This morning in the service we looked at the second part
of our three part series on stewardship with an investigation of the parable of
the shrewd steward from Luke 16 and a discussion on the question: “What am I
doing with God’s stuff?” Stewardship is one of those funny topics that people
only have a limited tolerance for – like really spicy foods that are good in
small doses but which in large sittings make your digestive tract hurt. For
that reason when I planned this series I only allotted myself three weeks in
the pulpit to talk about it. By forcing myself to hammer home only the most
important points in a short timeframe my hope was to really get down to the
essentials and give you the maximum bang for your buck. The upside of that sort
of plan is tremendous but the downside is that there is so much more to say
than can be said in three sermons!
For that reason I’ve diverted some of the teaching to
this blog and for those of you wanting to go deeper into the rabbit hole of
radical re-alignment of fiscal priorities to the Gospel mandate I’ve provided a
few extra tidbits here for your pondering. I also want to use this podium to
re-offer what I invited you to at the end of the service:
***[If you are looking for the post that links to the John Wesley sermon referred to in this morning's message please click here the link is near the end of the post]***
If you are someone who desperately needs to revisit your
financial priorities to get out of debt and free yourself up to be the kind of
steward God wants you to be – we not only want to help you as a church, but we
feel that we have a mandate to help you. Like I say at the beginning of the
messages in this series: I am not a
certified, qualified, or educated financial planner – but I do know how to
create and work a simple budget to start working back toward balance. I
may not be able to offer much by way of expertise but what I can offer by way
of experience is at your disposal; just give me a call or an email to set up an
appointment and we’ll see what we can do. It is my prayer that from within the
community of our congregation some other people will arise with not only the
passion I have to help people get a handle on their finances but with the
skills, training and experience that I lack and will be willing to take this
over as an official compassion ministry of the church – but until then I will
avail myself to you.
Jesus said in Luke 16:13 that “No one can serve two
masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” When you’re being crushed by debt in
your personal finances you are legally (and morally) obligated to pay back what
you owe – in that sense you cannot give to God the first fruits of your labour
because someone else already has dibs on that money (at least the minimum
payment or interest payment value). Moreover you are handcuffed to a certain
lifestyle, a certain job, a certain location and a certain level of commitment
by your debt to the point that in many ways you are forced into serving money
rather than God. We even talk this way in the secular world – the amount of
money you owe is often referred to as the amount of debt you are servicing! God
doesn’t want divided allegiances among his children.
So how can you start to take some baby steps toward
correcting an allegiance imbalance in your finances? Well here are a few things
that I have learned and want to impart to you:
1.
Stop feeling
guilty
Sin is sin, and wastefulness is wastefulness but Jesus
sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to cover the penalty for your fiscal
mismanagement as much as it was for mine. Remember that “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.”
(Psalm 145:8)
2.
Don’t get
hung up on 10%
The tithe as it
is most often referred to in church circles the standard is sacrificial giving,
which may mean more than a tithe in some cases - in other cases it may mean
less than the tithe – the standard is heart transformation not formulaic law
observance. In the second place, the 90%
still belongs to God. We are only its stewards and must use it in accordance
with God's will. The tithe as a formulaic requirement is a part of the
sacrificial worship system of the Old Covenant – it sits right alongside animal
sacrifices and burnt offerings as a part of a system that Christ’s work on the
cross makes redundant. Moreover the “tithe” was never given in money – it was
always an offering of production – edible produce was brought in as a tithe
from the harvest and it was always administered by the Levitical priesthood.
In the New
Testament – we see plenty of instruction on giving. Both examples and
instructions abound on how God’s people should be a people that give all they
can both to the work of the Gospel and to alleviate the poverty and suffering
of others but the principle of a fixed percentage of income that is mandated is
not present. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 illustrates the point
that the income they generated through the sale of their property was theirs to
do whatever they wanted with – God wants us to be generous but he wants us to
give cheerfully and not out of compulsion. Paul says this succinctly in 2
Corinthians 9:
“Each of you should give what you have decided in
your heart to give, not reluctantly
or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2
Corinthians 9:7)
That means that while the standard of sacrificial giving
often (and I would argue most often
in our society) would comport to an offering of more than 10% there are times
when an offering of less than that amount is prudent.
3.
Your basic
necessities are a priority
God instructs us to pray for our “daily bread” and
consider how he clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds of the air.
