Fears, Tears and Finances

Friends,

If you are like me you have been keeping pretty close tabs on the current financial situation among the markets of the world. You may have even checked your mutual fund or other investments and have had to hold back the immediate emotional tendency to get out quick. Astute observers have likely also witnessed a real policy change among how the world is rewarding those who have acted quite irresponsibly with their finances. It is truly hard to still maintain a belief that good old American capitalism is alive and well. I like how one financial commentator has commented on the current trend: "The difference between the Russian financial market and the American market is that the Russian’s don’t pretend to be capitalists." Astute observation indeed.

Unlike some others, I myself have had to keep doing regular self, spiritual checks during this "crisis." I do not normally have a besetting sin like greed within me, but I have been sorely tempted as of late to not buy up as much of the market as I possibly can. The market is absolutely on sale right now, and the fear that would normally restrain me from getting too involved with it has been lost. For example, I found some Ford Motor Company shares selling the other day for about $2. In truth, Ford, GM and some other big car makers shouldn’t be invested in right now because they quite literally, under common sense capitalism, fail. Yet the reason I would very much like to buy up a few hundred shares of Ford at $2 is because my government has taught me in the last few weeks that I can do so without fear. If Ford was truly on the edge- big brother will come bail them out. In other words, my $2 investment in the company is almost a sure bet when the sure bet should actually be that the company will severely downsize or fold.

It is this paradox that I believe is very much at the heart of the current crisis. America once understood the relationship between morality and capitalism. That relationship is that fear of loss leads one to invest not only within their means, but according to their very best understanding of a company’s possible success. This meant that to pursue the American dream one had to work hard, invest wisely, do some more hard work, do so more wise investing, etc. It also meant that financial institutions would not bet on you unless they really believed you were good for their credit. They needed to see in you an ability to work hard, a reasonable amount of personal capital and a willingness to pay what you promised you would. These days, however, we have traded in the great American dream for the great American loan application. Well have we forgotten that the one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty (Proverbs 28:19). And, as Proverbs 22:7 says the rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

The foundation of the crisis before us has met my life in a very interesting way. Before I was married I had not only purchased a home, but paid it off 12 years before the loan was due. By the time I was married I had absolutely no debt and was worth, through IRA holdings, CDs and so forth around $40,000 (counting tangible assets). Yet being a pastor, I needed a few things, like suits. So Jennifer and I went to a men’s clothing store one day to get one. Once we had found the one we desired, I went to the register to check out. The clerk told me that if I applied for their store’s credit card I would get a 40% discount off the suit. I had never in my life had a credit card of any kind and didn’t want one. Yet, being newly married, pastoring a church where I made a little over a hundred dollars a week and being in seminary, the discount would be mighty handy. I applied for it and a few minutes later the store manager came out and told me that I had been denied for the card. When I asked him why, he explained to me that I didn’t have a high enough credit score. This puzzled me. I talked to a few folks in the know about these things and they explained to me that I had no credit score because I had no debt. I objected, saying that I had actually paid off all my debt years before my loans were due. This, I came to learn, actually hurt my credit score. So, I asked what I should do. The response- get a credit card- the very last thing I wanted to do. But, knowing that I may need lines of credit for future family issues, Jennifer and I reluctantly got one. We decided to use it like a checking account and have. And to this day we have not paid one penny of interest on it. But here is where it gets interesting. In 2007, Jennifer and I went looking for a new vehicle. We found a few and of course, in a visitation to many car lots met with some sales people. I remember we were looking at one particular truck and the salesman told us about some loans we could have on it. I explained to him that I didn’t believe we could make those loan payments. I was quickly told, "your credit score says you can." How about that. A few years earlier I wasn’t good enough to credit for a suit when I actually was. But then, when I actually wasn’t good enough for a vehicle loan, the tide had turned and behold, I was!

Thankfully and graciously, God has always blessed me and my family with our every need. I cannot tell you the times we have faced serious financial issues only to see Him pull us clean out. When we’ve been sent out to wander in the wilderness by Shur, we like Hagar have found Him to be Yahweh-Roi, the God who sees. And like Abraham we have learned that not only does He see us, He is also Yahweh-Jireh, the God who provides.

