In
1990, best-selling author Randy Alcorn was a pastor of a large church. He had
published several books and was making a considerable amount of money on book royalties.
He loved his life as a pastor and wanted to stay in that role the rest of his
life. Through his study of the Scriptures, he became convicted to fight for the
unborn through peaceful, nonviolent protests at abortion clinics. Through his
peaceful protests, he was arrested, sent to jail and sued by the abortion
clinic. He agreed to pay his fine to the government, but would not give his
money to support the taking of innocent lives. The church he was pastoring was
about to be ordered by a local judge to garnish ¼ of his wages to pay to the
clinic. He had no choice, but to resign from the church and he had to
relinquish the rights to all his book royalties. The only way he could avoid
having his wages garnished in the future was to make no more than minimum
wage.
Alcorn
was eventually sued again for participating in another non-violent protest. He
lost this case as well which awarded $8.2 million dollars to the abortion
clinic. So he had to remove his name off the deed of his recently paid-off home
and could never legally own any assets again if he wanted to avoid supporting
the work of abortion clinics. How would you handle that? How would you deal
with being forced to resign from a job you love, giving up all your assets, and
only ever being allowed to make minimum wage? By all worldly appearances, Randy Alcorn would
look like a failure. He had no assets and could never make more than minimum
wage, but if you were to ask him, he would say, “It was one of the best things
that ever happened to us…My inability to legally own assets was nothing I
sought after and nothing to be congratulated for, but God used it to help me
understand what He means by, ‘Everything under heaven belongs to me’ (Job
41:11).’[1]
Randy Alcorn learned the secret of
being content in every situation, whether having plenty or living in want.
Sadly, many Americans have yet to learn this lesson. According to a recent
report issued by the American Psychological Association, almost ¾ (72%) of
Americans feel stressed about money. Almost one in four Americans say they
experience extreme stress about money.[2] Another recent survey done
by SunTrust Bank says that the number one cause for stress in relationships is
the stress caused by finances.[3] We all have to deal with
money. And we all have our own perspective of money, but the key is do we have
God’s perspective on money?
The theme most emphasized in the
book of Proverbs is financial wisdom. Money problems are ultimately spiritual
problems. Our checkbooks are an indication of our spiritual health. A wise
perspective on money will help limit stress, avoid folly and, most importantly,
help us to honor God with our all of our lives.
The Wisdom of Financial Perspective
Wealth
is a Blessing
When Wisdom speaks in Proverbs
8:18, she says, “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and
righteousness.” The rich man will be
able to endure more easily in the day of trial because he wealth will provide
him some protection. Proverbs
10:15, “A rich
man's wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their
ruin.” Proverbs 14:24, “The crown of the wise
is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly.” Wealth is a
blessing from the Lord. Those who have wealth should recognize that every good
and perfect gift comes from above.
Proverbs 22:4, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life.” Wealth can be a blessing to people in
a vast number of ways.
It is important to point out that
proverbs are maxims which generally come true. We may be those who live in
wisdom, but still may not possess great wealth. We know people who work hard
and are poor and others who live extravagantly while piling up debt. When we
look at money, these are general principles that typically are proven true
based on our experience.
Wealth
is Dangerous
Wealth is a gift of God, but also
can prove dangerous to the soul. Riches pose a very real threat to salvation
(just ask the Rich Young Ruler). The rich are tempted to put their hope in
their wealth instead of their hope in Christ. Proverbs
11:28, “Whoever trusts in
his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green
leaf.” Many have walked away from Jesus Christ because of their desire for
wealth (1Timothy 6:9-10). You cannot serve both God and money.
We
should be very wary of the dangerous pull of wealth. Proverbs 30:7-9 give us a
wonderful perspective on money,
Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me
before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty
nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 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.
Sadly, too many are full and deny God and
say, “Who is the Lord?” The prosperity of this country has drawn many people
away from God. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Wealth is a
blessing, but it also can be a curse.
Wealth has limitations.
