Tania Luna is five years old and came to the United States eventually from Chernobyl in Russia. Four years earlier, Tania spends nine months in the hospital while black rain is coming down and her sister’s hair falling out in clumps. All of this was a result of the most horrific nuclear disaster in history. After receiving asylum in the US, the five-year-old arrives in the United States where she expects to arrive in a place that is filled with wonderful things “like bananas and chocolate and Bazooka.” On her first day in New York City, she finds a penny on the floor in a hotel with lots of rats. Tania is holding this sticky, rusty penny in her hand and she feels like she is holding a fortune. And she loves this feeling for she feels like a millionaire. Years later, she and her sister get a knock on her door in their apartment of Brooklyn. In front of them is a deliveryman with a box of pizza they didn’t order. It’s their very first box of pizza and devour a slice while the delivery man stands in the doorway asking for money. Only her family didn’t have money for the pizza as her mother walked 50 blocks to and from work every day. It’s then that the neighbor pops her head out the door and turns red with rage when she realizes that “those immigrants from downstairs” have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza Tania says, “Everyone was upset. But the pizza is delicious.”
On their tenth anniversary of being in the U.S., the family decided to celebrate by reserving a room at the hotel they had first stayed in when they got to the U.S. The man at the front desk laughs, and says, “You cannot reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter.” Tania was shocked as she thought about her experience many years before holding her penny.
Tania's story stood out to me as I listened to her several months ago. Because she had so little, a little was a lot. Whether we have little of it or a lot if, money has a powerful impact on our lives.
Again, money has a powerful impact on our lives. The Book of Proverbs is principles from heaven for life on earth. Today, I want to show you Two Common of Money Myths & Two Attitudes the Financially Fit.
2 Common Money Myths
Think of these as roadblocks to really understanding God’s attitude on money, wealth, and possessions.
1. Poverty is Privileged
There’s been a real and refreshing move among many of our young people to eradicate poverty. Yet, along with this notable movement, there’s been a rise in asceticism. You see, there are two problem attitudes for us as we look at wealth. The first is asceticism, which sees money as evil. And the second is materialism, which sees money as god. One extreme never has enough while the other extreme sees the less you possess, the more spiritual you are. Materialism and asceticism are equally rooted in wrong views on money and acquiring wealth. Nowhere does Scripture consider poverty inherently good: “A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin” (Proverbs 10:15). Certainly, God cares for the poor but this is out of His compassion, and not based on the merit a poor person might have because they are poor.
Certainly, the poor often seek God earnestly because of their needs. But poverty isn’t privileged. In fact, Proverbs is candid about poverty: “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend” (Proverbs 19:4).
The First Common Money Myth: Poverty is Privileged
2. The Righteous Are Always Rich
The first is asceticism, which sees money as evil. And the second is materialism, which sees money as god. Proverbs talks candidly about the advantage of being wealthy: “A rich man’s wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin” (Proverbs 10:15). While there are obvious advantages to having money, God doesn’t favor the wealthy. In a recent survey, Americans felt God will grant wealth to those who have enough faith. This is wrong. “… give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8-9). We should be balanced between desiring poverty and being wealthy.
Two Healthy Attitudes for Financial Fitness
1. The Wise Are Grateful
To adopt a grateful mindset is counterintuitive for many of us. We believe that if we have had success in life, it is mainly the result of our own hard work. And because of our hard work, we have an absolute right to use our money as we see fit. “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields” (Job 5:8-10).
Pastor John Piper helps us picture this. If you said to someone: “My God does great and unsearchable things; He does wonders without number,” and they responded, “Really? Like what?” would you say, “Rain?” In Job’s mind, the rain really is one of the great, unsearchable wonders that God does. Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water. But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come on the fields from another source. From where? Well, the sky. The sky? Water will come out of the clear blue sky? Well, not exactly. Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, over several hundred miles, and then be poured out from the sky onto the fields. Carried? How much does it weigh? If one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be just shy of 28 million cubic feet of water, which is more than 206 million gallons, which is 1,6 billion pounds of water. That’s heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it's so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. Then how does it get down? That’s condensation. What's condensation? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide. That’s small. What about the salt? Yes, the Mediterranean Sea is saltwater. That would kill the crops. The salt has to be taken out. So the sky picks up a billion pounds of water from the sea and takes out the salt and then carries it for three hundred miles and then dumps it on the farm? Well, it doesn’t dump it. If it dumped a billion pounds of water on the farm, the wheat would be crushed. So the sky dribbles the billion pounds of water down in little drops. And they have to be big enough to fall for one mile or so without evaporating, and small enough to keep from crushing the wheat stalks. How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh a billion pounds get heavy enough to fall (if that’s the way to ask the question)? This is called coalescence. It means the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger. And when they are big enough, they fall.
Hard work isn’t the only reason you are successful. Repeat these words: Everything I have is a gift from God. Here is the first of two dangers: You are at a dangerous place when “I Deserve” goes unquestioned.
