Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…
Jesus (Matthew 6:21)
The treasury of the heart is the ordering principle of life. Everything revolves around it. It is like the sun to the earth, the earth to the moon and the moon to the seasons. And if that ordering principle is dark, then all of life is darkness.
Suze Orman tells a story in her book, Nine Steps to Financial Freedom that vividly illustrates that point.
When I was 13, my dad owned his own business—a tiny shack where he sold chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. One day the oil that the chicken was fried in caught fire. In a few minutes the whole place exploded in flames. My dad bolted from the store before the flames could engulf him.
Then my mom and I arrived on the scene, and we all stood outside watching the fire burn away my dad's business. All of a sudden, my dad realized he had left his money in the metal cash register inside the building, and I watched in disbelief as he ran back into the inferno before anyone could stop him.
He tried to open the metal register, but the intense heat had already sealed the drawer shut. Knowing that every penny he had was locked in front of him about to go up into flames, he picked up the scalding metal box and carried it outside. When he threw the register on the ground, the skin on his arms and chest came with it. He had escaped the fire safely once, untouched. Then he voluntarily risked his life and was severely injured. The money was that important.
That was when I learned that money is obviously more important than life itself. From that point on, earning money—lots of money—not only became what drove me professionally, but also became my emotional priority.
I don’t know where Suze Orman is on that issue today, but I do know that when money becomes our emotional priority, when cash is all that fills the treasury of our hearts, then we are truly in darkness.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
JESUS MONEY AND POSSESSIONS Part 3: Treasures in Heaven
GOD WANTS US TO HAVE WEALTH. WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO SETTLE FOR MONEY. Max Anders
One of the myths that came out of the great Wall Street crash of 1929 is that some investors, distraught by their losses, committed suicide by jumping out of the windows of Wall Street high rises. Thankfully, that is not true. But sadly, some men did take their own lives. They just didn’t take their last leap on Wall Street.
As far as I can tell the most recent financial crisis has not sparked a rise in suicide. But it has caused some serious soul searching. And that’s a good thing considering the fact that Jesus had more to say about money than just about any other topic.
One of his more notable quotes is recorded in Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for your selves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (NIV) He might have said “where bear markets and housing bubbles destroy.”
The question is: what exactly did he mean by that? What exactly does treasure in heaven look like? Some other passages of scripture help us understand.
Matthew 19:21, among others, stress giving to the poor, giving to meet the legitimate needs of those who cannot meet their own. When we give to ministries like The Good Samaritan, Prison Fellowship, Feed the Children, Samaritan’s Purse etc. we are “Laying up treasures in heaven.”
1Timothy 6:18-19 Indicates that we can lay up more treasure by being rich in good deeds. The greatest benefit of financial security is not being able to insulate ourselves from the world but rather the freedom from the need to make a living so that we can serve others.
When my children were small we had the good fortune to find an excellent pediatrician in Atlanta named Dr. Bill Warren. Warren is one of the heirs to the Coca-Cola fortune. He didn’t need the money that his private practice generated. So he closed his private practice to open a non-profit clinic in Atlanta. As far as I know it is still there. When your own financial security makes it possible to forgo making a living so that you can help others live, that’s laying up treasure in heaven.
Philippians 4:15-17 indicates that giving to support the spread of the message and ministry of Jesus “credits our account” in heaven. When we partner with organizations like Wycliffe Bible Translators and others that take the message of Jesus to places that we cannot personally go we are “laying up treasure in heaven.”
So what kind of treasure are you storing up? Is it the kind that bear markets and housing bubbles can destroy? Or will it last for eternity? As my friend Max Anders says, “God wants us to have wealth. We must be careful not to settle for money.”
One of the myths that came out of the great Wall Street crash of 1929 is that some investors, distraught by their losses, committed suicide by jumping out of the windows of Wall Street high rises. Thankfully, that is not true. But sadly, some men did take their own lives. They just didn’t take their last leap on Wall Street.
As far as I can tell the most recent financial crisis has not sparked a rise in suicide. But it has caused some serious soul searching. And that’s a good thing considering the fact that Jesus had more to say about money than just about any other topic.
One of his more notable quotes is recorded in Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for your selves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (NIV) He might have said “where bear markets and housing bubbles destroy.”
The question is: what exactly did he mean by that? What exactly does treasure in heaven look like? Some other passages of scripture help us understand.
Matthew 19:21, among others, stress giving to the poor, giving to meet the legitimate needs of those who cannot meet their own. When we give to ministries like The Good Samaritan, Prison Fellowship, Feed the Children, Samaritan’s Purse etc. we are “Laying up treasures in heaven.”
1Timothy 6:18-19 Indicates that we can lay up more treasure by being rich in good deeds. The greatest benefit of financial security is not being able to insulate ourselves from the world but rather the freedom from the need to make a living so that we can serve others.
When my children were small we had the good fortune to find an excellent pediatrician in Atlanta named Dr. Bill Warren. Warren is one of the heirs to the Coca-Cola fortune. He didn’t need the money that his private practice generated. So he closed his private practice to open a non-profit clinic in Atlanta. As far as I know it is still there. When your own financial security makes it possible to forgo making a living so that you can help others live, that’s laying up treasure in heaven.
