Chapter 16
Making Money, Owning Possessions, and Choosing a Lifestyle
Can a man be poor if he is free from want, if he does not covet the belongings of others, if he is rich in the possession of God? Rather, he is poor who possesses much but still craves for more. TERTULLIAN
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them. C. LEWIS
How different our standard is from Christ’s. We ask how much a man gives. Christ asks how much he keeps. ANDREW MURRAY
Do we have the right to earn or to keep large amounts of money? Does Scripture call all disciples to surrender their possessions and “live by faith”? Is it okay for a Christian to be wealthy? Is it Christ-honoring to live comfortably? Should we live “simply”? These and related questions are the focus of this chapter.
God’s Way to Earn Money: Work
Only governments and counterfeiters make money. The rest of us have to earn it, inherit it, win it, or steal it. Work is the God-ordained means for contributing to society, finding fulfillment, and meeting material needs so we can provide for our families (Proverbs 20:4; 1 Timothy 5:8). In God’s ideal plan, every person is a worker. Regardless of age, ability, or handicap, nearly everyone can make a meaningful contribution to family and society through work—even if it’s unpaid or very simple.
Scripture emphasizes work as the primary means of making money to meet material needs:
He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. (Proverbs 12:11)
The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. (Proverbs 13:4)
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)
For even when we were with you we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3:14)
God gives us skills we should develop in order to do our work well (Exodus 35:10, 30–36:1). Christians see God as their main employer: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
Employees are to work hard and well, realizing that even if their employer doesn’t reward them, God will (Ephesians 6:5-8). Employers are to pay decent wages (Deuteronomy 24:14-15; Jeremiah 22:13; James 5:4-5). Christians in business should set fair prices and use honest scales (Deuteronomy 25:13-16; Proverbs 16:8; Proverbs 20:10). Believers will tell the truth—the whole truth—when they sell a car, house, product, or service. They know that God is watching and will hold them accountable for how they conduct their business (2 Corinthians 5:20).
What should we do with the money we earn? Do we have the right to own land and have possessions? The command “Thou shalt not steal” proves that property can belong to one person and not to another (Exodus 20:15). God commands us not to covet our neighbor’s house, wife, servant, ox, donkey, “or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17). The Law lays out strict rules for the protection of private property, requiring restitution for property violations (Exodus 21–22). The right to private property ownership was so ingrained in Israel that not even the king had the right to take land belonging to another (1 Kings 21:1-3, 16, 19).
Nevertheless, God told the people, “The land is mine” (Leviticus 25:23). As a reminder of this fact, a farmer’s field had to be left unplowed and unused every seventh year (Exodus 23:11). Although land could be bought from others, when Jubilee came every fiftieth year, parcels of land were restored to the families from which they came (Leviticus 25:8-17). When land was sold, the transaction price was determined by how many years remained until Jubilee. In a sense, then, the land wasn’t sold at all but merely leased. “What he is really selling you is the number of crops” (Leviticus 25:16).
Every seventh year was the year of release, when all debts were canceled (Deuteronomy 15:1-3). This practice prevented permanent indebtedness and servitude. Even in the sixth year, people were to lend generously to the needy, knowing the loan would probably be a gift because of the upcoming year of release. To deny a loan for that reason was to “harbor a wicked thought.” By giving generously, the people of Israel would assure themselves of God’s reward (Deuteronomy 15:9-11).
The year of release and Jubilee were designed to avoid permanent and hopeless poverty. In effect, they also put a limit on a person’s wealth—or at least on one’s ability to make wealth at the long-term expense of others by accumulating their land. Jubilee signaled a fresh start for both the poor and the rich—neither would spend a lifetime in extreme wealth or extreme poverty.
In the New Testament, the norm was to share one’s property generously. Of course, this didn’t negate the private ownership of property, because it was only what one privately owned that he could voluntarily give.
Lifestyles in the Gospels and Epistles
Some Christians consider the apostles’ lifestyles as normative. But there was a striking difference between the itinerant ministry of Jesus and the apostles, as seen in the Gospels, and the settled communities of Christians reflected in the Epistles.
Jesus called certain people to leave everything. In Acts 2–4 we see radical action in light of the great needs created by the Jews attending Passover in Jerusalem. But in the Epistles we see established communities much like ours today. These Christians were to have a radical attitude toward money and possessions as they lived with their families in their homes and operated businesses. They were told to “lead a quiet life,” “work with your hands,” and “not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
Christians needed steady employment to provide for their families. Paul said they were not to be idle wanderers or parasites but should “settle down and earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:12).
The challenge for such disciples was to maintain a “pilgrim mentality.” They were to use their roots and ties to glorify God, not to become complacent or immobilized. They were to be content where they were yet open to God’s direction should he lead them elsewhere.
Lifestyles in the Gospels
Some writers and preachers regularly speak out in magazine articles, books, and sermons against the lukewarmness and materialism of today’s Christians. Much of what they say is accurate, but they commonly make two mistakes. First, they cite passages from the Gospels while ignoring the Epistles, even though the Epistles demonstrate the form that churches took after Christ’s ascension, after the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell his people. Because the Church wasn’t born until after the events recorded in the Gospels, we must look to the Epistles to draw balanced conclusions about normative Christian lifestyles.
