So You Want to Be a Millionaire?

This article originally appeared in Home School Digest, the Christian Family Discipleship Quarterly for serious homeschoolers. Each issue nearly 100 pages! Subscriptions: $18/yr. Contact: Wisdom's Gate, P.O. Box 374, Covert, MI 49043. Phone: 800-343-1943. www.homeschooldigest.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How often have you heard people imitate a certain game show theme song in a deliberative situation? Does a famous game come to mind when you see an object bouncing haphazardly through an obstacle? How many question askers, letter turners, and prize demonstrators can you name? Before you reply, of course, make sure that you are giving your final answer. Whether we like it or not, television game shows have affected (infected?) our cultural experience.

What is so appealing about game shows? The thrill of competition excites us, and a few shows even feature a measure of intellectual stimulation. Winning is what game shows are all about, however -- winning money and other cool prizes! If someone on TV can win a new car or $25,000 in cash, maybe I can, too! Television game shows are a popular part of a culture with too much time on its hands and too many want-lists in its heart.

How should we disciples of Christ Jesus understand wealth, money management, and work? The Bible has much to say about these subjects. Since they are important to God, they should be important to us. We need to understand the source of wealth and the battle between covetousness and contentment. We need to recognize the challenges that wealth brings and recognize the supremacy of spiritual wealth over physical wealth. We need to study ethical considerations related to money and the relationship between the rich and the poor. We must move to practical considerations about business, debt, giving, saving, and more. Our conclusions will likely be different from those of the world, but we must be willing to make the decisions and changes necessary to please God.

The Source of Wealth

Economic theory may seem exceedingly complex to those of us without much experience in that area. You can easily get a headache trying to figure out how supply and demand fit into a global economy run by multi-national corporations funded by the capitalization of diversified financial interests. If haste makes waste, then what makes wealth? Does it come from the earth? From labor? From the acquisition of capital? We can make it easy for ourselves by oberserving that wealth comes from God.

The Lord made the earth and everything in it, so, of course, he is the source of all forms of wealth. He distributes wealth to the people he has made. God blesses some of his followers with an abundance of material possessions, and others subsist on a limited, though sufficient, supply. Some unbelievers manage to amass great treasure, while many live in squalor. We cannot always understand the mysterious movings of the Almighty, but one thing that the rich and poor have in common is that the Lord made them all (Prov. 22:2).

As recipients of God's provisions, we can respond with only one of two attitudes. We can covet more, or we can be content with what we have. No other options are available. Neither can we blend these opposites into a unified attitude. Only one accurately describes our understanding of wealth.

If we are covetous, we suppose that our own wisdom and strength have earned what we possess. We are not grateful because we believe that we got only what we deserved (or less than we deserved). We are not satisfied because we must always keep up with others. We are not even happy because we must always worry about what will happen tomorrow.

If we are content, we recognize that God is the source of our physical blessings. We are grateful because we know that we do not even deserve bread and water. We are satisfied because we need not compare ourselves with others. We are joyful in the Lord because we know what will happen tomorrow -- he will take care of us.

This battle between covetousness and contentment may seem especially fierce in our modern world of mass production and commercialism, but it has been raging for centuries. The Old Testament strictly censures those who place their trust in riches. The New Testament contains many warnings against the love of money and the pursuit of sordid gain. Jesus himself provided much teaching on how we use our possessions. After we recognize the source of wealth, we must face the challenge of wealth.

The Challenge of Wealth

Someone has been, will be, or currently is richer than we are. We can always pass the buck, so to speak, and imagine that we aren't really rich compared to that person. The challenge of wealth confronts everyone, however. Greed is idolatry whether you start out with a little or a lot.

We should not want to get rich. I am not saying that money is evil or that being rich is evil. I am saying that we should not want to get rich. I admit that sometimes I wish I had a million dollars. I know I could put it to good use, but why do I really want to get rich? So I won't have to "worry" about money? So I won't have to work so hard? My desires are not purely philantropic. God doesn't need me to make a lot of money so I can give it away. He will give me what I need to do what I can. A servant heart is more valuable than a fat wallet, so I should desire the former much more than the latter.

