Faith and Financial Freedom
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Title: Faith and Financial Freedom March 21, 2010
Text: Matthew 6:24; Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:6
Ken Shigematsu
Big Idea: When we are in a relationship with God, we experience a transformed relationship with money.
Introduction
As a young teen I wanted to emulate my grandfather. Like him, I aspired to make a lot of money with very little formal education. My grandfather had matriculated at one of the best private universities in Japan, but had been expelled for marching in a controversial political demonstration. So he ended up going into business. He taught himself architecture and designed and developed golf courses in Japan. Although he accrued staggering levels of debt, he lived like a multi-millionaire: he had a private chauffeur, a beautiful house in Tokyo’s most fashionable neighborhood, and he hobnobbed with Japan’s rich and influential. As a boy, I thought that if I had a lot of money and stuff like my grandfather I’d be happy.
Apparently, I wasn’t unique. A survey taken of boys in the grade eight revealed that 90% of boys see their primary goal in life as “making lots of money.” (Rohr, Wild Man to Wise Man, 60.)
Because the desire to make lots of money stays with many boys as they become men (and girls as they become women), we’ve ridden this rollercoaster economy with its boom and bust cycles. According to Alan Greenspan, the former chairperson of the US Federal Reserve, we will have to continue to live with these boom and bust cycles caused by fear and greed because “there is no tool for changing nature.” (Gary Moore, 37-38.)
But when we are united with Christ our lives can undergo a powerful transformation.
One of the clearest signs that we have been united with Christ is that we are experiencing a powerful transformation in our relationship with money. A Christian leader was addressing a group of fellow Christians and said bluntly, “I don’t want to hear your faith-story; I want to hear your money-story because your money story is your faith story.”1 To paraphrase the reformer Martin Luther, when we are converted to Christ we experience three conversions: the conversion of our heart, the conversion of our mind, and the conversion of our wallet.2 One of the signs we are experiencing the converting work of the Holy Spirit is that our relationship toward money is changing.
Jesus taught explicitly what we understand intuitively: money is more than a medium of exchange; it’s a personified power, a rival god. Jesus taught that we cannot serve both God and money, or, more literally, God and mammon. Mammon comes from the root aman which means something we put our trust in. Money has the clout to make us believe that it can save us. It has the pull to make us serve it. The power to possess us. We all know people who from the perspective of any objective outsider have more than enough, and yet they are obsessed with making more.
Even though Michael Jackson’s 1982's Thriller was the biggest-selling album of all time selling 100 million copies, Michael was still restless and not content with that breathtaking number of sales, and he told Los Angeles Times reporter Robert Hilburn one night that his next album would sell twice as many copies. Hilburn thought he was joking, but he had never been more serious.3
Sam Walton’s wife Helen admitted, “I kept saying, ‘Sam, we’re making a good living. Why go out, why expand more? The stores are getting farther and farther away.’ After the seventeenth store, though, I realized there wasn’t going to be any stopping it.”4
When John D. Rockefeller, Sr., one of the wealthiest people in history,5 was asked how much money does it take to make a person happy, he said, “Just a little bit more.”
Donald Trump was once asked, “How much money would make you feel like you were making enough?” He said, “About ten percent more than I’m making now.” A man who lived on Manila’s garbage dump, Smokey Mountain, who supported his family collecting pop bottles and recyclables as he scrounged through rubbish each day was asked, “How much money would make you happy?” He said, “About ten percent more than I’m making now.” How much money do we need to make us happy, “About ten percent more… and then ten percent more… and then ten percent more…”
Monks and nuns have historically radically resisted society’s obsession with gaining more and more money. When a monk enters a monastery or convent, he takes a vow of poverty and either signs his worldly possessions over to the order or gives them to family or friends outside the monastery. An outsider may look at a monk’s vow of poverty and assume they are living in deprivation, but they don’t feel that way—they feel like they are living in paradise.
A monk doesn’t simply say no to money, for the sake of saying no, but in order to say yes to experience Christ in a deeper, fuller way. As a person grows deeper in their union with Christ, they will find that have a source of wealth in something more fulfilling than money, and thus become more content.
