Get a Grip on Your Finances

Big Idea: Materialism competes with faith, but financial maturity means managing money wisely, giving generously, and prioritizing God over wealth.

This morning, we're going to talk about Christianity's greatest competition. Many people think that God's greatest competition is another religion, say Buddha or Mohammed. But I would venture to say that in North America, Christianity's greatest competition is materialism. Today, we'll discuss how to manage your finances, as money can control you if you don't take control of it.

Martin Luther once said, "There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind, and purse. Of these three, the conversion of the purse is the most difficult." Let's begin by recognizing that most people are financial failures. That sounds shocking, doesn't it? Most people do not succeed financially.

Even in a wealthy society, few people can live off their accumulated resources. Only 2% of people who reach age 65 are financially independent. 85 out of 100 people have less than $250 when they reach age 65. Fewer men are worth $100 at age 68 than they were at age 18 – after 50 years of work. In other words, they have worked for 50 years and have not been able to save at least $2.00 a year.

Let's also realize that money is a spiritual topic. (Matthew 6:21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In other words, if you want to find out where a person's priorities lie, look at their credit card statement. Look at their checkbook. If your treasure is on earth, it will be revealed in your checkbook. If your treasure is in heaven, that will be revealed as well.

Did you know that 16 out of 38 of Christ's parables deal with money? That more is said in the New Testament about money than is said about heaven and hell combined. Five times more is said about money than prayer. And while there are 500-plus verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions.

Levels of Financial Management

Obviously, the Bible has much to say about money management. What I want to do this morning is talk about different levels of financial management. All of us are in different places. By understanding our financial stage—infancy, childhood, youth, or maturity—we can determine the next steps for our growth.

This will be a self-diagnostic, and we'll all be able to figure out where we are both financially and spiritually. By the way, you could end up at different levels in different aspects of your financial management. For instance, you could be an excellent financial manager but a poor giver. But you evaluate yourself.

First is the level of financial infancy.

What is an infant like? Have you ever seen a generous infant? Babies are in the business of getting, and they give very little back in return. Now, we love infants, but only because we know they're going to grow up. There's a lot that's cute about a little baby who's a few months old. But someone who acts like an infant when they're 18 or 44 is a different story, isn't it?

There's another thing about infants. They get awfully attached to the bottle or their mother's breast. There's nothing wrong with that; that's the way God created them. That's where they derive their security. But once again, they're supposed to outgrow that behavior. I define financial infancy as a dependence on and love for money. It's being controlled by money, rather than you controlling the money.

This level of financial management is described by a well-known story in the New Testament.

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:16–24)

What happened in the story? The rich young man was so attached to his money that there was no room left to attach to God. Jesus was essentially saying, "Give me your pacifier," or in baby talk, "Give me your sucky." And that's how the financial infant is. In America the coins say, "In God we trust," but a spiritual infant loves money too much to trust in God.

1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I once spoke on this verse to a fairly affluent group, and you know what they said? "Oh well, that's an exaggeration. You really can serve both God and money."

Jesus explained why some people accept the gospel while others do not by telling a story about seeds falling on good and bad soil. "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22)

A wealthy Florida coastal town attracted upscale retirees from everywhere in the country. It seemed like the perfect place for the "I've Found It" Campaign. The 1976 program, you may recall, saturated communities with "I've Found It" bumper stickers everywhere. People who asked what had been found learned the answer: "New life in Jesus Christ." They found a correlation between interest in the Gospel message and the distance people lived from the ocean. In other words, the closer people lived to the water, the less interested. The farther from the water they went, the greater the interest. Why do you think that was? The wealthy people in the condominiums lived closest to the water, while the service help, who worked in the hotels along the coast, live in the mobile home parks farthest from the water.

Ron Pierce from Bibles International says that the hardest places to reach with the Gospel are the most affluent places. Jesus said so much about money because it is the most insidious, beguiling, persuasive temptation. Money distracts us from God, despite its inability to save us from sin or fulfill our longing for peace, meaning, and purpose.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." One preacher refers to it as the Money Master. Following him goes against the first commandment, which states, "You shall have no other gods before me," and the tenth commandment about covetousness.

How much does a financial infant give to God? Nothing. Some people, referred to as financial infants, mistakenly expect to receive benefits from God or attempt to exploit Him for personal gain, particularly in the health, wealth, and prosperity movement. Now let me warn you: it's easy to dismiss all of this as alarmist. The Bible repeatedly warns against covetousness and materialism, yet we often treat these sins lightly. So that's financial infancy.

Then there's financial childhood.