We all need to realize that money has its
limitations. Proverbs 11:4, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness
delivers from death.” No one will be able to pile their money before the Lord
on their day of judgment as a reason to enter heaven. You never see an armored
car drive behind a hearse. Once someone asked JD Rockefeller’s accountant how
much he left behind and he replied, “All of it.” 1 Timothy 6:7, “For we brought nothing into
the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” And Job said after
losing all his possessions, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name
of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)
Do not
put your trust in riches. Do not expect money to give you ultimate happiness. A
bigger car, a nicer house, or more vacations will not fill the longing in the
soul, neither will denying yourself all of those things for a larger savings
account. Benjamin Franklin has said, “Money never made a man happy yet, nor
will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it
makes one.” Wealth has limitations so do not give wealth the place it should
never hold.
The Wisdom of Financial Pursuit
Solomon provides two general
principles for those in their pursuit of wealth which should frame how we
approach our pursuit of financial gain. We should work hard and honestly.
Pursue
Wealth by Working Hard
Those who do not work hard should not expect
riches. The best way to acquire wealth is simple, good old-fashioned hard work.
Proverbs
10:4, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the
hand of the diligent makes rich.” Proverbs
12:27, “Whoever is slothful
will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.”
As we have said before, proverbs are maxims that provide a general rule of how
things work out. There are lazy people who have acquired wealth, but the
majority of the world acquires wealth by simple, diligent, faithful work. Do
not look for the get-rich quick schemes, but diligently work to slowly acquire
wealth. Proverbs 13:11 says, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by
little will increase it.” Do not listen to the spirit of the age with the
promise of quick and easy money, but be willing to give yourself to a life of
hard work to acquire wealth.
One thing
I have heard recently is how often young people expect to start their careers
and home life at the same standard of living as their parents. Young adults
want their dream home and their dream job right when they get out of school. We
need to readjust our expectations and realize that it will take hard work over
a long time to get where we want to go.
Pursue
Wealth by Working Honestly
We should not only pursue wealth
diligently, but also honestly. People should work hard, but do it with
integrity. An honest day’s work is more valuable than great wealth.
Proverbs
22:16, “Whoever oppresses the
poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to
poverty.”
Proverbs
28:6, “Better is a poor man who walks in his
integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”
Proverbs
22:1, “A good name is to be chosen rather than
great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.”
Proverbs
8:11, “for wisdom is better than jewels, and
all that you may desire cannot compare with her.”
Proverbs
28:8, “Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest
and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.”
Which would you rather have: money or a good
name? Wealth or wisdom? Christians should value integrity and honesty more than
making money. If you value money more than righteousness, you will probably
fall into temptation. “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great
treasure and trouble with it.” (Proverbs 15:16) “Better is
a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.” (Proverbs 16:8
ESV) Can you say it? Would you rather have little wealth and Christ, or great
riches without him?
There
is a reason that Paul says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into
temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge
people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9) The desire for great wealth
is tempting, but may lead you to ruin and destruction. Tim Keller warns that, “money
can become much more than money. It can become a powerful life-altering,
culture-shaping god, an idol that breaks the hearts of its worshippers.[4]”
Do not underestimate the power of wealth and the desire to be rich. Choose
wisdom over wealth, righteousness over riches.
The Wisdom of Financial
Practice
We should work hard and honestly to
pursue our money, but how should we spend our money? There are three simple
rules that I see taught in the Proverbs on how we should practice with our
wealth.
Practice
Generosity
Christians should be generous. Christians
are freed to be generous because they understand that all their resources have
been given to them by God. Therefore we should practice generosity. Proverbs
3:9, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your
produce.” Generosity protects people from idolatry and shows they value the
Lord above riches. When we are free to give our money to the Lord, then we show
that money does not master us. We show that we are serving God, not money.
Throughout Proverbs we see the generous being promised a reward from God.
Proverbs
19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay
him for his deed.”
Proverbs
14:21, “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is
generous to the poor.”
Proverbs
14:31, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous
to the needy honors him.”
God
loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Christians should practice generosity
because God has been generous to them. We give because God has first given to
us. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Those who sow generously will
reap generously. Practice generosity.
Practice
Restraint
One of the greatest tools in how one
uses their money is to practice restraint. We do not need as much as we think
we need. Solomon encourages restraint in three specific ways.
