Rev. David Holwick KICK-OFF SUNDAY
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
August 25, 1985
Finances and the Family
Proverbs 6:6, Proverbs 8:21, Proverbs 22:7, NIV
Money Problems.
Those two words seem to go together well. Almost too well.
We all have some money, but it never seems to be enough. Marriage counselors say that money is one of the biggest factors in family fights. People argue about money before they ever became a family. The majority of people who come to me to get married have already pooled their resources and invested in major purchases like a home or car.
I sometimes feel like adding another vow to the ceremony - "Till debt do us part."
A well-known verse in the Bible says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Whether you love it or not, money can cause all sorts of problems. John D. Rockefeller, a Baptist billionaire, said,
"I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness. I would trade them all for the days I sat on an office stool in Cleveland and made $3 a week."
John Jacob Astor, one of America's first millionaires, said,
"I am the most miserable man on earth."
Henry Ford said,
"I was happier when I was doing a mechanic's job."
And Andrew Carnegie, who donated thousands of libraries to communities, including Coshocton, said this,
"Millionaires seldom smile."
From my perspective, millionaires always say they were happier when broke but you never see them give up their money. No one else believes them either.
The most popular shows on television do not deal with people in your income bracket. Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous deal with what we dream about, not what we are. That's why New York's lottery sold seventy-two million tickets when the jackpot hit $41 million. Who cares that the odds of winning turned out to be twenty-four million to one.
I believe God is very concerned about our finances. From Proverbs to the Sermon on the Mount, the Bible talks about the benefits and dangers of money. I would like to focus on several of these areas.
First of all, Christians must face up to some hard cruel facts. Chances are:
You'll never win the lottery.
You'll never be a multi-millionaire.
And you'll never have as much money as you'd like to have.
God wants us to live within our means. Even rich people lose sight of this.
Raymond Lenox won $4.5 million in the Pennsylvania lottery, paid out over twenty years. He took his first two installments and bought a couple of restaurants. Soon after this he was convicted of four counts of passing bad checks for furniture and supplies. Apparently $200,000 a year doesn't go as far as you think.
Very few people live within a budget. Many aren't even sure what it really costs them to live. We get a $200 paycheck and think of a dozen ways to blow it. But after you take care of taxes, car insurance and gas, house payments, utilities and clothes for the kids, you're lucky if you have $20 left. No one can manage their money if they don't know where it's going. In Luke 14:28-29 Jesus warns:
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him."
Americans can always avoid this calamity by borrowing. If no one borrowed we wouldn't have banks because that is how they make their profit. Borrowing money is also Biblical. The Old Testament has instructions on interest rates and payment schedules. I can see borrowing to buy a house or a car. Buying them on installment is about as expensive as renting and you end up with something for your money.
It is when you have to borrow to meet living expenses that you run into trouble. For some people credit becomes a way of life. Bill Gold, a reporter for the Washington Post, tells of a little girl who wanted to buy her dad a present for Father's Day. She had saved up the money, but an obstacle stood in her path. "I can't go downtown every month to make payments", she said to her mother. "Isn't there a store where they let you pay the whole thing at once?"
Credit can take on a life of its own. Those plastic cards which are so easy to use carry interest rates of 18% to 21%. Some banks charge even more for personal loans. As your debt increases you have to earn more money just to stay even.
There is a lot of wisdom in Proverbs 22:7 -
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
Half the time we're not even servants to the lender - we're really servants to greed. Will Rogers said, "Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like." The best way to avoid this trap is to pay cash and pay on time.
Another area the Bible speaks about is saving. Americans aren't very good at it. Every year we put away about five percent of our income, which is the lowest of any industrialized country. The Japanese save twenty percent of their income, which they are beginning to invest in this country.
The Bible distinguishes between two kinds of saving. One is called hoarding. The rich fool in Luke 12 practiced this. His crops did so well he decided to tear down the old barns and build bigger ones. There's nothing wrong with this. It was his motivation that did him in. He concluded,
"And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'" (the final phrase has been popular for a long time!)
The other kind of saving is illustrated by Proverbs 6:6-8 -
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."
When I was a kid I liked to kick anthills. Then you can watch them scurry around with those white eggs and bits of food they store in their tunnels. God wants us to provide for our families in the same way.
One way to do this is through insurance. Some Christians have the idea that insurance is unspiritual - you're not trusting God. As I see it, insurance is a way to be a responsible steward. If you or your spouse dies, God wants your family to be taken care of. Jesus says anyone who fails to provide for their family, even for spiritual reasons, is actually a phony.
We should save on a regular basis for the same reason. Even if we don't die, we may become unemployed or disabled. If you barely have your head above water now, what will happen to you then? Save a portion of every paycheck. And if your spouse has a job as well, learn to live off one paycheck and use the other for savings and extras.
A final area of Biblical finance is the portion for God. When you get right down to it, everything we have is a gift from God. A famous parable by Jesus talks about three men who are given sums of money by their boss. He tells them to invest it, then goes on a trip. When he returns, he asks about their results. Two of them doubled their money. The other one sat on it. It's interesting that the boss, who stands for God, is expecting a profit. It is more significant that the servants all say, "This is what I did with your money that you gave me."
Some people have the idea that God belongs on Sunday morning and the rest of the week belongs to them. But God should be part of every aspect of your life, including your finances. Consistently in the Bible, one demand is made of believers. God deserves everything we have but he expects ten percent, or a tithe, to be given to him exclusively. The tithe is not what you have gangling in your pockets or a few bills from your wallet.
Use money wisely and God will prosper you - Proverbs 8:21...
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Typed on March 31, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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