Financial childhood can be described by one word: impulsiveness. This level of financial management is characterized by my behavior as a youth. I used to collect subscription payments for the Brampton Guardian once a month. Soon after I would collect the money, it would be gone, and I would say, "Where did it go?" I knew I had money, I knew I had spent it, but I didn't have a clue where it had all gone.

Financial childhood is characterized by those who take $40 or $60 dollars out of the bank machine and have no idea where it goes. Or who open their credit card bills and are surprised by the amount. Or by those who receive a windfall and rush to the store to spend it.

Another word for financial childhood is consumption. Those who are financial children are consumers, and they frequently consume more than they earn. They violate the number one financial rule: spend less than you make. Somebody has wisely said, "If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall."

Those who are financial children have no plan for how to spend money. Or if they have a plan, they don't follow it well. They end up in debt. (Proverbs 22:7) The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Romans 13:8) Let no debt remain outstanding.

When making a purchase, they assess whether they can afford the monthly minimum payment on their credit card rather than the total cost. They rent-to-own and always have debt from a consumptive lifestyle. As far as giving, financial children may give extravagantly, but only when there is a strong emotional appeal. Financially aware children may contribute whatever small change they find, like a few dollars, to the offering plate. Financial children are those who end up at retirement with nothing.

The Scriptures warn against the dangers of debt. Interestingly, individuals who tend to be more impulsive often have a high propensity for credit usage and frequently indulge in television viewing. Proverbs 21:20 says, "Wise people's houses are full of the best foods and olive oil, but fools waste everything they have." Psalms 37:21 says, "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously." The majority of people in North America fall into these first two categories.

The next level is financial youth.

This level is characterized by a quantum improvement over the previous two levels. In financial youth, there is control. There is avoidance of debt. There is a desire to save for the future and to be financially responsible. They've listened to Proverbs 6:6-8, which says: "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."

The financial youth gives to God, albeit at a rather mindless or legalistic level. They perhaps have heard about tithing and decide to aim to give God a certain percentage, such as 10% of their income. Let me say that financial youth are many times more wise than financial babes or children. They appear financially sound, having moved beyond those who mismanage money to a level of mediocrity in money management. The weakness is that they think their money is theirs. But there's still one more level.

Then there's the level of financial maturity.

Someone who is financially mature discovers that they are not an owner but simply a manager of another's property. This teaching is clear in the Old Testament, but even clearer in the New Testament. Please open your Bibles to Luke 16. Jesus tells a story about a shrewd manager of his master's possessions. And his point is that all of us are basically managing God's possessions. Because everything we have is His.

We won't analyze this passage deeply, but we'll highlight five key realizations of a financially mature person.

First, the amount of money isn't what's important. Verse 10 says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." You can succeed financially whether you have a lot of money or just a little. The amount isn't important. Financially immature people think that they'll be better managers of money when they get more money. A financially mature person realizes that the amount isn't important.

Second, financially mature people realize that some things are more important than money. Verse 11 says, "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Jesus says that worldly wealth is not true riches. It's like Monopoly money. It's good when you're playing the game, but when the game is over, what good is it? It's foolish to chase the fake wealth of this world when you can invest in true riches for the future. Matthew 6:20 says, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

Third, financially mature people realize that they are not owners of money, but merely managers. They realize that God owns it all. Verse 12 says, "And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" You see, immature financial managers think that 10% or less of their money is God's. Mature financial managers realize that everything is God's, and we are merely managing it for his glory.

Fourth, financially mature people love God instead of money. Verse 13 says, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." But here is the immature person in verse 14. "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus."

Some people sneer and say, you don't have to choose between God and love of money. But the financially mature person knows you can't be devoted to both. You have to choose. Which are you serving? God or money?

Fifth, the financially mature person is generous. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." The Scripture does not say that God loves a successful getter or a careful keeper, but we do read that he loves a cheerful giver.

Practical Advice

Some financial first aid this morning. First, break with your allegiance to money. You can't do anything until your allegiance changes from money to Jesus Christ. Stop trusting in money. Second, develop a financial plan. This financial plan will have three parts:

First, pay God. How do you know if you're giving enough? Corinthians teaches us that our giving is to be regular, sacrificial, and cheerful. If you give regularly, and it's a sacrifice for you, and you can do it cheerfully, you're giving successfully. If you give under compulsion, or if it’s not much of a sacrifice for you, you’re giving the wrong amount.

Second, pay yourself. In other words, save. Many financial experts tell us to take 10% off the top of our paychecks and save it before you even touch it. And they say that out of the hundreds of people who have done this, not one has missed the money. One pastor suggests the following rule: Live on 80% of what you earn. Give God 10%, save 10%, leaving you 80% to pay the bills.

Pay the bills. Live within your means. Avoid credit and debt. If you follow these three rules, you can’t help but be a financial success.