Money According to God
Your Money Is Your Life
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
November 15, 2009
TOP 10 SIGNS YOU ARE BROKE
10. American Express calls and says: "Leave home without it!"
9. You’re formulating a plan to rob the food bank.
8. Long distance companies don’t call you to switch.
7. You rob Peter...and then rob Paul.
6. You finally clean your house, hoping to find change.
5. You think of a lottery ticket as an investment.
4. Your bologna has no first name.
3. Sally Struthers sends you food.
2. McDonalds supplies you with all your kitchen condiments.
1. At communion you go back for seconds.
Everybody needs money. Even the famous George Mueller needed money. Mueller ran an orphanage, and would frequently sit down at the dinner table with his orphans, but no food on the table. He would bow his head and pray for food, and food would simply appear. Someone would suddenly ring the doorbell and deliver a bag of groceries, or drop off some cash, or people would provide in other ways. Here we could say that Mueller was a man who did not depend on money, but the truth is that he depended on it as much as the rest of us. It's simply that he often depended on the money of other people rather than on his own efforts.
None of us is exempt. None of us is above money. No one gets to go through life with the hippy notion that they don't need money. We'll either make our own money, or depend on the generosity of others who have made money. Today we start a new series, and this series is called your money is your life. As I have said in past weeks, it is money that allows us access to the things we need to survive and without money we simply could not survive for long.
But really we all know that money is life in many ways. We all have ideas and opinions about money. Some people tell me I should mention money more often on Wildwind's e-list because they want to stay up to date on Wildwind's finances and know what the church's needs are. Other people tell me they no longer subscribe to our e-list because they don't like it when I write about money. I'm not exactly sure how many people are here today, but I'm pretty sure it's nearly the exact same number as the number of opinions there are in this room about money.
But we're a church. Some of us even claim to be trying to order our lives according to God's priorities. So God's opinion counts for something, doesn't it? In fact, shouldn't God's view of money shape my view and your view? If I claim to be ordering my life according to God's priorities, can I have opinions about money that run contrary to God's? Is that a good idea? If it could be shown that God has some definite ideas about money, would we be both wise and obligated to come to understand those ideas and make them our own?
Well, God definitely has some ideas about money, for those who believe the Bible is God's Word. Do you know how much God talks about baptism? There are 40 verses in the Bible about baptism. Do you know how much God talks about prayer? There are 275 verses in the Bible about prayer. Do you know how much God talks about faith? There are 350 verses in the Bible about faith. What about love, how many verses do you think that topic gets? Huge theme in scripture, right? The Bible contains 650 verses about love. That's pretty good, right? I mean, we know how important love is. What about money? The Bible contains 2,350 verses about money and possessions. Now do we get to say that the Bible's 650 verses about love show what a big priority God places on love, but then say that the 2,350 verses in the Bible about money are coincidence and don't really mean anything? I don't think we get to say that.
So we are left realizing that this topic is absolutely huge to God. By the way, for those who say we shouldn't talk about money and that I shouldn't write about it, perhaps you can put some thought into how I could be remotely faithful to scripture without talking about it. In fact (and I'm not going to do this) but can you imagine how much more I'd have to talk about it if I made a commitment to talk about God's highest priorities on the same percentage basis that God does? That would mean for every sentence about love, I'd have to include 3.6 sentences about money. I wonder how that would sit.
Now the problem isn't that people don't want me talking about money in church. We don't have to have the same percentage basis we see in the scripture. The problem is that because we don't talk about money very often, a lot of people think that God's ideas about money could be summarized in the sentence, "Give it all to me." Actually the idea of giving to God comes out of these thousands of verses where God talks about money and possessions and wealth and how we are to think about them and use them and live in relationship to them. So today I want to do a survey with you. It's a survey! I'm not going to read all 2,350 verses to you, but I want to make sure you walk out of here with a broad Biblical understanding about money and the things money can buy. I'm going to share some of those scriptures with you by breaking them down into ten basic distinctions between how we tend to think about money, and how God seems to think about it. I'll share five of those with you this week, five with you two weeks from now, and next week will be Friend Day where I'll be offering encouragement to you and to your friends on getting through these difficult economic times we are facing. I want your friends to hear the church talking about money with words other than Give it to us. We want to get on their side and help them (and you) stay as strong and solid as possible during these tough times. Here we go.
Man says my money is none of God's business. It has nothing to do with God. But God says money is pivotal to your spiritual life.
Luke 16:11 (TNIV)
11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
If I could paraphrase this huge verse, I would say that we cannot expect God to trust us with deep spiritual treasures (insights, experiences, etc.) that require searching and seeking if we cannot handle the material treasures that are already in our hands now.
Luke 12:34 (TNIV)
34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If you want to feel deeply and strongly about something, start investing money in it. Or, if you want to know what you feel the most strongly about, look at where you are investing the most money. Where would that be? Your children. Your home. Your cars. The stuff in your refrigerator. We feel pretty strong about that stuff don't we? In counseling we know that it's generally not a good idea to do counseling for free, because charging something --even a small amount -- causes the client to attach greater value to it. When they attach more value to it, they are likely to take it more seriously (to put their "heart" into it) and work harder.