Paul gives us a specific warning about the challenge of wealth in 1 Timothy 6. Some people back then thought that living a godly lifestyle was a way to get rich. Living a godly lifestyle is a means of great gain, but only when accompanied by contentment. God will provide everything we need, and at times that may include just basic food and covering.

Having sufficient material possessions, and even an abundance, is the reward of diligence and obedience. It is not a right and it should not be our goal. If we follow God so that we will get rich, then we are missing the point. If we follow God because it is right, then we will be able to have and to enjoy what we need.

Rich people (and those who want to be rich) are tempted to trust in wealth as savior rather than in Christ. Wealth is attractive, and it can make people happy for a time. Wealth can vanish in a moment, however; it never provides lasting security. If thieves don't break in and steal it, and moths and rust don't get it first, at least we know that the rich man will not keep his wealth when he dies. We enter the world without a penny and we leave it empty-handed, too. Neither money nor any physical possession can help us in the end.

Of course, poor people aren't free from challenges. They have the temptation to be envious of richer people, and some of them try to improve their condition through theft or other dishonest means. However, since they do not have the same amount of contact with wealth, poor people can often recognize their need for the Lord more easily. Rich people may enter the kingdom of heaven with difficulty. Poor people may enter it with less strain, but it is still only possible with God.

The more we focus on spiritual wealth, the less we worry about physical wealth. The things in life that are most valuable are not silver and gold and the things they can buy. The things in life that are most valuable are the things that last, the things based on a wise and righteous lifestyle.

We all must decide what is most valuable to us. Would you rather have a million dollars or another child? Would you rather be CEO of a big corporation or be a hero to your children? Would you rather have a wall full of diplomas and awards or a heart full of wisdom and love? These questions are not true dichotomies; the comparisons are not necessarily mutually exclusive. All too often, however, those who pursue physical wealth and honor among men do so at great cost to their spiritual health. When you must make a difficult choice, are you ready to choose spiritual wealth over physical wealth?

True wealth comes from knowing the mystery of God's work in Christ Jesus. A simple meal in the modest dwelling of the righteous is much better than a lavish feast in the fancy mansion of the wicked. Even if our possessions are not numerous, even if they are confiscated or destroyed by disaster, we can be content because of God's wonderful provision for our spirits.

How We Get It, How We Use It

As a young man of 24, financial considerations are often on my mind. I wonder how I can best prepare for my future needs and responsibilities. Because of my age, I cannot continue to have health insurance under my parents. I do not have a vehicle of my own. I want to acquire or build a debt-free house before I marry. I don't expect to be like many other families, with my wife and me both working high-powered, high-paying professional jobs. Living in 21st-century America is expensive for most people. What can I or should I do differently?

The Bible encourages us to make diligent plans based on wise counsel. Doing whatever feels right at the moment is not a healthy or efficient way to live. However, all of our plans are conditional on what the Lord wills. Some plans won't get off the ground, and some may go just as we would like. God may allow other plans to succeed for a time; but if we do not keep our focus on him, then we will not enjoy the fruit of our labor (Luke 12:16-21).

Talking about things is much easier than doing them. Making plans is much easier than following them. Staying in bed or playing computer games or daydreaming are much easier than devoting myself to the tasks at hand, but I know that I must devote myself to those tasks. Talking and dreaming and making plans have a place, as does taking a break from our labor. We can only take a break from something we actually are doing, however. That means work.

Working

Because of Adam's sin, he had to earn his living by his sweat, fighting against the stubborn ground (Gen. 3:17-19). Today, relatively fewer people, especially in industrialized countries, earn their living directly from the soil than in times past. Still, all of us must either work or hire people to work for us, and we are all still dependent on those who cultivate crops and manage livestock.

