Part 1: Following Jesus with our wallets

Is our personal wealth good, bad, or neither?

The world is changing. The economy is uncertain. Inflation is affecting us all. Many of us wonder apprehensively what the future will hold and how we should think about spend or save our money. Many of us feel very practically the pinch of rapidly rising costs and look with dismay on the increasing divide in our society between the rich and the poor. As a society, we face an uncertain economic future. 

Even more stressful is what we do with our money as individuals. Although statistically, most of us are ‘wealthy’ by Scripture’s standards (and world and historical standards), we don’t feel wealthy. We might have a sense of ourselves as ‘battlers’ and never seem to have quite enough money for what we want. We need to be responsible and create financial security for ourselves, but how do we do that as followers of Jesus in a changing economic climate?

When it comes to thinking about money and our trust in Jesus, many of us compartmentalise our faith, letting ourselves and each other off the hook when it comes to money. We tend to create a strong division between our commitment to following Jesus, loving others in his name and how we think about and use our money. We can see this most easily in other people. We might reflect on how they pay for an expensive holiday, house or schools for their kids and wonder why they don’t give as much to church or the poor. It is less normal for us to reflect on these questions for ourselves.

When it comes to our own spending, we might have all kinds of emotions around money from our previous experiences, expectations or from our closest relationships. These tend to dominate our thinking far more than clear, Christ-centred beliefs flowing out into action.

So, how do we think well about our money as followers of Jesus?

GiST spoke to the Dr Andrew Bain, who pointed us to two key principles.^[1] As Christians we need to be working towards not being anxious and instead, being generous. When it comes to thinking about and making decisions with our personal finances, our trust must be firmly planted in the goodness of our Father God. It is only with the certainty of God’s goodness to us in Christ that we can move away from anxiety driven behaviour and towards an open-handed generosity (Romans 8:32; 1 Peter 5:7). This shifts our perspective so that we see all we have been given as gifts from God’s constant provision for us.^[2] Leaning on his generosity enables us to be generous.

Even the key category of ‘stewardship’ is not as significant in Scripture as the outpouring of God’s constant provision for us and his call on us to be generous and not be anxious. This shapes our stewardship. Far from being an excuse to generate and increase our wealth, stewardship is a tool enabling us to use our wealth generously. In other words, being a good steward is best achieved by actively trusting God and so turning away from anxiety and towards others in generosity.^[3]

Wealth is not bad

Many of us can see the unfairness of some of the economic structures we are aware of, and the apparent greed of the ‘rich’ and conclude that life would be better if there were no wealth.

Yet, the Bible does not conclude that wealth is inherently bad. The Old Testament promotes seeing physical wealth as an important aspect of God blessing his people (Deut 28:1-8). Ecclesiastes reminds us that although there are many ways we are hurt by this fallen world, we are benefited by being able to stop work to eat and drink^[4]: a privilege that requires some wealth to achieve.

Although these (and other Scriptures) are used out of context to create a sense of ‘#blessing’ in all kinds of unhelpful ways, the key issue we identify here is that God does benefit us through wealth.

Similarly, we see in the example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11 that having wealth is not in itself sinful. This couple sell a field and give some of the money to the apostles, while stating that they had given the full price of the field. God’s Spirit strikes them both dead, not for keeping some of the money back, but for lying to God. Their sin is explicitly not tied to their wealth, but to their dishonesty (Acts 5:3-4).

Yet, God’s gifts to us are to prompt us to generosity. Throughout the Bible, we see his urging to view gifts of wealth as a provision from him, freely given to be freely shared with others. Scripture is full of examples of those who did this,^[5] as is Church History. The earliest Christians shared what they had, even to adopting infants left to die through exposure.^[6] The reflex of those who benefit from God’s generosity is to give to those in need.

The Problem with Wealth

The problem with wealth is not that it exists but how it is used.