As baffling as it sounds, when members of the early church had their material houses and horses stripped from them by their enemies because of their faith, they actually rejoiced because they were reminded that they had a better and longer lasting treasure in Christ (Hebrews 10:32-34). This same perspective on true wealth led the apostle Paul to say, “We have nothing, and yet possess everything” (2 Cor 6:10). His view of true riches also led Paul to say from prison, “11…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).
If you read the lives of saints like Saint Francis of Assisi or Mother Teresa, both of whom came from wealthy families, you see how as people draw close to Christ have less and less need of material possessions to bring them fulfillment.
Our culture assumes that in order to have enough we need to accumulate more. But, those who have lived a life rich in the Spirit know that another way to feel you like have enough is to desire less. When people desire fewer things, they are more content. People in our society rarely share that perspective. When was the last time you saw a lottery ticket with a winning prize: “A course on how to be content with less.”
We give lip service to the idea that money doesn’t make people happy (Did your parents ever drive you past the swanky neighborhood with the multi-million dollar homes and say, “They may be rich, but they’re not happy.”)
Can money buy happiness? Yes and no. Studies also show that after people’s basic needs are met—money doesn’t significantly correlate with happiness. Researchers report that money consistently buys happiness right up to about $10,000 per capita income (calculated in US currency, 2007 dollars) and that after that the correlation disappears. As poor countries like India, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, and South Korea have experienced economic growth, there is some evidence happiness has risen. But past the $10,000 point there is a complete scattering: when the Irish were making a third as much as Americans, they were reporting higher levels of satisfaction, as were the Swedes, the Danes, the Dutch. Costa Ricans score higher than the Japanese…
The “richest” Americans featured in Forbes magazine are no happier than the impoverished Pennsylvania Amish. The “life satisfaction” of pavement dwellers—that is, homeless people in Calcutta was the lowest recorded, but it almost doubled when they moved into a slum, at which point they were basically as satisfied with their lives as a sample of college students drawn from 47 nations (Deep Economy. Bill McKibben, 2007)
But deep in our hearts it’s hard for us to let go of the idea that money (beyond about $10,000) does NOT buy happiness. On our own, we cannot rid ourselves of that belief. As the Holy Spirit transforms our desires in us, we will find ourselves less dependent on money for happiness and more content. But, as we have seen God’s Spirit works most effectively in us as we participate with his work of transformation in us, and a rule of life around money helps us foster the work of the Spirit that God is doing in us (Philippians 2:12-13).
One of the ways we can experience freedom from the power of money to possess us is by investing our money in ways that will draw our hearts to God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus taught that our heart would follow our treasure, not the other way around. What we do with our money, not only reveals the priorities of our hearts, but it also determines the affections of our heart as well. When we give our money to something, our hearts tend to follow. We buy an i-pod, a car, a condo part of our hearts will follow… we get attached at some level. The more possessions we have, the more time and energy we must provide for their care, maintenance and insurance. Where our money goes, our heart tends to follow…
Because I enjoy sailing, from to time people will asked me if I ever plan to own a boat. I said, “No, I don’t have the time for the upkeep and I’m not very handy and, boat owners have told me people tell me that buying boat is more the down payment—because of cost of upkeep, repairs, and the mooring fees. This may be why some boat owners have said, “The two happiest days of my life: the day I bought my bought and the day I sold it.” As much as I love to sail, I don’t feel led to buy a boat (But, I am not saying it would be wrong for you to own a about).
But, we do well to ask, “Will our acquisitions serve us or will we serve them?” Will we possess them, or they possess us?
Trust
A rule of life around money will free us from being possessed by money, so that we are free to serve the living God. A rule of life will help us turn money from being an idol to serving as an icon that leads us to worship God more faithfully. Part of the way, we can use money to draw us to God is through giving.
The grace of giving enables us to grow in our dependence upon God. Richard Foster says, “When we let go of money, we are letting go of a part of ourselves and part of our security and putting it in God. It produces an air of expectancy as we anticipate what God will lead us to give. It makes life with God an adventure in the world, and that is worth living for and giving for.”6
God calls us in Malachi 3:10 to trust God with our money through giving to Him: “Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse so that there may be food in my house.” ‘Test me in this,’7 says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out such a blessing, that there will not be room enough to store it.”
