WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT SPENDING?

 

            Money is talked about a great deal in the Bible. In fact, Jesus talks about money more than he talks about anything else except the Kingdom of God. Eleven of thirty-nine parables and one of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke talks about money. This is a lot of talking about money.

 

            One of the bibles I own is The Financial Stewardship Bible by the American Bible Society, and what’s cool about it is all the verses talking about money and stewardship come pre-highlighted (in green). If I flip through the Bible, there is an awful lot of green! It sometimes makes me wonder why people struggle to talk about money in church. The Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) are pretty up-front about it. When someone “complains” that every time they come to church, we talk about money, maybe the response shouldn’t be an apology, but a promise to talk about it even more often, just like Jesus!!

 

            Of course, some of the scripture talks about tithing and giving. But some talks about spending too.

 

 

Isaiah 55:1-2, in the Message says it this way:

 

                        “Hey there! All who are thirsty,

                        come to the water!

                        Are you penniless?

                        Come anyway—buy and eat!

                        Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.

                        Buy without money—everything’s free!

                        Why do you spend your money on junk food,

                        your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?

                        Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,

                        fill yourself with only the finest.”

 

           Of course, other translations don’t talk about cotton candy and junk food, but I think this translation makes it pretty clear. Jesus takes this a little further in the Gospel of John and says this:

 

                        “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that

                        endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will

                        give you. For on him God the Father has placed

                        his seal of approval.” (John 6:27 NIV)

 

            Of course, we’re going to spend money, but we can’t seek satisfaction by laboring and spending money on the worldly stuff. Instead, w have to do it by spending it on food that gives us eternal life. What kind of food is this?

 

            There’s the story of the feeding of the 5,000. At the end of the story, everyone is fed and everyone is satisfied, but the story doesn’t end there. All the leftovers are gathered up in baskets. It doesn’t go on to tell us what happened to the leftovers, but it seems like common sense that we don’t take the time to gather items up if we’re just going to throw them away. Those leftovers didn’t go to waste! Remember, the story has a couple of lessons:

• ·         Everyone had enough, and everyone was full
• ·         But there was a surplus

            God provides, but God provides more than we need, not to grasp it all for ourselves, but to share it with others. This is the labor that we should be joining in. We, as a people, aren’t very good at this. As a group, Christians only give about 2.5% of their income. Why is it so hard? If we have a surplus, more than we need, why is it hard to share the surplus?

            Maybe because we have more than we need. I read that “when we have enough to take care of every need, want and desire, there’s less of a change we’ll seek God’s presence and help. The things that money can provide can quickly lead to spiritual apathy and fruitlessness.” (Christian Stewardship Network)

            How we spend our money is the best way to determine what we care about. Ask yourself and your folks a couple of questions:

• ·         What does your own spending reveal?
• ·         How can you alter your spending habits to honor God?
• ·         How can you make sure your heart is in the right place when spending?

            These are difficult but important questions to consider, as we approach our spending to be less about ourselves and more about impacting the lives of others.