This is the last week in our three week series on lies Christians believe about money. If you haven’t yet, you should first read post #1 and post #2  which each cover a different lie that some Christians believe. This week’s lie is perhaps the most insidious and therefore the most dangerous.

Lie #3: What I do with my money doesn’t really matter. God is only really worried about spiritual things

A lot of Christians live, even if they wouldn’t profess it to be true, as if what they do with their finances has no effect on nor is affected by their faith. This simply isn’t true. After all, Jesus talked more about money than he did about sin and hell. Money is definitely important to God. What does that look like? Let’s look at some words of Jesus to find out.

Money is Amoral, What We Do with It Is Not

Jesus never says that money is evil or that it is good. Really, it’s neither of those things. Money is amoral, neither inherently good or bad. Most inanimate objects in this world are amoral. Take a brick for example. On its own, a brick isn’t good nor bad. If a person decides to throw a brick through a window, that’s bad. If someone decides to use a brick to build an orphanage, that’s good. The brick is used in either case. Money is the same way.

 

Though money is amoral on its own, just like in the brick example, how we use it is not. Our attitudes and behaviors towards finances say a lot about us and often show who we really are. That’s why Jesus talked about money so much. He says in the gospels, “You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13). Either God is the Lord of you and your money or money is the lord of you.

 

Money Displays Where Your Heart Is

How you use money shows what’s most important to you.This is a biblical truth. Jesus even says it clearly in Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you look at your credit card and bank statements and see what you’re spending the most on, that’s a pretty succinct picture of what you care about. Jesus wants your bank statements to display his Lordship in your life.

We’re not supposed to be greedy with our money. The goal is not to just get a bunch of cash piled up to try to make ourselves safe, secure, and happy. If we do that, it shows that what we think is most important is us, our comfort and our safety. Instead, God wants how we use our money to display our obedience to Him and His care of His people in the world.

Now that doesn’t mean that you have to give away every penny you make. You have to buy food and the essentials. God’s into you having fun too, so you shouldn’t guilt yourself about doing some things for yourself, whether that’s entertainment or buying some nice things. You need to take care of your family and make sure you’re planning for the future (1 Timothy 5:8 says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”)

There are some exceptions, but most of us have more money than we need to cover the essentials and a few extras. What do our spending habits say about us? Do we only spend on ourselves or are we thinking of others too? Are we giving to our church or to other organizations? What do our financial habits say about where our treasure is?

The Parable of the Talents

Jesus tells us that it’s important for us to use the gifts that God has given us wisely. In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a master and his three servants. The master is going on a journey and while he’s gone, he gives each servant an amount of money, based on how capable he thinks they are. The first two servants invest their money and double it. The last servant buries his in the ground. When the master returns, he is pleased with the first two, but terribly angry at the third.

We often use this parable to talk about how we should use the talents, skills, gifts, and abilities that God has given us for God’s purposes. That’s true, but this parable also teaches us about money. The word “talent” refers to a type of currency (like a twenty or a hundred dollar bill). We are to use the monetary gifts that God has given us to get a good return for his glory.

We’re Just Managers

In the parable, the money doesn’t really belong to the servants. The master has given that money to them so that they can manage it on behalf of the master. They get to decide what to do with it, but at the end of the day, it still belongs to the master. The same is true of our money.

The truth is that money, the ability to work, and any other gifts we have received are gifts from God. He gives them by his grace. They’re a free gift (which also means he has every right to take them away too). We don’t do anything to earn those things. They ultimately belong to God. We are simply managing them on his behalf. Our goal is not simply to to serve ourselves or even our own families with our money, though the Bible says that too is important. Our goal is to spend God’s money that He has gifted us in a way that we think He would want it spent.

The story of the parable of the talents tells us something very important: we are accountable to God for what we do with our money. God will judge in the end whether we used our resources (including our money) well or not. He deeply cares about our finances, not because he needs our money, but because he knows something important about what money does to us.

Money: A Window to our Heart

Money isn’t important inherently. It’s important because it’s a window into our hearts. If we’re grasping on to our money with both fists, that shows we’re putting our trust in our money (and perhaps in ourselves), not in God. If we hold our money loosely, doing our best to manage it well, but realizing that can never bring us the peace we want it to, we have a healthy relationship with money.

God gifts us money and the ability to work. He expects us to follow him in this area just like every other areas of our lives. Our God is not a god of compartmentalization. He expects and desires to be the Lord of our whole life, our whole heart, and our whole soul. If we aren’t open to following His commands in one area of our lives, we aren’t really open to Him.

That process of following God with our money might not happen overnight. It might take us some time to really come to trust God in this area, but he calls us to trust him. He calls us to obey him. Is it always easy? No. Does it always feel safe? No. However, if we really trust in God and believe that His ways are best, it’s what we’re called to do.

 

I hope this series has been helpful to you. If you feel so inclined, share something you learned below or a question you might have. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts!

 

 

Photo by Vladimir Solomyani on Unsplash