Introduction
How we handle money says a lot about us. It demonstrates our wisdom, foresight, diligence, and faith…or lack thereof.
Wealth as Means for Good Works
I want to begin with the Apostle Paul’s words at the close of 1 Timothy:
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1Ti 6:17-19).
Riches tempt us to highmindedness, supplanting our certain God with uncertain riches. Instead, Paul charges the wealthy to use their wealth for good works. Wealth, then, is a means of doing good works. The primary good work is that of feeding and sheltering your own family. To not do so adequately is to be worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8).
This feeding and sheltering is not to be done in a hand to mouth fashion. This duty is one of provision. Foresight. This is why a godly man leaves an inheritance to not only his children, but his children’s children (Pro. 13:22). Further, it is striking that immediately following Paul’s charge to the wealthy he also wants against wasting time on foolish quarrels. To make a pointed application, arguing on the internet is highly unlikely to produce the sort of wealth that will enable you to do the good works Paul has in view.
Increase Income, Decrease Expenses
The Bible presents us with a few obvious but all too often easy to ignore principles. God makes real promises to us throughout the Word regarding His blessing upon financial obedience. God governs the world with certain rules.
1. Wealth follows diligent work. (He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. [Pro 10:4])
2. Frugality is included under the Christian duty of sobriety (Calvin: Sobriety undoubtedly denotes as well chastity and temperance as the pure and frugal use of temporal goods, and patient endurance of want.
Put those two things together, and you have a wonderful principle: increase income through diligent work, and decrease expenses in order to save as much as is possible. Your savings rate is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. Savings is a decision, and it is a decision that flows from the moderation which Scripture commands. On the other hand, there is a warning against hoarding (Lk. 12:18). Your savings don’t go to heaven with you, they must be redeployed either by giving an inheritance or by charitable giving. An ideal savings rate is 20% of your income. Think of Joseph’s counsel to set aside 1/5th (i.e. 20%) of the harvest during the seven fruitful years, in preparation for the seven drought years.
Along with this, bear in mind that God really does promise that if we are shrewd in these financial matters, poverty will not normatively be amongst us. However, we should remember the example of Job. Poverty isn’t always due to sin, but can be due to hard providences. In general, though, poverty is downstream of sin (either yours, your culture’s, or the sins of others against you). Consider these words of Moses:
Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it: Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day. For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee (Deu 15:4-6).
Debt
The context for the previous passage had to do with debt, so a few things should be said about debt. Evangelicals can tend to be absolutists regarding the wisdom of debt. However, we should bear in mind that Jesus said that it is a blessing to lend.
Biblically, there was a time limit on debt: six years. There was also a prohibition on predatory interest on the widows or impoverished, but there was no such prohibition on various ventures of wealth creation. If the lender gives to an enterprising borrower, it is right for the lender to expect a return on that investment. We ought to keep this distinct from the cruel practice of usury which perpetuates impoverishment.
Nevertheless, most debt which American consumers take is results in being hamstrung in your pursuit of wealth. A debt is a promise to repay. You are to be a man of your word, which means you need to pay down those debts according to the agreed upon terms. Secondly, you should always consider who you are indebting yourself too, and consider the character of who your lender is.
If you find yourself swimming in debt, there are a few things to do. Repent. You have made promises you couldn’t keep. Confess that. Then, go to your various creditors, and determine if there is a way to renegotiate those terms or consolidate them to more favorable terms. In short, debt is like being in a sailboat in a hurricane.
The Tithe
Your wealth will either be under God’s blessing, or it will not. The tithe is an act of our faith in God; it is a grateful acknowledgment of His kind grace to us, and thus it seeks God’s blessing on the whole. Additionally, it is a truly human act, because we are material creatures and as such material wealth is all we have to give.
The New Testament does not abrogate the duty of tithing (i.e. giving a tenth of our increase to the Lord), since this practice preceded Moses’ Law in the example of Abraham tithing to the King-Priest of Salem. The Kingdom of God, the governance of God in the world, must be funded. A few instances in the NT should suffice to help establish this as a needful practice. Romans ends with a summons to give alms to the poor saints in Jerusalem, and to support Paul’s missionary venture to Spain (Rom. 15:23-29). This indicates the expectation, at the very least, of free-will offering to the support of both mercy ministry and the ministers of the Gospel. Additionally, Paul tells the Corinthians to make the collection of offerings a part of their Lord’s Day worship (1 Cor. 16:1-4). This offering would be taken by their appointed carrier to “bring your liberality unto Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:4b).” Paul uses the word charis (grace/favor)as the noun here for this offering. One of the principle ways we imitate God’s grace to us is in giving away of material wealth.
A few things emerge as we look at the Scripture’s teaching on the tithe. It goes to three things: the support of ministers, the care of the poor, and the feast fund. Furthermore, the NT requires proportionality of us: let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him (1 Cor. 16:2). This, I would argue, indicates a standard 10%. But the next question is 10% of what? Being wary of over-prescription (i.e. gross vs. net, or 3×3% vs 30%), I would counsel someone who has not been tithing to start somewhere, give an amount that you’re budget notices.
The Budget
Speaking of a budget, much of what has been said already assumes that there is a budget. A few things to bear in mind about budgeting. It is a discipline that ought to be largely forward looking. It is not reviewing transactions that have been made; rather, it is assigning your current available funds to transactions that need to be made in the future. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished (Pro 22:3).” Failing to have a budget, failing to communicate with your wife clearly about that budget, and failing to stick to that budget is a recipe for relational and fiscal disaster.
Conclusion
It is quite certain that if Christians worked industriously and gave generously we could fund many of the things which the secular state has taken over. This reality is to our great shame. In many of these aspects of providing for and managing our family’s finances, we have all too often be excessive in spending, stingy in our generosity, and lazy in our efforts to grow the wealth we leave to future generations. Repent of such sin, then work in such a way as to fund good works of familial wealth, care of the sick and suffering, and the support of gospel ministry.
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