The Color of Money

What is it about money that is so hard to talk about?

As I mentioned a few hours ago in a previous post, our church is having a congregational meeting this Sunday to talk about the serious budget shortfall we are facing as a church going into 2006. To be honest, I think we as a church are going to look back someday on this meeting and see it as one of those defining moments that every family has. Why? Because facing reality has that effect on faithful people. And Crossroads is a place that seeks to be faithful to God's call. So I am very hopeful -- not just that we will come up with the right answers to our shortfalls, but that we will grow in faith together.

As I began thinking and praying about this issue, I got to thinking that lots of us might be asking, "So what DOES God think about our money? And what does it mean for us to be faithful to God's call on our lives with our finances?" I realize I am wading into uncomfortable territory for most of us. But to be honest, it is necessary for us to get a handle on money and what it means for our spiritual lives (yes, money has everything to do with our spiritual lives), especially as middle/upper class Americans. I might even argue that money and stuff is the #1 challenge our segment of society (and our church) faces, and if we don't have a proper theology of wealth, we will atrophy in our spiritual growth.

With that teaser, here it goes.


What does God say about our money?

First, money is not bad or good. It just is. Money, when it comes right down to it, is just paper (or metal) that has been assigned a value by society. In and of itself, money isn't bad or good. It has no inherant power, it isn't magic, it doesn't walk around when we aren't looking (and as we know, it doesn't grow on trees!). That is to say, money is neutral on the good/evil scale.

Secondly, that must mean that how we view money is very important, because as we know, money has a great affect on our lives. I Timothy 6:10 is a piercing verse; "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." It seems that when we are devoted to money (and the things that money can buy), we are pursuing a path away from God, and ultimately, we will be hurt. That is a holy warning of God.

Third, what is the answer to our dilemma? How do we keep ourselves from falling into the trap that I Timothy warns about? We practice a radical act of discipleship: We give it away. I Corinthians 6:19:20 reminds us that "you are not your own. You were bought with a price." In other words, our lives and everything about them do not belong to us to use as we see fit. Everything we are and have belongs to Christ -- our souls, our bodies, our time, our talents, and even our money. None of it is ours. As Christians we believe all of it (even if we "earned it" by working hard) is God's.

Now, God allows us to keep some of what he has given us to live and rejoice in life. He is not a God of sour faces, nor is he a God who wants to keep us from enjoying our lives and the fruits of our labor. Even Jesus enjoyed a good party now and then.

But the center of our lives is not in the keeping but in the giving. In fact, we are told that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." This does NOT mean "You will get more goodies if you give stuff to people." What it means is that the act of giving lets you experience God's blessing in a powerful way. Therefore, our life as givers has everything to do with our lives of faith. Giving keeps us from the strangle hold money can have on us (as I Timothy warns). Giving is born out of the fact that all of what we have and are is God's anyway because of his loving sacrifice for us. And in giving, we actually experience God's blessings in our lives. We know his love in a very real way when we risk giving, as he gave to us.

So...what does that mean? It means that before I do anything else in my life, I give back to God and God's work in the world. Before I pay my bills, before I pay my taxes, before I go out to coffee with my friends -- the first thing I do is give to God. I do this as a recognition that my life itself is a gift from God, and that the love God has for me in Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of my existance. This is the posture of faith and the way we give reflects that. We give to God in gratitude, faith and trust that he has and will continue to take care of us. Giving of our treasures is a response of faith.

Now the question arises, how much should we give? The Bible tells us that each of us is to give as we have made up in our mind to give (II Cor.7:7). In other words, God doesn't want us to be coerced into giving any particular amount, as if it were a tax we have to pay. In that respect, it really is between us and God.

But that doesn't mean that God has not set up standards that he expects from us out of the bounty he has lent to us. The tithe (which means "tenth") or 10% of one's income was set up in the Old Testament as the standard for God's people to give for the work of the temple, as well as for their own spiritual discipline. Some argue that, now that we are in New Testament times, the tithe has been abolished as a practice.

In some ways, that is absolutely true. No longer is the tithe a requirement for the people of God, as those who live under the grace of Jesus Christ.

But that does not mean that we can hold ourselves to a lesser standard. In fact, in Jesus Christ, our giving expectation is raised and not lowered. In many respects, 10% is now the bottom of God's expectations, not the top. Every story in the New Testament where we see Jesus commenting on the positive giving of money (and people's usage of it), they are pictured giving well over 10% in response to God's grace to them (Zaccheus gives half of all his wealth to the poor -- Luke 19:8, the widow gave her last two pennies -- Luke 21:1-4). The only people he rails on are the Pharisees, and they are the ones only giving 10% and thinking they are so special doing it! They think they are doing God a favor, but he sees right through them -- they have not experienced the redeeming love and grace of God for them, otherwise they would recognize that their entire life is Gods to be used as a gift for him. Therefore, while the law of the tithe might no longer be obligatory, our call to be generous and live a life of gracious giving has not. If anything, we are now in Jesus Christ called to an even higher standard.

And here is why this is such a hard issue for us as middle/upper class Americans. We have a lot of other things that take first priority in our lives. Mortgages, car payments, retirement accounts, business ventures, college savings, sports fees for our kids, club memberships, vacations, and on and on and on. Chances are 90% of these obligations are on auto-deduction with the bank and we never see them in our accounts. Then after we buy groceries and gas, we have nothing (or very little) left to give to God's work in the church and the world.

Let me humbly suggest that that is not the way God designed for us to live. This very common pattern is a symptom of spiritual sickness that God wants to heal in us.

The cure? We put God first in our life (even our financial life), even above retirement accounts, college savings, and car payments. It might even call us to live as counter-culturally as Jesus lived, according to the "law of downward mobility" (which is the lifestyle Jesus calls us to -- living below our means). To live within (or below) our means does not mean that we just do what we can in our giving to God, but that we reorganize our lives to make our giving to God the first priority and not the last. It means literally, placing God first in our lives.

When we put God last with our money, theologically we are saying that we place ourselves first, and give God the rest.

When we prioritize God with our money, we put God first and ourselves last. That is the proper color of money in our lives as Christians.

For many of you reading this, you will say, "That is totally crazy. I could never do that." But I challenge you to seriously, and prayerfully consider taking this leap of faith -- of letting God control your money.

And I guarantee that if you do this, you will find that God will grow faith in you in amazing ways. You might not have everything you want, but you will ALWAYS have exactly what you need. You will never ever regret it.

What would it look like for you and your family to put God first with your finances? What would it look like to risk giving 10% (or more) of your treasures to God?

Think about it.

Blessings on your journey.

jeff