I am concerned, however, that there are many Christians caught up in this financial disaster that have been lead into it by less than these biblical precepts. Years of the health and wealth gospel are surely bearing fruit among those who have long believed that the pursuit of gain is one and the same as the pursuit of Christ. Like the government that has taken the fear out of finances and so let its moral binding loose, so many naming Christ’s name have focused too much on Jabez’s prayer instead of Christ’s command to seek His Kingdom first and all other things will be added unto you. Others have also forgotten that it will not profit a man to gain the whole world and yet loose his own soul. For others, such as myself, the rearing head of sin, especially that sin that is the root of all sorts of evil, greed, must be confronted and slain by the truth of God’s Word and the aid of the Holy Spirit. For God has taught us, "the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." He has also taught us "make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

If one does not take personal responsibility before God for their finances, they shall soon find themselves engulfed in a perfectly vicious little circle. For example, people have been outright aghast that the AIG folks would splurge nearly a half-million dollars on resorts and spa treatments in California after their governmental bail-out. But why would this surprise and what action would we really expect them to take otherwise. The government had just taught them that they can be as irresponsible as they wish in how they handle their business and it would all be good in the end. But following Christ’s word and trusting Christ’s promise will not only remove one’s fears but do so by removing all the many factors of greed and worry that compound (pardon the pun) those fears.

I will add another blog entry regarding tithing to the second part of this series. You can also find several sermons about tithing by perusing the "sermons" section of this website. What I will leave you with instead is a portion of one sermon I preached on finances.

"Friends, better than learning how to make a lot of money in this world is learning how to live for God in it. And by this thought I take you to the Lord upon one of my favorite verses of Scripture: wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death. Men may save money but it will never save them. Money will buy you religion, but it will never buy you salvation. You can buy a cross with it, but you can’t buy a Savior. You can buy a passport with money to anywhere in this world, but you can’t buy a ticket to Heaven with it. The knowledge of handling money is important, more important, however, is to know how God handles you before the Messiah. Have you gone to Jesus for the salvation of your soul? In the day of wrath and Heaven shall you be bankrupt or blessed?"

May the Lord bless us all to be found in Him and store our treasure in Heaven where it shall never be lost.

Article XIII "Stewardship" of the BF&M 2000 reads as follows. God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.

Resources Given by and Owed to God
Southern Baptists believe "God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him." God, as sole Creator of all, is also sole Provider of all blessings in Heaven and on earth; all that we have we have received from Him who created, owns and provides all things (Genesis 49:25, Leviticus 27:30, Psalm 50:10-12, Deuteronomy 8:18, 26:9-10; James 1:7). In addition to the mercifully gracious blessings of God in what we have, confessionally, Southern Baptists proclaim that "all that we…are" we owe unto God (1 Corinthians 15:10). Such substantiates the injunction of Christ that if Caesar wants a part of those coins bearing his image given back, then we must give also to God those "coins" stamped with His image, i.e. ourselves and all that we are. Gill defines this concept by stating
God is pronounced, declared and owned to be blessed, by all his creatures; hence the frequent form of blessing him used, "Blessed be the Lord God." Thus he is blessed by angels who, as they are called upon to bless him, do ascribe honour, glory and blessing to him, and the saints, who call upon their souls, and all within them, to bless his holy name for all benefits bestowed upon them. Which is done, no by invoking a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he, to invoke and ask one of, much less by conferring any upon him; for as he needs none, a creature can give him nothing but what is his own. Besides, without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater; the creature of the Creator, and not the Creator of the creature: but this is done by congratulating his greatness and blessedness, and ascribing it to him, and praising him for all blessings, temporal and spiritual, bestowed on them by him.

Christian Stewardship
Southern Baptists believe "Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others." When the topic of stewardship is broached, minds almost immediately turn to finances, which are a part of Christian stewardship, but not the whole. Everything that is portioned to the child of God’s life, be it ability, possessions and even time itself is entrusted to the Christian by God, the Giver of all, Who has given up no claim of ownership, for usage in the pursuit of His will and glory (1 Corinthians 4:7). The very air we breathe is entrusted unto us for use in our Father’s Kingdom. Our talents, trades and vocational skills are to be employed fully to God from the heart whether they are used in religious or secular design (Exodus 35:25, 2 Chronicles 2:7, Ephesians 6:5-9). Even time itself is entrusted to us by God and should be utilized for the purpose of the gospel and the living of love both within and without the church (Ephesians 5:16). Perhaps the most tempting erroneous concept Christians encounter is the temptation to dichotomize life into two halves- one for ourselves and the other for God. And perhaps there is no better illustration of the spiritual battle we now endure between the remnant of carnality, the old man in us of Adam and the new life of the Spirit in Christ (Romans 7:14). Utilizing the maxim of Irenaeus, "the business of the Christian is nothing else that to be ever preparing for death," the Christian goal should be to commune with the reality that God’s spiritual, material and even spatial gifts have been granted from God for the sole purpose of His glory. This is done in the believer by heartfelt gratitude, thanks and praise unto God and the vigorous usage of all towards the goal of His Kingdom and the glory of His name in the trusteeship of gospel proclamation and the duty of Christian love to all.

