John Wesley once said,
“If I should die with more than ten pounds, may every man call me a liar and a thief.”
Wesley, though he made quite a bit of money from his publications, took little for himself, and he died poor. If there was an example of living out Christ call to the rich young ruler to sell your possessions and give it to the poor, John Wesley was probably it. Jesus clearly tell us, “do not store up in barns where moth and rust destroy.”
My wife and I currently our in debt, with a handful of school loans. Besides school tuition though, our cost of living is less then our income (if your’s isn’t you might have a problem). We have every intention of that fact remaining, more coming in then going out, for the rest of our lives. That being said, we will constantly be faced with the question of, What to do with Excess?
John Wesley’s choice was to rarely let it come within reach, he gave the vast majority of what he made to those in need, and kept only what he needed to live for himself. Wesley’s answer to what to do with the excess money he received was to immediately use it to meet the needs around him. Seems like a pretty good practice to me.
But what about investing? What would Jesus have said if Bethlehem Financial could turn your couple extra coins a month into piles of cash years later to feed the poor, care for the widow, and allow you to serve those around you without depending on others for food? Isn’t that what the parable of the Talents lifts up so much? Wise stewardship?
Every month we have X amount of dollars to decide what to do with, I don’t see it as mine to spend on myself, but rather a resource to carry out the good God calls us too (Loving our neighbors, etc). I could take a portion or all and sponsor a child, meeting an immediate need, and keeping me from the close at hand temptation of wealth. Or I could save some of it, not for financial security (though the temptation would be close at hand), but to invest and grow, so that what would have provided one loaf of bread could eventually provide thousands.
I claim to that I am trying to follow the teachings of Christ, and I do not want to be a liar by the way that I live my life. I do not want to be a Thief by taking more then my share of this place. So I wonder, What do I do with the excess?
The first word that comes to my mind is “kids”. I don’t know about John Wesley’s situation whether he had kids and if so whether they were of independent age. But for you I think that providing for your kid in the future and in the case of emergencies should be something you should be thinking about, and figuring out how to do that in a way that isn’t making money an idol.
You say, “Or I could save some of it, not for financial security (though the temptation would be close at hand),” – and I wonder, what’s wrong with saving some money for financial security? I get this feeling that somehow when you mention “NOT for financial security” that it’s a negative or wrong thing to do so…what do you think?
This sort of reasoning is used by some of my Christian friends who tend toward the progressive end of the political spectrum to argue that I should not complain about paying taxes that go to fund government social programs. Bunk, I say. It would be better that I had that money to give to the church or charities or the poor than to hand it over to any government. This is true because, despite good intentions, the government may not share my priorities, based on what I know about God’s principles, in the way they try to help the poor.
Helping the poor is fantastic and biblical – but is giving our money to the government hoping that they will do that and do it well and do it correctly the best use of our money? Probably not –
Richard,
definitly a good point. I’m not sure Wesley had kids either, but the money he gave out went to an orphanage so there’s definitly a hint at caring for children.
Dan,
I should have broken that one down more. From my faith perspective, I think having security in anything but God is a dangerous thing. There’s a lot of Bible verses that would hint at this: can’t serve two masters, don’t store up where moth and rust destroy, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and on.
My mention of that is mainly to say I am very susceptible to trusting in my own ability to care for my needs and my family, and I don’t think that is what God want’s of me.
pk,
Maybe I misspoke somewhere, but I’m not really advocating for the government to take all our money. However, I would challenge you in saying, I don’t see a lot of loud-mouthing Republicans who are calling for an end to taxes sacrificially giving to the poor. Maybe I just don’t see them. God bless those that are.
Ariah –
I did not take your comments to say that we should give all our money to the gov’t. I was only commenting that some use the same sort of reasoning and sentiment as you expressed to advocate for greater government involvement in benevolence.
God never said to give our money to the government so that it can help the poor and needy. He never said to try to get the money of others to give to the poor and needy through government taxation; even if we think they do not voluntarily do enough giving themselves. He told us to help the poor and needy. It is not our business to try to see to it that others obey this command by taxing them any more than it would be right to make them convert. Obedience is a personal choice – a gravely important one, to be sure – but still a choice. Advocating for higher taxes and more government benevolence is a poor substitute for following the command directly.
Ariah – Thanks for the break down of that – I totally agree that our security or TRUST should be on God and Him alone. Press on!
Dan,
Thanks for the encouragement in that. I appreciated your insight to begin with. I think it’s a difficult line in the USA to figure out what is financial security and what is not.
pk,
Again, thanks for your insight. I think we’ll take up that conversation soon.