doesn’t just give you money. When you handle money right, He gives you responsibilities. And when He gives you responsibilities, those responsibilities are attached to resources. So, this is why when people are scared of work and scared of actually doing what God tells them to do, they’re not ready for money. Because when God gives you responsibilities, He’s asking you to work something else. There is no indication in the Scripture of what that man did to get five more. He could have been selling bracelets like Ava. He could have started a coffee-making business. We don’t know what he did; all we know is he was given one responsibility, and he flipped it and came back with five more. He said, „Because you were faithful over this, I’m going to give you more responsibilities, which equal more opportunities for resource.“
I could teach a whole another thing about that. Okay, here we go. And what Jesus says after He said, „Let’s celebrate, because you did what I asked you to do.“ The servant with two came back with two more bags of silver. „Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.“ The master said, „Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this small amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!“ Do y’all see the pattern? When God gives you something, He wants you to at least double it. That is good! When He gave the one five, he came back with five more; he doubled it. When He gave the one two, he gave him two more. When He gives you an idea, double it. When He gives you resources, double it. When He gives you relationships, double it. Make that relationship turn into another thing.
Somebody say, „Double it.“ Double it! Every time, no matter where you start, if you just double it, He says, „Well done.“ Think about the areas in your life where you maintained when you were supposed to double. I’m not just talking about money. Now some of you, God has given you ideas that you won’t even write down. Okay, then verse 24: there was a servant with one bag of silver, and he came and said, „Master, I know you are a harsh man, harvesting crops you did not plant and gathering crops you did not cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid what you gave me in the earth. I buried what you gave me. I didn’t show what I could do because I was scared it wouldn’t work. Look, here’s your money back.“
Look! Here’s the singing gift you gave me at six at the same level of maturity. Look! Here’s my same acting ability. He said, „I put gifts in you that you did not earn, and you hid it because of, watch this, fear.“ God has not given us the spirit of fear; you’re not supposed to be afraid of money. You’re not supposed to have fear in handling money. And that’s where the enemy has twisted it. Some of y’all get money and don’t even know what to do with it. It’s like, „Oh my God, I got money! Money!“ Other people get money, and all you do is hide it, preparing in fear for when something goes wrong. And today, I just want to show you what Jesus thinks about this last way of handling wealth. Verse 26: but the master replied, „You wicked and lazy servant!“ God dog! That’s not a well done!
If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you just deposit my money in the bank? Which means the bank is not the first place you should be trying to deposit your money. This is a whole—oh God, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve learned a lot on this journey! He’s saying, „You should have at least done what everybody else does.“ He said, „Okay, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.“ God’s saying, „When I give you something, I at least want something back.“ Verse 28: then he ordered—this is really… I really had to work through this because this is very emphatic. There are direct consequences for being wicked in a way that is not about greed and a bunch of money; it’s about waste. Can you write this down as a point? Wasting wealth instead of working it is wicked.
So the worship of wealth is wicked, but guess what else is wicked? The wasting of wealth. And I would dare to say that most of us in here have stood on this hill. Yeah! You don’t know where your money went—no clue! God increased you, and you’re still the same level of broke. No, come on, y’all, it’s happened to me! God got a raise in pay, something turned back in—an inheritance was left for you, got an extra bonus—same amount of broke! How in the world do you not know where your shoes are that you just bought, and you bought two pairs of the same shoes because you thought you’d live in a house and use your Starbucks every day for a picture, and that $7.99 over a hundred pays is $800?
So when your tire pops and you have to go to the cash payday loan place and take out a loan for $300 with 7 million percent interest, but they tell you the minimum payment is $21 a month—your children’s children’s children now have an inheritance of debt because of your coffees and one popped tire! I know y’all don’t want to hear it, but more of the things we pray for at the altar are a result of not wickedness because of more than enough. It’s wickedness because of waste. If I don’t touch on this, the enemy would love for us to stay twisted and remain in the dark. You can look like you have money and be wasteful. If you don’t have a budget, you’re wasteful because there’s no way you know where your money is if you’re not telling it where to go.