God makes a clear promise that if we trust him through our tithe, the first the first tenth of our income to God, he will more than provide for our needs, but it’s hard for many of us to act on it--whether we are making a little or a lot.
John Maxwell, a former pastor and now a speaker and writer on leadership, described how his 14-year-old son Joel got his first job—and his first official pay cheque. Joel was thrilled! He came home and showed his parents his pay cheque. Then Joel said, “You know, I have thought it over and I am not sure if I can afford to tithe.” Whether a person is 14 or 24 or 44, or 84, a person may think they can’t afford to tithe.
If we focus on all the expenses or all that we would like to do, we may struggle to tithe. Most people on their own, however, are likely not going to get to the place where they feel they can give a tenth or more of their income away from a place of security. According to the Google Foundation, a person needs a base of 20 million dollars before they feel they can give the equivalent of a half –tithe (5%) away money out of a place of security.8
But, if we believe that our security is in God, we will be free to give generously and we can live out the adventure of a life trusting God.
The first ten percent is the starting point. The practice of the tithe is affirmed in both the Old Testament and by Jesus (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42). The tithe precedes both Christianity and Judaism, as Abraham and Jacob gave a tenth of what they had to God. Tenth is the biblical starting point for giving, and part of the reason for that is that ten percent for most people, represents needing to trust God. But if ten doesn’t represent any kind of sacrifice or needing to trust God because we of what we are making, we do well to up our giving.
As a young man, John Wesley calculated that 28 pounds a year would take care of his own needs… 18th century. Since prices remained basically the same, he was able to keep at that level of expenditure throughout his lifetime. When Wesley first made that decision, his income was about 38 pounds a year. In later years, sales of his books would often earn him 1400 pounds a year, but he lived on 28 pounds and gave the rest away. Wesley was single for much of his life and never had any children of his own, so he did not deal with the financial challenges posed by a family, but his idea is one to seriously consider.
If we have a spouse or are responsible to raise children, we have to take these and inflation into account. But the idea of proportionate giving makes sense.9
Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay became reverse tithers. When we got married over 30 years ago, he says, “We began tithing 10%. Each year we would raise our tithe 1% to stretch our faith: 11% the first year, 12% the second year, 13% the third year. Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism in my life. Every time I give, it makes me more like Jesus. Every time I give, my heart grows bigger. (Warren wrote a book called the Purpose-Driven Life one of the best-selling books ever, selling millions). And so now, we give away 90% and we live on 10%. That was actually the easy part, what to do with the money--just give it away, because I'm storing up treasures in heaven.10
For both Wesley and Warren, in spite of all the money coming part way through their lives, they did not change our lifestyle at all. They didn’t go out and make major purchases.
In the early days of The Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, they wrestled with the place of the tithe as one of their corporate disciplines. They sought the counsel of Reinhold Niebuhr who suggested they commit themselves, not to tithing, but to “proportionate giving, with tithing as an economic floor beneath which you will not go under, unless there are some compelling reasons.” As a result, the discipline to which they all agreed read: “We covenant with Christ and with one another to give proportionately, beginning with the tithe of our incomes.11
A few years ago, during the our rebuild campaign, many people here gave voluntarily above and beyond their tithe and after the rebuild some people found they could live on less and gave voluntarily over and above their tithe to God’s work here or somewhere else, and are finding joy in giving and experience real joy and freedom in that giving. As someone said on the blog, followers should be the most generous people—we can be because we have been given a priceless treasure in Christ.
C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity we view God like the taxman. We give him what he requires and hope we have enough left for ourselves. But, what God wants us to give all ourselves and all that we have at his disposal, and the paradox is that as we do that we find ourselves most free and fulfilled.
Another way we grow in freedom from being possessed by money is by becoming free of debt.This can become part of our rule of life.
Rule of Freedom
In a household with a credit card, their typical credit card debt load is about $9000.12 (For many that’s close to the credit card limit.) According to MSN Money, the average household is in debt about 19,000 dollars, not including home mortgage debt.13 The typical North American family spends about ¼ of their income on outstanding debts.14
As we create our financial rule of life we may also ask the question of what kind of debt, if any, we will incur. If we have debt, how will we act on it?
