Introduction
If you’ve been with us at Summit for any length of time, you’ve heard us say that God wants us to experience a life with him that’s full and robust…a life with meaning and purpose. A few months ago, our memory verse was John 10:10. Jesus is speaking and he says, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Would repeat that with me? We see here one of the most encouraging promises that Jesus makes…he promises that we can experience a life with him that’s full and robust!
Now, in this text the thief refers to Satan. He’s the one who wants to rob us of a life that full and robust. And one of the most common ways that Satan steals our abundant life is through our finances. Why? Because it’s nearly impossible to experience the kind of full and robust life that Jesus offers when our finances are in disarray. This is why it’s so important to learn how to follow God’s guidelines when it comes to our resources. You’ve probably heard this before….but the Bible has more to say about managing money and possessions than it does about heaven, hell, prayer or almost any other topic you can think of.
Do you know why? Because nothing battles for our hearts as fiercely as money and possessions! This has always been true…but I think it’s even more true today than ever before. Think about it…all day long we are bombarded with advertisements which are designed to make us discontent so that we do what? Spend money!
Jay Walker-Smith is president of one of the nation’s largest marketing firms. He says that we’ve gone from being exposed to about 500 ads per day back in the 1970’s to as many as 5,000 a day. All day long on Facebook or Google or the radio or TV or billboards or magazines we are inundated with messages screaming at us to buy something, or to take a trip, or to eat out somewhere.
Because of this constant pressure to spend money, many of us get knocked off-balance and we end up not managing our finances very wisely. This is apparent from the following statistics I’ve seen recently:
• A few months ago an on-line group called GoBankingRates surveyed more than 7,000 Americans. They discovered that 69% of those surveyed had less than $1,000 in savings. Breaking it down even further they discovered that 34% of Americans don’t even have a dime in their savings account.
The study cited two main reasons for the chronic lack of saving: First, many people are living beyond their means because so much of our lives revolve around entertainment and other forms of discretionary spending. This shows you the success of the constant pressure from the media to spend, spend, spend. The second reason people don’t save is credit cards…which make it incredibly easy for us to spend money that we don’t have.
• Speaking of credit cards….I saw another study that revealed the households that carry a balance on their credit cards carry an average balance of $16,048. Perhaps some of us feel the weight of that credit card debt every single day! Now, you know as well as I do that credit cards generally charge up to 20% interest on the unpaid balance. So the interest alone on a $16,000 balance amounts to hundreds of dollars a month. And if you only make the minimum payments it could take decades to pay off. So, this is a huge problem!
• According to statistics provided by the US government, the total credit card debt in America is about $975 billion. Houston, do we have a problem? I think so!
• I saw another article that talked about how few Americas have been saving for retirement. The article indicated that 1/3 of Americans have saved absolutely nothing for retirement. 23% have less than $10,000 saved and 10% have between $10,000 and $49,000. That means over 50% of Americans have saved little or nothing for our later years. And yet, at the same time, we are living longer than ever. In 1955 the average American lived to be 69.6 years old but by 2012 that had risen to 78.8 years. And our life expectancy keeps rising! Many of us can expect to live into our 90’s and more and more of us will actually see 100!
So, I think you’d agree that many people, perhaps even some of us, have significant problems managing our money. Many of us have very little in savings, we spend more than we make using credit cards and we don’t save very much for retirement. And this creates enormous stress.
• Some of us lay awake at night and worry about money.
• We worry about how we’re going to pay certain bills.
• We worry about not having any financial margin so that if any tiny unexpected expense comes up, it has a domino effect that may take months to recover from.
• Some of us, if we’re married, argue about money more than anything else. We argue about what bills to pay and what bills to hold off on. Financially, we’re so far behind the eight ball that it creates a constant wedge in our marriage.
And this is why we’re going to spend the next few weeks considering what Jesus has to say about money and possessions. We need help with this! I think some of us in this room must be bone-weary tired of living under the relentless financial stress we’ve been under. There has got to be a better way. And the answer is not just making a few more bucks. That’s what our culture tells us. But that’s a bunch of bologna!
(Photo) You remember the way they used to put a carrot out in front of a horse or mule…so the animal would keep moving forward trying to get the carrot. Well, that’s how our culture works with money. There is this underlying message that if you just made another $10k your life would be perfect and your budget would balance and you’d be content. But then you make that additional $10k and you discover that it’s all gobbled up. And then you naively think if you just made another $10k everything will be fine. And after you make that additional $10k you discover that it’s all gobble up, too.
But you never stop to think about it….so you keep going after more and more money. Because you think that’s your problem….you think that with just a little more money somehow you’re going to get to a place where you’ll be content. But that never happens. Do you know why?
