The Christian and Money

THE CHRISTIAN AND MONEY
DR. JIM DIXON
1 TIMOTHY 6:7-19
MAY 13, 1980

As Christians, we are told in the scriptures that this world is not our home. That our Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us in the heavens. Nevertheless, I think you would agree that for a time we do live in this world, and there are certain realities that go along with that. One is the reality of money. We need money to buy food, clothing, housing. We need money for the various necessities of life. But how are we as believers in Jesus Christ to properly manage money? How are we to regard worldly possessions? The scriptures speak to this subject, and I want to share with you a little bit of what the Lord has shown me.

First of all, with respect to worldly possessions, God says to us, do not live for them. In the Bible and in history, there are many examples of men and women who have lived for money. One is the rich man who came to Jesus Christ and said, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “You know the commandments. Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt honor thy mother and father. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.” The rich man said, “All of these I have kept from my youth.” Jesus said, “One thing you lack. Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Then come and follow me” (Mark 10:19-21). But the scriptures tell us that the rich man went away exceedingly sorrowful because he was very rich.

Before we judge that rich man, if we are honest, we will admit that we have never really been tested like he was tested. I doubt if any of you have ever received a message from God to sell all that you have and give it away—your home, your cars, your furniture, everything, and give it away. That would be a great test. How would you respond if you were given a test like that? If the lifestyle of the average American is any indication, we would not fare well.

There are economists who tell us that this country, this nation, may be heading for an economic disaster largely because there are so many people in this country who have gone to the very limits of their credit possibilities. Some economists feel that the day is coming when millions of Americans will no longer be able to make monthly payments on debts they have accumulated, and the repercussions throughout the economy will be devastating.

There are married couples who have gone out and bought a house for $150,000 when they could not really afford it. The husband works 80 hours a week. The wife works full time. They hardly see each other. What are they living for? Our lifestyle manifests what we are living for, and God says do not live for worldly possessions. There is nothing wrong with a $150,000 house. There is nothing wrong with a $300,000 house. In fact, if you have seen one, you would agree there is quite a bit right about a $300,000 house. But, if in order to live in it, you have to live for it, something is wrong. It does not occurs to many Christian couples that perhaps God would have us sell our home and move into a less expensive home, change our lifestyle, spend more time with our families, more time with our brothers and sisters in Christ. God does not want us to live for worldly possessions. There are actually Christian people who have accumulated such massive debt on separate lines of credit that the sum total of their minimally monthly payment exceeds their monthly income. That’s incredible. God grieves because he calls us to stewardship and management of that which He has placed in our care. Many Americans, if they want to know their cost of living, all they need to do is take their income and add ten percent because they live beyond their means. God says do not live for worldly possession.

Secondly, He says to us, with respect to worldly riches, do not trust in them. Our Lord Jesus told this parable saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” (Luke 12:16-21). S it is that our Lord Jesus warns us not to trust in worldly possessions.

There are many people in this nation who trust in worldly possessions. There may be some people in this congregation who have large bank accounts, financial investments. Many people who have been trusting in worldly possessions are beginning to fear. They are beginning to be alarmed because of the economic climate and because of a very volatile world situation.

I read recently of a man in Los Angeles who wanted to go to San Diego, but he did not have the money. Very impulsively, he jumped on a freight train going down to San Diego;. Because he was in such a hurry, he, by accident, jumped into the refrigerator car. He did not know what he had done. He did not realize his mistake until he had locked himself in. He looked at the thermometer on the wall, and it said that the temperature in that refrigerator car was far below freezing. He began to panic, and he never made it to San Diego. He died in that refrigerator car.

The railroad authorities tell us that while it would be impossible for us to know what he was going through in that car, he did ride on the wall. “I do not think I can hold out much longer. It’s getting colder and colder.” The incredible thing the railroad authorities tell us is that the refrigerator car had not been operative for three months. The thermometer on the wall was broken; it was defective. The temperature in the refrigerator car never got below 55 degrees. There was plenty of oxygen for the man to breathe. He died of sheer fear because he totally trusted that thermometer. He totally trusted that temperature reading.