The second mistake is failing to deal with the larger context of the Gospels themselves, quoting only isolated texts that tell people to give away everything. Some might get the impression that Christians who retain any possessions cannot be true disciples. But a careful reading of the Gospels gives us a perspective confirmed in the Epistles. All disciples are to have the same perspective concerning money and possessions, but there are two kinds of disciples when it comes to the matter of private ownership. An overview of the Gospel of Mark shows us this distinction.136
Jesus called his first four disciples to leave their fishing business to follow him (Mark 1:16-20). Abandoning their possessions was part of answering the call, because Christ’s ministry was itinerant, requiring almost constant travel, mostly on foot. To follow Christ, the disciples simply had to leave their boats and nets. The central point isn’t that they left their boats, but that they followed Jesus. Leaving behind their major possessions was simply the inevitable byproduct of their new mission.
But even these apostles didn’t irreversibly divest themselves of all possessions. Just ten verses after they’ve left their nets, they went to “the home of Simon and Andrew,” where Simon’s mother-in-law lived, presumably with his wife and children as well. The Gospels repeatedly refer to Jesus and the disciples traveling by boat on the Sea of Galilee. Most likely, the boat belonged to one of the fishermen-turned-apostles. This assumption is substantiated by the fact that Peter and the others were back in a boat fishing again within days of Christ’s death (John 21:1-3).
Peter says to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you!” (Mark 10:28). He doesn’t say, “We have sold everything,” though they may have liquidated many of their possessions (Luke 12:32-33). When Jesus hung on the cross, “he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple [John], ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home” (John 19:26-27).
This means that after three years of following Jesus, John still had a home. Furthermore, we know that he continued to have a home in later years, because “from that time on he took her into his home.” Even if it belonged to his extended family, it’s regarded as John’s home. Jesus’ mother presumably lived there until she died.
The apostles represented God’s call to traveling missionary work. Such work necessitates leaving behind major possessions that would tie people to a location and prohibit their ability to go where Jesus called them. (Nevertheless, most missionaries will settle in their foreign communities, where they will own certain possessions.)
A Second Kind of Disciple
Levi the tax collector represents the second kind of disciple—one who utilizes possessions for kingdom causes, rather than giving them away. “[Jesus] saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him” (Mark 2:14). We’re not told that Jesus commanded Levi to sell his possessions and give to the poor. In the very next verse, Jesus and the disciples are at a dinner party in Levi’s house, along with many other tax collectors and “sinners.” Levi’s house was used to introduce people to Jesus. Given his profession and the number of people at the party, it was undoubtedly nicer and larger than the average house.
Although large crowds followed Jesus, he chose only twelve apostles (Mark 3:13-19) to join him in his itinerant ministry, traveling and preaching. Others from the crowd also followed Jesus. They weren’t chosen as apostles but served as disciples. When they weren’t with Jesus, where did these “disciples but not apostles” go? Where else but back to their families, homes, fields, livestock, and jobs. Just as Jesus had for many years served God working as a carpenter and living in a house on a piece of land, so these others served God as they raised their families, and lived and worked in their own communities. Clearly, the majority of Christ’s followers never divested themselves of all their possessions, nor were they expected to.
When Jesus chose the twelve, others undoubtedly would have been delighted to be chosen. They may have been disappointed at having to return to their houses and jobs to serve Christ in a “normal” life. But it was his choice, not theirs. We must not regard God’s calling as second class. The call to leave all possessions for itinerant ministry was always the exception, never the rule.
After Jesus healed the Gerasene demoniac, “the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him” (Mark 5:18). Here we have a man not only willing but eager, nearly desperate, to leave all else behind and follow Christ. The next verse is significant: “Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’” Although Christ called the apostles to leave their homes, he instructed this man to go to his home. Indeed “he did not let him” adopt the lifestyle of the apostles. Christ insisted that God’s kingdom could be better served if this man made his home his base of operation.
Was this an inferior calling? Judge by the results: “So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed” (Mark 5:20). Christ called him not to leave everything behind, but instead to settle into his community—with all that implies as to shelter, possessions, and vocation—and to use his home and possessions to further the kingdom.
There were two callings—one to leave behind family and possessions, and the other to go back to them. But both callings served the same purpose: glorifying God and furthering his kingdom.
Jesus sent the twelve disciples out in pairs and told them not to take any food or money with them. They were to stay in houses and be fed by those who were receptive to their message (Mark 6:8-11). Again we see the two types of disciples. Traveling missionaries take nothing except what facilitates their travels (a staff, sandals, and the clothes on their back). The other is the “settled-in” disciple who provides shelter, food, and supplies for traveling missionaries. In order for the first type of disciple to survive and succeed, the second type of disciple must possess and provide. In order for some not to have possessions or permanent homes, and not to generate income, others must have possessions, homes, and incomes to care for themselves and the traveling missionaries.
God may occasionally change his specific instructions to those who are called to a traveling lifestyle. In Luke 22:35-36, Jesus tells the apostles that his earlier orders about what they were not to carry no longer applies. They are now to take with them a purse, a bag, and even a sword.
A Disciple’s Eternal Values
In a probing call to discipleship, Jesus says,
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:34-37)
The number of economic terms Jesus uses is striking: save, lose, gain, forfeit, give, and exchange. All disciples of Christ receive a radical call as to how they should view and handle their money and possessions. Whether they’re called to leave possessions behind for kingdom purposes or to retain ownership for generous kingdom purposes, their eyes should be set on receiving gain in the next world more than this one. Today’s money and possessions will be of no use when our souls are laid bare before the Creator. On that day, money and possessions will be seen either to have facilitated our mission or to have hindered it.
