Making Change; Lesson #2
 The Purpose of Money
Good Questions Have Groups Talking
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The Purpose of Money

OPEN

Let’s each share your name and three things you are grateful for this week.

DIG

1.       Overview. Today we will talk about God’s purpose for money. Off the top of your heard—or from your reading—what would you say the purpose of money is?

Forbes magazine tracks the status of the world’s wealthiest people. They also have reported on the connection between money and happiness. Forbes says that surveys have found the same level of happiness among the four hundred richest people in the world as they found in the Maasai herdsmen of East Africa.

Most people who read those surveys and who aren’t rich believe they would be the exception—that wealth would make them incredibly happy. The Bible says that people with eternal natures can’t be made truly happy by temporal things. Money is useful and necessary—but it can never buy the happiness we seek.

Look for God’s purpose for money, and you will discover what’s most important is seeking Him. When God is first in your life, He’ll always meet your material needs, but more importantly, He will make your soul prosper. — David Jeremiah, 1 Minute a Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009).

2.       Deuteronomy 8.12 – 14. What risks come with prosperity?

“The time to engage in worship, to be a man or woman of prayer, to be a student of the Scriptures, to remember how good God has been is when you’re in the Promised Land,” Moses reminds the people.

And yet the irony is, it is when people prosper that they often drift away. They don’t have time for the Lord. Their passion diminishes. Their devotion decreases. They begin to say, “It is my hard work which has allowed me to have that ski boat or this vacation home. And I’ve got to maintain it, so I don’t have time to serve the Lord.” — Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 563.

3.       How do we avoid the risks that come with prosperity?

The very blessing and abundance of the land, however, would tend to lull its inhabitants into a sense of complacency and self-sufficiency. Moses therefore exhorted the people to remember that their fullness was from the hand of God just as the manna of the desert had been (v. 10; cf. v. 3). And it also is a manifestation of the special privileges they had as covenant partners with him, hence the need to adhere rigidly to all of its stipulations (the miṣwôt, mišpāṭîm, and ḥuqqîm, v. 11). Failure to do so would inevitably invite divine judgment (vv. 19–20) despite fullness of belly, construction of fine houses, and accumulation of livestock and other material things (vv. 12–13). These things, while testifying to the Lord’s love and grace, would be no automatic hedge against his punishment should his people forsake him. — Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 187.

4.       Do you consider yourself to be prosperous?

If I told you I was offering you a job with a salary of $37,000 a year, would you feel rich? Probably not. Chances are, you wouldn’t even be interested. A salary of $37,000 would represent a pay cut for most Americans. But for 96 percent of the world’s population, $37,000 a year would be a significant increase.

Maybe there was a time when that sounded like a lot of money to you. And it should. In fact, if you earn more than $37,000 a year, you are in the top 4 percent of wage earners in the world! Congratulations! You are in the 4 percent club. You are rich! Yet I’m guessing this startling realization didn’t cause you to leave the comfort of your couch to dance around the room. But you should have. On the world’s scale, you should have no problems at all, other than a handful of rich-person problems. Problems that the majority of folks on this planet would love to have. Bad cell phone coverage? That’s a rich-people problem. Can’t decide where to go on vacation? Rich-people problem. Computer crashed? Slow Internet? Car trouble? Flight delays? Amazon doesn’t have your size? All rich-people problems. Next time there’s a watering ban in your neighborhood, just remember that many people, mostly women, carry jugs on their heads for hundreds of yards just so they can have water for cooking and drinking. They can’t imagine a place where there’s so much extra water that house after house just sprays it all over the ground.

Feeling guilty? I hope not. That’s not my purpose. On the contrary, I’m hoping our time together leaves you feeling grateful. Guilt rarely results in positive behavior. But gratitude? Great things flow from a heart of gratitude. More on that later. — Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It's What You Do with What You Have. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

5.       How much would you have to make to consider yourself rich?

Gallup conducted a poll to see how different socioeconomic groups defined “rich.” Not surprisingly, everybody had a different definition — and nobody thought he fit it. For each and every person, “rich” was roughly double the amount possessed by the person defining it. In other words, when they interviewed people who earned $30,000 a year, that group defined “rich” as someone who earns $60,000. When they interviewed people who earned $50,000 a year, the magic number was $100,000.

Similarly, Money magazine asked its readers how much money it would take to make them feel rich. And according to the average reader of Money magazine, a person would need $5 million in liquid assets to be considered rich. Based on the trend found in the Gallup poll, the readers of Money magazine probably averaged about $2.5 million in net worth (half their definition of “rich”). Therefore, if we asked people worth $5 million to define “rich,” they would probably say it was anyone worth $10 million. And on and on it goes.

The moral of the story? “Rich” is a moving target. No matter how much money we have or make, we will probably never consider ourselves rich. The biggest challenge facing rich people is that they’ve lost their ability to recognize that they’re rich.

