Foundations of Faith
THE CHRISTIAN AND MONEY
In the preceding issues on “Knowing and Doing God’s Will” and “Not Conformed to This World” a few brief comments were made on how a Christian should handle money (Mar00-Aug00). In this issue we shall expand on some of the points already made and add some new ones.
Assignment 9 (Jun00) asks for verses in Luke 6, 16, and 19 that suggest that our money and possessions all belong to the Lord. Other verses confirm these:”The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, saith the LORD” (Hag. 2:8; also Matt. 25:14-30; 1 Cor. 4:7; Col. 1:16). This means that the Lord wants us to be “faithful and wise steward[s]” (Luke 12:42), always seeking His will as to how we spend the money He has entrusted to our care.
We were reminded (Jul00) of the world’s philosophies that “this world is all there is,” and “you can’t take it with you.” However, the Bible tells us, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” rather than “upon earth” (Matt. 6:19-21). Even if you don’t do the GROWING assignments, you might spend a few moments thinking about Assignment 10:”Describe two (or more) ways in which a Christian can lay up his or her material ‘treasure’ (such as money or possessions) in heaven.”
Our natural tendency is to try to determine the least amount we can get away with in our giving to the Lord. Scriptural principles are these:(1) Under grace, we are free to give much more than the 10% that the Israelites were required to give under law. Our giving is to be “as God has prospered” us (1 Cor. 16:2), along with always keeping in mind the tremendous price paid for our redemption (1 Cor. 6:20). (2) Whatever amount or percentage of our income we give to the Lord, we must pray that we will honor and glorify God in the expenditure of every dollar that He entrusts to our care (1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31).
A common financial practice today is for an individual or family to obtain many credit cards, “max them out” quickly and keep them maxed out, and let the bank take the loss when we die. Now we, as Christians, may not actually set out to do this, but in our greediness, covetousness, and urgent need to “keep up with the Jones’s” (or other young couples in the assembly or at work), we may end up doing the same thing.
Here is what Scripture says:”Render therefore to all their dues:tribute … custom … fear … honor. Owe no man anything” (Rom. 13:7,8). When we borrow money from a bank or a credit agency, we contract to pay back a certain amount of the principal, along with the accrued interest, each month or week. As a minimum application of this verse, we should not allow ourselves to fall behind in our loan or mortgage payments, and thus violate the terms of the contract into which we have entered.
“Watch out, you who say, ‘I realize that my monthly payments already exceed my income, but I’m going to blow my current paycheck on the latest computer gizmo; if I get the new job I applied for, I’ll be okay’; but you do not know what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (Jas. 4:13,14; free modern-day interpretation by the editor). Putting the passages in Romans 13 and James 4 together, we see that we should never borrow beyond our ability at any time to repay to the fullest. Another way of expressing this is that we should not borrow money in order to purchase depreciating items. If we cannot pay the loan on our house or car, we can at least return the house or car to the lender. However, food, clothing, vacations, and many other items commonly put on charge cards cannot be returned to the lender.
“The borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). As Christians, we want to use the money and the time that God has given to us in such a way that we are free, when the Lord shows us a need, to reach out and meet that need. If we are “up to our eyeballs in debt,” even if we are able to keep up the monthly payments, we may-through having to work two jobs or not having any extra money to give away-be limiting God’s ability to use us in His service.
“[Lay] aside all … guile, and hypocrisies” (1 Pet. 2:1). In the present context, this means not pretending to a standard of living that we cannot afford. Let us be patient, content with the kind of house, furnishings, car, and clothing that we can easily afford, and save up (rather than borrowing) for newer and better things.
If we are trying “to keep up with the Jones’s,” consider two things:(1) the Jones’s themselves may have gone deep into debt to purchase their nice possessions; and (2) Christ is to be our example (John 13:15; Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:21), not the Jones’s.
Finally, let us consider the cost of borrowing-sometimes $100,000’s in interest over a lifetime; this is not “faithful and wise” stewardship.
“If you lend to those of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest” (Luke 6:34,35). This means that we as Christians are to lend as if we were giving our money away, not expecting repayment. It is not that we should refuse repayment if offered to us, but that we ought not to fret and worry and, particularly, harass the borrower if the payments have not been made on time.
Scripture is very clear on this point:Don’t do it! that is, unless you are fully able to pay off the loan yourself. “Be not one of those who … are sureties for debts. If you have nothing to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? (Prov. 22:26,27; also 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18).
If we want to be popular, or not lose our friends, we may be trapped into being surety for another. A young girl in college was befriended by a male foreign student who asked her to cosign a $5,000 loan. She did not have any finances to back her up and did not really know what she was doing. He skipped the country and she is still, several years later, strapped with paying off the loan.
Running the Race
Assignment 13: Read 2 Corinthians 8 and (a) write out a verse that shows the motivation for our giving to the needy, and (b) write out a couples of verses that suggest an upper limit on our giving.