Financial Crisis, Catalyst, and Dave Ramsey

A timely Catalyst interview regarding the financial crisis with Dave Ramsey. I'm no financial guru, but his challenge to not live out of fear was helpful. Check it out.

http://www.catalystspace.com/content/podcast

Your Money and Your Life #13: A quick review

Our culture has much to tell us about money and wealth, and it is often at odds with what God calls us to. Thankfully God gives us a picture of what He wants for us with “Your Money and Your Life.”

God has blessed most, if not all of us, with wealth at varying levels. We need to cultivate the character to handle that wealth – righteousness, humility, hard work, and fair work. Then we need to put it in perspective. Hard to do, but we have to think on the most important things, and money isn’t it.

But God knows our hearts and that we can forget what’s most important. So He gives us some tools to make sure we put wealth in its place. He asks us to tithe, give 10% to the church. And then He asks us to be generous on top of that – to any number of places, most specifically to the poor.

That’s the picture in Proverbs. The big question for us now is, “What’s next?”

If you aren’t tithing, start. God asks us to test Him in this. It isn’t often that we’re to test God, but we’re challenged to with tithing. Scary? Yes. But it’s also clear. It is an act of obedience. It feels odd to lay it out there because we don’t like to talk about it, but it is for your benefit. God will get done what He’s gonna get done. He doesn’t need it. You need to give it. I need to give it.

After your tithe, look for opportunities to be generous – whether at a whim or planned out with regular giving. Even if you don’t want to do it, start looking for options. Peru. India. Los Angeles. Cypress. Your community

Now some of you may be like Donald Miller, or myself at times, and your finances are somewhere between utter disarray and not as organized as you’d like. You don’t know where you’ll find the space for these disciplines. I encourage you to get help. We’ll be offering a biblical financial stewardship class soon. Sign up today and start honoring God in an area that is so challenging to us as individuals, particularly in the culture we live in.

Friends, God wants to bring balance to “Your Money and Your Life” for your good, and my good. Let’s cooperate with Him in obedience, and then enjoy the blessings of His goodness without hindrance.

Your Money and Your Life #12: Give More of Your Wealth … to the poor and suffering

We need to give above and beyond our tithe and we can do it in a bunch of different ways. It is clear that God wants us to be generous, but God wants us to particularly be generous to the poor and the suffering.

Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

This is sometimes challenging, isn’t it? You don’t know who’s lazy and who’s oppressed. But we can’t get away from God’s heart for the suffering, the hurting, and He calls us to be generous towards them.

You can give to the poor in a variety of ways – your local food bank, the nearest mission, or spending money to make care packages for homeless people you see – clean socks, toiletries, a bottle of water. There’s poor suffering all around the world. Check out organizations like Jane’s House or World Vision to care for the world’s poor.

We live in a world of plenty. At the same time, the needs are vast and God intends to meet those needs through the generosity of those He has given an abundance to. Like it or not; think it or not, that’s us. We’re called to tithe, and we’re also called to be generous. Let God move your heart to be generous toward those around you – locally or around the world.

What are some good organizations you’re familiar with when it comes to caring for the poor?

Your Money and Your Life #11: Give More of Your Wealth … but how much?

OK. Be generous. But how much should we give? You got me. I suppose since God wants to form us with our giving, one size doesn’t fit all. But CS Lewis has some good ideas – he has that way about him. CS Lewis’ rule in Mere Christianity for giving is that you should give more than you can spare. If you are able to live at the same standard as those who earn as much as you, you probably aren’t giving enough. It needs to “pinch” us. There should be some things we want or want to do, and can’t, because we’ve been generous elsewhere.

Anyone eager to do this? I don’t look forward to more of a pinch than a tithe, if I can avoid it. But I also know God doesn’t want me to avoid it. I’m busy trying to figure out how to get what my neighbors have, not make sure I don’t have enough to get it because I’m giving stuff away. Who’s with me? But Proverbs is clear. We’re to be generous with what God has given.