There are many thermometers that you and I can use to judge our security and our future. One of them is money. If we have a lot of money, we feel secure. If we do not have a lot money, we feel insecure. God says to us that is a false thermometer. It is not a correct way to gauge your security or your future. If you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He wants you to know that He alone is the source of security. He is the one in whom you must place your trust. He says to all who believe in Him, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b). “I am with you always, even until the end of the age “(Matthew 28:20b).

He said “Why are you anxious about your life? Wondering what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall wear. Consider the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them all. And are you not of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to your span of life? So why are you anxious saying, ‘What shall we wear?’ Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I tell you that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And if God clothed the lilies of the field, which are here for a day and tomorrow are burned, how much more will he clothe you? Oh, you have little faith. So do not be anxious saying, ‘What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I wear’ for the Gentiles seek after such things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all; but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be given to you”(Matthew 6:25-33). That is a neat promise.

There are Christians who are stockpiling food in their basements. Christians who are stockpiling wood in the garage because they fear an energy shortage is coming. Christians who are stockpiling money in their savings account. I cannot say that it is wrong to stockpile. People phone into the church, and they want to know if it is all right to stockpile food. Biblically, it is not possible to answer that. God certainly told Joseph that the Pharaoh of Egypt was to stockpile food for seven years because the time of famine was coming.

I do not feel like God has asked me to stockpile food, but I know this, even if he did, he would not want me to trust in the things that I had stockpiled. He would want me to trust only in Him because He is the only source of security. He says to us, “Fear not. I’m with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God. I will uphold you. I will strengthen you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). You do not need to look at a shaky economy, a shaky world environment, and be concerned. You can know that your Savior is taking care of you. He does not want us to trust in worldly riches.

Thirdly, and finally, God says to us that with respect to worldly riches, He does not want us to hoard them. This does not mean that we cannot have a savings account. It does not mean that we cannot have food in the cabinet. It simply means that we are to be liberal and generous. Paul wrote to Timothy telling him that as Christians, we are to be liberal and generous with our money, thus laying up for ourselves a good foundation for the future, that we might take hold of the life which is life indeed (1 Timothy 6:17-19). What does it mean to be liberal and generous? How much of my money should I spend on my own needs? How much of my money should I give to the poor? How much of my money should I give to the church? How much of my money should I give to the work of the kingdom of Christ in this world?

I recently read an article in a Christian magazine called The Wittenburg Door. In that magazine, there was an article devoted entirely to the subject of the Christian and finances. The Wittenberg Door interviewed two Christian men of contrary opinions on Christian stewardship. The first man that the Door interviewed was named Larry Holman. He had been a Presbyterian. He became an Episcopalian, and today he is a Catholic. He had been a fairly successful businessman. He had accumulated some measure of material wealth and comforts, but he and his wife gave it all up. They moved into the inner city in Los Angeles where they began a Christian community distributing food and clothing and money to the poor and the hurting. Larry Holman and his wife adopted a very meager, very humble material lifestyle, far below what you and I would consider to be adequate.

I was very interested in what Larry Holman had to say because I grew up with Larry Holman at Glendale Presbyterian Church in California. I went to college with him although I have not seen him in more than twelve years.

In that article, Larry Holman said that he believes the lifestyle Jesus Christ called him to is the same as a lifestyle Jesus Christ has called all Christians to. He said he believes it is a sin for Christians to live in material abundance when one billion people on this planet are starving. He said he believes it is a sin for Christians to live in material abundance when one quarter of the world’s population is starving. He says he believes the time has come for Christians to put their money where their mouth is. He says he believes the gospel of Jesus Christ has lost clout. It has lost credibility because of the materialistic lifestyle of Christians living in a world of need. Larry Holman does not think that poverty is good. In fact, he believes in the life to come, our Lord will richly provide in abundance for all of His people. But in this life, he believes Christ sometimes calls upon us to be living sacrifices for the sake of the needs of the world and for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he believes that if we would adopt the lifestyle that God is calling us to, the world would never be the same. The gospel of Jesus Christ would go forth in power, and people would see that Christians mean what they say. He feels that, for instance, a family living in this country ought to try to live on about $10,000 a year. If you make a $100,000 dollars a year, that is great. Give $90,000 away. He would say, if you make $20,000, that is great. Give $10,000 away. If you make $15,000, give $5,000 away. Try to live humbly.

