Money seems a really profitable (!) topic for this post, since Christ presents it as a key force in opposition to God in our minds, one we really need to know about (Matt 6:19-24). Indeed `the love of money` – though not money itself – `is the root of all kinds of evil` (1 Tim 6:10). So what then?
At the heart of God’s calling to us, said Jesus, is love, but a radically opposite love: `Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind!’ (Matt 22:37-38).
So what does such love involve? In our marriage vows we often promise, `All that I am I give to you, all that I have I share with you.` Real love for our partner shapes the rest of our lives: our career plans, our sex lives, what we do with our time; and indeed what we do with our money.
It’s all the same with God. `Repenting`, when we first become Christians, means saying to God: From now on You are my Lord, 100%, 24/7. If it’s real, our love for God shapes the rest of our lives: our career plans, our sex lives, our marriage plans. So today’s issue is very practical: How does my love for God affect my money?
However we’re not going to be thinking about “how much we should give away”. That’s the wrong question. And if we see why it’s wrong, a lot else falls into place. And that will point us towards joy in eternity, in ways we will miss out otherwise!
1 Cor 6:19 contains some very striking and memorable words: `You are not your own!` And if that’s so, nothing I “have” is really mine either; the true disciple of Jesus knows that everything we “have” belongs to God. `Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand` (1 Chron 29:14). We’re just looking after what belongs to somebody else. (Have you ever lived for a while in someone else’s house? You do now!)
Repentance, when we become followers of Jesus, means: I’m no longer independent, Jesus you are my Lord. And therefore: All I am and have is 100% yours. My house, my car, my money, my time – Jesus I’m glad they’re all Yours, for Your use and purposes…
So then the question for any disciple of Jesus is not – How much of my money should I give away to God and others? It’s rather:
I am Yours. Everything in my bank account and my wallet is Yours. Why have you entrusted this to me? How much of Your money shall I use for my personal needs, and what do You want me to do with the rest?
There are no universal rules that answer that. But if we grasp this principle about what we `give`, it will change our lives. And when you get to heaven you will look back and think: I am so glad I lived by that!
HOW NOT TO BE AN IDIOT
There are only about three occasions when Jesus calls someone a fool. One of these is the `rich fool` in Luke 12. He may have been religious (how often do religious people lose the plot about money?); who knows. But either way, God says to him, `You fool.` Why? Because he’s been `storing up things for himself` and was not rich `towards God`. This makes me want to look in mirror: Am I an idiot or not?
We are daft – fools – if we think that having more money or more stuff will make us happier, more content, more secure, or that storing it up will mean that everything works out well; but that’s basically how our society lives, and it’s not that easy for us to be different. `No servant can serve two masters`, however, says Jesus; `You cannot serve God and Money` (Matt 6:24). So then: am I an idiot? Jesus or Money-and-Stuff, which really is the driving urge shaping most of my life? What kind of lover am I – does my life show I love God most, or love money and stuff most?
LIVING THE NON-IDIOT LIFE
Now we want to be realistic about this. We want to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Yet we have to live in the real world. How are we to think about the money that God has entrusted us to look after?
Alongside the first great commandment about loving God, Jesus set a second, `Love your neighbour as yourself` (Luke 22:39). If I truly do that, my neighbour’s needs will matter to me as much as my own. That’s seriously radical! But who is my neighbour? Jesus showed us in the parable of the good samaritan: actually my neighbour is anyone I’m in contact with that I can be a blessing to (Luke 10:29-37).
Two implications follow from this. First, the biggest need anyone I can be in contact with is salvation: Christ’s forgiveness and new life. And in Luke 16:1-9 Jesus tells us to use (invest!!) our money in a way that makes friends who will be there with us in heaven. Vast areas of the world have never heard properly of Jesus; to be `without hope & without God in the world` (Eph 2:12) is serious. We can use the money God has entrusted to us to do something about that – and so `make friends` we will rejoice to be with in eternity!
Then, many people we can reach with our money have other, absolutely massive, and deeply painful practical needs. `Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord`, says Proverbs about this, `and he will reward them for what they have done` (19:17). (And `Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered` (21:13).) This obviously applies where there are needs within our church (Acts 2:45, James 2:15-16); and our own town or area (eg `immigrants, fatherless and widows` – see Deut 14:29). But again, Jesus showed us in Luke 10 that the `neighbour` we are called to `love as ourselves` is anyone we can be in contact with. 10,000 children – indeed some say 40,000 – die of hunger and preventable disease every day; they are our neighbours, their parents are our neighbours. Think about this: obviously we wouldn’t spend our money on ourselves if we could prevent that catastrophe and they lived next door; how is it actually any different if they live at a distance? (Say, in South Sudan?)
What however about my own needs and my family’s? We are right to ask that question (see 1 Tim 5:8). But also Jesus spends a lot of the sermon on the mount (Matt 5:25-34) telling us not to be of `little faith`, and not to worry, because our loving Father really will provide for our needs, we can trust him! So as we think about money, the first thing to think about is God and His kingdom (v31).
