Money

Money is an intrinsic aspect of daily life. (Even in a hypothetical and romanticized agrarian, utopian barter economy there is this same reality...) This is not something we can simply ignore if we are to deal with the lives of everyday people. Jesus, does exactly that, deal with the lives of everyday people, and so, must be seen as having something to say about the way we spend, earn, use, save, and view, our money.

In fact, as we peruse the gospels with this thought in mind, we find that Jesus is constantly refering to finances, as metaphor for larger spiritual realities, in parable to to refer to the financial issues of His listeners, and even directly refering to the way specific individuals act in regards to money. It would be hard to think that Jesus was not very interested in teaching us how to live properly with money.

Here are some thoughts from our small group discussion last Wednesday on this topic:

We read and discussed the following passages:

Matthew 6:25-34
Matthew 23:23-26
Luke 10:25-37

We came to some conclusions...

1) as people who have decided to learn how to live from Jesus, our approach to money should be secondary, peripheral, indirect. Jesus essentially said, "don't worry about money, seek out what God is doing in the world, and align yourself with that; then your financial situation will take care of itself." We shouldn't spend time fretting about clothes and food, cars and houses. This is not an excuse to be lazy. This is about our attitude and our focus.

2) money is not given to people to bless them, but rather given to people so that they can use it to bless others. Jesus always had hard words for people of privilege who viewed their privilege as a sign of their superiority. This is because, throughout the entire recorded history of God's interaction with people, He has always chosen to bless people, in order that those people could be a blessing to the world around them.

(As a side note, visit this website to get a view for how much money you 'really' make!)



3) Finally we decided that we have a responsibility to those around us. We cannot ignore the suffering and need that goes on in our world and pretend that we are moral people simply because we don't hurt people. Being a 'good person' consists in more than simply not hurting others; it requires that we are actively pursuing the well-being of other people. (We learn this in the parable of the 'Good Samaritan' in the above passage.)

We concluded our talk with a few points of application:

1) Recognize that this is a heart issue. How you spend (and earn) your money, is an indicator of where your heart is at.

2) Instead of spending time with people who have more than you, spend time with people who have less. This will keep you from trying to 'keep up,' and will help you focus on 'helping out.'

3) Recognize that people need you to get involved more than they need your money. There is a middle option between saying 'no' and handing someone a $20. Find out who they are and how you can truly help them.

4) Build a discipline of giving into your life. Make it a habit to tip at least 50%, once a month give away your favorite article of
clothing, regularly give anonymous donations to people in need.