Unnecessary debt can mean that we end up spending far more than we need to on an item. If we buy something on a typical credit card and then go into debt, we end up paying the minimal payment required, and may end up paying 2-3 times the actual amount. If you buy at I-Pod for say $200 and only pay the minimum required, you may end up paying $500 for it.
The Bible doesn’t categorically prohibit debt15, but it tells us “The borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).” The book of Proverbs urges us to get out of debt as soon as possible (Proverbs 6:1-5).
I grew up as one of 5 children in a modest, single income family. My parents, other than for a home mortgage, never went into debt and they passed along to me and my siblings the idea of not borrowing for anything—unless it’s going to almost likely going to appreciate in value, as in a house or something that can be used to leverage your income earning potential like some forms of education.
They also taught us to distinguish between investments that will depreciate in financial value or appreciate in value and between investments that will or will not generate income. We may think of purchasing of a car or clothes as an “investment.” In one sense they may be an investment, but neither will appreciate in value. Upon purchasing them they will immediately depreciate in value.
So, I’ve grown up with the mentality that it’s better to do without, or do with say an older car, rather than to have something new and go into debt.
I recently heard someone say for people today, “Debt is a way of life.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Before we enter into debt for something, we can take some time to pray and discern how God might be leading us.
As we construct a rule of life, we can create habits around our finances that keep us out of debt. If it’s helpful, one might include as part of their rule of life a realistic budget plan. Budgeting is simply figuring out ahead of time where money will go. If the budget ends up producing a deficit, then obviously a person needs to either increase their income or decrease their spending. Some have found it helpful to see a financial counselor as part of this process.
Rule for Simplicity
Whether we are in debt or not, we would do well to wrestle with concerns about our lifestyle.
The world of marketing and advertising drives home the belief that unless you have this you won’t be happy. I used to work for a famous company that developed new innovative electronics products with a marketing strategy to get you to believe you needed stuff you didn’t need.
As we grow closer to God, the less stuff we’ll feel we need. As we saw, the lives of people who were fully devoted to God: St. Francis, Mother Teresa, did not feel like they needed much material stuff.
Richard Foster proposes an exercise which people who try it find liberating. He says, “When you decide that it is right for you to purchase a particular item, see if God will not bring it to you without your having to buy it. I have a close friend who needed a pair of gloves for work. Rather than rushing out to the store to buy them, he gave the matter over to God in prayer. Although he had not spoken to anyone about this need, in a couple of days someone gave him a pair of gloves. Absolutely marvelous!
The point is not that he was not able to buy the gloves; he could have done that quite easily, but he wanted to learn how to pray in a way that might release money for other purposes. Literally, dozens of experiments can be made in this realm. Even the rich can do it. Once a decision is made to secure a particular item, hold it before God in prayer, for perhaps a week. If it comes, bless God; if not, re-evaluate your need for it; and if you still feel that you should have it, go ahead and purchase the item.”
I know this sounds lofty and a little hokey, but last week I heard the story of a woman I know who needed a printer, but could not afford to purchase one. She prayed that God would supply one for her. Someone, without knowing about her need, gave her a new one…laser (he had unexpectedly received a new printer he didn’t need).
One clear advantage to this approach of praying for something is that it effectively ends all impulse buying. It gives time for reflection so that God can teach us if the desires are necessary. Another obvious benefit is the way in which it integrates the life of devotion with the life of service.16
A person I know says every time he buys something he gives something away. It’s not a law, but a way to be free. I know of someone else when who when they become too attached to some object to something give it away.
The goal of a rule of life around money is work with the Holy Spirit and experience real freedom from the power of money and things to possess us.
The paradox is those who pursue more and more will lose their lives in the process. They will discover that more is never enough and will become attached to things that do not last. But those who give and use their money for God and others, will live in true liberty and be able to savour more fully the priceless gifts of God, our family, and friends and the things that will last forever.
