Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Scared to Check Your Investments?
The news has gone from bad to worse. Have you looked at your retirement account lately? How about your kids’ college fund? If they are invested in anything associated with the stock market from mutual funds or 401K’s, then it is very likely that you might be too scared to even peek at the numbers. You probably knew a few months ago about how much you had… but since then… it has been all downhill.
It has gotten so bad that you don’t even want to hear a financial report. The latest news is… the market fell again today or if not yet, it will! There is a huge amount of fear and panic that has swept our financial system, including your local banks. People are afraid that their life savings are melting away like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.
As I sat and contemplated what to write in this column, I thought, “What can a preacher tell you that can help you in this situation?”
Did you know that the Bible talks about money more than 100 separate times? It’s true.
God believes that we must understand our money and get our priorities in order before we can become the disciples that God wants us to be. Pastor Andy Stanley says, “you cannot wholehearted follow your Savior and remain lost financially. God simply says too much about it.” In other words, if you take Jesus seriously then you know that Jesus says more about money than any other one thing, even salvation. Matthew 6:21 says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That is why your heart sinks when you hear your accounts are down. But here is the big problem. Luke 16 claims that we cannot serve two masters, “we cannot serve both God and money.” Do you find it weird that Jesus says this? I would have expected Jesus to say something like, you cannot serve both God and Satan or whatever, but Jesus chose money. Pastor Stanley goes on to say that God knows that the primary competition for our hearts is… our money and our stuff. The trick is to understand and adopt the way God wants us to look at our stuff. When we take God’s view of our stuff, we become free to live with our money and stuff. Again in Luke Jesus explains a parable about money. Jesus tells people that their money and stuff needs to be used on earth in such a manner that it becomes a tool for the kingdom of God. Let your temporary money and stuff be used to have eternal impact.
Think about it. Think about how many wonderful people that you know or have known who gave of their money, time, and stuff to impact the church(es) in your community or even in the world.
I quickly think of the owner of the Chic-fil-A chain, Truitt Cathy. When I was a young pastor in Jonesboro, Georgia, the First Baptist Church of Jonesboro was know as “the church that Truitt built.” He used his resources for the kingdom of God. Today, the restaurant is closed on Sundays and in that Cathy makes a bold statement that he values Sunday, or even his employees, more than money. What if we all took Jesus’ words to heart and realized that all of OUR stuff, including our money, isn’t OUR stuff at all… it’s all His stuff. What if we knew we would change lives by using our stuff for the glory of God and not worrying about hoarding or saving so much, but allow ourselves to be generous with a mind set on eternal things. My goodness, this sounds like a sermon. Well, I guess that’s what a preacher might say and I am one so…
It has gotten so bad that you don’t even want to hear a financial report. The latest news is… the market fell again today or if not yet, it will! There is a huge amount of fear and panic that has swept our financial system, including your local banks. People are afraid that their life savings are melting away like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz.
As I sat and contemplated what to write in this column, I thought, “What can a preacher tell you that can help you in this situation?”
Did you know that the Bible talks about money more than 100 separate times? It’s true.
God believes that we must understand our money and get our priorities in order before we can become the disciples that God wants us to be. Pastor Andy Stanley says, “you cannot wholehearted follow your Savior and remain lost financially. God simply says too much about it.” In other words, if you take Jesus seriously then you know that Jesus says more about money than any other one thing, even salvation. Matthew 6:21 says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That is why your heart sinks when you hear your accounts are down. But here is the big problem. Luke 16 claims that we cannot serve two masters, “we cannot serve both God and money.” Do you find it weird that Jesus says this? I would have expected Jesus to say something like, you cannot serve both God and Satan or whatever, but Jesus chose money. Pastor Stanley goes on to say that God knows that the primary competition for our hearts is… our money and our stuff. The trick is to understand and adopt the way God wants us to look at our stuff. When we take God’s view of our stuff, we become free to live with our money and stuff. Again in Luke Jesus explains a parable about money. Jesus tells people that their money and stuff needs to be used on earth in such a manner that it becomes a tool for the kingdom of God. Let your temporary money and stuff be used to have eternal impact.
Think about it. Think about how many wonderful people that you know or have known who gave of their money, time, and stuff to impact the church(es) in your community or even in the world.
I quickly think of the owner of the Chic-fil-A chain, Truitt Cathy. When I was a young pastor in Jonesboro, Georgia, the First Baptist Church of Jonesboro was know as “the church that Truitt built.” He used his resources for the kingdom of God. Today, the restaurant is closed on Sundays and in that Cathy makes a bold statement that he values Sunday, or even his employees, more than money. What if we all took Jesus’ words to heart and realized that all of OUR stuff, including our money, isn’t OUR stuff at all… it’s all His stuff. What if we knew we would change lives by using our stuff for the glory of God and not worrying about hoarding or saving so much, but allow ourselves to be generous with a mind set on eternal things. My goodness, this sounds like a sermon. Well, I guess that’s what a preacher might say and I am one so…
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