The other person interviewed in The Wittenburg Door was a man named C. Davis Weyerhaeuser of the Weyerhaeuser Company, a financial conglomerate. C. Davis Weyerhaeuser is a Christian multimillionaire. I was very interested in what he had to say, partly because what Larry said concerned me and also because C. Davis Weyerhaeuser is chairman of the board of Fuller Theological Seminary where I went to school. He was the man who handed me my diploma. Weyerhaeuser points out in the scriptures that it is very clear that God sometimes desires to give material abundance to his people. You can go through the scriptures and can see that God sometimes, by His own will and by His own design, materially blesses certain individuals and takes great joy in it. He cites examples such as David and Job. He says even when you go to the New Testament, individuals that have material abundance, such as Joseph of Arimathea, were not condemned for the material possessions per se. They are simply exhorted to proper stewardship and management of that which God has entrusted to them. They are exhorted to be guided by the Holy Spirit to be liberal and generous.

I believe that C. Davis Weyerhaeuser is right. Unfortunately, most of us as Christians are not guided by a biblical understanding of money, stewardship, and financial management. We are not guided by the Holy Spirit. We are not liberal and generous. Many of us, if we were to do what Larry Holman suggests, would be far closer to the will of the living God. Why is it that we are not liberal and generous? Why is it that a dollar seems so big when we give it to the church and so small when we spend it on ourselves? Why is it that we only like to sign checks on the back? Someone has said that when it comes to giving some Christian stop at nothing.

That is true in the Old Testament. God spoke to the children of Israel and commanded them to give 10% of all their earnings to the Lord. The tithe is the Lord’s. That was the law. We who believe in Jesus Christ have come into a beautiful new relationship with God. We have come into a beautiful new covenant based on grace and love. The scriptures assure us that this new covenant is far greater than the old. That it is more productive. It is more fruitful. It is able to accomplish things that the old covenant could never hope to do.

I honestly believe that is true by the power of Christ. I believe 10% should be the beginning. We should be liberal and generous. It does not seem to be working like that in this church. We do not even come close to giving what the old covenant required. We do not even come close to giving what the Old Testament law required. We do not come close to giving 10%. Most of the families in this church do not come close to giving a tithe.

We need to be careful because we do not want the measure of our love as reflected in our giving to be inadequate in the sight of God. We do not want to be weighed in the balance and found wanting. I believe that this church, which I love and which you love, is going to be tested. When our Lord Jesus called us out of the United Presbyterian Church, he never told us it was going to be easy. I think we can know as we are assembled in this place that in the near future we are going to be called upon to build. If we are able to stay in this facility, we still need to build. We desperately need to build a Sunday school building, and it is going to cost money. If in our dispute with the presbytery, we are forced to leave this facility and God calls us out, we are going to have to build everything anew, and it is going to cost lots of money. We are going to be put to the test. Our stewardship is going to be tested.

Some Christians think that ministers are preoccupied with money. I suppose some ministers have brought that on themselves. I heard recently of a minister who preached a sermon. After he was done, he went out to the door to greet people as they left as that was his custom. As he was standing there greeting people, a young man with long hair, who is kind of counter counterculture I guess, came up to the minister. He said, “Hey. Like, wow, man. I really dug that thought.” The minister said, “Young man, I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” The young man said, “Well, I mean like I can really groove with where you come from.” The minister said, “Young man, I don’t think I understand at all. I think I take offense.” The young man interrupted and said, “Hey. Like, wow, man. I mean like your message. It moved me and, like, I want to slap 150 green ones in your breadbasket.” The minister stopped for a second and a big smile came across his face. He said, “Crazy man. Crazy.”