Recommended Resource:
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
Title: Faith and Financial Freedom March 21, 2010
Text: Matthew 6:24; Philippians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 6:6
Ken Shigematsu
Big Idea: When we are in a relationship with God, we experience a transformed relationship with money.
Introduction
As a young teen I wanted to emulate my grandfather. Like him, I aspired to make a lot of money with very little formal education. My grandfather had matriculated at one of the best private universities in Japan, but had been expelled for marching in a controversial political demonstration. So he ended up going into business. He taught himself architecture and designed and developed golf courses in Japan. Although he accrued staggering levels of debt, he lived like a multi-millionaire: he had a private chauffeur, a beautiful house in Tokyo’s most fashionable neighborhood, and he hobnobbed with Japan’s rich and influential. As a boy, I thought that if I had a lot of money and stuff like my grandfather I’d be happy.
Apparently, I wasn’t unique. A survey taken of boys in the grade eight revealed that 90% of boys see their primary goal in life as “making lots of money.” (Rohr, Wild Man to Wise Man, 60.)
Because the desire to make lots of money stays with many boys as they become men (and girls as they become women), we’ve ridden this rollercoaster economy with its boom and bust cycles. According to Alan Greenspan, the former chairperson of the US Federal Reserve, we will have to continue to live with these boom and bust cycles caused by fear and greed because “there is no tool for changing nature.” (Gary Moore, 37-38.)
But when we are united with Christ our lives can undergo a powerful transformation.
One of the clearest signs that we have been united with Christ is that we are experiencing a powerful transformation in our relationship with money. A Christian leader was addressing a group of fellow Christians and said bluntly, “I don’t want to hear your faith-story; I want to hear your money-story because your money story is your faith story.”1 To paraphrase the reformer Martin Luther, when we are converted to Christ we experience three conversions: the conversion of our heart, the conversion of our mind, and the conversion of our wallet.2 One of the signs we are experiencing the converting work of the Holy Spirit is that our relationship toward money is changing.
Jesus taught explicitly what we understand intuitively: money is more than a medium of exchange; it’s a personified power, a rival god. Jesus taught that we cannot serve both God and money, or, more literally, God and mammon. Mammon comes from the root aman which means something we put our trust in. Money has the clout to make us believe that it can save us. It has the pull to make us serve it. The power to possess us. We all know people who from the perspective of any objective outsider have more than enough, and yet they are obsessed with making more.
Even though Michael Jackson’s 1982's Thriller was the biggest-selling album of all time selling 100 million copies, Michael was still restless and not content with that breathtaking number of sales, and he told Los Angeles Times reporter Robert Hilburn one night that his next album would sell twice as many copies. Hilburn thought he was joking, but he had never been more serious.3
Sam Walton’s wife Helen admitted, “I kept saying, ‘Sam, we’re making a good living. Why go out, why expand more? The stores are getting farther and farther away.’ After the seventeenth store, though, I realized there wasn’t going to be any stopping it.”4
When John D. Rockefeller, Sr., one of the wealthiest people in history,5 was asked how much money does it take to make a person happy, he said, “Just a little bit more.”
Donald Trump was once asked, “How much money would make you feel like you were making enough?” He said, “About ten percent more than I’m making now.” A man who lived on Manila’s garbage dump, Smokey Mountain, who supported his family collecting pop bottles and recyclables as he scrounged through rubbish each day was asked, “How much money would make you happy?” He said, “About ten percent more than I’m making now.” How much money do we need to make us happy, “About ten percent more… and then ten percent more… and then ten percent more…”
Monks and nuns have historically radically resisted society’s obsession with gaining more and more money. When a monk enters a monastery or convent, he takes a vow of poverty and either signs his worldly possessions over to the order or gives them to family or friends outside the monastery. An outsider may look at a monk’s vow of poverty and assume they are living in deprivation, but they don’t feel that way—they feel like they are living in paradise.
A monk doesn’t simply say no to money, for the sake of saying no, but in order to say yes to experience Christ in a deeper, fuller way. As a person grows deeper in their union with Christ, they will find that have a source of wealth in something more fulfilling than money, and thus become more content.