In Mark 10 we meet a rich young man who asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life. At first, Jesus tells him to keep all the commandments. When the man replies that he has kept the commandments since his youth, Jesus tells him to leave everything and follow him (Mark 10:17-31). This is a crucial lifestyle passage, because some consider Christ’s command here as a universal call so that those who don’t follow it are not true disciples.
After the man tells Jesus that he’s kept the commandments, “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21). Christ cared about this rich man, and he discerned the inner workings of his heart. Based on this appraisal, Jesus issues a particular call. He makes a more sweeping financial demand than ever before—more than he had made to any of the disciples outside of the twelve, and perhaps more than he’d asked of some of the twelve. “‘One thing you lack,’ he said to the rich young man. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me’” (Mark 10:21).
Jesus actually gives the man five commands: go, sell, give, come, and follow. Knowing the state of the man’s heart, Christ issues the specific commands he knew were best.
There are two common errors in interpreting this passage. One is to conclude that Christ always calls his disciples to sell their possessions, give all to the poor, and go out as missionaries of faith, supported by the rest of the Christian community. But if this were true, there would be no “rest of the Christian community.” We would all own nothing, have no place to stay, no way to travel, and no means of support.
The other error, more common and equally serious, is to conclude that God never calls his disciples to sell all and give to the poor. I spoke earlier of a young man in our church whose Bible study group talked him out of selling his house and giving all the money away, when he sensed God leading him to do so. I’ve found this to be a common experience among Christians, one that we should make every effort to correct.
When actress Lisa Whelchel was eighteen, starring in the popular Facts of Life television show, she heard a Christian speaker talk about thousands of starving children in Haiti. In her book, The Facts of Life and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me, she writes, “My eyes were opened to what a privileged life I lived and how totally unaware I was of what was going on in the rest of the world. I was profoundly moved and convicted.”
When the service was over, she went to the front, sobbing, dropped her Rolex watch and her diamond and emerald ring into the speaker’s coat pocket and asked him to sell them and give the money to help the poor. Whelchel went home full of conviction:
I could easily live on 10 percent of my salary. I decided to sell my condominium and rent a nice apartment. It wasn’t necessary for a single girl to live in a three-bedroom, two-story condo. And I certainly didn’t need to be driving around in a Porsche. Selling the car and buying a moderate car would free up thousands of dollars. I had money invested in real estate across the country. If I sold it, the money would feed tens of thousands of children. It was a no-brainer. My zeal was strong. I knew that I had heard from God and that I was doing the right thing.
Unfortunately, those close to Whelchel thought her response was extreme, the product of fleeting guilt feelings. They told her it was “irrational.” As clear as God’s leading seemed, she says, “My resolve began to break down under the weight of their arguments, which seemed full of logic and wisdom. Eventually I abandoned the call, closed my eyes, and returned blindly to living a life that seemed to make sense.”
She then tells the rest of the story:
Less than ten years later, all that money was gone anyway. A chunk of it had been invested in a high-rise office building in Pittsburgh that went belly-up. Another significant portion was in Texas land that dried up during the oil crisis and was eventually foreclosed upon. When I got married, I sold my condo and bought a house during the California real estate boom in the 1980s, only to give it back to the bank three years later when the bottom fell out of the market. The Facts of Life was canceled, and I spent all the cash I had making payments on everything for as long as I could. At twenty-eight, I was broke.
Whelchel concludes, “[God] was trying to get me to invest my money in heaven, where it would be safe, but I thought it was too risky to take him at his word.”137
I know a man who gave millions of dollars away one year when advisors thought he shouldn’t. The next year, 80 percent of his holdings were gone. He told me, “I only wish now I’d given away a lot more.”
Even if the financial numbers we deal with are much lower, the same principles apply to all of us. Why do we assume that God no longer calls “normal” Christians to give away most or all of what he has entrusted to them? And who do we think we are trying to talk people out of taking radical steps to follow Jesus?
Today there are still two kinds of disciples—one who gives up his income and possessions to further the cause in full-time ministry, and one who earns an income to generously support the same cause. (We should be careful not to discourage one another from either of these callings.)
There is not, however, a third kind of disciple, who does whatever he or she feels like with money and possessions and fails to use them for the kingdom. Such people are common today, but by New Testament standards they are not disciples.
Hospitality is commanded in Scripture (Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 5:10; 1 Peter 4:9). Obedience to this command assumes that Christians have houses, beds, chairs, food, drink, medicine, and other provisions to share with travelers and the needy. John commends Gaius for his hospitality to “the brothers, even though they are strangers to you,” then adds, “You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 5-8). By making available his material resources, one type of disciple can “work together for the truth” with the other.
Just because they have different lifestyles, one kind of disciple is no more spiritual than the other. Mary of Bethany, arguably the most devoted of all Christ’s disciples, lived in a large house with considerable possessions, which she and her family regularly made available to the twelve. Judas Iscariot, on the other hand, “left all” to follow Christ.
Paul and his traveling ministry team were deeply grateful for the hospitality that facilitated their ministry (Acts 28:7; Romans 16:23). Without the support of those disciples called by Jesus to have and share possessions, those called to leave possessions behind couldn’t carry out their mission.