But what about beyond our `fun` expenditure, our use of money beyond our most vital `needs`? Again there are no rules about this! God `richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment` (1 Tim 6:17); Jesus in the gospels enjoyed going to feasts! But we’re called to live by God’s command as we decide holiday expenditure, or what we’ll spend on a car or more expensive clothes. In a desperately needy world we’re called to a lifestyle of simplicity and restraint: God, this is your money, how do you want it used? Loving my neighbour as myself means that every major financial decision I make is made in the context of my neighbour’s need too. The fact that I have the money for something isn’t the same as having God’s OK to use it that way. Be `trustworthy in handling worldly wealth`, says Jesus (Luke 16:10). (And he continued, thought-provokingly: Only if you’re trustworthy with worldly wealth will you be entrusted with the `true riches` (v11)!)
So may the Lord help us to grasp the huge potential of our giving! In heaven we can expect to meet someone – quite possibly many people – who will tell us, `My little daughter didn’t die because, instead of spending that money on yourself, you…` Or: `I was given a Bible, and became a Christian and started a church, and we transformed my town, because, instead of spending that money on yourself, you…`
PRACTICAL STEPS TOWARDS LOVING GOD RATHER THAN MONEY AND STUFF
• Love of money and things is an addiction like any other. Greed is a fatal idolatry (Eph 5:5). How do we break an addiction? By cutting it off, and then getting into a community with the same vision for freedom. (Which includes seeking a spouse with the same vision!)
• Liberation means being radical. Don’t `conform to this world’ (Rom 12:2) means acting differently; break free from the manipulation of fashion: `must haves` aren’t!
• Beware of updates! Gadgets that were wonderful a year ago can be bought at 50% off now because there’s a new version available with features you don’t actually need!
• But in practice — make sure you do something good with the money you save! An immediate transfer to https://www.uk.om.org/appeal/mercy for example??
• Disciple your kids before the media does! Heckle the ads: `It isn’t worth the money!` `I can’t take it with me!` `Who are you kidding?`
• Try not to buy on impulse (it usually means, without consulting God)
• Grasp that this world really is temporary; lay up treasure (invest!) somewhere far more lasting (Matt 6:19-21).
• Another liberating idea to reflect on is that possessions are weights. Maybe the flight to heaven has a 20kg weight limit! Remember the camel and the needle’s eye (Matt 19:24). We’re on our way to the glory of heaven, and we’re called to travel light!
• What can I do without? Train yourself; fast from luxury; what can I sell for someone else’s benefit? (Luke 12:32-33)?
• Listen to God your loving Father about all this – You cannot out-give him (Malachi 3:8-10)!
• What about tithing? Israel were told to bring God the first 10% (`tithe`) of all their income. This taught them to put God first and trust in His provision first rather than their own efforts. And it resulted in God pouring out his blessings (Malachi 3:9-12 is the classic passage). A tenth is a figure we find highlighted clearly in various parts of the old testament (eg Gen 14:18-20, 28:22); and if we’re praying about how much of God’s money to give away directly, it can be a very good starting point. Indeed it may be unusual to be too far below that. (But some of us are in unusual circumstances and have to act accordingly, eg if our spouse isn’t a Christian.)
Nowhere in the new testament, however, is 10% presented as a rule. Some friends who came to the church where I was a pastor have been surprised they’ve not been told to give 10% of their money to the church. Why not? Well, first, because for a disciple of Jesus it must be 100%, and we really mean that as the basis for our financial plans! As for what we give away directly, some will be called to give less than 10%, some more; decide for yourself, prayerfully, faith-fully, and generously (2 Cor 9:6-7, Prov 11:24-25, Luke 6:38). And secretly (Matt 6:3)! Plan your giving; and make revisiting it a diarized habit (1 Cor 16:2), not just something you do when emotion grabs you.
But also, God may very well want you to direct some of that giving to other places besides your church: to missionaries, for example; or to brothers and sisters in need. But work out prayerfully your responsibilities to your church. I remember one year when the budgeted giving we needed was over £30,000 a month (plus recovered gift aid). And we were a community of 600; do the maths!
• Another important biblical principle is giving the firstfruits to God (eg Prov 3:9-10): set aside first (1 Cor 16:2) the money you’ve decided at this time to give away directly; for example by a bank standing order. If you don’t, you may keep on finding there is always so much month left at the end of the money! Maybe put it into a separate account that you won’t dip into (it can then be fun to decide periodically how you want to give away that money!) And see what happens – trust God to provide for you if you put him first. Teach your kids to do the same (maybe give them a pay rise to cover it!)
• Lastly, don’t reject the government’s gifts – if you’re a British taxpayer, please fill in a Gift Aid form for your church and for whatever agencies you support! (If you’re not in Britain, you may well find your country has a similar arrangement.) It doesn’t mean you pay any more, but the church or agency gets a full 25% more from your gift because it can reclaim the tax.
As we learn to love God and walk his way in these issues, he will partner with us to change the world, and in heaven we’ll see the results! And meanwhile we’ll grow more like Jesus as we learn to live by faith and love and worship him in this way…
ABSORB TIME: What we’ve explored in this post is an area which something in our minds may encourage us just to forget about as soon as possible… So maybe reread this: what, very specifically, do you want to make decisions about, from what we’ve looked at?