As baffling as it sounds, when members of the early church had their material houses and horses stripped from them by their enemies because of their faith, they actually rejoiced because they were reminded that they had a better and longer lasting treasure in Christ (Hebrews 10:32-34). This same perspective on true wealth led the apostle Paul to say, “We have nothing, and yet possess everything” (2 Cor 6:10). His view of true riches also led Paul to say from prison, “11…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6).
If you read the lives of saints like Saint Francis of Assisi or Mother Teresa, both of whom came from wealthy families, you see how as people draw close to Christ have less and less need of material possessions to bring them fulfillment.
Our culture assumes that in order to have enough we need to accumulate more. But, those who have lived a life rich in the Spirit know that another way to feel you like have enough is to desire less. When people desire fewer things, they are more content. People in our society rarely share that perspective. When was the last time you saw a lottery ticket with a winning prize: “A course on how to be content with less.”
We give lip service to the idea that money doesn’t make people happy (Did your parents ever drive you past the swanky neighborhood with the multi-million dollar homes and say, “They may be rich, but they’re not happy.”)
Can money buy happiness? Yes and no. Studies also show that after people’s basic needs are met—money doesn’t significantly correlate with happiness. Researchers report that money consistently buys happiness right up to about $10,000 per capita income (calculated in US currency, 2007 dollars) and that after that the correlation disappears. As poor countries like India, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, and South Korea have experienced economic growth, there is some evidence happiness has risen. But past the $10,000 point there is a complete scattering: when the Irish were making a third as much as Americans, they were reporting higher levels of satisfaction, as were the Swedes, the Danes, the Dutch. Costa Ricans score higher than the Japanese…
The “richest” Americans featured in Forbes magazine are no happier than the impoverished Pennsylvania Amish. The “life satisfaction” of pavement dwellers—that is, homeless people in Calcutta was the lowest recorded, but it almost doubled when they moved into a slum, at which point they were basically as satisfied with their lives as a sample of college students drawn from 47 nations (Deep Economy. Bill McKibben, 2007)
But deep in our hearts it’s hard for us to let go of the idea that money (beyond about $10,000) does NOT buy happiness. On our own, we cannot rid ourselves of that belief. As the Holy Spirit transforms our desires in us, we will find ourselves less dependent on money for happiness and more content. But, as we have seen God’s Spirit works most effectively in us as we participate with his work of transformation in us, and a rule of life around money helps us foster the work of the Spirit that God is doing in us (Philippians 2:12-13).
One of the ways we can experience freedom from the power of money to possess us is by investing our money in ways that will draw our hearts to God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus taught that our heart would follow our treasure, not the other way around. What we do with our money, not only reveals the priorities of our hearts, but it also determines the affections of our heart as well. When we give our money to something, our hearts tend to follow. We buy an i-pod, a car, a condo part of our hearts will follow… we get attached at some level. The more possessions we have, the more time and energy we must provide for their care, maintenance and insurance. Where our money goes, our heart tends to follow…
Because I enjoy sailing, from to time people will asked me if I ever plan to own a boat. I said, “No, I don’t have the time for the upkeep and I’m not very handy and, boat owners have told me people tell me that buying boat is more the down payment—because of cost of upkeep, repairs, and the mooring fees. This may be why some boat owners have said, “The two happiest days of my life: the day I bought my bought and the day I sold it.” As much as I love to sail, I don’t feel led to buy a boat (But, I am not saying it would be wrong for you to own a about).
But, we do well to ask, “Will our acquisitions serve us or will we serve them?” Will we possess them, or they possess us?
Trust
A rule of life around money will free us from being possessed by money, so that we are free to serve the living God. A rule of life will help us turn money from being an idol to serving as an icon that leads us to worship God more faithfully. Part of the way, we can use money to draw us to God is through giving.
The grace of giving enables us to grow in our dependence upon God. Richard Foster says, “When we let go of money, we are letting go of a part of ourselves and part of our security and putting it in God. It produces an air of expectancy as we anticipate what God will lead us to give. It makes life with God an adventure in the world, and that is worth living for and giving for.”6
God calls us in Malachi 3:10 to trust God with our money through giving to Him: “Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse so that there may be food in my house.” ‘Test me in this,’7 says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the flood gates of heaven and pour out such a blessing, that there will not be room enough to store it.”
