God wants us to work hard and enjoy our resources, and he wants us to steward well what we earn. In a famous line from his sermon, entitled “The Use of Money,” the Methodist preacher, John Wesley, said, “Having, first, gained all you can, and, secondly, saved all you can, then, give all you can.” This is an interesting and, often, confusing concept for us, as Christians. Can a Christian be wealthy? What does God say about being rich or poor? Can we “gain all that we can,” as Wesley says and, if so, what exactly does it mean to steward our money well?

Gain All That You Can

The Bible doesn’t outright condemn wealth. 1 Chronicles 29:12 tells us, for example, that, “riches and honor come from [God], and You are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. We read similar ideas in Psalm 24:1 and James 1:17, and the point is this: God has created inherently good resources for us and we should seek to find them, mine them and use them.

Now, don’t go crazy here. I’m not suggesting that you pull a 50 Cent and get rich or die trying. Nor am I advocating for some Scarface type of lifestyle where you push illegal substances. Of course not! John Wesley caveated his sermon too, cautioning us when he said, “We ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor at the expense of our health.”

Scripture plainly teaches that we shouldn’t work so much that we neglect our family or our own health (that is the book of Ecclesiastes in a nut shell). Don’t work so much that you never see your family or that your health suffers because of it. Your family and your health come first. Moreover, don’t work in a way that comes at another person’s expense. Don’t engage in business dealings that hurt or suppress or take advantage of people. Instead, with the jobs that we have, we should work hard so that we can receive higher wages.

This also means that we invest our money in stocks or mutual funds so that our money can grow. We should gain as much as we can. But we should never acquire wealth merely to serve ourselves. That is not why God bestowed us with natural resources; and this leads me to the second practice of spiritual stewardship.

Save All That You Can

While we’re working hard and earning income, we save as much as we can. This is lost on most Americans today, including American Christians.

In our society, it is nearly impossible to detect outward differences between the expenses of professing Christians and non-Christians. In other words, Christians often spend their money in the same way as non- Christians even though we know that God is calling us to be different. The problem comes when we don’t have any self-control or budgets in place. In many ways, the biblical principle is quite simple: don’t immediately spend money once you get it. We need to create a budget among other things.

Now, once again, don’t get confused here. There are many personal priorities that are appropriate to spend money on, including but not limited to health care, higher education, insurance, investments. We should also give gifts to our children, and enjoy recreational activities, cultural and sporting events; we can even eat out from time to time.

But don’t do approach money the same way that our society does. Don’t spend money on the things that most Westerners do. We must remind ourselves and our children regularly of the lies, half-truths and pagan values on which is based the advertising that bombards us daily. Even as simply a decision as not to eat out with the astonishing frequency of so many of our acquaintances has freed up enormous amounts of money. So, for example, enjoy eating out, but don’t eat out excessively.

Give All That You Can

If wealth is seductive, giving away some of our surplus is a good strategy for resisting the temptation to overvalue it. We should meet our needs and then give the rest away.

Christians have an obligation to care for their own, but it does not stop with our spiritual kin. This means that we should tithe among other things. For the concept of a graduated tithe is both biblical and foundational for contemporary stewardship.

The greatest example and motivation of giving for us is Christ. 2 Corinthians 8:9 tells us, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” It was also Christ and His radical giving that prompted many poor Christians to give generously (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

So, brothers and sisters, let us gain all that we can, save all that we can and share all that we can. We do this, not according to the world’s standards, but according to the model of Jesus.                       

                   

If wealth is seductive, giving away some of our surplus is a good strategy for resisting the temptation to overvalue it. Click To Tweet