When I was growing up, I learned that the first 10% of your money went to God, the second 10% went to savings, and the remaining 80% was yours to do with what you wanted to.
It is a very simplistic view of money. And one that I am not exactly sure lines up with what God has to say about our money.
We are going to start this message series with a given. The first 10% goes to God. The first ten percent of our income, the first 10% of our tax return, the first 10% of our rebate check, the first 10% of that birthday gift.
We are going work with that assumption. That given. The first 10% is God’s.
But what about that other 90%. I think many of us, make the assumption that God is only concerned about that first 10% and beyond that he is silent.
God has a lot to say about money. And not just that first 10%, but all of it. There are some 2,350 verses in the Bible concerning money. This is twice as much as is said about faith and prayer combined. 15% of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. Jesus talked more about money and possessions than he did about heaven and hell.
I think that God has so much to say about money, because we are really good at messing it up. Money is a catalyst for many our problems. Did you know that 56% of all divorces are the result of financial pressure and struggles between husbands and wives.
Too many of us are controlled by our finances, rather than us controlling them. We are enslaved to debt. We just don’t have enough money to live financially free. We end up working more and more. We take on a second job to pay our mortgage and car payment.
And because of that we are not free to spend the time to do the things we want to do. We want to spend with our children, or serving our church, but the demand to gain more incomes weighs on us and draws away from our desired priorities.
This message series is about discovering financial freedom. That we are not controlled by our money or lack thereof. Galatians 5:1 says, that is it for freedom that Christ has set us free. He has set us free from sin. He has set us free from guilt. He has set us free from Satan and the temptations of this world. And he has set us free financially. But it is up to us to claim that freedom and to not submit again to the yoke of that slavery.
It is time to shift our view of how we look at money and to see money from God’s perspective rather than from our perspective. Because it is only when we see our money from God’s perspective, not just the first 10%, but the remaining 90% as well, will we walk in the true financial freedom that God has called us to.
Let’s understand what money is from God’s perspective. In many was, money is the practical application of God’s Word. Money is the acid test of our discipleship, our maturity, and our faith. We will talk more about that in the coming weeks.
Money is a gift from God.
We must understand what money is. Money is a gift from God. God gives us money for provision. God gives money so that we can feed ourselves, so that we can have a place to live, so that we can cloth our families.
We are given this gift so that we can help others and extend God’s love to our neighbor. This is supporting our church. This is offering a gift of love or encouragement to someone else. This is to go on a mission trip.
You are blessed so that you can be a blessing to others. Gen 12:3 All people will be blessed through you.
At the same time money is given for enjoyment. To take that vacation together so that we might grow as a family. Maybe you enjoy fishing, or scrapbooking, or sports – God gives us money for our pleasure and enjoyment. We will talk more about this.
Maybe you are sitting there and thinking well, I don’t really see money as a gift. I worked hard to earn my money. I broke my back at the old salt mine. I burned the candle at both ends. What are you telling me that my money that I earned and worked hard for is a gift from God?
But who gives you the ability to work? Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” It is God who gives you your skill and ability. It is God who gives you your muscle, your talent, and your determination that enables you to succeed in whatever it is you do for a living. So your ability to earn an income is a gift from God as much as your money is a gift from him.
Too often we go around believing we don’t have enough money. That the world is crashing down upon us. But that is because we are working on our economy rather than God’s. If we are the stewards that called us to be, that we are using our finances in a way that is honoring of him there will always (and I mean it, always!) be more than enough.
Money is neutral.
True or False: Money is the root of all evil. How many of you say true? How many of you say false? How many of you don’t know? How many of you are sleeping?
The answer is false. The verse is not money is the root of all evil. The verse actually says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
Money is neutral. Money in itself is neither good or evil.
There is great good that is accomplished in this world with money. Think of times of disaster and tragedy that wealth that pours in to assist people in their time of need. I shared with you last week about how the money from Lord of Life’s mission tithe was used in an orphanage in Eastern Europe to purchase food for the children for the remainder of the year when their food had run out.
Money is also used for great evil. It is used to commit acts of violence and terror. It is used to suppress and hold down those who have been marginalized.
But money in itself is neutral. It is neither good or bad. Not one verse in the entire Bible condemns a person for being wealthy. But it is the intent, the desire, and the motivation that lies within our human hearts that is marked for good or for evil. How do you value your money? Do you value it in a godly way or do you value it in a worldly way?
You have a choice, this day and every day. You can use money for great good, following after the heart of God’s desire. Or you can use money not only to your detriment and downfall, but also to the detriment and downfall of others.
Money will not make you happy.
Along with understanding what money is, we must also recognize some misconceptions about money.
Money will not make you happy. If money would make us happy then you would imagine that the wealthiest people would the happiest people around, but usually the exact opposite is true.