This “pocket” from which we give is where we give to missionaries and other charitable causes – or different funds within the church, like the camp fund that blessed so many kids last week. Or even random needs of friends, family, or people you meet on the bus or at the supermarket.

There are a million opportunities to give – go to the Jane’s House link in the margin. You likely know missionaries who want to get overseas. If you don’t, contact me. I’ll get you some info on them.

Be sure to remember, though, this is outside the tithe – above and beyond the tithe. I learned this in 201 and it changed how we give. The tithe is where I surrender the 10% with no choice of where it goes as a discipline that the money isn’t mine, it’s God’s. There’s discipline in me “not having a say,” in not having control. I don’t like it, but I see how that forms me all the more. It is submission to the church leadership to spend my tithe well.

Giving (in contrast with tithing), generosity is where I’m a more active steward, putting the money in places where God specifically leads me.

What do you think about tithing to your church for 10% and giving on top of that? What are your giving habits … and why?

Your Money and Your Life #10: Give More of Your Wealth, Be Generous

As the last post makes clear, God gives us a way to break our addiction to wealth and “stuff.” The tithe. But are there any good Pharisees reading along? I’m one. Give me a rule to follow and when I’m old I shall not depart from it. Given our relative prosperity, it may take more than a tithe to break us of our addiction to, and trust in, stuff. Really.

You see, there’s a very God-like quality called generosity that He wants to cultivate in each of us. How do we do this? Give more of your wealth.

The tithe may be easy for some of us because we’re quite wealthy and it’s a drop in the bucket of the bottom line – or at least we still have a pretty big bucket after giving 10%. The tithe is easy for me because I’ve built the habit – even if it isn’t a huge amount. Some may think a tithe is generous, but it isn’t. How do I know? I tithe, and I know I’m not that generous. I know generous people and I stand in stark contrast to them much of the time.

God doesn’t call us just to tithing, but to generosity.

Proverbs 11:24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

If I’m not generous, I need more training to be a person who reflects God’s generosity.

If you’re generous, what are the joys of generosity? If you struggle with generosity, why?

Your Money and Your Life #9: Give the Firstfruits

Now, like me, you live in America where wealth is a premium value – or at least acting like you have it is. Comfort is king. We are expected to pursue wealth and spend money. Our culture wars against the thought that wealth isn’t king. How do we stem the tidal wave of our culture’s values? How do we put wealth in its place? How do we find that middle ground of “neither poverty nor riches”?

Start by doing something really difficult. Give the firstfruits of your wealth. We’ve looked at the attitudes, particularly humility, and the need to put wealth in its place. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? Thankfully God gives us tools to help us do it. Namely, the tithe.

Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Give a portion to Him … your first portion. It isn’t that He needs it – Scripture tells us He owns the cattle on a 1000 hills. It isn’t His need, I need to give, you need to give. We’ll be blessed when you do. In Donald Miller’s book Blue Like Jazz, Donald, after a humorous run-in with an unlikely tithing friend, tells of his confession to his pastor, Rick, that he didn’t tithe:

Rick had come over to the house, and we were lying about how much we could bench-press, and then I just blurted it out, “I am not giving any money to the church, Rick. Not a dime.”
“Okay,” he said. “Interesting way to change the conversation. Why?” he asked. “Why aren’t you giving any money to the church?”
“Because I don’t have any money. Everything goes to rent and groceries.”
“That sounds like a tough situation,” he said, very compassionately.
“So am I exempt?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said. “We want your cash.”
“How much? I asked.
“How much do you make?”
“I don’t know. About a thousand a month, maybe”
“Then we want a hundred.
And you should also know how much you make. Part of the benefit of giving a portion of your money is it makes you think about where your money goes. God does not want us to be sloppy with our finances, Don.”
“But I need money for rent.”
“You also need to trust God.”
“I know. I just think it would be easier to trust God if I had extra money to trust Him with.”
“That would not be faith, then, would it?”
“No.”
“Well, bud, I just want you to know I hate this part of the job, ‘cause it sounds like I am asking for your money. I don’t care whether or not we have your money. Our needs are met. I want to tell you that you are missing out on so much, Don.”
“So much what?”
“The fruit of obedience,” he said, looking very pastoral. “When we do what God wants us to do, we are blessed, we are spiritually healthy. God wants us to give a portion of our money to His work on earth. By setting aside money from every check, you are trusting God to provide. He wants you to get over that fear – that fear of trusting Him. It is a scary place, but that is where you have to go as a follower of Christ. There are times when my wife and I don’t have enough money to cover bills, but we know the first bill, the first payment we make, is to the church. That is most important. If the other bills get neglected, then we need to watch how we are spending money. And there are times when we have found ourselves in that situation. But it works out. We are getting good at trusting God, and we are getting good at managing money.”
The next week I emptied my checking account, which had about eight dollars in it,
and I gave it to the church. Another check came a few days later, and I gave 10 percent of that to the church, then I got another writing gig with a magazine in Atlanta, and as I deposited that check into my account I wrote a check to the church. One after another, I started getting called to speak at retreats and conferences that usually pay pretty well, and each time I would write a check to the church. Since then, since that conversation with Rick, I have given at least 10 percent of every dollar I make, just like Curt. And I have never not had rent. For more than a year my checking account had hovered or dipped just over or just under zero, and suddenly I had money to spare. I decided I would open a savings account in case some day I would get married and have a family, and with each bit of money that came in I would give 10 percent to the church and 10 percent to the savings account. I was actually budgeting money. I had never done that before. But that is not the best part. The best part is what tithing has done for my relationship with God. Before, I felt like I was always going to God with my fingers crossed, the way a child feels around his father when he knows he has told terrible lies. God knew where I was, He didn’t love me any different when I was holding out on Him, it’s just that I didn’t feel clean around Him, and you know how that can affect things. (And he goes on a bit from there…)

This isn’t just a proverbs thing, either. Malachi 3:10 is pretty clear: “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

This is a discipline in knowing that it isn’t your money, it’s God’s, and we need to learn to trust Him with His money. Because it is ultimately His, not ours. It isn’t your wealth, it is God’s that He’s given you as a steward. I like what Miller’s pastor said. Our needs are taken care of.

At our church we have a big budget for this coming year, big plans, that depend on giving, faithful tithing. God will provide for what He wants done. But there’s bigger things than meeting budget. The thing about 400-500 people tithing that would make Satan tremble is not the church budget. It is 400-500 people who are willing to trust God in one of the areas we’re often last to be obedient in. It is the symbol of an army of people who are mobilizing to stomp Satan because it reveals our obedience to God – even in the tough stuff, even if we would rather buy some flashy new technology or a new outfit.

Tithing is as much a gift to us as it is to God. Probably more. It shows us whose money it is. It teaches us how to trust. It teaches us who or what to place our trust in.

What are the challenges you face in tithing? What are the joys you experience in it?

Your Money and Your Life #8: Put Wealth in its Place … It’s Unreliable

This screed might be getting old, but my inability to post with any consistency likely makes it seem less monotonous. Anyway, what’s the next reason we should “put wealth in its place?” It is unreliable. It isn’t worthy of our trust. We might work tirelessly for it, and there’s still no guarantee that we’ll get it.

Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

On top of the fact that it might be gone regardless of your diligence, the desire to get rich can destroy our souls. Paul pulls no punches on this very real fear, particularly in our culture that loves money and materialism.

1 Timothy 6:6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 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. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Wealth can only offer so much, and it isn’t as much as we often think (see Prov. 18.11). More importantly, it can easily play the idol in our lives, dulling our hunger for God. You may think I mean those who are driven to accumulate more and more, seeking satisfaction in material things rather than God. You’re right. But I also mean more than that, or maybe less than that.

There’s another, more subtle idolatry with wealth. Trusting it more than God to be your security. Ps. 20.7 says some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. In our world, some trust in their IRA, some trust in bank accounts, but do we trust in the name of the Lord our God?