Revelation 3:17 (TNIV)
17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Spiritual reality oozes from this passage. You think you have everything, but you actually have nothing. Your money, your comfort, your material well-being has blinded your eyes and you cannot see your poverty. So we tend to think money is money and God is God and never the two shall meet, but that could not be farther from the truth. If this were true, money would not have the power it has to produce anxiety and joy in us. It has a very powerful impact on our souls, on who we are, and who we are becoming.
Second is the idea of ownership. Ownership. We tend to say and believe "All I have is mine." But God says, "All you have is mine." Here I just want to read some verses for you without comment.
Deuteronomy 8:17–18 (TNIV) — 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...
Psalm 24:1 (TNIV) — 1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,the world, and all who live in it;
Col 1:17 All things were created by Him and for Him...in Him all things hold together."
When you own something, you usually take care of it. But something is on loan to you, and you are charged with managing it, you take EXTRA care of it. Generally you are far more careful with the property of others than with your own. This is how God wants us to approach everything - all our money, all our possessions, everything. It's not ours, it belongs to him, and we are to treat it accordingly.
Third, we tend to think, "I need more money," but God says, "You need to manage what you have."
Ecclesiastes 5:11 (TNIV) — 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
This comes alive when you think about how much anxiety you live with every day because of what you already own. When you buy that new computer, you don't think about also buying repairs, nights sitting up with your Internet broken down, reformats, hours spent on hold with tech support, and even hours consumed just sitting on Facebook. Plus once you buy it, it's one more thing you suddenly feel you can't live without. Buy that new car and you've also bought gas fill-ups, oil changes, tire rotations, and eventually a lot of repairs. You can't escape it - everything you buy will break down, so you will either fret and worry over doing the repairs, or you will fret and worry about coming up with the money to have somebody else do them. I have a close friend who received a handsome raise last year. I mean handsome - like about $20,000. This created very deep anxiety in him and nearly caused him to go into a depression. He simply did not know how to manage this properly or how to think about it or even how to give appropriate thanks for it. Should he keep it all? Give it away? Give a tenth? Of course he can afford now to give much more than a 10th but how much more? What if other people find out, how will they feel? What expectations will they have of him? And on and on it goes. We want more money, but God says manage what you have.
Luke 16:10 (TNIV) — 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
We think, "I wouldn't steal pens from the office if they paid me more money." But if we were honest we wouldn't steal pens either way. Honesty is a heart issue and not dependent on money. See the spiritual reality that is there? That's real stuff.
Next, we want to live with pleasure and for pleasure, but God says to live with self-control.
Proverbs 21:17 (TNIV) — 17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.
This makes sense in light of what Jesus said doesn't it? If you love pleasure (wine and oil), that's where your heart is. And because your heart is there and you love it, you will keep spending your money on it. You will spend and spend and spend. You will spend yourself into the poorhouse.
Proverbs 23:20–21 (TNIV) — 20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Same idea.
Titus 2:11–12 (TNIV) — 11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
Self control. God wants us to pursue moderation and self-control. A life set on continual accumulation of more and more things is a life that is incompatible with the kind of people we are to be. We see this across the board. We see God condoning sex, saying go for it, and putting absolutely no constraints on us whatsoever, except this one:
Hebrews 13:4 (TNIV) — 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure...
Self-control, when we follow it through scripture, is never intended as a way of restricting freedom. Rather it is a way of maximizing it. Unrestrained expression of desire ultimately turns in on a person and harms him and will eventually destroy him. Self-control is a way of enjoying life and enjoying pleasure without allowing it to master us and lead to addictions. That is why God says to live with self-control in every way, and this includes keeping a handle on the way we use money.
Fifth and final for today. We lean strongly toward loving money, but God says "Love me." Jesus said,
Luke 16:13 (TNIV) — 13 “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. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
It's not that you should not serve them both, it's that you cannot. It is not possible.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (TNIV) — 10 Those who love money never have enough; those who love wealth are never satisfied with their income...
As I have said, desire is not self-limiting. When we love money, when money has our heart, we can never get enough of it. We will always feel deprived by the things that are just beyond our reach. We become like Howard Hughes who, when asked how much money is enough, replied, "Just a little bit more."
1 Timothy 6:10 (TNIV) — 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money probably competes with God for our attention and love more than anything else. It is the great clash, really, between these two great powers that both claim to provide for us and meet our needs, both promise their own kinds of joys and pleasures, and both lay claim to be a foundation upon which we can and should build our lives.
And it is here that we get tripped up, because we see money providing for us - we see it buying our house and making the payment, we see it coming into our accounts and going out again, we see it on the counter when we buy our new outfit, we see it when we swipe our card at McDonald's. We see it, and we know what it provides for us, and the pleasure and comfort that could be at our disposal if only we had a little bit more, and we often struggle not to love it. Of course we don't SAY we love it -- we just do what you do when you love something, which is spend a lot of time with it and on it, and make sacrifices for it, have fun with it, protect it, make plans for a long happy future together, and dread and fear losing it more than anything in the world. That's what we do when we love something or someone, and that's what we do with money. And we cannot serve money and God at the same time.
So there are 15 verses from the Bible about money. Two weeks from today I'll cover the other 2,335. What we have established this morning about God's view of money?
First, money is a spiritual issue and is pivotal to our spiritual life. Second, it all belong to God. Third, rather than always wanting more, we need to learn to manage what we have. Fourth, rather than using money to bring endless pleasure, we are to pursue self-control and moderation. And fifth, we are to avoid falling in love with money and instead learn to love God.
Will you pray with me?
