We’re continuing our two-part miniseries on money! We’re tackling the perspective our culture tends to take on money and providing a new perspective that brings it back to what the Bible says. In Part I of this series, we talked about how culture gets it wrong and some foundational biblical principles on money. If you haven’t listened to it yet, be sure to check that out, or you may be a little lost. In this episode, we’re going to talk about how to practically live out this principle. Let’s dive into Part II!

Our Working Thesis

Don’t forget our working thesis:

So many Christians have become too much like the culture when it comes to how they view, handle, and use their money. We believe that Jesus and the New Testament authors would be appalled… 

Too often, we view money as ours. We earned it, we worked for it, and it is in our possession, so we can choose what to do with it. We may not explicitly have these thoughts, but the way we talk about money demonstrates that this is indeed the case. 

Rather than viewing money as our own, we ought to view it as 100% God’s. It is His money, and we are merely stewards of it.

So How Do We Cultivate this New Attitude?

Pray!

Pray that God would reveal where you are falling short and ask him if you can give more and live on less. Ask God to align your heart with His perspective on money and give you wisdom on how to use it.

Have someone hold you accountable.

Accountability is not just limited to sexual sin- it is so much more!

One of the questions we use in my accountability setting is “Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week or coveted something that does not belong to you?”. You should also ask people at or below your socioeconomic status if the way you spend your money is sinful. Ask them to point out the sinful ways you spend your money and why. Invite people to call you up. (Side note: you have to actually be in close relationship with someone for them to do this!)

Increase your giving.

Let your actions and discipline lead and the motivation will follow. You aren’t going to automatically have a new perspective and feel like you want to use God’s money in a way that glorifies Him. Don’t wait until you have the right feeling. Act out of obedience and let the heart follow. Evaluate your budget and cut down spending on yourself in order to increase giving to others. The goal is to evaluate where your money is going and if you are using it wisely.

Visit a trash dump.

This is a suggestion by Randy Alcorn. Again- we LOVE what he has to say about money.

Evaluate what you see and find in the trash dump. This is a reminder that everything you buy will eventually end up in a landfill. Even the Christmas gifts- something you were once excited to receive will end up in the trash. This is a great thing to do with your kids too! Let’s seek to use our money towards things that will have an eternal impact.

Ask yourself what possession you have that you would be most upset about if it got ruined.

Is it your house, your couch, your car, your boat, etc…? It’s likely either something you spent a lot of money on or it has a lot of sentimental value.

Whatever it is, either get rid of it, or use it for the kingdom. 

How are you using it to share the gospel, spread God’s kingdom, and love others? If it’s your house, invite people over, and be hospitable. Then, when something inevitably gets ruined, you will see that it doesn’t matter. 

Be willing to loan your car out to people in need. Without hesitation or a second thought!

If you have something that you can’t stand the thought of getting ruined (an autograph, a super fancy car, designer clothes) ask the Lord if you need to get rid of those things.  

Remember that we are not here to live for this world! We are living for the world to come. All of our possessions will end up either in a landfill or destroyed one day. How can you invest your time and money in ways that will have an eternal impact? 

Let’s dive into some more practical questions…

Are taking vacations, going out to eat, or spending money purely on yourself bad things to do?

No, they are not inherently bad. But again, it goes back to the heart’s motivation.

What is the purpose of your vacations, going out to eat, etc…? They should be to connect with your spouse, family, or friends, to recharge and rejuvenate, and ultimately to glorify the Lord.

It shouldn’t be to escape your life and relax. If the purpose is to show off on social media, meet a deep need to see the world, or to try and fill a void in your life, then yeah… it’s sinful.  

Oftentimes a simple, cheap vacation/night out to eat can be much more fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating than a more expensive vacation or night out to eat.

We wanna be careful, cause it’s not necessarily wrong to go to Disney, or take a vacation that is a little more expensive… But, we want you to evaluate: what is your heart behind it? 

As Christians, even the way that we vacation should look different from the world. 

Is it sinful to save money for retirement?

This is a really good question!

It’s not inherently sinful. Proverbs 21:20 teaches that a wise man saves for the future.

How do we contrast this with the rich fool? What is our motivation?

Is our motivation so that we can retire, spend all the time on ourselves, travel the world, collect sea shells, play golf, and live the “good life?” Is our motivation so that we don’t have to trust God?

Or is our motivation so that we can use our time in retirement to serve the Lord without needing to take a paycheck? 

Think about how much time you can spend serving your church and others without having to work! That should be why we save for retirement: so that we can serve God and others without having to take a paycheck. 

The dreams we have for retirement should be markedly different than those of the world because as believers, we are called to be markedly different from the world.

What is a good structure for money?

Give generously, save wisely, and live appropriately.

We’re taking this straight from Art Rainer and The Money Challenge. 

We can often compare ourselves with others (Christians and non-Christians) who don’t necessarily live this way in order to make ourselves feel better. We don’t compare ourselves to others- we compare ourselves to Scripture! The Bible informs our decisions, not others.

One Degree Shift

We talked about a lot over the course of these last two episodes.

The biggest thing I (Xan) want to stress is an inward heart/mentality change.

Start asking before every purchase you make if that is glorifying to the Lord. Evaluate your budget and ask where and how you can give more. Invite accountability into your life.

Whatever shift you seek to make, don’t just focus on external changes, focus on shifting your whole perspective about money. 

Want to Stay a Little Longer?

• Listen to these other episodes on tithing, money talks, and genuine hospitality.
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