Now we all want financial security, don’t we? There are passages about planning to take care of your family in Proverbs, but we need to be careful. Are you placing your trust in a who, or a what? God or money?

Wealth is nice. It is a blessing to the righteous, a curse to the wicked (and through the wicked), but it has its place. Proverbs speaks of wealth highly, but of other things more highly. A good capper to this point is Proverbs 15.16.

Proverbs 15:16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

So who are you trusting? Next we’ll get to how we can start actually putting wealth in its place.

Your Money and Your Life #7: Put Your Wealth in Its Place … After Wisdom

The last post on money, which was too long ago (my apologies to the throng who reads this blog) was something we knew the right answer to, even if we don’t live it well. Our family is more valuable than wealth. This one might be a bit more controversial. Proverbs also tells us that wisdom is better than wealth.

Proverbs 8:10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.

The story of King Solomon himself illustrates this principle. God asked Solomon what he wanted and Solomon was smart enough to know he wasn’t smart enough to govern God’s people so he asked for the wisdom to know the difference between good and evil. Conspicuously absent from his request is wealth and honor. God was so pleased with the request that he gave him wealth and honor on top of wisdom. (Want the whole story … or don’t believe me? Read 1 Kings 3).

It is doubtful that anyone reading this is governing a great people, but we’ve each been given great responsibility in our areas of influence and nothing is more important than wisdom that comes from God if we want to influence others for good and for God. Wealth is, in many cases, a blessing, according to Proverbs, but it is likewise clear that there are plenty of better things. Specifically, living well, which is what wisdom helps us do.

We’re encouraged not to give wealth pride of place because there are so many other things that are better – character, family, and wisdom to name a few. There are probably more, but these are enough to chew on for a bit … and this last one might be the most difficult.

How do you see wisdom as really being better than riches?

Your Money and Your Life #6: Put Wealth In Its Place … After Family

Character is important when it comes to dealing with our wealth. The next aspect of living well with “Our Money and Our Life” is putting money in its place, which isn’t first place, despite what our culture would tell us. We’ve already seen that character is more important than money. The next is well illustrated by a joke I found in The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart by Charles Swindoll (a book of sermon illustrations):

Two women met at a cocktail party after a separation of many years. After the initial delighted exchange of greetings, the first woman noticed that her friend was wearing an extraordinary diamond. She couldn’t help commenting, “That’s the most beautiful and enormous diamond I’ve ever seen!” “Yes, it’s an unusual diamond,” was the reply. “It’s the Calahan Diamond. And it comes complete with the Calahan curse.”

“What’s the Calahan curse?”

“Mr. Calahan!” she said.

It may be a bad joke, but Proverbs agrees…

Proverbs 19:13-14 A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain. House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

If any ladies are offended, I’m sure the sentiment works for husbands and wives … and nobody is honored like the Proverbs 31 woman in the book of Proverbs.

Work hard to provide for your family, but don’t sacrifice your family on the golden altar of wealth. They are more important than wealth.

How do you maintain balance in this? I know it can be particularly challenging for men, but it can be for anyone career-oriented, man or woman. This is one of those things we know in our heads, but our actions, our drive to succeed (or to not fail), and external forces making demands on us can push us.

How do you keep your family first (after God, of course)?

Your Money and Your Life #5: The Character Foundation, Work Fair

The last post laid open the question of why getting rich quick can be troubling. I think this next one is a pretty important reason why getting rich quick is a dangerous temptation. We may be tempted to hurt others, oppressing others to get ahead.

Proverbs 13:23 The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

Proverbs is hard on the lazy, and rightfully so. The wisdom writers let them know that the lazy deserve their poverty. But texts like the one above show this is not exclusively the case. Some are poor because they have been treated unjustly by people in positions of power. The wicked are wealthy in Proverbs at times, and it is dangerous. Here’s likely why … the wicked are more prone to oppress than the righteous.

Whatever fortune you’re building, make sure you work fairly. You may not run a sweatshop, but how do you treat your employees? Do you lead with humility, and more important to this sub-point, do you treat your employees well, with respect and fairness?