In light of this distinction between the two types of disciples, what are we to do with Luke 14:33? “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Does “give up” mean give away? It cannot, if we consider Christ’s injunction that even the twelve should have sandals, staffs, and cloaks, and that other disciples should go back to their homes and provide food and housing. Clearly, some of Christ’s disciples were relatively well-off people who retained their ownership of property and financially supported him (Luke 8:1-3).
Giving up everything must mean giving over everything to kingdom purposes, surrendering everything to further the one central cause, loosening our grip on everything. For some of us, this may mean ridding ourselves of most of our possessions. But for all of us it should mean dedicating everything we retain to further the kingdom. (For true disciples, however, it cannot mean hoarding or using kingdom assets self-indulgently.)
Determining a God-Honoring Lifestyle
Regarding our attitude toward wealth, Jesus gave commands. Regarding our possessions and lifestyle, he gave us principles. Jesus did not hand us a checklist of what we can and cannot own, and how we can or cannot spend money. Jesus didn’t say just one thing about money and possessions. He said many things. They aren’t random clashing noises, but a carefully composed melody and harmony to which we must carefully listen as we develop our lifestyles. If Jesus gave us a checklist, we would not have to depend prayerfully and thoughtfully on him to guide us into the kind of lifestyle that pleases him. On the one hand Christ says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matthew 6:19). On the other hand Paul gives the following instructions:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoy- ment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
Note that Paul doesn’t say what he easily could have: “Command those who are rich to stop being rich.” The implication is that there is legitimate diversity in the amount of money and possessions held by Christians. Most early Christians weren’t people of high social standing (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position” (James 1:9). That “high position” was their position in Christ as God’s heirs (Romans 8:17). Believers who lived in humble circumstances weren’t second class but of equal importance and value (1 Corinthians 12:21-23). As a result of persecution, some believers lost their possessions and social status and became poor (Hebrews 10:34).
Other believers were well-to-do, which explains why Paul can address those he calls “rich” in the church. One of the first converts was the Ethiopian eunuch, who was “an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians” (Acts 8:27). He was a wealthy man with a huge sphere of influence. Cornelius had great political power and wealth. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a large home, as did Mary the mother of Mark, who had servants and in whose house “many people” gathered to pray (Acts 12:12). As the church spread before there were church buildings, meetings took place in the sizable homes of the more wealthy believers.
Priscilla and Aquila, accomplished tent makers, were people of means. Not only did a church meet in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19), they were able to leave their home in Rome, travel to Corinth, buy or rent another home (the one in which the church met), and rebuild their business. When they traveled with Paul, they likely did so as self-supported missionaries.
Pastors should encourage the poor not to be intimidated by more affluent church members and also not to pass judgment on them. They should likewise encourage the more affluent not to marginalize or look down on the less affluent, because God hates partiality (James 2:1-9). This is why pastors should not flatter the wealthy, and why ministries should reevaluate how they court donors. They should not cater to people’s desire for recognition or to meet in luxurious accommodations.
There’s no room for making wealth a source of security, or for lacking generosity or hospitality, or for an unwillingness to share. Still, Paul leaves a door open for Christians to be “rich in this present world”—but only if they carefully follow the accompanying guidelines related to their open-handed use of that wealth. The rich are not told they must take a vow of poverty. They are told essentially to take a vow of generosity. They are to be rich in good deeds, quick to share, and quick to part with their assets for kingdom causes. In doing so, they will lay up treasures in heaven.
Who are these “rich,” and how rich are they? Nearly everyone reading this book is rich, both by first-century standards and by global standards today. As of 2002, two-thirds of all countries had a per capita income less than 10 percent of America’s.138
If you made only $1,500 last year, that’s more than 80 percent of the people on earth. Statistically, if you have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment, and have a reasonably reliable means of transportation, you are among the top 15 percent of the world’s wealthy. If you have any money saved, a hobby that requires some equipment or supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, two cars (in any condition), and live in your own home, you are in the top 5 percent of the world’s wealthy.
A youth pastor told me, “You can’t really talk to kids about giving, because they don’t have any money.” One look at their cars, clothes, video games, concerts, movies, fast food, visits to Starbucks, and so on clearly says otherwise. In fact, even without counting the possessions that Mom and Dad buy for them, the average Christian teenager in America has $1,500 disposable cash income—far more than most adults in the world.
We must lay aside our illusions and realize that when Scripture speaks of the rich it is not talking about “them” but “us.” Those we think of as rich today are really the megawealthy. But it is us, the rich, to whom Paul is speaking. The concession to rich Christians immediately follows a sobering warning of what awaits those who desire to get rich (1 Timothy 6:9-10). If we are rich (and we are), we aren’t necessarily living in sin. But we are certainly under great temptation to sin. And most rich people succumb to that temptation.
We say, “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be rich.” God says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9). We say, “There’s nothing wrong with being eager to get rich.” God says, “One eager to get rich will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 28:20). We say, “The rich have it made.” Jesus says, “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23).
Jesus speaks of the “deceitfulness of wealth” (Mark 4:19). The psalmist warns, “Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them” (Psalm 62:10). As we saw in chapters 3 and 4, the dangers of materialism are far-reaching. We should not think that we’re immune to the value-changing nature of wealth: “To suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave the way the rich behave, is like saying we could drink all day and stay sober.”139
Although many will volunteer to bear them, riches do create burdens. Wealth is a relational barrier. It keeps us from having open relationships. The wealthy say, “I don’t know if people like me for who I am or only because of my money.” (Of course, there’s a solution to this: Give the money away and then you’ll find out!)