Oh my God! Don’t come back for the rest of the series and stay broke. Don’t come back for the rest of the series and stay in a wicked pattern. All I’m trying to tell you is God says there are two types of people who are wicked: those who worship money and those who waste it. I just want to know, are you in either one of these categories? Because if you are, today what I’m asking you is to take some steps of humility. See, that position is high because when you get in that position, it’s a position of pride. If you are wicked because you’re wasteful, you are prideful because you think more is coming. You have developed an entitlement mentality that God is going to provide for you and do more for you.
Let’s just go to the Word real quick for those who are wasteful. Verse 28, then the master ordered, „Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with ten bags of silver.“ To those who will use well what they are given, somebody say „well!“ Remember, he was saying „well done, well done“ for those who use well. Stewardship actually has principles around it. For those who use well what they are given, even more will be given to them, and they will have — I love this word — an abundance. Do you know that it’s God’s desire for you? I don’t care where you are economically right now, how many people you owe, or how much you’re in overdraft. It is God’s desire for you, His child, to live in abundance. What does it look like for a king’s kid to be struggling with basic necessities?
Oh God! If my children, as blessed as God has made us, were begging to eat, that wouldn’t be a reflection on them. Because if they walked into this church, everybody would feed them. If Ava came in here with crumbs around her mouth asking for some McDonald’s, I know somebody would get her some. But after a while, y’all would start asking, „Why is he wearing that jacket? Why does he look like that? They live like this?“ Could it be that God from heaven is saying, „Y’all, could you please do it how I intended for y’all to do it because y’all are making me look bad?“ The world has it twisted. They think I’m a big God who just wants something from them because y’all won’t obey me. Y’all won’t put me first. Y’all won’t tithe. Y’all won’t trust me. You won’t do it how I said to do it. And so the struggles, the consequences of your disobedience, have them thinking that I’m a bad God and you’re just a disobedient child. We all look bad! Yes, sir! When you won’t obey.
Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Because I think all of us have an opportunity to change this narrative. Here we go. The best way to handle wealth is with God’s wisdom. So I’m just asking everybody today to, by faith, put yourself in this position. If you’re up here and you worship wealth, grinding and hustling, no days off, making that money — rise and grind, rise and grind. Y’all know all the sayings that we say, like some things got to be done, and we’re going to sacrifice. If you’re on this side, pride comes before a fall. What I’m telling everybody is I know really wealthy people who still don’t have peace. I know really wealthy people who would give anything to actually be able to sleep at night without having to take some type of medicine.
So if you’re in this room, listen to me, and you’re at a place where you’ve been worshiping wealth, today we’re stepping down. And in the same way, there are some people over here whose plan after church was to waste the resources that God gave you. Come on, I’m just going to tell it. Do you know how much a box of Krispy Kreme donuts costs right now? I found out the other day and almost had a conniption! It’s $24 for 12 glazed plain Krispy Kreme donuts! That’s sugar and air, and I can’t! Yeah! And I can’t tell you how many times I frivolously promised my kids donuts as a reward. I’m not saying they’re never going to get donuts again because I’m not trying to get up here and play you. What I am saying is I’m taking account of every one of those donuts now. And hear what I’m saying because it was out of my mind and out of my sight, and it was just a swipe. I was wasting, and God’s telling some of us it’s time to take an account.