Silly rich people.

Hang on; our housekeeper just told me that our yard people tracked mud across our pool deck. — Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It's What You Do with What You Have. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

6.       How do the poor in America compare with the poor in the rest of the world?

While we are comparing, consider this. What we call “poverty” today would have been considered middle class just a few generations ago. In 2000, the average “poor” family had goods and services rivaling middle-class families of the 1970s: 60 percent had microwaves, 50 percent had air conditioners, 93 percent had color televisions, and 60 percent had video recorders. More impressive is the income mobility within our economy. Most poor families don’t stay poor. Over the sixteen-year period tracked by one study, 95 percent of the families in the lowest income quintile climbed the economic ladder to higher quintiles. Over 80 percent moved to the top three quintiles, qualifying them as middle class or better. As Michael Cox, an economist with the Federal Reserve, noted, “The rich may have gotten a little richer, but the poor have gotten much richer.” — Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It's What You Do with What You Have. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

7.       1 Timothy 6.6 – 10. Godliness with contentment is great gain. What keeps us from contentment?

We suffer from Maslow’s dilemma. Surely you remember Abraham Maslow and his “hierarchy of needs”? No? Maslow used a pyramid to explain a phenomenon we’ve all experienced. In essence, he said our needs are always changing depending on our circumstances. His model starts at the bottom with what we’d all agree are basic needs, and it progresses all the way up to things that amount to luxuries — at least for the people who haven’t acquired them yet.

So here’s the dilemma. As Maslow’s model suggests, no matter where we are on the pyramid, we always want something more. When you’re hungry and thirsty, more is simply food and water. That’s certainly understandable. But once you graduate to being fed and hydrated, more becomes basic safety and security. That’s reasonable too. Once you’re convinced the borders are safe and there’s peace in the land, more shifts again and your emotional needs become the focus — things like love, acceptance, and a sense of belonging — things that hadn’t occurred to you when you were hungry. Once we possess all of those things, we’ll find ourselves longing for achievement, a sense of purpose, and self-actualization — more. By instinct, we tend to be oriented in the direction of progress.

And there’s no rest from this perpetual drive.

We find ourselves wanting more within each of Maslow’s stages too. Even when a food source is found, it’s just a matter of time before people look for ways to improve it. No matter how good we’ve got it, we always manage to entertain the idea that we might be able to do a little better. If you’ve ever shopped for a car, or sold a house, or traded stocks, or chosen a date for the prom, you can relate.

No matter where you are in your Maslovian journey, the tendency is to think more about what’s in front of you and less about what’s behind you. It’s human nature. As long as you’re heading up the pyramid, your focus will be on what you don’t have. And you’re less aware of what you do have. Only when life turns us in the other direction do we look back and notice how good we had it all along. — Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It's What You Do with What You Have. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

8.       Verse 9. What temptation and trap do we rich people fall into?

This person is different from the first one we considered. This individual is one who cannot rest, cannot really relax until he or she has become affluent. The word want in verse 9, rather than meaning “like” or “desire” (like a passing fancy), suggests a firm resolve, a strong determination. It isn’t an exaggeration to suggest that it would even include the idea of being possessed with the thought of getting rich … which helps us understand why such a severe warning follows: Those who want to get rich fall into temptation (unexpected traps) and many foolish or harmful desires leading ultimately to destruction.

Interestingly, contrary to popular opinion, the pursuit of wealth—even the acquiring of it—does not cause the bluebird of happiness to sing its way into our lives. Rather, the grim, diseased vulture of torment and misery circles over our carcass.

Look at the faces of the super wealthy. Choose the group. The entertainers, offstage. How about the rock stars? Or even the comedians away from the camera? With the 20/20 hindsight of history, study images of the now-dead rich and famous. Those faces, captured in untold numbers of photographs, reflect strain and pain. And let’s not forget the stress-ridden physician or executive pushing toward the top. — Charles R. Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip: How to Be Grounded in a Chaotic World (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2015).

9.       How can we avoid this temptation and trap?

It’s the foundation of Temptation 101. It looks so good, but it’s a trap. Just listen to how serious — downright dangerous — his words are: Trap. Foolish. Harmful. Plunge. Ruin. Destruction. All kinds of evil. Pierced. Griefs. What are some of the griefs piercing the normal people we know? Debt. Financial pressure. Stress. Tension. And over what? Money? In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I love what Charlie’s grandpa tells him when Charlie wants to sell his golden ticket because their family really needs the money: “There’s plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket, there’s only five of them in the whole world, and that’s all there’s ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?”

