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.
You are to be Totally Honest in how you handle your money.
Here are three wise and honest ways to handle your money.
1.1 Don’t Take Advantage of the Disadvantaged
“Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate” (Proverbs 22:22). There’s a temptation to take advantage of the disadvantaged because of their sheer vulnerability. Note the words at the end of verse 22: “at the gate” (Proverbs 22:22b). These words remind us that the business of ancient cities was conducted at the gate. It was at the gate where legal matters were settled. The ancient city gate acted as a modern-day courthouse. Solomon’s warning here is this: don’t rob the poor legally. Do you know something may be legal but still not be right?
Have you seen signs promising “Pay Day Loans” with same-day service? The typical payday borrower remains in payday loan debt for 212 days of the year. How bad is this? A typical payday loan of $325 is normally flipped eight times, where the borrower owes an additional $468 in interest. In order, to fully repay the loan and principal, the borrower will need to pay $793. Nationally, there are more than two payday-lending storefronts for every Starbucks location. PayDay lending is acting as an economic predator.
In 1978, there were virtually no slot machines anywhere outside of Nevada. Now there are more than 947,000 slot machines in the US – more than twice the number of ATMs. We Americans spend more money on slots than on movies, baseball, and theme parks combined. Scripture clearly teaches that gambling is wrong and a sin against God, not for one single reason but for many. The slot machine, casino, or poker table are not for believers submitted to the Lordship of Christ. Working and investing for a living is based on a win/win scenario, but gambling is always win/lose. God put his stamp of approval on commerce and work as will see in a moment. When a carpenter builds a cabinet and gets paid, both parties win. One of them gets the cabinets she wanted, and one of them gets the money he desired. They can both feel good about the transaction. Not so with gambling. Someone always loses and pays a price. Johns Hopkins University researchers reported that the social cost of excessive gambling “ranks among the most expensive illnesses afflicting society.” Let’s be honest and admit that greed lies at the heart of all gambling. One of the most significant sins of the gambling industry is its treatment of the poor. Rather than offering genuine hope and a way out of poverty, gambling operators prey on those who are most desperate.
Let me share with you the highlights of three studies on gambling targeting the poor. A 2011 paper indicated that the poor lead out by buying the most lottery tickets in an attempt to climb out of their poverty. In fact, the bottom 20% of wage-earners in America are responsible for 50% of lottery sales. A 2012 study from Yale University finds that when teens and children receive scratch-off lottery tickets as gifts during childhood or adolescence they will later show more risky and problematic gambling problems in their adult years. And one more… a 2010 paper in the Journal of Community Psychology, finds that lottery outlets are often clustered in neighborhoods with large numbers of minorities, who are at greatest risk for developing gambling addictions. The poor are a tempting target but you need to resist.
Don’t Take Advantage of the Disadvantaged. “Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless” (Proverbs 22:28). Throughout Proverbs, we see God identifying with the poor. Let’s return to Proverbs 22:23 for a moment: “for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them” (Proverbs 22:23). “for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you” (Proverbs 23:11). The thief is a fool if he thinks the poor have no security system. The thief is a fool if he thinks the disadvantaged have no Protector. For the Lord, Himself watches over the poor. God, Himself defends the poor. God, Himself is watching the wickedly wealthy and He will personally see to it that wrong is made right.
1.2 Don’t Make Friends with Mr. Angry
“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man” (Proverbs 22:24). The first and fourth “no no’s” in Proverbs 22:22-28 talk about acquiring wealth through stupidity while the second and third “no no’s” speak to losing your wealth through stupidity. The Bible is warning you against hanging around with people who cannot control their feelings.
Do you see the words “a man given to anger” there in verse 24? The words are literally “owner of a nostril” and it refers to the person whose temper flies off at a moment’s notice. Do you remember in Toy Story, when Mrs. Potato Head said to Mr. Potato Head, “I’m packing your angry eyes?” It’s the same thought here, only anger is seen in the nose, or the nostrils. Stay away from Mr. Antisocial Hothead. He’s a bomb with a short-fuse. He will hit the self-destruct button and take you along with him.
1.3 Don’t Cosign Another’s Debt
“Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts” (Proverbs 22:26). The Bible’s words here are directed against assuming responsibility for another’s person’s debt. Today, we call this practice co-signing for another’s loan. When I cosign a loan, I am saying, “I will answer for all of this person’s financial decisions, wise or unwise. I’m now legally and financially accountable for whatever he chooses to do.” You may think, “It’s just a signature. They’ll never come after me.” “Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure” (Proverbs 11:15). The Bible says it isn’t wise to cosign for another’s debts.