And you’re going to have to step off and watch this: You’re going to have to get into a humble position, which is in the middle — not the worship of wealth, not the waste of wealth, but the wisdom with wealth. This is where I believe by the end of this series everybody will be. If you hear what I’m saying, you will be walking in wisdom with wealth. So all you have to do is pray and identify: Are you dealing with a heart that can be humble enough to get to this place? For years, my heart was not humble enough. I had to have money; I had to have it, even if it wasn’t right or legitimate. And then when I got some, I wasted it. I can’t tell you for how many years — it wasn’t until my taxes came that I was like, „I had that much money this year? Oh my goodness, and I’m at the same level of broke!“
Pastor Mike, why are you saying this? Because this year I’m believing by faith that every person that will take this journey with me is going to walk in wisdom. How do I check my heart? Two things. Write them down. This is going to be in your prayer time this week. You need to ask yourself and ask God, „Do I have a generous heart?“ Now, I’m not talking about like, „Oh, will I give this little kid my last lollipop?“ I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about for real — like if God asked you to be generous to honor Him, to do it consistently, would you actually have a generous heart?
Deuteronomy 15:7 says, „If there is among you a poor man of the brethren within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God has given you“ — Who gave it to you? The Lord! The Lord your God has given it to you! You shall not, watch this, harden your heart nor shut your hand. Your heart and your hand are connected. You shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficiently for his need, whatever he needs. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart. Beware that you don’t get a twisted thought in your heart saying, „The seventh year of the year of release is at hand,“ and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cries out to the Lord against you, and it becomes sin among you. Let me explain this to you.
In the Old Testament, every seven years they released all debts. Would anybody like that to actually come back? Okay, amen! So every seven years, they released all debts. And what this is saying is if your brother comes to you right before the seventh year and says, „Can I borrow something?“ he said, „Don’t be like, 'No, because they ain’t going to pay me back. And if they don’t pay me back in six months, the debt is released. I ain’t doing that.'“ Y’all know how we do. They said, „Don’t do that because if you do that, it’s wicked.“ He said, „And that wickedness, watch this, can turn into sin.“ Come on! Your twisted thought! He said, „I want you to be generous.“ And my question to you is, are you really generous if God told you to give it, and you’re not getting it back? Would you do it? No! Hear what I just said. If God told you to give it, and He told you you’re not getting it back, would you do it? If God told you to give it, and you need to release the debt right now, would you do it?
Some of y’all are like, „I got my own family!“ And God said, „I’m trying to provide for him.“ He said, „But I need a heart whose hand is connected.“ So the first question is, do I have a generous heart? The second question is, watch this: Do I have a grieving heart? See, because the thing that comes to attack you after you give is grief. Have you ever given something to somebody and then gone back and been like, „Dang, I could have… Oh shoot, that looks good on them, but it looks better on me“?
Come on, let’s be honest! You ever given somebody some money and were like, „Oh…“ What the enemy tries to do is get you to stop giving, to twist and make giving wicked, right, because you could feel some grief. I was thinking about it after church. My daughters and my son came to church with me today, and I got to take them all to eat. I told them I was going to take them to all the little places with the kid’s stuff, and I just realized I don’t have any money! I don’t have my wallet. I don’t have anything. „Charles! What are you doing? Hey, Charles, you got something for me? Oh, how much you got? That’s $300 for you! $300! One, two, three! I do! I got kids! Thank you!“
Now Charles is so sweet. Now let me tell you about that example: Charles is not grieving right now because before service, I gave him this $300. There is no grief in his heart because I told him, „Hey, I’m going to say I ain’t got no money. And when I say I don’t have any money, come give me this money back.“ He’s smiling right now because he knows where the money came from. There was no moment in the whole time he was holding the money that he took ownership of it. He was just the manager of it. So when I called for it back, he wasn’t like, „Oh God, you… this is the money!“ No, no, no! Because I gave it to him in the first place. The problem with many of us, and why we grieve when it comes to our finances, is because somehow in the mix, you thought this was your money. But my Bible said it is He who gives us the ability to produce wealth. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. He is the one that everything comes from. But somehow we got it twisted.