In
Spending- Proverbs 21:5, “The plans of the diligent lead surely
to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” Fools do not
plan, but spend their money hastily. We should be cautious in our pursuit of
entertainment and luxury. Proverbs 21:17, “Whoever loves pleasure will be a
poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.” We are an entertainment-
and a comfort-addicted culture. We are trained to believe that we are entitled
to pleasure and comfort. Whether its movies, video games, eating out, or a
remodel, we have to be careful not to love pleasure. Think careful in how you
spend your wealth.
Restraint
is not the same as being stingy. Remember, we should be generous with our
resources. We should be hospitable with others, including our families. God has
given us good things to enjoy. He is gracious and kind to us and has given us
wealth to enjoy his world. “For everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1
Timothy 4:4). Practice restraint in your spending, not stinginess.
To
Avoid Debt – Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rules over the poor, and
the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Whether it is student loan debt, credit
card debt, a huge mortgage or a car loan, debt can be crippling. Debt may
hinder generosity. Debt may hinder one’s ability to serve others because they
have to work longer hours or get a second job. Debt may also bring undue
relational stress. There are certain debts that we cannot avoid, like a huge
medical bill, but there are others that we bring upon ourselves. We should honor
our debts. Proverbs 3:28, “Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.” Psalm 37:21, “The wicked
borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.”
Practice restraint in your spending and your purchases to avoid being put in
situations where you will not be able to honor your debt. Be not one of those
who give pledges, who puts up security for debts. If you have nothing with
which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? (Proverbs 22:26-27)
To
Avoid Schemes – Restraint will help us discover the
various financial schemes of our day. Whether it is getting a free t-shirt on a
college campus to sign up for a credit card, being roped into a pyramid scheme,
or receiving an email requesting help from Nigeria, restraint will make you
think twice before falling to a financial trap. “Wealth gained hastily will
dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” (Proverbs
13:11) Restraint will protect you from the get rich quick schemes.
Practice
Saving
We should intentionally practice
saving for the days ahead. The righteous plans for the days ahead like the ant
prepares for winter. Christians should work to leave an inheritance for their
children and to be prepared for the days of calamity. Proverbs does not specify
how much one should save, but simply that one should save. “A good man leaves
an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up
for the righteous.”(Proverbs 13:22) “The plans of the diligent lead surely to
abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:5).
We practice generosity to honor the
Lord and thank Him for his good gifts. We practice restraint to protect us from
worldly pleasures, debts and schemes. We practice saving to prepare for the
days ahead. There are many other things that could be said in how we spend our
money, but these three practices will help one grow in wisdom in the use of
their money.
The
Wisdom of Financial Payment
There is little doubt that some of
you feel weighted down when thinking about finances. Whether you are struggling
with debt or bound to an apparent never-ending cycle of poor choices, there is
hope for you. The beginning of financial wisdom, like all wisdom is the fear of
the Lord. Always remember your greatest debt has already been paid.
Christ
Paid Your Debt
The wages of sin is death. We all
rightly earn death because of our sin. We have a debt to God that we cannot pay.
And through the fear of death we have been subject to lifelong slavery.
Therefore God sent forth his Son to free us from our bondage to our debt. We who
were dead in our trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling
the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set
aside, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14) After Jesus was dead and
buried, God raised him from the dead proving that he accepted Christ’s payment
in full. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he
washed it white as snow. The greatest debt that stood against us has been
canceled; paid in full, forgiven in the blood in Christ. All who turn from
their sin and trust in Christ have their debt wiped out. You may be overwhelmed
by creditors, but in Christ, you have righteousness credited to your account
forever.
The more we understand the debt that
Christ has paid, the more we will love him and strive to honor him with all of
our lives, including our finances. We have been bought with a price. We no
longer are our own, but we belong to God. Jesus died as our ransom to buy us
back to God. Our wealth, our resources, and our investments all belong to God.
We should not be hesitant to give, but delight to give as God has given us so
much. He did not spare his own Son, but give him up for us all, how will he not
graciously with him give us all things? We cannot out-give God. We should delight
in giving our all to him for Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.
Christ
Provided Your Contentment
Let me close with one verse that
should give us hope when we feel the squeeze of our checkbook. “Keep your life
free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I
will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5) Beloved, keep yourself
free from the love of money, be content with what you have, because you have
Christ. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. If you have Christ, the King
of glory, what else do you need? Learn the secret of being content with living
in plenty and in want, for you can do all things through Christ who strengthens
you.