Godliness with contentment is rare. It’s weird. All of us know people who can’t enjoy the blessings that God has provided to them because they’re always worried about money. That’s common. And why does it stress them so much? Because they’re so desperate to keep it all. That’s the fear, isn’t it? That you’ll have to give some up, have to lose some of that great stuff that goes along with it. Maybe the reason why clinging to it all feels so stressful is because we’re not supposed to.

There’s plenty of money. If you want to be different, if you want to be better than normal, then you must live differently. This is the one life that God has given you. According to the gospel of Charlie’s grandfather, “Only a dummy would give it up for something as common as money.” — Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011).

10.   Proverbs 14.31. What do we learn about the purpose of money from this verse?

Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats is the ultimate commentary on these two proverbs. Jesus surprises those on the right with his insistence that they had fed and clothed him when he was cold and hungry. When they protested that they could not remember ever doing so, Jesus replied, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40 NIV). If we believe his words, we look on the poor and neglected with entirely new eyes. — Ronald J. Sider, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2007).

11.   A number of books have been written in recent years about helping the poor without harming the poor. What do you think that is about? How could helping the poor harm the poor?

It sounds kind of crazy to say that foreign aid often hurts, rather than helps, poor people in poor countries. Yet that is what Angus Deaton, the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, has argued.

Deaton, an economist at Princeton University who studied poverty in India and South Africa and spent decades working at the World Bank, won his prize for studying how the poor decide to save or spend money. But his ideas about foreign aid are particularly provocative. Deaton argues that, by trying to help poor people in developing countries, the rich world may actually be corrupting those nations' governments and slowing their growth. According to Deaton, and the economists who agree with him, much of the $135 billion that the world’s most developed countries spent on official aid in 2014 may not have ended up helping the poor. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/13/why-trying-to-help-poor-countries-might-actually-hurt-them/

12.   2 Thessalonians 3.10. Notice this verse says more than just that we are not obligated to feed those who could work but choose not to. What does it say?

It says that it is morally wrong to feed the poor man who could work but chooses not to.

13.   Why are we prohibited from feeding the poor man who could work but chooses not to?

Because it harms him.

14.   Matthew 10.9 – 10. What do we learn about the purpose of money from this passage?

The Twelve are told not to take money or extra clothes with them on the mission. Rather, their needs are to be met by the anticipated hospitality and support of those who receive their message (cf. 10:11–13; 40–42). The message of the Kingdom is not for sale (cf. Acts 8:20), but those who receive it should also receive its messengers. — David Turner and Darrell L. Bock, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 149.

15.   What would happen if everyone in every church suddenly started tithing?

The church of today is not great at giving. 

This isn’t exactly news. But it is a statistical fact:

Tithers make up only 10-25 percent of a normal congregation.

Only 5 percent of the U.S. tithes, with 80 percent of Americans only giving 2 percent of their income.

Christians are only giving at 2.5 percent per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate.

Numbers like that can invoke a lot of guilt, which isn’t really the point. The larger point is what would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let's say, 10 percent. There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute. The global impact would be phenomenal. Here's just a few things the Church could do with the kind of money:

$25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.

$12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.

$15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.

$1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.

$100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

Those are some amazing numbers. Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/what-would-happen-if-church-tithed#vJAGGMgpxhdCmCHi.99

16.   Matthew 28.19 – 20. Let’s look at the Great Commission. What does this verse teach us about the purpose of money?

The principle of stewardship tells us what we must do with money: use it to glorify the One who really owns it. The principle of purpose tells us how. I never tire of repeating that the ultimate purpose of the local church is to develop Christlikeness in believers (Matthew 28:19–20, Romans 8:29), and when a church invests its money in that purpose, God is glorified.

Any policy that keeps money from being invested in eternity should be changed immediately. Any practice that wastes money or hoards it rather than putting it to work must be terminated without delay. In the short term, money may be spent, saved, or invested. In the long term, however, every single dollar must be spent in making disciples and planting other churches that will do the same. — Carl Herbster, “Let’s Talk Finances,” in Pastor & Deacons: Servants Working Together (Greenville, SC; Belfast, Northern Ireland: Ambassador International, 2010), 142–143.

17.   Does our giving really affect global missions?

(RNS) The Southern Baptist Convention will cut as many as 800 employees from its overseas missions agency to make up for significant shortfalls in revenue, officials announced Thursday (Aug. 27, 2015).

The International Mission Board anticipates an annual budget shortfall of $21 million this year, following several consecutive years of shortfalls.

The developments are particularly painful for a denomination that was founded as a missionary-sending organization and that prides itself on making Christian converts across the globe.

“Over the past six years, the organization’s expenditures have totaled $210 million more than has been given to it each year,” the board said in an announcement.

”Sure, this is not an ideal step but quite frankly there are no ideal steps at this point,” said International Mission Board President David Platt on a conference call with journalists.

