I have always loved that math problems are black and white. 2 + 2 is always 4. Fifteen percent of 1,000 is always 150. But math problems can be harder to solve when applied to real-life situations.
I majored in math at Furman and loved it. However, after graduating from college, I had a real-life math problem to solve: How would I best glorify the Lord with the money God gave me?
Unlike most math problems, there is not a black-and-white set of rules for managing our finances. However, there are general principles that can help us think about how to steward the money God has given us.
Dr. Walter Johnson wrote about wealth recently and said that the parables of the treasure in a field and the pearl of great price (Matt. 13:44–46) “challenge believers to re-evaluate their values and make the kingdom their ultimate priority.”
What we do with “our” money says a lot about what we love. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:24, “So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.” The Corinthians had pledged to give to the saints in Jerusalem because they loved God and loved others (Matt. 22:36–40), but now it was time to write the check. They needed to prove their love by acting.
Often, what people do with their money says a lot about what they value, love, and prioritize.
Five years ago, I read Art Rainer’s The Money Challenge, as I looked for a system to help my family and me steward the money God had put under our care. Rainer’s challenge in the book is to “give generously, save wisely, and live appropriately.” Since then, I have adapted some of his language to help me think well and biblically about how we steward our money. Here are four ways to help you do the same:
1) Give Generously
Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.” Verse 10 then promises that a man will have barns that are bursting full.
The proverbs are not direct promises, and there are plenty of issues with the health-and-wealth gospel. But these words from Solomon tell us to prioritize giving our first and our best to the Lord, not simply our excess or our leftovers. We want to be generous to our church, other churches, missionaries, church-planting efforts, kingdom-advancing nonprofits, the poor, neighbors, and co-workers.
Romans 12:13 tells us to “contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” This is generosity! Proverbs 14:21 says, “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.”
A couple of years ago, I challenged the members of our church to:
- give proportionally — give a percent; the application of the tithe in the New Testament is debated, but either way, percents are helpful so that our generosity grows as our wealth grows
- give sacrificially — it should hurt
- give cheerfully — just like Paul wanted for the Corinthians (2 Cor. 9:6–7)
- give deliberately and consistently — we will likely not be accidentally generous; set a goal and follow through, like Paul wanted for the Corinthians (2 Cor. 8–9)
2) Work Purposefully
Proverbs 23:4 states, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.” We are not just after wealth. It is not to rule over us. We shouldn’t work endless hours to acquire the largest possible amount of money and savings. We must be discerning in how much we should work and how we do our work.
Genesis 1 and 2 show that man is to be purposeful in his work, as he has dominion over the earth and helps it produce fruit (Gen. 1:26–28; 2:15). Paul tells the servants, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23–24).
Christians do not belong to money but working purposefully and diligently to provide is vital (Prov. 12:11; 1 Tim. 5:8). Laziness and a lack of preparation do not honor the Lord (Prov. 6:6–8; 10:4–5).
I have found that praying Proverbs 30:7–9 for my family, my church, and me is quite helpful:
[7] Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
I want the Lord to give us neither riches nor poverty, but give us what is needed, so that we are not prone to question the Lord’s existence (v. 9a) and not tempted to curse God for a lack of provision (v. 9b).
3) Save Humbly
We may not always know what the future holds, but a sense of being prepared is helpful. When you hear of a big ice storm coming, you ensure that you have the right supplies. You don’t then use them all up on day one.
Proverbs 21:20 says, “Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” There will likely be times of scarcity and times of bounty in our lives, but being prepared is a good thing. I think about Joseph, who was removed from his family through sinful behavior, and yet, God used him to save his family and all of Egypt through his saving of resources for when it was needed.
I say to “save humbly” because when we save, we still recognize that what is in “our possession” isn’t actually ours. In David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29, he says in verse 16, “O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.” All the resources Israel gave to build the temple were actually God’s resources to start with.
The Bible is rooted in an agrarian society. Proverbs 27:23–24 challenges the reader to know what he has: “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?” If we know what we have, we can be prepared to give. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous” (Prov. 13:22).
Obviously, we have a tension here with Matthew 6, where we are not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth (v. 19) and where we see how God provides for the birds without them having barns to store stuff (v. 26). We ultimately save humbly, not just for our sake but for the sake of others and for the Lord. I have ultimately been able to attend seminary because of the humble saving and ongoing generosity of a couple who lived 100 years ago: Charles and Olivia Keesee.
4) Live Wisely
In Luke 14, Jesus explains the high cost of being His disciple. He wants the crowd to count the cost and know what they are signing up for by following Him. He says, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). If a person is unable to finish the tower, he or she will be mocked (v. 29). A king does not go to war without first deliberating whether he is able to fight the enemy (v. 31).
Limit hasty decisions. Be cautious of debt (Prov. 22:7, 26–27; 17:28). Spend less than you make. Make a budget. Use an app like Every Dollar or YNAB. Live wisely so that you are prepared to give generously.
A Basic Math Problem and a Challenge
Let’s do our own math problem using some very rough numbers. Let’s assume there are 50 giving units per church (some churches have more, some churches have less). Let’sassume that each unit is giving (or saving to then give) $200 per month for missionaries (thinking something like Lottie Moon here). That is $10,000 per month for that 50-unit church. If we have approximately 40,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, that is $400,000,000 (400 million dollars!) being given each month for missions. That is almost $5 billion over the course of a year!
Now, $200 per month is a lot for any of us! But I also bet that if you absolutely had to figure out a way to budget $200 per month, you would figure it out! Maybe you can’t do $200 per month right now, but maybe you can start at 1 percent of your income this year. Then 1.5 percent next year before doing 2 percent the following year. Eventually you will be saving $200 per month or more! And we will get to enjoy the fruit of seeing Christ made known here in the United States and to the ends of the earth.
My Prayer
My prayer for our church, for our missionaries, and for our denomination is that we will see people work purposefully, save humbly, and live wisely, so that we can give even more generously than we first believed possible.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Lord willing, is coming up in 11 months. Can you set aside $25, $50, or $200 per month in preparation so that we can see the gospel go to the nations? Think what a joy it will be to write a generous check in December because of working purposefully, saving humbly, and living wisely now!
Ultimately, our money will do nothing for us “in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 11:4). We must trust in the Lord Jesus and earnestly seek Him with all our heart. From there, He will lead us and guide us through the power of His Spirit to glorify and magnify Him in everything we do with the money He has given us to steward.
— Aaron Markham is one of the pastors at Ridgewood Church, Greer, S.C. He and his wife, Casey, have been married for 10 years and have three children. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in North American Missiology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Read more of his work here.