God makes a clear promise that if we trust him through our tithe, the first the first tenth of our income to God, he will more than provide for our needs, but it’s hard for many of us to act on it--whether we are making a little or a lot.
John Maxwell, a former pastor and now a speaker and writer on leadership, described how his 14-year-old son Joel got his first job—and his first official pay cheque. Joel was thrilled! He came home and showed his parents his pay cheque. Then Joel said, “You know, I have thought it over and I am not sure if I can afford to tithe.” Whether a person is 14 or 24 or 44, or 84, a person may think they can’t afford to tithe.
If we focus on all the expenses or all that we would like to do, we may struggle to tithe. Most people on their own, however, are likely not going to get to the place where they feel they can give a tenth or more of their income away from a place of security. According to the Google Foundation, a person needs a base of 20 million dollars before they feel they can give the equivalent of a half –tithe (5%) away money out of a place of security.8
But, if we believe that our security is in God, we will be free to give generously and we can live out the adventure of a life trusting God.
The first ten percent is the starting point. The practice of the tithe is affirmed in both the Old Testament and by Jesus (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42). The tithe precedes both Christianity and Judaism, as Abraham and Jacob gave a tenth of what they had to God. Tenth is the biblical starting point for giving, and part of the reason for that is that ten percent for most people, represents needing to trust God. But if ten doesn’t represent any kind of sacrifice or needing to trust God because we of what we are making, we do well to up our giving.
As a young man, John Wesley calculated that 28 pounds a year would take care of his own needs… 18th century. Since prices remained basically the same, he was able to keep at that level of expenditure throughout his lifetime. When Wesley first made that decision, his income was about 38 pounds a year. In later years, sales of his books would often earn him 1400 pounds a year, but he lived on 28 pounds and gave the rest away. Wesley was single for much of his life and never had any children of his own, so he did not deal with the financial challenges posed by a family, but his idea is one to seriously consider.
If we have a spouse or are responsible to raise children, we have to take these and inflation into account. But the idea of proportionate giving makes sense.9
Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay became reverse tithers. When we got married over 30 years ago, he says, “We began tithing 10%. Each year we would raise our tithe 1% to stretch our faith: 11% the first year, 12% the second year, 13% the third year. Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism in my life. Every time I give, it makes me more like Jesus. Every time I give, my heart grows bigger. (Warren wrote a book called the Purpose-Driven Life one of the best-selling books ever, selling millions). And so now, we give away 90% and we live on 10%. That was actually the easy part, what to do with the money--just give it away, because I'm storing up treasures in heaven.10
For both Wesley and Warren, in spite of all the money coming part way through their lives, they did not change our lifestyle at all. They didn’t go out and make major purchases.
In the early days of The Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, they wrestled with the place of the tithe as one of their corporate disciplines. They sought the counsel of Reinhold Niebuhr who suggested they commit themselves, not to tithing, but to “proportionate giving, with tithing as an economic floor beneath which you will not go under, unless there are some compelling reasons.” As a result, the discipline to which they all agreed read: “We covenant with Christ and with one another to give proportionately, beginning with the tithe of our incomes.11
A few years ago, during the our rebuild campaign, many people here gave voluntarily above and beyond their tithe and after the rebuild some people found they could live on less and gave voluntarily over and above their tithe to God’s work here or somewhere else, and are finding joy in giving and experience real joy and freedom in that giving. As someone said on the blog, followers should be the most generous people—we can be because we have been given a priceless treasure in Christ.
C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity we view God like the taxman. We give him what he requires and hope we have enough left for ourselves. But, what God wants us to give all ourselves and all that we have at his disposal, and the paradox is that as we do that we find ourselves most free and fulfilled.
Another way we grow in freedom from being possessed by money is by becoming free of debt.This can become part of our rule of life.
Rule of Freedom
In a household with a credit card, their typical credit card debt load is about $9000.12 (For many that’s close to the credit card limit.) According to MSN Money, the average household is in debt about 19,000 dollars, not including home mortgage debt.13 The typical North American family spends about ¼ of their income on outstanding debts.14
As we create our financial rule of life we may also ask the question of what kind of debt, if any, we will incur. If we have debt, how will we act on it?