God redeems our work by giving us a purpose, a motivation, and a reward for our disciplined effort. Work and business and finance are not evil areas of life. We should not be ashamed of trying to do an honest job or to run an honest business. Nor should we feel the need to hide our labor behind a "non-profit" screen. We should not try to take advantage of people, but doing business and making a profit are a part of life on earth.

The Bible mentions a wide range of occupations, including baker, banker, blacksmith, builder, carpenter, craftsman, designer, doctor, embroiderer, engraver, fabric seller, farmer, fisherman, fuller, gardener, goldsmith, government official, husbandman, lawyer, mason, merchant, metallurgist, metalworker, midwife, musician, nurse, perfumer, plowman, potter, quarryman, rancher, refiner, scholar, scribe, sea merchant, seamster, servant, slave, soldier, stone/gem worker, tanner, tentmaker, trapper, vinedresser, weaver, wet nurse, and winepresser. Our society has developed new versions of these ancient tasks with new tools, but overall we perform similar tasks related to eating, dressing, building, and, sadly, fighting. Certainly some occupations are wicked (such as thief or prostitute), and some people perform respectable occupations in a wicked way. Still we have a great variety of suitable fields for our labor.

Whatever labor we choose, we should do it well as though we were working for the Lord. Diligence is one of the virtues highly praised in the Proverbs, and laziness is as strongly condemned. Paying attention to our responsibilities shows that we do not take God's blessings for granted. On the other hand, we can pay too much attention to work. Rising early and staying up late toiling for food is vain (Psalm 127). In one of Jesus' parables, people excused themselves from the banquet because they had to check their fields or try out their oxen (Luke 14). The Scripture says that he who does not work should not eat, so each of us should take care of the duties appropriate to our age and station. However, we must not let work or anything else interfere with our most important duties to God and man. We plant and water; God gives the increase, along with peace and rest.

If I work for someone else, I am a servant. I may be a temporary servant or an itinerant servant, but I am still a servant. Being a servant is not wrong, and it may be quite good in some circumstances. However, the Bible suggests that having a free occupation is better than being a servant. The Old Testament several times makes a positive reference to each man having his own vine and fig tree (1 Kin. 4:25, Mic. 4:4, Zech. 3:10). Paul told believing servants (voluntary and involuntary) that they should not worry about their condition, but they should take advantage of freedom if possible (1 Cor. 7:21).

Having a free occupation is not necessarily easier than working for an employer. Business owners work for their customers! Employees have one boss (or one chain of command), but self-employed individuals must respond to the wishes and needs of multiple people in their customer base. Each option has challenges and opportunities, and each of us must identify good ways to use the talents God has given us to serve him and others effectively.

Giving

We work to earn our daily bread. Instead of passing our days in idle pleasure, we spend them in diligent effort, and God rewards with fruit the labor of our hands. We also work so that we can give to those in need, and that is perhaps of equal importance (Eph. 4:28).

Abraham provides the first example of tithing when he gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils he had captured (Gen. 14:20). Jacob promised to give the Lord a tenth of everything the Lord gave him (Gen. 28:22). The law given to Moses codified God's instructions concerning the tithe. The law describes different aspects of the tithe in different passages. The Levites received tithes to provide for their needs since they did not have an inheritance in Israel (Num. 18:21-32). Part of it went to help the poor (Deut. 26:12-15). Some of it, the people enjoyed by eating it as a feast before God when they brought it to the him (Deut. 14:22-29).

The New Testament says much about giving, but not much about tithing. I do not think that believers today must give 10% of their income to worthy causes. They can give more! One of the loveliest word pictures of Jesus that has stuck in my mind for many years is that from Luke 6:38: Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, poured in your lap!

We can get into discussions about whether we give before taxes or after taxes, whether we give based on our gross or our net, and who should receive our donations. We can easily miss the point. Are we trying to see how little we can give or how much we can give? A few people might get into trouble by giving "more than they can afford," but most of us aren't in that danger. Paul praised the Macedonians who gave out of their joy and poverty even beyond their means. They considered it a favor to be able to give (2 Cor. 8:1-4).