The wealthy are always trying to get out from under their tax burden. But to reduce estate taxes you must reduce your estate. Once again, giving solves the problem. In fact, every downside to wealth is immediately canceled out through giving. The man tired of being poor may not easily find alternatives, but the man tired of being rich can solve his dilemma through giving. Indeed, giving is the only antidote to materialism.140
Tricia Mayer has held a variety of marketing and business management positions at Microsoft. She wrote me:
I’ve seen a generation of young people become wealthy in a very short period of time. I’ve also seen people lose their wealth through the “dot-com” demise and recession, and watched firsthand as people who put their security in wealth have been devastated. I’ve observed a lot about how money affects people in direct correlation with the values they place on it. Money is a blessing, but it is also a burden when we’re given more than we need. Giving produces freedom 100 percent of the time—freedom from the bondage of things, freedom to receive more from God, and freedom to be a conduit of blessing to others. Christians who have freely given their time, money, and themselves are the people who have changed eternity for themselves and countless others.
We all have our own call from God. We shouldn’t be preoccupied with God’s plan for others. Nor should we make comparisons. When Peter pressed Jesus concerning his plans for John, the Lord responded, “What is that to you? You must follow me” (John 21:22). There are some things that no Christian should do—such as hoard money, live in opulence, or fail to give generously. But there are other things that some Christians can freely do that others cannot (or choose not to do), such as own land, a home, a car, a business, go on certain vacations, or spend money in other ways.
How much money and how many possessions can we safely keep? Enough to care for our basic needs and some wants, but not so much that we are distracted from our central purpose or that large amounts of money are kept from higher kingdom causes. Not so much that we become proud and independent of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:13-14). Not so much that it distracts us from our purpose or insulate us from our sense of need to depend on God (Matthew 6:26-29).
Those who want to get rich set themselves up for spiritual disaster. Those who happen to be rich, simply as a result of circumstances, hard work, or wisdom, have done nothing wrong. They need not feel guilty—unless they withhold their riches (which are really God’s) from his work, or their lifestyles are self-centered and excessive. According to author John Piper, “The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking a $100,000 salary must be accompanied by a $100,000 lifestyle. God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do.”141
Solomon suggests it can be unwise to remain rich: “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8-9). Giving is the safety valve that releases the excess pressure of wealth.
Asking the Holy Spirit for Lifestyle Guidance
There is, of course, a subjective aspect to asking God’s leading in our lifestyles and giving. But it’s certainly not all subjective. We mustn’t forget that he’s already given us his leading in the form of Scripture. There’s an objective nature to Christ’s command not to lay up treasures on earth but in heaven. There’s an objective nature to Paul’s statement of why God entrusts riches to us—so we can help those who have too little (2 Corinthians 8:14-15) and be generous on every occasion (2 Corinthians 9:10-11). The Holy Spirit teaches us by reminding us of Christ’s words (John 14:26). This isn’t some vague, mystical, gut-level feeling, but revealed truth.
We can ask God about whether we should buy a nice, new, and unnecessary car. In the absence of an angel appearing and saying no, we typically assume that God’s answer is yes. But if we read Matthew 6 and 2 Corinthians 8–9, the answer is clear. If we took these verses seriously, we might require an angel to appear and say yes before we would buy the unnecessary car rather than give God’s money to help the poor and reach the lost. (Is this decision really as difficult as we sometimes make it?)
Whenever we have excess, giving should be our natural response. It should be the automatic decision, the obvious thing to do in light of Scripture and human need.
We dare not trust our instinctive promptings, which tend to be self- serving, leading us to rationalizations. Too often we imagine we are asking God’s Spirit for guidance, when actually we are relying on our culture-driven values. No wonder our decisions end up looking suspiciously like everyone else’s.
There are thousands of ways to live more simply. We can buy used cars rather than new, modest houses rather than expensive ones. We don’t have to replace old furniture just for appearances. We can mend and wear old clothes, shop at thrift stores, give up recreational shopping, use fewer disposables, cut down on expensive convenience foods, and choose less expensive exercise and recreation. Some of us can carpool, use public transportation, or a bike instead of a car or second car. But these are things few of us will do unless we have clear and compelling reasons.
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because heaven is our home.
I talk about heaven in nearly all my books, fiction and nonfiction. We’ve lost sight of our citizenship in heaven, and it’s hurt us in countless ways. In fact, the single greatest deterrent to giving—and to living more simply—is the illusion that this world is our home.
Suppose your home were in France and you were visiting the United States for eighty days, living in a hotel. Furthermore, suppose there’s a rule that says you can’t take anything back to France on your flight home, nor can you ship anything or carry back money with you. But while you’re in America, you can earn money and send deposits to your bank in France. Question: Would you fill your hotel room with expensive furnishings and extravagant wall hangings? Of course not. Why? Because your time in America is so short, and you know you can’t take it with you. It’s just a hotel room! If you’re wise, you’ll send your treasures home, knowing they’ll be waiting for you when you arrive.
We’re only on earth for approximately eighty years—or sixty or forty or less. In the big picture, that’s not much more than eighty days. Scripture says, “Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:5). Life here is like vapor breathed out on a cold day. Here one moment, gone the next. We’re here on earth on a short-term visa. It’s about to expire! Don’t spend too much time and money and energy on your hotel room when instead you can send it on ahead.