Ministers, speak three languages: Greek, Hebrew, and money. That is not true of your staff. We do not speak Greek and Hebrew. We speak a little bit of Greek and Hebrew, but we rarely share with you about money.

“We are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). Stewardship is simply part of the gospel, and I am not sharing with you on the subject of money this morning in order that I might receive more money. I do not believe that the salaries of your staff are enhanced by any increased cash flow through this church, and I honestly believe that your staff, your ministers, would be willing to take cuts in salary if it meant that we would be more willing to give money to the cause of the kingdom of Christ.

If you are a Christian, you are a steward. Your Lord is Jesus Christ. You own nothing. He owns everything. Everything in the heavens and earth has been given to him. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). “The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine” (Ezekiel 18:4), says the Lord God. Yet, in His great love for us, He has entrusted everything into our care. He owns it, but we can manage it however we want. One day we will have to give an account. Accountability is built into our relationship with our Lord and Savior, and He wants us to be good stewards. He wants us to be good managers. He wants us to be liberal and generous. His promise to us is this: If you are faithful, I will bless you.

Now, there’s a lot of false prosperity teachings going around today. Some ministers are telling their congregation: You should not tithe on your gross income. You should not tithe on your net income. You should tithe on your desired income. That is pretty clever. If you make $20,000 a year and you would like to make $40,000 a year, tithe on $40,000 a year; give $4,000 to the church and God will give you $40,000. God never said that. That is not based on the Bible. Some ministers are telling their congregations that the more money they give to the church, the more money God will give to them. If they just give enough money to the church, God will make them a millionaire. God never said that. Some ministers are telling their people that they can buy treasures in heaven, that Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a mansion for you. When you give money to the church, you are adding a few extras onto the mansion. A little room edition here and there. The Lord is looking down and he says, “He just gave $400 to the church. Put a sofa in the living room. She just gave $200. Put a nice mirror in the entry. She will like that when she arrives.” But the Bible does not say anything like that. God has never promised that our Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you in the heavens that is beautiful and wonderful and you can buy it. You cannot buy it. He bought it for you on the cross.

The reason we give is because we love Him. It is because we want to be good and faithful stewards over that which he has entrusted to us. We should want to be liberal and generous. I think as Christians, oftentimes, we don’t understand what money is all about.

Until Jesus Christ has not just 10% of your money but a 100% of your money, He does not have all of you as Christians. Our very lives are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Money is not evil. Craving money for its own sake is evil. God wants you to have money. He wants you to know how to make money. But he wants you to realize that money is simply a tool, not an end in and of itself, not something primarily for your benefit. It is a tool primarily to be used for the sake of the growth of the kingdom of Christ in this world.

Insofar as God has given you material abundance, He wants you to enjoy it; but He does not want you to live for it. He does not want you to trust in it. He does not want you to hoard it. He wants you to be liberal and generous, thus, laying up for yourselves a good foundation for the future that you might take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:19). Above all else, He wants us to seek first the kingdom of Christ and His righteousness. If we do that, His promise to us is clear. By His power He will grant to us our every need according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).

Shall we look to the Lord for a word of prayer? Father, it is good to be gathered here together as Your people in Your name. Father, we confess that at times we have not been liberal and generous, that we have been preoccupied with our own needs, that we have not been willing, Lord, to do what You have asked us to do, that we have not loved You as we ought to love You. Dear Father, when we consider that a billion people in this world are starving, that they are going without food, and how You have blessed us and given us so much, we want to be faithful stewards over that which You have entrusted to us. Lord, help us not to live for our riches. Help us not to trust in them. Help us not to hoard them. Help us to be liberal and generous, Lord Jesus. We give You the praise and the glory. We pray these things in Your precious name. Amen.