Because the human soul has an endless capacity to want more! A few generations ago one of the wealthiest people in the world was John D. Rockefeller. He amassed a huge fortune…in fact, his wealth alone amounted to 1% of our nation’s Gross National Product. In today’s dollars he was worth more than three times Bill Gates’ fortune. Well, one day Rockefeller he was asked, “How much money is enough?” Do you know how he answered? “Just one more dollar. Just one more dollar.” Even he didn’t have enough…even though he was wealthy beyond imagination…because the human soul will never be satisfied by money and possessions.
So, for most of us the problem isn’t making more money. Because no matter how much we make we will always be able to spend it all…and even more by leveraging credit cards or home equity loans or other kinds of foolish debt. You can see this tragically played out in the lives of some professional sports figures like…
• (Photo) Mike Tyson who made more than $400 million in his boxing career but filed for bankruptcy in 2003…or,
• (Photo) Vince Young who once signed an NFL contract that guaranteed him $26 million but then filed for bankruptcy in 2014….or,
• (Photo) Jack Johnson who made $18 million in his nine year career with the National Hockey League but filed for bankruptcy in 2014.
Now, that list can go on and on…but don’t think for a minute that you would do things differently if you made millions. What I’ve seen over and over is that if people don’t manage their money wisely when they make a little…then it’s very unlikely that they will manage it wisely if they make more.
So for most of us the issue isn’t an income problem. Making more money might seem like the answer…but it rarely is. Why? Because the more we make the more we spend…and the more we spend the more we want. So we get into a vicious cycle of thinking that if we only made a little bit more money, then, all of our financial problems will be solved. So we become like that horse or mule who is always reaching out for the carrot thinking that with just one more dollar we might be able to grab contentment.
Well, are you tired of that marry-go-round? Are you weary of being stressed out about finances? Would you like to hear another way of approaching this? I hope so….because in this new series called Making Change we want to present some simple biblical steps to help you change the way you manage your money and possessions. And I can guarantee if you apply the biblical steps we’re going to lay out in the next few weeks that your financial life will become less stressful and much, much more bearable.
Jesus said that he came that we might have life and have it to the full. Now, a full life does not mean we’ll be rich. It does not mean that we’ll have every one of our wants and desires. A full life does not mean we will never face challenges. But it does mean that we will live a life with less stress and more freedom. That’s what Jesus wants for you and that’s what I want for you too.
So, the first step toward less stress and more freedom with your finances is this: Put God first. The title to this message is Priority One. By this I mean making God your first priority with your finances. Do you know what this means? It’s pretty simple. Give to God first whenever you get paid. Now, before you tune me out…I want you to notice that I’ve not said anything about any particular amount. And I promise I won’t bring that up in this entire message. I promise! So you can relax. Take a deep breath with me, okay? (Breathe in and out)
I want you to hear me—there has got to be a better way to deal with our finances than what many of us have been doing. What we’ve been doing has resulted in what? No savings, a mountain of credit card debt, very little retirement savings and tons and tons of stress. Do you want to continue to live like that? I don’t think so! So, please hear me out. There is another way…and it’s God’s way…and God’s way is always the best way.
So, today’s principle is simply to put God first. Give to God first whenever you get paid. This is called first-fruits giving. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops…” Simply put, this means putting God first…it means we give to God as our first priority when it comes to allocating our resources. And this is a whole other teaching….but I believe the Bible also makes clear that we’re to give first to our local church before any other ministry...because our local church is where we receive teaching from God’s Word and serve in ministry.
So, once again, the principle is this: give to God first whenever you get paid. Now, let me show you how this works in my world. I have used the same system to keep our family budget for almost forty years. I use pencil and paper...I’ve used the same green four-column ledger books for decades. I buy them at Office Depot for a couple of bucks. Now, you might use your computer and accounting software. But I’m about as low-tech as you can get. (Photo) You’ll see on the screens an image of my monthly budget categories. These are the same budget categories I use every month.
But notice what’s on top….do you see? (Photo with highlight) I put giving back to God on the top because it’s my first financial priority. It’s the first thing I allocate money to every pay period. Before I spend money on anything else I give back to God. This is called first-fruits giving. It’s simple. It’s biblical. And if you do this over the long haul you will discover that it will lead to less stress and more freedom in your financial world.
Now you may be thinking…how can this be true? Am I just making this up? Of course not! What I am sharing with you is exactly what Jesus teaches in Matthew 6. Would you turn there in your Bible or on your mobile device? Now, the entire passage is teaching us how to stop worrying about finances and possessions. What’s another word for worry? Stress, right! Worry and stress are close cousins. And what did I just say a few minutes ago? I said there’s got to be a better way to handle money than most of us have been doing. Because what most of have been doing with our finances has done nothing but give us stress, sleepless night and arguments.