Around 50 percent of co-signers end up paying back part or all of the other person’s debt! Now, some of you disagree. That’s fine. If you still want to cosign for someone else’s debts, feel free. Just don’t expect sympathy from the Lord. So what should I do to help someone? Yes, the Bible commands generosity and it was against Moses’ law to charge interest to another Israelite (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-38). You could charge interest to a non-Israelite but you couldn’t exploit them (Proverbs 28:28). When you want to help someone else out, who is in need, then consider making an interest-free loan. Or perhaps give them the money out the generosity of your heart If your desire is to help someone, give him the money outright, loan it to him directly, or offer him sound advice. But when someone asks you to co-sign, the best favor you can do—both for him and for yourself—is simply to say no.
2. Balance Life and Work
All of us struggle to find a balance to work. Whether we are a stay-at-home mother or someone who is in the tech industry… we struggle to find the proper balance in our work. We must especially careful to balance our work lives.
“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 24:30-34). And I want to put forward a powerful way to balance your work life by helping you discover why we work. And there are two misconceptions that our common in the American workplace.
2.1 The Hope of Not Working
American culture holds out hope for the promise of a life so rich we do not need to work. Do you know the Greek legend of Pandora’s box? There’s creation and the first human beings are living in absolute bliss; it’s paradise. Pandora gets a box, and the gods say, “Don’t open that box,” but she opens the box. When she opens the box, all of the human miseries and ills that afflict us today come out. What was in the box? Death and decay and disease and aging and sickness and work. Work comes out of Pandora’s box in that legend. Work is seen as a problem in the Greek legend.
2.2 Making a Name for Myself
Still others, make work an idol where “what I do” distinguishes me from everyone else. This is the place where my work shows that I am special and allows me to have control over my destiny. It’s the second misconception of work, where a selfish pride emerges from within us. Work is often the place where we often “make a name for ourselves.” It’s our pride and our need for personal significance that eventually led to competition. Yet, the Bible takes a very different approach to work. Work isn’t seen as a problem in the Bible.
The Bible speaks not only of the productivity of work but the joy of work itself. For most of America, the big point of the marketplace is simply to make a profit. Long before Karl Marx, the biblical God did manual labor, and when He made the first human beings he made them into gardeners (that’s the proletariat). Yes, God intends you to be economically productive. He put Adam in the garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15) before there was any sin or evil in the world, which shows that the need to work in a productive way is an essential part of how God created us as human beings.
Jesus Himself was a worker. Jesus didn’t come the way the Roman gods would have come, as a general; He came as a carpenter.
Even the “Proverbs 31 Woman” worked! We also discover that the “Model Woman” or “Proverbs 31 Woman” is described as… “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.” (Proverbs 31:16) “She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.” (Proverbs 31:18) “She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant” (Proverbs 31:24).
So work is commended by God. And this is the purpose of your work is not to make a name for yourself and not to make so much money, you do not have to work, instead, your purpose in work is to be the fingers of God, where you serve others.
Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1903 with the innovation of putting milk into the chocolate bar. The company prospered, as did all the dairy farmers in the surrounding countryside. When the Depression hit and business fell apart, Hershey committed to not lay off his employees. Instead, he created his own public works projects in the town and put the employees to work building houses, an amusement park, and a hotel. Toward the end of his life, he and his wife, Kitty, (who were childless) founded a boarding school for orphans to give them practical life skills within a supportive community. The trust that runs the school owns a large portion of the company stock, so today the school is funded by dividends and stock appreciation.
God has called you to be His fingers, His hands, even in the workplace.
Closing Prayer
Father, how we handle our finances says a lot about our relationship with you. We ask for your grace to turn our financial lives over to you. We ask for your grace to deal with the guilt that is in our minds right now of we have mishandled the wealth you have placed in our hands.
Transform our work so that serve and love others. Teaching us to resist the pull of our age to simply make a profit. Instead, deepen our heart’s devotion where we make even our workplace a sacred place of worship. Teach the airline workers the joy of loving their customers to help them reach their destination. Teach the electrician the joy of serving others by making happy homes. Cause us to turn our profits into serving more than ourselves. Cause us to use our finances to reach the poor and the needy.