Stewardship Process
Southern Baptists believe "according to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth." Above and beyond the physical actions to employ our gifts and resources in the Kingdom, God is first concerned with our heart’s attitude. For this reason, Southern Baptists specify first that all endeavors in resource investment in God should be done "cheerfully." One of the most striking elements of the Mosaic covenant curses is that Israel would fail to serve God with a glad heart (Deuteronomy 28:47). It is undeniable that we as Christ’s people can give our resources and ourselves "regularly, systematically, proportionately and liberally" yet give completely wrong, whether in service or giving, because we’ve not come to invest "cheerfully." Nothing makes our giving and service to God as useless, vain and self-centered (even self-glorifying!) than doing all with a heart cold, unthankful and without love to God, the brotherhood and the lost (Acts 5:3-5, 1 Peter 5:2-3). Giving from the heart in the hope of Heaven, the glory of God, the edification of the saints and the hope of the gospel to the lost puts us in the right spiritual perspective and creates abounding joy in us simply to be use for God that which He’s given. Dan Schmidt explains, "God wants people who will serve him well, not because they must, but because they want to. He is after people who are so in love with him that they cannot conceive of life lived in any way other than at his feet, eager to do what pleases him. In return, these people experience God’s favor. They life is not necessarily more pleasant or luxurious, but it has heft to it, presence, integrity. People such as this make a conscious decision to serve God out of gratitude and respect. They are not motivated by personal gain. Rather, they have eyes for what expands the kingdom. Because of this they are happy in their work, and what they do has significance."

With a right heart, the discipline for living all of one’s life through kingdom investment is rather easy to solidify. It will reveal itself, "according to the Scriptures," in the characteristics of giving cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), regularly/systematically (Leviticus 27:30, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2), proportionately (Acts 11:29, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2), and liberally (2 Corinthians 9:6, Malachi 3:10). In the relationship of the New Covenant, the causes of Christ can be pursued with absolute freedom. We are not bound to the regulations of the Mosaic covenant which, particularly for giving, many Christians accept the notion that the tithe (ten-percent of our finances) is what God demands. (In fact, though Israel was commanded give ten percent for Levitical support, they were also to give this tithe at the Tabernacle feast as well as giving to the poor. In all, one can say that the Israelites gave at least 30% to the Lord.) Though this may be a novel thought, and indeed might be what the Spirit stirs many hearts to give, Christians are not under the tithe but free to give as abundantly as the Lord so leads. This is certainly the understanding the early church had of giving (Acts 2:44-45). One of the most common questions I am giving regarding tithing and so forth is "do we tithe before or after taxes?" This is an honest question, but really it reveals someone wanting to find the lowest common denominator to how much they can give, check off their "holiness" box, and be blessed. In truth, the way I determine how much I am going to give to the Lord is that I simply ask Him. And when he lays it on my heart that I need to ask him again, I do, and without fail He always gives me an answer. The tithe could perhaps best be understood as the minimum amount to give not the maximum. Paul understood giving by the principle that each believer is not given a flat-tax, so to speak, but rather a Spirit lead amount according to what one has, not what they do not have (2 Corinthians 8:12). He also taught that believers should sow so as to reap, so as to be responsible and in the assurance that we can’t give out more than God can supply back (2 Corinthians 8:16-24, 9:6-8). The prophets of old warned that not giving to God both from the heart and our best was robbery of Him (Malachi 3:8). Equally as important, both in giving time, talents and resources, is that all investments honor God (Proverbs 3:9). There is certain hypocrisy entailed in giving both to God and to that which is of nature anti-Christ. Christians should thus seek to have dominion over, not under, their time, talents, finances, etc., that they might rightly use all for the glory of God (Matthew 6:24-33, Luke 20:22, Hebrews 13:5). The wisdom of God is that one will never fall short when they give in love to both God and man (Habbakuk Proverbs 11:18, 19:17, 28:20). Matthew Henry well opines "let not any people expect the blessing of God unless they make conscience of observing his ordinances and keeping up the public worship of him. Then it is likely to go well with our houses when care is taken that the work of God's house go on well." The whole book of Haggai proves this exhortation.

Blessings,
TJ