First, understanding wealth well depends on the context. James 5:3 rebukes those who hoard wealth ‘…in the last days.’ While his call to humility in James 1 implies that there are significant dangers with wealth, it is not condemned. Yet, in chapter 5, James clearly teaches us that when we refuse to be generous with our wealth at a time in world history where Jesus’ kingdom is expanding to all the world, our decision with wealth testifies against us. Our priorities are completely out of sync with desire to follow Jesus.

Second, the real problem with wealth is greed. The poor can be (and often are) greedy, as are the wealthy. Our hearts covet what we see and, in particular, what we see others enjoy. Envy and greed are available to all, not just those with wealth (Exodus 20:17). Yet it is not the poor that are rebuked most often in Scripture for their greed. Those with wealth are singled out for special warning and rebuke. James continually returns to this theme throughout his letter, yet there is no outright instruction to sell everything and become poor. Instead, his challenge is to live lightly with wealth and be just and generous with that wealth (James 1:26-27). In fact, he begins his letter with a call to ‘…take pride in their humiliation…’ which arises out of being rich (James 1:10). Far from becoming poor, which does not solve the spiritual problem of wealth, the rich should understand themselves as dependent on a generous God, with no more permanent impact on this world than the flowers in their backyard. The only way this can happen is a genuine and disciplined trust that all we have comes to us from a God who is greater and mightier than ourselves and whose right it is to give and take away as he considers wise.

The problem with wealth is that it distracts us from seeking first God’s kingdom and from seeing ourselves as human creatures eternally dependent on a generous God and seeking to trust him in all parts of our lives (Matthew 6:33-34). In one sense, how we use our wealth is the barometer of how we are going spiritually with Jesus.

Confidence

When our confidence is most centred on God and his provision for us in the Lord Jesus, we are likely to be most clear minded in how we think about wealth.^[7]

Our starting point for thinking through these issues is the Lord Jesus himself. For our sake, Scripture informs us, this most wealthy of all kings became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9). His determination to save our souls, led him to put aside wealth beyond our comprehension to take on our humanity, not as a comfortable ruler, but as a poor man who took on the still deeper poverty of spiritual wretchedness. This breathtaking humility shapes our trust in God. He did not use his wealth for his own enjoyment, but gave beyond what anyone could reasonably ever expect. Jesus’ love for us was not abstract but expressed in his death on the cross for us, after a short life lived in the gritty reality of human poverty (Philippians 2:6-11).

Our confidence in God comes from understanding him as the God who faithfully provides all we need in Christ.^[8] This gives us confidence to act generously towards others with what he has given us, and soothes our anxieties about the future.^[9] In Christ, we know a changeless and faithful God who loves us more deeply than we can imagine. 

How does thinking about our own wealth well help us when it comes to thinking about living in the real world? There are economic realities we need to think about to respond well. How do we take these principles and apply them to the real world? Our next article will start to answer some of those questions.

[1] The Gospel in Society Today committee is grateful for the time and expertise of Dr Andrew Bain. Andrew is QTC Vice Principal, Ethics lecturer, and former economist. Although any errors remain the responsibility of the writer, the wisdom he provided will be reflected throughout these articles and from time to time will be directly referenced.

[2] Westminster Confession of Faith V.2

[3] Conversation with Dr Andrew Bain

[4] Ecclesiastes 8:15 for example.

[5] For example, Ruth in Ruth 2:1-7, benefits from Boaz keeping the law (Leviticus 19:9-10).

[6] Tertullian Apology (Chapter 9); Epistle of Barnabas 19.9 also reflects this basic stance towards the poor.

[7] Conversation with Dr Andrew Bain

[8] Westminster Confession of Faith V.7

[9] Claar and Kay identify this as being generous, enjoying and sharing: attitudes that are informed by Scripture and good for human flourishing. (Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices by Victor V. Claar and Robin J. Klay; IVP: Downers Grove, Illinois 2007),  p.22-23, 46