He wants you to know that your basic daily needs are important to him, and that
it is not wrong or selfish to use what you have earned to take care of these. Needs
are not luxuries – paying the heating bill in Saskatchewan in the winter is not
a luxury – it’s a life and death situation. Don’t feel bad about paying for the
basic necessities of life when your finances are out of control – they are
still important.
4.
Your family
is a priority
In 1 Timothy 5:8 when giving instructions on how the
church should treat the less fortunate in their fellowship Paul gives the
crystal clear mandate: “Anyone who does
not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has
denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” That means your
spouse, your children, your parents or any other extended family members that
are under your direct or indirect care – any financial plan or budget needs to
put them first. Again, there is a fine line between supporting and spoiling
(especially when it comes to children or grandchildren) but to the extent that
you have the means God wants your family to be a priority.
5.
Take stock
of your situation
The first and most important step of budgeting is finding
out where the money goes. How is it that you’re living beyond your means? In
some instances it’s as simple as curbing discretionary spending and you’ll have
enough for an aggressive debt repayment plan that will get you out of trouble
and a budget that will keep you out of trouble. Sometimes you’ll discover that
you’re spending way more on luxuries than you thought you were and you’ll need
to scale back your consumption. Sometimes it will be one particular thing
that’s skewing all the numbers and it’s a simple decision to remove it –
sometimes it’s more complicated.
6.
Stop the
insanity!
Now that you know where you’re over spending, stop it!
Cut up or freeze credit cards. Stop playing the revolving credit game. Vow that
your debt has gone this far and no further and take a hard stand with it. There
is no sense planning on going forward when you’re still travelling backwards.
7.
Consolidate
and conquer
Often talking to a trusted financial advisor or debt
specialist will reveal a way for you to consolidate your debt into a simpler
and cheaper option that will not only reduce the total amortization on your
debt load but will also lower your monthly interest costs. Talk to someone you
trust about taking these steps but beware of shady debt consolidation
“specialists” out there – it’s an area that people are frequently taken
advantage of in.
8.
Be prepared
to make the difficult decisions
Getting out of bondage to debt often means some fairly
serious sacrifices to get your head above water. Some of those decisions should
not be taken lightly and professional advice may need to be sought out to avoid
making rash and unwise choices. In my story we had to leverage the equity we
had built in our home and downsize to correct course and get back on track. For
some people it will mean selling a second or third vehicle – or selling a
luxury vehicle to drive something more economical. For some that big sacrifice
will entail taking a second job for a season to accelerate debt repayment or a
spouse that wants to stay at home to go back to work for a season to accomplish
the same thing. Sometimes it will mean cutting off television, or getting rid
of a cell phone, giving up eating out or cancelling membership in an
organisation with monthly or yearly dues. The idea at this time is not to
shuffle around debt robbing from Peter to pay Paul as it were but to look to
ways to eliminate debt.
9.
Stay
accountable
Don’t rely on your own will-power that has so frequently
failed you in the past. Find accountability somewhere – from your spouse if the
financial mismanagement in one-sided in a marriage; or form outside the home if
both spouses have been complicit in the spiral down into debt. Don’t let the
taboo of personal finance drive you into secret suffering – be open, honest and
accountable with someone who wants to see you overcome this. Also make sure you
choose someone for accountability that has the same priorities and financial
values that you have – lest you come to a clash of ideologies over repayment
strategies.
10.
Involve God
all through the process
Even while you weren’t watching the money – God knew
where every penny you spent was going. There is nothing in your financial
history that is a surprise to him and there is nothing about your situation
that you can hide from him. Bathe this entire process in prayer and don’t be
ashamed to have other people pray for you too. When God speaks to you about
money – listen! When he tells you to do something – do it! If he tells you to
do something different than what I’m prescribing here – listen to God and not
to me (but I would advise verifying with Scripture what God calls you to do –
he will never contradict his Word with a personal leading). Most importantly don’t try to do this in
your own strength. Remember that God sends you his Spirit so that you will
never be alone – he has empowered and equipped you to do everything that he has
called you to do and when he starts something in you he is faithful to see it
to completion.
If you have further questions you can always give me a
call, set up an appointment to meet, or just drop in during open office hours
on Wednesday mornings. I’d love to help you – and in the same way
if you know of someone else more equipped than I am to deal with these specific
issues then please seek out their advice. I don’t want my ego
stroked I want us all to be freed up to fully serve God with our finances. Next
week we’re going to be looking at the issue of generosity with a message
entitled Jesus doesn’t want your
money. I’d love to see you at church to share that story with you!
May God bless you as you strive to serve him, and him
only.
Chris
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