God, Wealth, and Possessions
Beware of the Silent Spiritual Killer - Part 2
February 12, 2023
Where we’ve gone and where we’re headed:
The nature and purpose of money.
The danger and deceitfulness of wealth and numerous possessions.
Worshiping God through our stewardship in view of eternity.
Essential biblical principles regarding money and possessions.
Issue #3: Worshiping God through our stewardship.
Takeaway: God entrusts us with money not to build our kingdom on earth, but to build His kingdom in heaven. We should give
In the New Testament we see Christians giving regularly (1 Cor. 16:2), voluntarily (2 Cor. 9:7), sacrificially (2 Cor. 8:2–3), excellently (2 Cor. 8:7), cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7), worshipfully (Acts 10:1–4), proportionately (1 Cor. 16:2), and quietly (Matt. 6:4)
“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charit[able] expenditure excludes them.” [C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 86].
Issue #4: Essential biblical principles regarding money.
• Principle #1: Debt is very
“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).
• Principle #2: Be very
• Principle #3: Live
• Principle #4: Rethink
• Principle #5: Rethink
“[T]he rich fool [in Luke 12:13–21] … was living out the American dream … . [God] doesn’t want us to take still-productive minds and bodies and permanently lay them on a beach, lose them on a golf course, or lock them in a dark living room watching game shows. If you’ve saved for retirement and no longer need to work for pay, then work for God, the church, the poor, or underprivileged children. And don’t forget the great opportunity you have to become a self-supported missionary for two or five or ten or twenty years… . Don’t kill time, any more than you would burn money. Instead, invest it in eternity” [Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions, and Eternity, 329, 338].
“Remember this—if you don’t live for Jesus you will live for something else. If you live for career [or money] and you don’t do it well it may punish you all of your life, and you will feel like a failure… . If Jesus is your center and Lord and you fail him, he will forgive you. Your career can’t die for your sins… . Whatever you base your life on—you have to live up to that. Jesus is the one Lord you can live for who died for you—who breathed his last breath for you. Does that sound oppressive?” [Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 172].