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because it frees us up and shifts our center of gravity.
Copernicus sparked a revolution when he proved that the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth. Giving will spark a Copernican revolution in the lives of Christians who understand that life doesn’t revolve around the things of earth. In giving, we surrender our possessions to their proper center of gravity: God. Life no longer revolves around houses and land and cars and things. It revolves around God’s kingdom in heaven. By giving, we relocate our treasures from earth to heaven. Giving—and the simpler living that results when we give—breaks us out of Money’s orbit and sets up for us a new center of gravity, in heaven.
Giving and simpler living loosen the grip of materialism on our lives. Giving away what we don’t need is the greatest cure for affluenza. How can we expect to embrace the Christian experience of Paul, Luther, Wesley, Müller, Carmichael, Taylor, and a host of others without also embracing their attitude toward possessions and the simpler lifestyle it fostered?
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because we’re God’s pipeline.
As we discussed in an earlier chapter, Christians are God’s delivery people, through whom he does his giving to a needy world. We are conduits of God’s grace to others. Our eternal investment portfolios should be full of the most strategic kingdom-building projects to which we can disburse God’s funds. If we forget that we’re God’s stewards—his delivery drivers—it’s like FedEx or UPS forgetting that what they carry in their trucks doesn’t belong to them. When that happens, deliveries grind to a halt and people don’t get what they need.
God comes right out and tells us why he gives us more money than we need. It’s not so we can find more ways to spend it. It’s not so we can indulge ourselves and spoil our children. It’s not so we can insulate ourselves from needing God’s provision. It’s so we can give and give generously (2 Corinthians 8:14; 9:11).
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because of the reward we’ll receive in heaven and the joy it will bring us.
If I choose a smaller house here on earth and invest the savings in God’s kingdom, God will give me eternal treasures in heaven that will make a big house on earth seem utterly trivial. Why settle for an expensive necklace now when by selling it and giving the money to meet needs it could contribute to an imperishable treasure in eternity?
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because of the dire spiritual need of the world.
Suppose God wanted to reach the world for Christ and help an unprecedented number of suffering people. What might you expect him to put in the hands of his delivery people? Unprecedented wealth to meet all those needs and reach all those people? Well, he’s done it, hasn’t he? The question is, what are we doing with it?
John Piper makes this observation:
Three billion people today are outside Jesus Christ. Two-thirds of them have no viable Christian witness in their culture. If they are to hear—and Christ commands that they hear—then cross-cultural missionaries will have to be sent and paid for. All the wealth needed to send this new army of good news ambassadors is already in the church. If we, like Paul, are content with the simple necessities of life, hundreds of millions of dollars in the church would be released to take the gospel to the frontiers. The revolution of joy and freedom it would cause at home would be the best local witness imaginable.142
We should live more simply—and give more generously—because of the world’s dire physical needs.
“[Agabus] stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 11:28-30).
Here is the biblical pattern for giving: See a need, give to meet it. Giving according to our ability means living on less than God has entrusted to us. If he has entrusted us with a great deal, as he has most people reading this, it means living on far less so we can deliver the excess to the needy. That way they will not have too little and we will not have too much—exactly what God intends, according to 2 Corinthians 8:14.
“Live simply that others may simply live.” Of course, there is not necessarily a direct correlation between my simple living and someone else being rescued from starvation or reached with the gospel. There’s only a correlation if I use the resources I’ve freed up to feed the hungry and reach the lost. My ability to give while living simply assumes I will continue to make a decent wage. If I quit my job and go off to pursue simple living for simple living’s sake, spending what little I earn on myself, what good does that do for anyone else?
In fact, if I try to make only enough money for my family’s immediate needs, it may violate Scripture: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may—”
That he may what? Have just enough to live on? No, “that he may have something to share with those in need” (Ephesians 4:28, italics mine). We should work not only to care for our families and because it’s healthy, but also so that we can take the excess income and use it to help the needy.
Even though earning just enough to meet the needs of my family may seem nonmaterialistic, it’s actually selfish when I could earn enough to care for others as well. The point of “living simply” is not so we can say no to money, but so that we can use money to say yes to God.
New Models of Simplified Generous Living
After feeding the five thousand, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” (John 6:12). If ever waste wasn’t an issue, you would think it would be when the provision was miraculously provided! We should remember Christ’s words, “Let nothing be wasted,” when we look in our refrigerators and garbage cans and garages. Can you imagine the disciples sitting in a small circle and Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish in their midst until they are buried under piles of it while the multitudes go hungry? Unthinkable, isn’t it? God provides excess not so it can be stored up but so it can be distributed to the needy.
Every local church also needs examples of other churches that are positive models of living simply and giving generously (2 Corinthians 8:1-2). When thousands of churches are giving more than half of their income to feed the hungry and reach the lost, when they are as excited about giving to the poor as they are about their building projects, the attitude will become contagious and the world will see God’s grace at work. When the world—and other Christians—see the freedom of such living, they’ll be drawn to it.
What keeps us from living on less? It’s not just our love for things, it’s our fear of loneliness or abnormality. If simple living were the norm in our churches, it would be much easier to live simply ourselves. But we don’t want to be left out or seem weird. We need examples to follow, models of simpler lifestyles that we can observe firsthand to convince us it’s really possible—and desirable. We need to see people we respect, people like us who choose to live differently. A mandate to “live simply” won’t do it. It’s easier to follow footprints than to follow orders. If most people in the church have new cars, beautiful homes, hot tubs, and cutting-edge entertainment centers, it’s hard to remember these aren’t what the church is here for.
