How Wise People Build Wealth Series

On January 19, 1901, few knew the future of the Texas economy was about to experience a seismic shift forward. In a matter of days, the oil geyser in little Beaumont, Texas, called Spindletop, produced more oil than the rest of the world’s oil wells – combined. In fact, everything that runs on oil in our day, from cars to jet fighters – all of this began at Spindletop. The wildcatters who discovered oil made a lot of money. They collected airplanes, ranches, and words of are like they were candy. Texas is legendary with the stories of big oilmen with even bigger money. These men had so much money … obscene amounts of money, one would use a $100 bill as a bow tie while another rode a pet lion in order to meet his mailman. One Houston oilman’s wife even wrote the Smithsonian to ask if the Hope Diamond was for sale. Hitting a gusher was hitting the mother load. Having this kind of money was to end all your problems. Is money and having enough money really one of the biggest goals in life?

Series Introduction

We are devoting several weeks to the wisdom of Proverbs in the area we are calling, Financially Fit. Money is such an important issue in our everyday lives. Some of you remember 1992 when our nation was in a recession. Future President Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist, James Carville, coined a phrase that is still with this. In an effort to unseat then-President George Herbert Walker Bush, Carville, told a group of Clinton campaign workers a slight variation of these famous: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Carville notes what often drives elections and clouds other important issues – it’s the money issue And it’s just for this reason, we need to speak about the important subject of money – how we earn, spend it, save it, and share it.

Financially Fit is Faith at Home resource series. You received a handout in your worship guide. More important tools are available in the Faith at Home resource room.

The book of Proverbs is Principles from Heaven for Life on Earth. And God gives us some amazing counsel inside the pages of Proverbs on how to handle our money. Money is such a powerful issue in our lives that we must address it. Celebrate last week – seventy households made a fresh start to either committing to tithing or giving last Sunday. We are asking each of the 1,000 plus households of our church to make a tithing commitment in the next month. You can pick up these cards at the Faith at Home Resource Room.

Today, I want you to see, How Wise People Build Wealth. Turn in your Bibles to Proverbs 22 and place a bookmark at Proverbs 24. I love the book of Proverbs for it is just so practical. And I love it because it comes from the very mouth of God.

1. Three Ways to Handle Money

Eavesdrop with me as the father speaks to his son…

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate,

23 for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.

24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,

25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

26 Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts.

27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

28 Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.” (Proverbs 22:22-28)

Now, business ethics is a required course for many majors today. And business ethics has been a topic as far back as Plato and Aristotle. You can trace the topic up to the present day with such thinkers as John Locke and Adam Smith. It was Locke who developed the classic defense of property as a natural right. While Adam Smith is often thought of as the father of modern economics with his work, The Wealth of Nations and it’s Smith who develops Locke's notion as he is a defender of laissez-faire economics, placing a great emphasis on his notion of the Invisible Hand. With this history in mind, no ancient text emphasizes the value of right and wrong so emphatically as did the ancient book of Proverbs. But there’s a time when don’t need convoluted ethical systems for we know right from wrong.

Allow me to share a lifelong principle for you: You are to be Totally Honest in how you handle your money. Sam owned a large healthcare organization with more than 3,000 employees. During a routine check of Medicare billings, it was discovered that one of the traveling nurses had apparently delivered to patient services that were not authorized for reimbursement by Medicare. Sam requested that an audit be done of all patient billings to Medicare for the past three years. During the course of that process, it was discovered that Medicare had been billed for and had paid almost $300,000 worth of these unauthorized services. This was an internal audit and no one knew anything about it except Sam and the person who was conducting the audit. Without pausing to consider the economic impact it might have, Sam issued a credit memo to Medicare to remove the unjustified $300,000 that was received. Sam understood well that integrity was not for sale—not at $300,000 or $300 million.