“The way to serve God at work is to make as much money as you can, so that you can be as generous as you can.”
The proposed statement about making as much money as possible to show generosity and follow traditional Christian canons cannot be called objective. This assumption can be explained by the fact that, according to Keller and Alsdorf (2014), honest work does not depend on the amount of earned finances and presupposes, first of all, spiritual return and heart transformation. A person may earn a little, but if he or she is willing to share with others and donate this money for the good, this is real generosity. Moreover, as Zaloom (2016) states, by stimulating the desire for high income and material benefits, employers violate traditional Christian values by “tethering believers to work in the service of these profane forces rather than in service to God” (p. 329). As a result, believers cannot prove their faith unambiguously since they are forced to pursue the idea of accumulating material wealth, which, in turn, contradicts the idea of true service.
Another reason why this statement about generosity and earning as much money as possible is not objective is that money can be a tool, but it should not be a goal. A person can share with others and donate personal savings, but neither the Bible nor other Christian scriptures have ever mentioned the amount of money as an adequate objective to follow (Keller & Alsdorf, 2014). The more a believer is puzzled by the question of earning, the less he or she thinks about others and the importance of serving God. Being generous does not mean earning much because the measure of generosity is subjective and distinctive for different people. Thus, the proposed statement cannot be considered true and objective.
References
Keller, T., & Alsdorf, K. L. (2014). Every good endeavor: Connecting your work to God’s work. Penguin.
Zaloom, C. (2016). The evangelical financial ethic: Doubled forms and the search for God in the economic world.American Ethnologist, 43(2), 325-338.