And so the whole reason that I needed Charles to give me this money is not because I had money; it’s because, at this moment, I needed to bless somebody. Come here, sweetheart. I saw your hand over there. Yeah, come here. Yeah, yeah, come on. Come with urgency, come like somebody giving you something. Come on. What’s your name? Dvita? Dvita. David with a „D.“ Dvita, this is for you. The only thing I ask, thank you, is that out of that, you ask the Holy Spirit who you’re supposed to bless. I’m not telling you at what amount; I’m not telling you it can be ten, it can be twenty, it can be whatever you want. But all I’m saying is, when God blesses you, it is part of our responsibility to bless somebody else. Can we give God praise right there? Amen. I love you. That’s it. Where you’re at, has money, finances, generosity, and wealth been twisted? I know people who have served and pastored churches for decades, and they still are twisted and wicked when it comes to this thing called wealth.
Everybody’s standing all over this place. Hey, listen, we’re about to leave in a moment, but I need you to hear me real quick. This series is going to be paramount in changing your relationship with resources. I’m going to tell you something that I’ve—I’m going to just tell you, 'cause y’all are my church, and I want to live this journey out real in front of y’all. The Holy Spirit reminded me, before this series, of some places that He blessed me, and I wasn’t being intentional in returning the tithe to Him. It was not malicious; it was just like, „Oh, God, you did bless me with that,“ and I had my tithe already set up on recurring. So literally when I know how much I make, I go to transformationurch.org 'cause I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to give the devil any opportunity to distract me. So as soon as my check hits, boop, I’m honoring God.
Somebody say, „First.“ I’m going to talk about that next week, but I realized—watch this—that God had increased me more than I was being intentional. That is so good. And I got convicted because I was like, „Well, God, I don’t— I don’t ever want you to think.“ And He just pointed out to me in my prayer time before this series, He said, „You never honored me with how I blessed you right there.“ I was like, „God, you know if I got it, you got it.“ He said, „But I don’t got it.“ And before this series, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me, saying, „I need you to do something you’ve never done before.“ I said, „Holy Spirit, tread lightly. Y’all know I—y’all know.“
So I need you to do something you’ve never done before; I need you to trust me with a month of your income. I went cross-eyed and got weak at the knees 'cause I’ve never—I never—I’m just—there’s levels to this. So y’all, I’m just trying to be honest. He said, „I need you to trust me with a month of your income.“ I said, „Lord, you know what I have to do in a month. You understand all.“ He said, „I know.“ He said, „But I blessed you in ways that you could never even pray for, and I just need to know that you’re going to walk in wisdom.“ And at the moment, He said, „I walk in wisdom.“ The enemy attacked my mind and said, „This ain’t wisdom.“ Oh, can I be honest? That’s not wisdom. You got a family; you got bills; you got this. And the Holy Spirit said to me, „Write the check and see what I do.“ My God, Mo’s my witness, before this service, I said, „All right, God, yes, sir.“
If y’all see me on Highway 75 with my—I’m just playing. I just believe God’s word. And I’m telling you this 'cause I will never preach to you somewhere that God’s not actually leading me to that next place. And today, the reason I’m telling you this is not an amount, right? It’s obedience. And this is making sure, for me, that I don’t get to this place where I’m worshiping wealth, and I don’t get to this place where I’m wasting it no more. I want to be led and guided by the wisdom of God. Today, I want to pray for you that as God speaks to you, you would just obey. There’s no offering; there’s nothing. But if God tells you to do something, you better obey.
The next few weeks, I’m going to give you understanding; I’m going to give you scripture; I’m going to give you examples. It’s going to be such a good series. The next three weeks are going to be good. You don’t want to miss one of them; it’s going to keep unlocking revelations. But what I’m saying today is God doesn’t want you to live wicked anymore. And today, the only way we untwist this thing is by surrendering. If you’ve been in one of these two categories, you need to identify. I’m not asking you to come up; I don’t want you to open up your bank account; I don’t want you to do—I don’t want you to care about anybody else. But if you know that you’ve been walking in a level of wickedness, either by worshiping wealth, doing too much for it, or wasting it, would you just do me a favor and lift your hands? I want to pray for you. Yeah, here we go. If you’re at home right now, I want to pray for you.