God has stern warnings for those who oppress. Work fair.

Your Money and Your Life #4: The Character Foundation, Work Hard

The last post dealt with humility. God gives us the ability to earn what we earn. We owe God much when it comes to our wealth. It is very much a gift from Him. Now we look at the flip-side of the coin when it comes to the character that can bear wealth well. We need to work hard.

Proverbs 10:4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

This is a good time to note the nature of Proverbs. They aren’t iron-clad, true-in-every-circumstance promises. They are general truths to live by which means there could be some overlap and tension at time between proverbs. It isn’t that they are contradictory, but that they are general wisdom to applied differently in different situations.

In this case, Proverbs is generally clear. Hard workers are generally rich; the lazy are generally poor. We get in a “get-rich-quick” society. Think lottery and frivolous lawsuits. But that can be a problem. It is admittedly anecdotal, but I’ve heard the lottery destroys lives in many cases. This, too, aligns with Proverbs…

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

Why is this? Why is hastily gained wealth sometimes problematic? I think there are a couple reasons. First, I think part of it is that personal character isn’t built to carry the wealth well. The humility, righteousness, and hard work are not in place to carry the burden of wealth well. The next post will have another reason why getting rich quick is a dangerous temptation.

But for now, why do you think getting rich quick can be dangerous?

Your Money and Your Life #3: The Character Foundation, Humility

Humility seems as much a mismatch with wealth as righteousness, but Proverbs continues to be clear.

Proverbs 22:4 The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.

And it isn’t just a Proverbs thing. God is clear to Israel, as He is establishing them as a nation, that they ought not be prideful, but realize that God gives them the ability to do their work.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

The ability to work is a gift from God. That means the stuff and money you work so hard for is a gift from Him by extension. This offers some tough, searching questions for each of us…

Whatever your wealth status may be, from obscene wealth to relatively little, where do you think it comes from? What do your inner attitudes toward your stuff reveal? What does your life show, your actions?

Your Money and Your Life #2: The Character Foundation, Righteousness

We often don’t associate wealth with character. It could be the starlet of the week who has been destroyed by the fatal cocktail of wealth and fame because there isn’t the maturity or character to stand up under it or corporate scandal that defrauds thousands of stockholders – also painfully routine. Proverbs agrees: “The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin” (10:16). The next few posts will look at the character that God says lives well with wealth. In this one we’ll look at righteousness.

Proverbs 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
Proverbs 28:6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Wealth is a tool. A powerful tool. It is deadly in the hands of the wicked, life-giving in the hands of the righteous. It is clear what we should strive for.

Righteousness isn’t easy, but it isn’t a mystery. It is a matter of submitting to God as He reveals Himself in Scripture, relating to Him in prayer and obeying Him in that, and submitting to other believers in community. Not easy. But there’s a clear path God has laid out for us.

How do you cultivate righteousness in your life as a believer? How does it affect your finances?

Your Money and Your Life #1: Introduction

I haven't posting much as of late ... obviously. But one way for more frequency is to post the different sections of my most recent sermon for points of discussion. We're going through Proverbs on Sunday mornings. We actually conclude this Sunday, but the next several posts will be my teaching on "Your Money and Your Life." I think it is challenging to most of us, if we let it. I hope it is helpful for you.

Listen to some of our culture’s wisdom on money and wealth.

John D. Rockefeller and Lee Iacocca agree that whatever you have, you want a little more.
George Bernard Shaw: “The lack of money is the root of all evil, not the love of it.”
Oscar Wilde said, “When I was young, I used to think that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am older I know that it is!”

(All found in The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart by Charles Swindoll)

From “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” to “Cribs,” we don’t celebrate balance when it comes to wealth. We celebrate opulence, which should, if we take Proverbs seriously, scare us to death as believers.

Proverbs 30:7-9 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, 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.

Those Proverbs clash decidedly with our world’s perspective on wealth. How does this struggle challenge your thinking? Your practice?

The next several posts will tackle the issue of wealth and the believer in Proverbs – our money and our life.