We are God's investment managers. He created everything. He owns everything. He entrusts a certain amount to our care, and we are supposed to put it to good use. Giving to those in need and helping good causes go father are among the best investments we can make. The old saying that "God helps those who help themselves" would be worded better "God helps those who help others." When God demands an accounting from us, we can show him the good return we made by the lives we touched.

Investing

Socially-conscious investing is a trendy activity. Many investors try simply to get the best return on their money, but others make critical analysis, more or less strict, of the moral value of certain investments. Trying to figure out where every dollar ultimately goes is a maddening and impossible task, but I agree that we should be attentive and careful, seeking not to offer direct support to entities that are exploitive and corrupt. We don't want to earn deceptive wages or to get deceptive deals. Even more important than socially conscious investing, however, is social investing. By social investing, I mean investing in people.

Your 401(K) may be small or non-existent. Your stock portfolio may be as disorganized as it is diversified. You may have more money in music CDs than you have in bank CDs. However, if you are investing your time and energy and money in people, then you are doing well, wonderfully well.

Parents who have children have a diversified investment portfolio in their own home. Children come in different ages, with different talents, and in two main varieties, boy and girl. An investment in the life of a child has an unlimited rate of return. Every child trained in the Lord has the opportunity to affect the lives of innumerable people through his work in the world and his future family.

All of us have opportunities to sow the seeds of love and reap the harvest of righteousness in the lives of other people. Those who are rich in the world's goods must also be rich in good deeds. If having wealth enables them to do more good, then they are indeed blessed. If they are not rich toward God, however, then all of their careful planning and all of their projected returns will be worthless.

The Proverb says that a good man leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren (13:22), and Paul comments on the idea that parents should save up from their children rather than vice versa (2 Cor. 12:14). As the rest of the Bible teaches, however, a child who is given a head start financially must also be give a "heart start" spiritually. Children and grandchildren need the heirlooms of faith and holiness more than they need anything made of wood or gold or brick. Jesus warned a man who was concerned about his inheritance that life does not consist of our possessions, no matter how many we have.

We should be as wise as the ant in preparing for tomorrow, and we should be as careless as the birds in enjoying today. How do we strike a proper balance between those attitudes? Saving for a particular purpose is wise, such as saving for car, a house, a trip, or the financial "winters" that come. Having large amounts of money lying around for nothing in particular seems unnecessary, however. What God has given, God can give again.

Lending and Borrowing

A large percentage of church-going people are in debt for a house, a car, a college education, a vacation, or something else. A few might try to argue that this situation is good for the economy or that it provides tax benefits, but surely most of us would agree that we would be better off without our debt burdens. We may like to think that our borrowing is all for a good cause, but deep down we should realize that generally it supports our hankering for bigger and better toys.

According to the Bible, being able to lend is a blessing while having to borrow is a curse. The Scriptures seem to assume that generally the only ones who will borrow are the poor (Ex. 22:25, Lev. 25:35) and the wicked (Ps. 37:21, 109:11; Prov. 20:16; cf. Deut. 24:10-13). Our modern consumer culture teaches us to get what we want right now, even if we have to borrow for it. Is Paul's simple injunction to owe no man anything but love just too old-fashioned (Rom. 13:8)?

The Proverbs contain several colorful warnings against going surety for someone else. If you go surety for someone else, you might have to pay the loan back. If you "go surety" for yourself, you will have to pay it back! How far should we take that line of reasoning? The Proverbs tell us that the borrower is slave to the lender, and we've seen before that belivers ought not be in slavery if they can be free.

What's wrong with borrowing? First, borrowing robs us of the freedom to give. Those who are enslaved to a lender cannot give freely because they are obligated to repay their debt. Second, borrowing suggests to the world that God is not meeting our needs. God has promised to supply our physical needs if we trust Him and seek first His kingdom. Does he need us to supplement his provision by taking out loans and repaying them with interest, especially to unbelievers? Instead of borrowing, we should be ready and willing to lend, without expecting repayment.