The problem is that there is never enough. We desire for more money, but there is always more. What is more? More is more than I have now. I get a little more money, I will want a little bit more.
Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it . . . (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)
Your financial freedom is not determined by how much you make.
This might be the most important concept of the day. Your financial freedom is not determined by how much you make. There are people who make $30,000 in a year that are more financially free than others who make $300,000 a year. We live in one of the wealthiest communities in the world. Yes, you heard me right. We live in one of the wealthiest communities in the world. And yet there are so many that are walking around enslaved to their finances.
Most of us don’t have a money problem we have a management problem. Proverbs 21:20 says: “stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.” (TEV)
An alarming statistic. 75% of Americans spend more, than they will earn in a given year. Do you see a problem with that? It is a big reason that the bubble of our economy is being burst. Our spending habits are catching up with us.
Why do you think the government is sending out rebate checks in the mail? Because they are banking on you spending that rebate check as soon as you get it. And you know what. It is likely going to work. There are a lot of people who have got it figured out where that check is going to go, and it is not going to go to the Lord’s house, it’s not going to go towards paying off debt, it’s not going to go towards savings, but it is going to go to Best Buy, and to Walmart, and to Macys, and Cabela’s . . . or maybe it will go to pay off that credit card debt, but we will end up quickly bringing on that debt again.
A few years back we did a message series on the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
With all this being said, there are three points of application to take away from this message today.
1) Dedicate / Commit 100% of your finances to God. The first point of application is to dedicate and commit all of your finances to God. Not just the first ten percent. But the whole 100%. I’m not saying to put your entire paycheck into the offering plate.
Rather tell God, “thank you for entrusting me with this money. I realize that this money is not mine. But it is yours, it is a gift that is given to me by you. Lord I desire to use all of this money is a way that would honor you and the intention for me to use this gift.”
It is similar to the way the church seeks to manage its finances. The leadership here knows that so many of you give sacrificially. It would not be right for the church to take that money and to spend it frivolously. To do so, would not be honoring of the sacrifice that so many of you make.
It is no different with the money that God entrust individually to us. To frivolously spend it is a slap in the face to a God who so graciously and undeservedly provides for our daily needs.
2) Check your yearning capacity with your earning capacity.
To put it bluntly, curb your spending. All of those things you think you need, ask yourself, do I really need them.
Last month, Barbara and I went to the Chicago auto show. I heard some ridiculous statistic that something like 75% of the people who attend the auto show will buy a new car in 3 months. I can see why?
As I walk through the show room I was thinking of my 8 year old GMC Jimmy with 120,000 miles. Then I saw that new shinny 2008 jeep. How it would be nice to cruise around this coming summer with the top down. The wind in my hair. Cranking up the Chris Tomlin or the David Crowder Band on the CD.
But to buy that new jeep would mean taking on a car payment, taking one debt, and ultimately spending more than what I would be earning.
The funny thing was that the day we went to the auto show was typical winter day for 2008 in Chicago. In the show room all those cars looked so nice and shinny. Desirous to take home. But as we drove home on the Eisenhower expressway, I noticed that many of the cars that we had seen in the showroom were the same exact cars that we were now stop and go with in traffic. And on this cold and snowy day, salt on the roads, salt on the cars, that those cars looked no better than my 8 year old car I was driving home. And I would imagine that the people in many of those cars were no more happier because the car that they drove.
My prayer in that moment was thank you Jesus for this vehicle for transportation. Thank you Jesus that it still runs well and that it is fully 100% paid off.
3) The third application, and as I speak about the third application, I want to invite the ushers to begin distributing our Crown Money Maps. If you could do that now, it would be great. The third application is to go beyond this message series in examining your finances from God’s perspective. Next Sunday, we will begin a new Bible Study during the 9:30 and 11am worship services.
These Bible Studies will be hosted in the Fellowship Center. My encouragement for you is to set aside an extra hour for the next seven weeks. Give God two hours for the next 7 Sunday mornings. Allow him to more fully speak to you about your finances and help you discover how you can walk in true financial freedom.
The reality is that a four week message series is only going to touch the surface of this tremendously huge and important topic. The Sunday morning message mostly deals with large concepts and it is difficult to get down into to deep into some very practical questions. You might be asking yourself some very practical questions this morning.
I think about this morning’s message. Probably the most common question is: “How exactly can I specifically cut my expenses? I don’t really see how that is possible.”
This seven week Bible Study will get very practical. It will walk you through this money map that is being handed out and give you insights on how to really make this happen. And don’t worry, you are not going to be asked to share about your finances with others. It is not a plug for you to give more money to the church.
It is designed so that you can discover from God’s perspective and from God’s Word so that you can live in such a way that you are not controlled by your finances, but walk in true (and I say true) financial freedom.