One Christian told me, “When I look at the Bible, I get really convicted to change my lifestyle. But then I look around at all the other Christians who live like I do and I end up saying, ‘It must be okay—everybody else lives this way too.’”
Most people assume that anyone who lives below the typical standard of living simply can’t afford to buy any more. If they could, they would, right? Why not? It never occurs to them that some people might be choosing to live way below their means. This is why we must risk being transparent in order to learn from each other.
To turn the tide of materialism in the Christian community, we desperately need bold models of kingdom-centered living. Despite our need to do it in a way that doesn’t glorify people, we must hear each other’s stories about giving or else our people will not learn to give. (See appendix E, “Should Giving Always Be Kept Secret?”)
I believe that churches, Bible colleges, Christian liberal arts colleges, and seminaries should develop courses—preferably requirements, but at least electives—not just about budgeting or personal financial planning but thorough biblical studies of stewardship and giving. The Christian community should be filled with people who set a cap on their lifestyles, giving away everything above that amount. We need to draw a line and stop accumulating beyond it. Give away everything else. That isn’t even sacrificial giving, it’s just giving according to our ability. Simple as it is, the models are so few and far between that people don’t even conceive of how it could work.
“I guess I must be stupid,” one person told me, “to think of downsizing our house and selling the second car and giving it to missions. I thought God was in it, but when I mentioned it to my Christian friends, they all gave me a blank stare.” We need to hear each other’s stories in order to raise rather than lower the bar for each other.
John Wesley’s perspective was changed as a result of something that happened to him while at Oxford. Consider the following story:
[Wesley] had just finished buying some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a winter day and he noticed that she had only a thin linen gown to wear for protection against the cold. He reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat, and found he had little left. It struck him that the Lord was not pleased with how he had spent his money. He asked himself: “Will Thy Master say, ‘Well done, good and faithful steward?’ Thou has adorned thy walls with the money that might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?”
Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was £30, and his living expenses £28, so he had £2 to give away. The next year, his income doubled, but he still lived on £28 and gave £32 away. In the third year, his income jumped to £90; again he lived on £28, giving £62 away. The fourth year, he made £120, lived again on £28, and gave £92 to the poor.
Wesley preached that Christians should not merely tithe, but give away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care of. He believed that with increasing income, the Christian’s standard of giving should increase, not his standard of living. He began this practice at Oxford and he continued it throughout his life. Even when his income rose into the thousands of pounds, he lived simply and quickly gave his surplus money away. One year his income was slightly over £1,400; he gave away all save £30. He was afraid of laying up treasures on earth, so the money went out in charity as quickly as it came in. He reports that he never had as much as £100 at one time.
When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the £30,000 he had earned in his lifetime he had given away. As Wesley said, “I cannot help leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me hence; but, in every other respect, my own hands will be my executors.143
John Wesley’s royalties at one time gave him what today would be an annual income of $160,000. Yet he lived like someone today might at an income of $20,000. Sound radical? Why? Isn’t it perfectly in keeping with Scripture? “Your plenty will supply what they need. . . . You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion” (2 Corinthians 8:14; 9:11). Perhaps you’ll never be as radical as Wesley—I’m certainly not, but his example inspires me and makes me reevaluate my lifestyle and giving.
It helps a great deal to discuss these matters and make changes together with like-minded people who understand and support our commitment to change. This is one reason I highly recommend that you discuss the issues of this book with others, including your immediate family.
Once when I preached a message on money, some friends in our church took radical steps to increase their giving. Nanci and I realized they were applying my message with more trust and abandon than we were. As a result, we were challenged to further increase our own giving.
“Spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). How often, instead, do we lull each other into complacency and materialism?
Dixie Fraley, cofounder of the Orlando-based Foundation Forum, told me about friends of hers. She said, “They’re such an example of the art of giving. Every year we try to outgive each other!” Why not? Isn’t that spurring one another on? Don’t we need to help each other raise the bar of giving so we can learn to jump higher? Shouldn’t we be asking, “How can we spur each other on to greater and greater giving?”
“But we don’t want to compare each other’s giving.” Yet Paul tells the Corinthians about the Macedonians’ giving, saying he was making this comparison to challenge their own giving (2 Corinthians 8:8). Isn’t it time we revoke our policy of silence and begin helping each other reevaluate our lifestyles and giving?
Simple Living or Strategic Living?
During World War II when fuel was precious, billboards routinely asked motorists, “Is this trip necessary?” Every resource used for individual convenience was one less resource available for the nation’s central concern: winning the war. Today, we’re engaged in a great spiritual battle that requires great resources (Ephesians 6:12). Spending money on our own private concerns leaves less for the kingdom’s central concern. We should ask, “Is this thing necessary? Does it contribute to my purpose in being here on this earth? Is this item an asset or liability to me as a soldier of Christ?”