The one exception I know to the Biblical teaching against borrowing is the case of a poor believer who is living faithfully and working according to his ability. If he lacks food and covering, then we, his brethren, have the duty to gladly help him. In this case, God’s provision comes through the church. If the needy person is later able to repay, that is fine, but we should lend at no interest without expecting even the principal in return (Deut. 15:1-11, 23:19-20; Ps. 15:5; Prov. 28:8; Luke 6:34-35). By the way, I look at making and accepting investments differently from taking out loans and mortgages. Two parties can effectively share both the risk and the potential for profit in a business enterprise by pooling their resources and talents. One person invests money, one person invests time, and both can share the profit (or loss).

Lest you think that our family has mastered the art of financial management, we are still serving a lender, too. We have a mortgage on our residence, and we used a line of credit for a used family car when our previous vehicle died. Our attitude toward finance has changed over the years, as has our attitude toward many things in life. We would like to sell this house and get out of debt, because debt binds us. It holds us down. It disables us from getting where we want to go. Debt can also hurt family life. In Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books, Pa had to leave his family to find work because he had built their house at Plum Creek on credit.

Credit is ready and waiting for us everywhere we look. Credit card companies bombard us with offers for new pieces of plastic. We can buy furniture, computers, and virtually anything else now and pay later (through the nose). Even auto makers have expressed their willingness to give us a new vehicle without charging usury! Once we start, however, stopping the cycle of debt is hard. To owe no man anything but love is a wonderful plan.

Where I Am

God is taking care of our needs through our family business and the other forms of provision we currently have. We cannot really "get ahead," however, while we continue to have the major drain of debt. And, I am not laying up funds to build a house. Should I wait for a windfall from our company or from another source? Should I do different work in place of or in addition to what I'm doing now? Should I plan to rent a place or offer my skills to someone as an indentured servant? I don't really want to "get ahead" in the sense of having years of income stashed away or lots of fancy toys. I want to be established with what I need to raise a family.

My health insurance is expiring because of my age. Our family insurance policy finally came through on paying for Dad's treatment after his wrist injury, but they put up a stiff fight during the process. Insurance and government involvement have contributed to the great rise of costs in medical care and the decline of quality, anyway, so I'm not sure I want to support that system. How can I afford $70 a month for health insurance on my own? Am I foolish not to get health insurance? Is that an ungodly risk to take? Or am I showing a lack of faith in God and the church by getting insurance?

Cars are terribly expensive. Even if I get a car, I have to pay to operate it. I estimate that running our Suburban easily costs 20-25 cents per mile, including the car itself, maintenance, gas, and insurance. So, just going to Wal-Mart and the Post Office costs $1. The 80-mile trip to and from Nashville, Tennessee, which we make frequently, costs about $35.

I could complain and complain, but that's not the point. Understanding basic money principles from the Bible is easy. Putting them into practice can be more difficult. I'm still exploring. What do you think? Am I asking the wrong questions? Am I missing the boat completely?

I want to continue these thoughts in a future article to address more specific questions such as housing, transportation, medical care, and insurance. I would appreciate hearing the insights and experiences you have gained in your efforts to apply Biblical teaching to specific areas of your financial life. I would especially like to hear from other young men who have are preparing to establish new households or who have recently done so. Please contact me by e-mail or postal mail.

Restoring a sense of community is one of the most important projects for which I sense a need. The ancient Israelite society, the first century church, and many Biblically-influenced groups up to modern times enjoyed a communal lifestyle that many folks like me have not experienced. I'm talking about more than just individuals helping each other through tough times. I'm talking about a group of people working together as a corporate unit for the good of all. Frankly, I'm not exactly sure what I'm talking about, but I have visions of what is possible, and I want to interact with other believers who have similar ideas.