2. The Wise Are Content
The wise identify their real needs. We all are very skilled at loading our desires into our need category. And once we have move desires into the need category, we think it’s our right to have these things. It has happened so many times in my life. It’s the slide from greed to need. “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). “Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live” (Proverbs 15:27). You are at a dangerous place when “I want” goes unrestrained. The life you want to live will never arrive until you learn to say no to yourself. And the Antidote to greed is generosity.
Givers vs. Hoarders
The ancient book of wisdom contrasts a greedy, stingy man with a generous man.
“The desire of the righteous ends only in good; the expectation of the wicked in wrath. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it” (Proverbs 11:23-27). Verse 23 is a coin with two sides. On the front end of verse 23, you’ll notice that the end result of the righteous person’s desires is good both for those he seeks to help … but also for himself. But contrast this with the back end of verse 23 where the wrath that wicked people hope to inflict on others boomerangs on them. The wicked person thinks they can make a mad dash to “the good life” by withholding from others.
Here’s a misconception: some of us only give when we are cornered. Frequently, we see pictures and we hear pitches in an effort to motivate us to give. We are told that we can save a child’s life for no more than the cost of a cup of coffee. And so you give because who can argue with this kind of logic? We give to relieve our own suffering, not someone else’s suffering. You essentially are purchasing something. We buy the right to go about our day and not be bothered by the plight of others. We Give When We Are Cornered
Back to Proverbs 11:23, the greedy man feels his stinginess will line his pockets But the evil he wished on others, only comes back on them.
In fact, it goes to another level in verse 26: “The people curse him who holds back grain.” (Proverbs 11:26)
In a windowless room in a California university campus, 2 undergrads are playing a Monopoly game but one of them has no chance of winning. Researchers brought together 100 pairs of strangers into a lab where the flip of a coin would allow one of the players to randomly gain more riches in what amounted to “a rigged game.” The game was so rigged in favor of the one player, that when they passed “Go,” they collected twice the suggested salary. Further, he was the same one that received $2,000 in Monopoly money to start while the second player received only $1,000. Plus, this one player got to roll both dice where the other player only was allowed to roll one of the dies. Fittingly, the wealthy player played with Rolls-Royce token while the poor player was given the little elf shoe ?. Throughout this study of 100 pairs of strangers playing this rigged game, a hidden camera followed the progress of the game itself, and here’s what the researchers discovered. The rich player moved around the board louder and showed visible signs of dominance while the losing players became more subdued. Once the cameras were turned off and the two players were interviewed, an interesting difference was noted in how the winning player spoke about the “rigged” game. Very little of the winning player’s success was credited to the random flip of the coin in the rigged game. Instead, the winning player talked about his skills in purchase the different properties and how their skill caused them to win the game. Though the game was rigged based on the random flip of a coin, even Monopoly money made these strangers ooze with arrogance and pride.
Now watch what happens in verse 24 to the giver and the hoarder: “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want” (Proverbs 11:24). The tight-fisted man is poorer while the open-handed man is made richer!
Now, look carefully as Solomon takes us into the fields in verse 25: “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered” (Proverbs 11:25). When you are generous with those in need, the Bible likens this to watering the ground. And when you water the parched earth, the Bible says God Himself will soak you. But if you withhold water from thirsty people, thinking you are storing it up for yourself, you’ll end up thirsty yourself.
Numerous times in this book of Proverbs, we witness God telling us to be generous with the poor. “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him” (Proverbs 14:31). “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13). Some of you are saying, “Pastor, the math doesn’t work in your favor. You get more by withholding and you lose more by giving.” And I say to you, “You don’t have God in your mathematical equation.” You cannot out-give God. Friend, it is the giver who gets while tight-fisted see it slip through their fingers. You don’t win by hoarding.
Closing Challenge
I want to talk with you about your personal spiritual growth for a moment. The Bible says we grow through our spiritual habits. We grow through the habit of prayer, attending church, and attending a Bible study. But one of the important habits is your giving. You see your spiritual growth is fueled by your giving because when you tithe, you make three statements. 1) Tithing is a statement of your gratitude – “God, I wouldn’t have anything without you.” 2) Tithing is a statement of your priority – “God, you are first in my life.” 3) Tithing is a statement of your faith – “God, I believe you will take care of my future.” So it is a statement of my past, my present, and my future. 1) My past – “ God, I am thankful for what you have given me.” 2) My present – “God, you are first in my finances and my life right now.” 3) My future – “God, I give this now and I place my trust in my future to you.” Remember, tithe means ten percent. It’s not the loose change in your pocket. It’s ten percent of what you make. The Bible teaches we are to give a tithe of our income to our church.
We have been challenging our church family to show their trust in the Lord through the month of October by making a commitment to tithing. A little less than half of our church has filled out this important card. And 64 households have already made this commitment. You say, “I’m ready, pastor, how do I do this?”
Three Ways to Give
1) You can give cash or check in the envelope; 2) You can give online; 3) You Can Text to Give
Commitment Cards
I am asking everyone in our church family to take a few moments to prayerfully consider their generosity to our church. I want you to take the commitment card from inside your worship guide and thoughtfully complete this
Closing Prayer
Father, I ask you to visit us in this hour… to make your incredible presence known to your people.