That’s why I want us to listen to what Jesus has to say about this. Because, at one level, this whole passage is about first-fruits giving! Jesus is saying that if we put him first, if we make giving back to God our first priority, then he will take care of us—and we won’t have to worry!
So what can you do to begin to get rid of stress and worry with your finances? The first step…and the only one we’re going to consider today is this—put God first. Give to God first whenever you get paid. Let’s read Matthew 6:23-34…
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Now, I want you to underline or circle four words….seek first his kingdom. Would you say that out loud with me? (Repeat) Do you know what this means? It’s not very complicated, is it? To seek first God’s kingdom means putting God first in every area—including with our finances. And this means giving to God first whenever we get paid. This is the New Testament version of Proverbs 3:9. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops.”
And when we do this, Jesus promises that everything we need will be taken care of. Do you see that in Matthew 6? You need food? Of course you do! Jesus says he’ll take care of that if you put him first. You need clothes? Of course you do! Jesus says he’ll take care of that if you put him first.
So how can you have less stress and more freedom with your finances? Put God first by giving to God first whenever you get paid. Because when we do that, Jesus promises to take care of everything else we need. This is his promise to us! “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Now, one reason this works out it because when we give to God first it begins to get all of our other priorities in the right order. (Video) Steven Covey is one of the nation’s leading experts on leadership. He tells about a time a management guru was speaking to a group of executives. He placed a wide-mouthed jar on the table in front of him. Next to the jar was a collection of fist-sized rocks. He carefully filled the jar with big rocks until no more would fit in. He asked the group: “Is the jar full?” Everyone responded: “Yes.”
He then pulled a large bowl of gravel from under the table and proceeded to pour the gravel into the jar. The gravel fit into the spaces between the rocks. He asked again: “Is the jar full?” “Probably not,” was now the group’s tentative reply.
Then he reached for another bowl…this one filled with sand. He dumped the sand into the jar. The sand filled in the spaces that were not taken by the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked: “Is the jar full?” This time everyone agreed: “No!”
Finally, he reached for a pitcher and poured water into the jar until it was filled to the top. The management guru looked back at the group and said: “Now, the point of this illustration is if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. If you put the gravel, sand and water in first…there won’t be enough room for the big rocks.”
Now, many of us have seen that before. And it has implications for all kinds of areas in life…including how we manage our finances. Do you know why? Well, I mentioned a few minutes ago that the human soul has an endless capacity to want more. No matter how much money we make, unless God intervenes and changes our heart, we will always want one more dollar. And no matter how many things we own, unless God intervenes and changes our heart, we can always find one more thing to buy.
One consequence of this is that unless we give back to God first—before we spend money on anything else—what usually happens is that all of the money gets spent on other things before we get around to giving to God. And when this happens, we end up giving God what’s left-over, if there is any…instead of making God our first priority.
Now, the best way to turn this around is do exactly what Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:33. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This means putting God first…making God priority one in every area including with our finances by giving to God first every time we get paid.
Now, I realize that in this room there are at least four groups of people. One group already consistently gives to God first and this message is not anything new. And I want to say “thank you” for following God so faithfully with your finances.
A second group sporadically gives to God and, hopefully, this message will challenge you to get on track every time you get paid. I believe if you do this over the long haul you will experience less stress and greater blessing in your life.
A third group are those who are exploring the things of faith….and I hope you’re challenged today to step out in ways you never imagined…because I’m telling you that God’s way of handling our finances is always best!
But there’s a fourth group who I want to speak to specifically. And I will use the term economic atheists to describe you. What is that, you ask?
• An economic atheist is a person who believes in God.
• An economic atheist is a person who prays regularly.
• An economic atheist is someone who has said yes to Jesus and, probably, has even been baptized.
• An economic atheist may be someone who reads their Bible, belongs to a Life Group and even serves in ministry at Summit.
So they may have trusted Jesus with many areas of their life, but an economic atheist is a believer who has never trusted Jesus with their finances. Now, if that describes you, I want to encourage you to hand over to God this very important area of your life. Jesus wants us to experience a robust and full life. Remember John 10:10? “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
But that only comes after we’ve given him everything—our heart, our soul, our life and our treasure. Now, generosity always involves risk. It requires that we step out in faith. I know how hard that can be. But the risk is always worth it. And just think what you might miss if you don’t do anything with what we’ve been talking about today.
Conclusion
Many of us have handled our finances our own way for a long time. And for many of us this has resulted in very little savings, too much credit card debt, little or no savings for the retirement and lots of stress. How about trying things God’s way? It’s simple and it’s biblical. Seek God first by giving to him first every time you get paid.