Father, in the name of Jesus, today, God, I’m asking you to be Jehovah Jireh, our provider. That’s not just the provider of resources; that’s also the provider of wisdom. And so today, God, for every person under the sound of my voice, we are collectively coming and saying we repent. We are turning. We are walking down the steps to a place of humility to say, „God, we’re going to take our place in the middle of both of these things that culture tries to build up.“ Today, we take the humble position and say, „God, give us wisdom.“ We may have lived years, made tons of money, not had enough, not had more than enough, but today, God, we’re making a fresh commitment that we would live in wisdom when it comes to wealth. And Father, we’re praying that as we obey what You speak and we learn Your principles, our world would get larger and larger so that we can be an extension of Your kingdom. Father God, I thank you that those who have come from broken backgrounds, today, You are breaking generational patterns over their lives. For those, Father God, who have seen greed and seen, Father God, misuse, or have seen people use money to get identity, today I thank you that our identity is found only in You. Holy Spirit, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So today, we look to You, and I thank You, Father, that from this moment on, there will be revelation after revelation after revelation after revelation, Father God, of how we are supposed to use our hands to produce wealth and how we are supposed to have Your heart so that we can help those in need. I declare by faith that as we step out, Father God, and we are faithful over a little, I thank You for supernaturally, God, increasing Your people into abundance like never before. God, by faith, I thank You that our wisdom grows so our wealth grows. I thank You that it will be first practical and spiritual and then natural. And I thank You that by this time next year, there will be testimonies all over the world of people who have trusted You with what You’ve placed in their hands. And I pray that this message gets into young people. God, I thank You, Father, that those who are young would never have to relearn something because they learned it the right way. Father God, I thank You for young millionaires and people able to manage wealth and understand wisdom from a young age. Father God, give us the ability, Father God, to stay focused on You 'cause we want a well done today. We honor You and we declare we will be wise with wealth, in Jesus' name.
Even in this moment, in this atmosphere, I feel the presence of God. For God so loved the world that He… The principle we’re talking about of generosity is the only reason we can be saved, is that God invested Jesus. Just think about it: Jesus was the tithe for the rest of His children. Just think about it; He gave the first so that the rest of us could be redeemed today. If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, what you’re doing is you’re missing out on the greatest return on investment 'cause there was a man that died and bled so that you could walk in freedom and have eternal life.
And today, if you’ve been steeped in depression, lost, and feeling far from God, leaning on things that aren’t dependable, today I want to give you the opportunity to meet Jesus, the One who became sin. He became pornography; He became lust; He became all of the things that we deal with. He became it and died the most gruesome death so that you and I could live if we just, watch this, one word: believe. All He’s saying is, „Believe that I did this, and you will be saved,“ according to Romans 10:9. And so today, whether you are in this room or you’re watching online right now, I believe that today is your day of salvation. We’ve been praying for you. There are people—I need the church to start praying right now. There are people who have been praying for you. Your whole life has lined up to this moment right now. God really wants something for you, and this takes you accepting Him as your Lord and Savior.
Right now, on the count of three, I want you to shoot your hand up in the air if you want to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior. One, you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two, I’m proud of you, but more than that, your name is about to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I see you, my brother; I see you, my sister. Three, shoot your hand up in the air. I see you, my brother; I see you, my brother. Oh, come on, y’all! Church, let’s praise God. I see you, my sister. Glory to God, I see you, my brother. And more than me seeing you, God sees you. Come on, raise your hand online right now. Come on, church, let’s celebrate what God is doing! You can put your hand down 'cause what I want you to know is that we’re not going to judge you 'cause all of us have been through it, but what we’re going to do is walk with you and pray for you. And as a church, nobody prays alone. So could everybody just pray this prayer? Lift your hands and say:
God, thank You for sending Jesus just for me. Today I believe that You lived, You died, and You rose again for my salvation. I give You my life. Change me, renew me, transform me. I’m Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.