The American church, taking its cue from our culture, has adopted a peacetime mentality. Consequently we live a peacetime lifestyle. But Scripture says we’re at war. We should make sacrifices commensurate to this crisis, that we may win the war. Ralph Winter uses the term “wartime lifestyle.”144 We might also call it a “strategic” lifestyle. I find that description more helpful and precise than “simple” lifestyle. If I’m devoted to “simple living,” I might reject a computer because it’s modern and nonessential. But if I live a wartime or strategic lifestyle, the computer may serve as a tool for kingdom purposes. My computer is serving that purpose as I’m writing this book. Likewise, a microwave oven might free up our time to engage in kingdom causes. Simple living may be self-centered. Strategic living is kingdom centered.
Ralph Winter makes an intriguing proposal:
The essential tactic to adopt a wartime lifestyle is to build on a pioneer mission perspective and do so by a very simple and dramatic method. Those who are awakened from the grogginess and stupor of our times can, of course, go as missionaries. But they can also stay home and deliberately and decisively adopt a missionary support level as their standard of living and their basis of lifestyle, regardless of their income. This will free up an unbelievable amount of money—so much, in fact, that if a million average Presbyterian households were to live within the average Presbyterian minister’s salary, it would create at least two billion dollars a year. Yet that happens to be only one-seventh of the amount Americans spend on tobacco. But what a mighty gift to the nations if carefully spent on developmental missions!145
Of course, a wartime mentality can be taken to such an extreme that we feel it’s unfaithful to enjoy any possessions, pleasures, or special activities. I’m thankful that in the midst of his command that the rich be generous, Paul tells them to put their hope in God, “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). Even in wartime, it’s important to have battle breaks. Soldiers need rest and recreation. Life isn’t just utilitarian. There’s nothing wrong with spending money for modest pleasures that renew and revive us, especially considering that our battle will last a lifetime.
I’m grateful to have fun possessions, such as a bicycle and tennis racket. They aren’t necessary; yet they contribute to my physical and mental health. Our family spends money on vacations that aren’t “necessary,” yet they bring renewal and precious relationship-building opportunities. My wife and I sometimes go out to dinner, enriching our relationship and renewing our vigor to return to life’s battles. We can give away much or most of our income yet still have breathing room for legitimate recreational spending.
If I have a wartime mentality, I won’t look at my income as God’s call to spend more, but rather as his provision to invest more in the cause. I might determine to live on a certain amount of money each year, an amount that allows some room for discretionary or recreational spending. All income beyond that I will give to God’s kingdom purposes. (For the most part, Nanci and I have done this for the last twelve years, and we have never regretted it.) If he provides twice the amount of money I’ve designated for my living expenses, then I’ll give away 50 percent of my income. If he provides four times that much, I’ll give away 75 percent. If he provides ten times that much, I’ll give away 90 percent. If my income decreases or family needs increase, the percentages will change, but our standard of living doesn’t have to.
Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving. (Look again at 2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:11).
Suppose a woman desires to go to work when the children are grown. Suddenly the family has a second income. Nearly always this second salary produces a higher standard of living. (Expenditures rise to meet income.) But why? One income has been sufficient until this point. If the cause of Christ is so worthy, why not devote the entire second income to it?
If you have a full-time job with an adequate income and also do other things that earn money (in my case, write books and receive money for speaking), why not give away 100 percent of that extra income to the Lord?
Do such proposals seem strange? If so, why? Have we forgotten that all Christ’s disciples are committed to using their money and possessions to further his kingdom? Have we distanced ourselves so far from the battlefield that our peacetime lifestyle has left us comfortable and complacent, unfit for battle and indifferent to the battle’s eternal stakes?
God Loves Rich People—Enough to Tell Them the Truth
When Jesus interacted with the rich young ruler, he “looked at him and loved him.” When you love someone, you act in his best interest. What Jesus says next is 100 percent loving: “One thing you lack. . . . Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).
Jesus isn’t giving the man an ultimatum because he doesn’t care about him. He is making an offer of treasures far beyond anything the man had even dreamed of. Jesus isn’t telling him, “You shouldn’t care about treasures.” He is saying, “You care about short-term treasures you can’t keep. I’m offering you long-term treasures you’ll never lose. I’m not telling you to turn away from treasures—I’m telling you to embrace the right treasures, the ones that really matter, the ones that will last forever.”
But what is the young man’s response? “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22). He wasn’t willing to give up perishable earthly treasures for heavenly treasures that will never perish. With sadness, Jesus says to his disciples “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! . . . It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23, 25).
At this, “the disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’” Jesus assures them that although it wasn’t humanly possible, God could save a rich man too. Then Peter says, “We have left everything to follow you!” Instead of rebuking him for thinking of himself, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, . . . no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). Both short-term rewards and eternal rewards await any who will follow Christ’s call to put all our money and possessions—which really aren’t ours and which can neither satisfy nor last—into his hands.
“A biblical lifestyle will necessarily recognize itself as being in opposition to the prevailing values and lifestyle of its culture. It is informed by a different view of reality.”146 This view of reality isn’t harsh or austere, but exciting and joyful. It need not lead to asceticism or bare-bones living. Neither should it lead to condemnation of Christians who have bigger incomes or feel greater liberty to possess more than we do. Rather, it emphasizes the riches of God’s eternal kingdom. Those who hold such a view are sincerely grateful for the refreshing pleasures and helpful possessions of this life. They simply realize how fleeting it all is: “We look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18, NASB).
Regardless of what material things surround us, this view of reality remains focused on the ultimate pleasure of possessing Christ. Our Lord is pleased when we live in a way that draws attention to the greatest pleasure and possession of life—the Person who made us (and for whom we were made) and the place he’s making for us (and for which we were made).