Platt told staff about the plan in a town hall meeting at its Richmond, Va., headquarters. http://www.religionnews.com/2015/08/27/southern-baptist-mission-board-cut-many-800-positions/

18.   Summary. What does the Bible teach about the purpose of money?

David’s situation is not unlike yours and mine today. We live in the richest country during the richest time in history. If he could see us now, David would say we live like kings every day. And as he looked around him on this particular day, it evoked within him a response that gives us a model of how we should view our own situations.

David had always seen God’s hand in everything. God was present in every giant David faced, every battle he fought, and every victory he won. In fact, David wrote numerous psalms to praise God for being the provider of all he received. But now, as he looked out from his palatial home, he couldn’t help noticing that God had only a temporary home. The tabernacle was nothing more than a tent. So David resolved in his heart to build a permanent home for God — a temple. And David set out to begin designing the architecture and raising the money for what would eventually become known as Solomon’s Temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. David allocated gold and silver from Israel’s national treasury to pay for construction. He even donated a large portion of his own money for the project. Some scholars put David’s personal contribution at about $14 billion.

When David called the Israelites together in Jerusalem to announce the plan to build the temple, the people were excited. Money started pouring in. They were still in touch with all God had done to bring them to this place of blessing. And their participation was heartfelt.

In the midst of all this euphoria, David prayed a prayer that gives us insight into his heart and perspective regarding life, God, and the purpose of money. Through this prayer, we discover the one primary objective that should guide the way we think about and handle our money. This mindset is the key to being good at being rich. It begins like this:

Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor. (1 Chronicles 29:10 – 11a)

In essence, David was looking back over all that God had taken the Israelites through, and he concluded, “God, this is all about you.” Here’s the king of the greatest superpower on earth, and he’s publicly bowing down before God, whom he considers to be the King of kings. And that includes King David. He continued:

For everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11b)

As far as David was concerned, everything belonged to God. That included all the gold and silver from the treasury and all the money from the people. All of it belonged to God anyway. They were just moving God’s money from one place to the next in order to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant. Next, he said:

Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:12)

From David’s perspective, not only did God own all material things, but he was also the source of the things money can’t buy — things like honor and power and strength. David’s comment was meant to describe everything a person enjoys in life, as well as everything that enables our accomplishments. And it wasn’t just true for David, but for all the people throughout the nation and around the world. No matter who held what, it ultimately belonged to God.

This statement must have been astounding to some of David’s onlookers. Many had seen how hard David had worked to become king. They had witnessed his cunning in battle. They’d seen his wisdom as a leader. They’d watched him make sacrifices for the good of the nation. But now David was openly professing to his people that it was God who enabled those things. He couldn’t begin to take credit for the things he had achieved.

In short, David was declaring that everything belongs to God, everything comes from God, and everything is dispensed by God. He concluded with this:

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. (1 Chronicles 29:13 – 14)

Wow. What a perspective! You don’t see many rich people these days responding like that, do you? David even considered himself unworthy of the opportunity to be generous. This mindset is just the opposite of what many rich Americans convey today. In contrast, they seem to say, “This is mine. I worked hard for this, and I’m entitled to do whatever I want with it.” Here in the land of opportunity, it’s generally perceived that success is the by-product of hard work. And while that may be true in many cases, it’s God who gives us both the ability and the opportunity to work hard. Once again, everything comes from him.

So if everything belongs to God, comes from God, and is dispensed by God, what should be the one thing that governs our approach to money? How do you summarize David’s mindset about money? If you want to replicate his perspective in your own life, what should your main objective be?

As I think about that prayer, two words come to mind: Honor God. Those two words encapsulate all the things David declared about his riches. If you were to pursue only one goal for everything you possess, this should be it. Honor God. Serve that single objective and everything else automatically falls into place. — Andy Stanley, How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It's What You Do with What You Have. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).

19.   What good things come to those who use God’s money according to God’s purposes?

The third point from this text is that the purpose of money is to maximize our treasure in heaven, not on the earth. Verse 33 again: “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.” What’s the connection between selling possessions here so you can meet the needs of others (the first part of the verse), and accumulating treasure in heaven for yourself (at the end of the verse)?

The connection seems to be: the way you make money belts which don’t get holes and the way you gather treasures in heaven that never fail is by selling your possessions to meet the needs of others. In other words, simplifying for the sake of love on earth maximizes your joy in heaven.

Don’t miss this utterly radical point. It’s the way Jesus thinks and talks all the time. Being heavenly-minded makes a radically loving difference in this world. The people who are most powerfully persuaded that what matters is treasure in heaven, not big accumulations of money here, are the people who will constantly dream of ways to simplify and serve, simplify and serve, simplify and serve. They will give and give and give. And of course they will work and work and work, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:28, “so that [they] may have something to share with those in need.” — John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

20.   How can we support one another in prayer this week?