Unnecessary debt can mean that we end up spending far more than we need to on an item. If we buy something on a typical credit card and then go into debt, we end up paying the minimal payment required, and may end up paying 2-3 times the actual amount. If you buy at I-Pod for say $200 and only pay the minimum required, you may end up paying $500 for it.
The Bible doesn’t categorically prohibit debt15, but it tells us “The borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).” The book of Proverbs urges us to get out of debt as soon as possible (Proverbs 6:1-5).
I grew up as one of 5 children in a modest, single income family. My parents, other than for a home mortgage, never went into debt and they passed along to me and my siblings the idea of not borrowing for anything—unless it’s going to almost likely going to appreciate in value, as in a house or something that can be used to leverage your income earning potential like some forms of education.
They also taught us to distinguish between investments that will depreciate in financial value or appreciate in value and between investments that will or will not generate income. We may think of purchasing of a car or clothes as an “investment.” In one sense they may be an investment, but neither will appreciate in value. Upon purchasing them they will immediately depreciate in value.
So, I’ve grown up with the mentality that it’s better to do without, or do with say an older car, rather than to have something new and go into debt.
I recently heard someone say for people today, “Debt is a way of life.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Before we enter into debt for something, we can take some time to pray and discern how God might be leading us.
As we construct a rule of life, we can create habits around our finances that keep us out of debt. If it’s helpful, one might include as part of their rule of life a realistic budget plan. Budgeting is simply figuring out ahead of time where money will go. If the budget ends up producing a deficit, then obviously a person needs to either increase their income or decrease their spending. Some have found it helpful to see a financial counselor as part of this process.
Rule for Simplicity
Whether we are in debt or not, we would do well to wrestle with concerns about our lifestyle.
The world of marketing and advertising drives home the belief that unless you have this you won’t be happy. I used to work for a famous company that developed new innovative electronics products with a marketing strategy to get you to believe you needed stuff you didn’t need.
As we grow closer to God, the less stuff we’ll feel we need. As we saw, the lives of people who were fully devoted to God: St. Francis, Mother Teresa, did not feel like they needed much material stuff.
Richard Foster proposes an exercise which people who try it find liberating. He says, “When you decide that it is right for you to purchase a particular item, see if God will not bring it to you without your having to buy it. I have a close friend who needed a pair of gloves for work. Rather than rushing out to the store to buy them, he gave the matter over to God in prayer. Although he had not spoken to anyone about this need, in a couple of days someone gave him a pair of gloves. Absolutely marvelous!
The point is not that he was not able to buy the gloves; he could have done that quite easily, but he wanted to learn how to pray in a way that might release money for other purposes. Literally, dozens of experiments can be made in this realm. Even the rich can do it. Once a decision is made to secure a particular item, hold it before God in prayer, for perhaps a week. If it comes, bless God; if not, re-evaluate your need for it; and if you still feel that you should have it, go ahead and purchase the item.”
I know this sounds lofty and a little hokey, but last week I heard the story of a woman I know who needed a printer, but could not afford to purchase one. She prayed that God would supply one for her. Someone, without knowing about her need, gave her a new one…laser (he had unexpectedly received a new printer he didn’t need).
One clear advantage to this approach of praying for something is that it effectively ends all impulse buying. It gives time for reflection so that God can teach us if the desires are necessary. Another obvious benefit is the way in which it integrates the life of devotion with the life of service.16
A person I know says every time he buys something he gives something away. It’s not a law, but a way to be free. I know of someone else when who when they become too attached to some object to something give it away.
The goal of a rule of life around money is work with the Holy Spirit and experience real freedom from the power of money and things to possess us.
The paradox is those who pursue more and more will lose their lives in the process. They will discover that more is never enough and will become attached to things that do not last. But those who give and use their money for God and others, will live in true liberty and be able to savour more fully the priceless gifts of God, our family, and friends and the things that will last forever.
Recommended Resource:
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
posted by Shigematsu at 7:04 PM
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