Philippians 4:15-17 indicates that giving to support the spread of the message and ministry of Jesus “credits our account” in heaven. When we partner with organizations like Wycliffe Bible Translators and others that take the message of Jesus to places that we cannot personally go we are “laying up treasure in heaven.”
So what kind of treasure are you storing up? Is it the kind that bear markets and housing bubbles can destroy? Or will it last for eternity? As my friend Max Anders says, “God wants us to have wealth. We must be careful not to settle for money.”
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Jesus Money and Possessions Part 2
GUARDING AGAINST DEBT STRESS
A recent survey by the Associated Press and GFK found that 46% of Americans are stressed out by debt. The AP article went on to say that the average amount owed on credit cards alone was $3900. That’s down from $5600 last fall but still high. And it doesn’t include car loans or mortgages.
Why are we so stressed? Why are we carrying too much debt? Well perhaps it is because we failed to heed one of Jesus’ little known warnings. Then he (Jesus) said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15 NIV)
Later on in the Bible, in his letter to the Colossian Church, the Apostle Paul warned that greed is equal to idolatry: putting our desire for money and possessions above our desire for God. Clearly our greed is costing us more than simple cash. It’s costing us our souls.
Obviously, our attitudes toward money and possessions are critical to our spiritual health. But we live in a spiritually caustic economic culture. Much of our economy is designed around stimulating or creating in us a sense of need for things that aren’t necessities, generating covetousness and greed and idolatry.
One of the courses we took in business school was marketing. In the early days companies created and advertised products that met needs. Now we create needs where none existed before. You don’t have to work very hard to sell a hammer to a carpenter. But you have to be very creative to sell him hair spray and a blow dryer. You have to make him think that he needs it.
How do advertisers do that? They know what makes us tick. They know what scares us, what moves us, what our unspoken longings and insecurities are. And they use it to make us think we need the stuff.
One of those ads caught me a few years back. It was an advertisement for a boat. I like boats. But I never thought that I needed one until they showed a dad fishing from his boat with his daughter. The caption said it all: “Because my wedding will be sooner than you think.” I have daughters. I want to stay connected to them. Ergo: I needed a boat! I couldn’t believe how that simple advertisement tugged on my heart!
Madison Avenue has learned to tap the oil fields of the human soul. Only the derricks are in our hip pockets. They know I don’t need a new boat to go fishing. They’re telling me I need a boat to be a father who never loses touch with his daughters! I have nothing against boats. But I know they won’t last. They won’t give me what I need the most.
It’s like the great theologian and sometime actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in an interview, “The biggest lesson is that nothing on the exterior will make me feel better. It may seem that way for a short time, but those feelings of inadequacy will surface as soon as that new purse (jeep, boat, or whatever) is no longer new.”
What do we need the most? We need a relationship with God the Father, a relationship that can only be found through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, who died for our sins so that our greatest debt – the debt of sin that we could never pay – would be wiped out. Now that’s what I call real stress free living.
A recent survey by the Associated Press and GFK found that 46% of Americans are stressed out by debt. The AP article went on to say that the average amount owed on credit cards alone was $3900. That’s down from $5600 last fall but still high. And it doesn’t include car loans or mortgages.
Why are we so stressed? Why are we carrying too much debt? Well perhaps it is because we failed to heed one of Jesus’ little known warnings. Then he (Jesus) said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15 NIV)
Later on in the Bible, in his letter to the Colossian Church, the Apostle Paul warned that greed is equal to idolatry: putting our desire for money and possessions above our desire for God. Clearly our greed is costing us more than simple cash. It’s costing us our souls.
Obviously, our attitudes toward money and possessions are critical to our spiritual health. But we live in a spiritually caustic economic culture. Much of our economy is designed around stimulating or creating in us a sense of need for things that aren’t necessities, generating covetousness and greed and idolatry.
One of the courses we took in business school was marketing. In the early days companies created and advertised products that met needs. Now we create needs where none existed before. You don’t have to work very hard to sell a hammer to a carpenter. But you have to be very creative to sell him hair spray and a blow dryer. You have to make him think that he needs it.
How do advertisers do that? They know what makes us tick. They know what scares us, what moves us, what our unspoken longings and insecurities are. And they use it to make us think we need the stuff.
One of those ads caught me a few years back. It was an advertisement for a boat. I like boats. But I never thought that I needed one until they showed a dad fishing from his boat with his daughter. The caption said it all: “Because my wedding will be sooner than you think.” I have daughters. I want to stay connected to them. Ergo: I needed a boat! I couldn’t believe how that simple advertisement tugged on my heart!
Madison Avenue has learned to tap the oil fields of the human soul. Only the derricks are in our hip pockets. They know I don’t need a new boat to go fishing. They’re telling me I need a boat to be a father who never loses touch with his daughters! I have nothing against boats. But I know they won’t last. They won’t give me what I need the most.
It’s like the great theologian and sometime actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in an interview, “The biggest lesson is that nothing on the exterior will make me feel better. It may seem that way for a short time, but those feelings of inadequacy will surface as soon as that new purse (jeep, boat, or whatever) is no longer new.”
What do we need the most? We need a relationship with God the Father, a relationship that can only be found through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, who died for our sins so that our greatest debt – the debt of sin that we could never pay – would be wiped out. Now that’s what I call real stress free living.
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