Earn it!
Money Talks • Sermon • Submitted
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Paul was writing to a young leader of a community of faith- Timothy
Its interesting that even back then false teachings and the love of money were connected
Godliness (our actions) with contentment (our desire) is of great gain for a Christian
We have all heard the joy that comes from a good game of tag around a playground or in an open field. To this day Haylee loves to play tag with me. I will be doing something and she will run up and push me and scream CHASE! and run away with me hot on her heels. The chorus of tag echos throughout schoolyards and neighborhoods across the world. The simplest of games but one of the favorites kids love to play.
As adults we can get caught in a game of tag too- a game of tag with money and wealth. We can chase the paycheck, the raise, the next promotion like kids on a playground. We chase the new car, the house with the picket fence, the big vacation- insert it here.
And the craziest part is, we end up getting everyone involved. We train our kids to play this game of tag by our actions and sacrifices- they are fully versed in how to chase the almighty dollar by the way they see us do it!
Here’s the problem, as Christians we are naturally in a tense relationship with money- especially in Cooperate America. Our entire money system is built on capitalism. In other words, we are better off as a society when people spend money- the more we spend the stronger the Kingdom of America is. However, God’s Kingdom is not like that- not one bit. The Kingdom of God asks us to resist the temptation of money and wealth and to live lives that honor God and people and use money as a way to bless others.
So, how do we make a conscience decision to not chase money, but to earn it? To see money not as the destination, but money as the beginning of service and care for ourselves and others? Let’s start by talking about how the Bible asks us to earn money.
John Wesley was a preacher in the 1700s and was the founder of Methodism; and was a great teacher and preacher. Now, many Christians know Dave Ramsey as the unofficial voice of Christian finance for this generation, but before Ramsey there was Wesley- he was the main voice on stewardship and money in his day.
So, today I want to borrow from one of Wesley’s teachings on money and recast it for us. Wesley taught on earning money with the main idea of “Earn all you can” But that came with a 4 part caveat and those 4 warnings are what we want to focus on today.
First, earn all you can by honest industry, using all diligence in your calling.
First, earn all you can by honest industry, using all diligence in your calling.
In other word, have integrity, don’t cut corners, and do your best in whatever God called you to do. If we confess and believe that God has intricately created all people it would stand to reason that he has designed all of us with a particular calling.
Ashlie Biller
When we see our work as doing what God designed us to do we can more easily see that work as a way to honor him. And honoring God with our work is what the Bible requires of us. Listen to Colossians 3:23-24
English Standard Version Chapter 3
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ
You know, it is not just pastors who are to honor God with their work, because God can use more than pastors to share the Gospel in their work.
British author C. S. Lewis, famous for his incredible children’s fiction series The Chronicles of Narnia, was given a platform with Christians and non-Christians alike when he wrote about a certain lion, witch, and wardrobe. Originally published from 1950 to 1956 in London, the collection is now considered a children’s literature classic with over 100 million copies sold in 47 languages. By far Lewis’s best-selling work, it has provided a platform for his Christian apologetics books such as Mere Christianity. His excellence in the literary craft then gave him more credibility when he shared the Gospel.
Second, earn all you can without paying more than it’s worth.
Second, earn all you can without paying more than it’s worth.
There are some things that are more valuable than money. Our families, our mental and physical health, our worship of God- these are more valuable.
If your earning money costs you your marriage, is it worth it? What it is costs you your mental health?
Jesus once said “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his soul?”
I wonder how many people would have turned down that promotion or job change if they would have been able to see into the future and seen what the pay raise was going to cost them.
I remember talking to a man one time who lost his marriage to workaholism. He said to me “it was good that I got that big raise. I needed the money to pay for the divorce lawyer, my new apartment, and my child support payments I gained 5 years later because my wife left me because I was never home”
I think about this same thing with God. If your earning causes you to work every Sunday and miss worship; or if you work so much that you do not come to church because “its my only day to sleep in or get anything done” you need to reevaluate your priorities.
Maybe you have heard the old saying “Seven days of all work and no rest makes ONE WEAK” Even God himself took time to rest after 6 days- if God had to take that time shouldn’t we?
When we evaluate the amount of time and energy that we devote to work we should take an inventory and consider what it might cost us in the long run.
Third, earn all you can but not at the expense of your neighbor.
Third, earn all you can but not at the expense of your neighbor.
As Christians we should never allow our earning to prevent us for doing good and providing for those in need; especially other followers of Jesus. Listen to the words of 1 John 3:17-18 “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
For Christians wealth is not something to hoard, but something to use for the glory of God and our neighbor’s good. The Scriptures even go as far as to say that one of the ways we can evaluate if the love of God lives in us is how we use the money and possessions that we earn.
Joyce Meyer mattress story....
It is so disheartening to see Christian organizations, Christian businesses, and even churches getting caught in things like tax fraud, or trying to cut corners to make more money. Recently I read about a major Christian cooperation who’s CEO made over 1.2 million dollars but the majority of their employees lived under the federal poverty level. In fact, most employees were only given 30 hours a week so they could avoid having to offer health insurance to save money. In my opinion Christians should hold ourselves to a higher standard than that.
I will tell you that as a pastor one of the things that I struggle with is the amount of pastors who make millions of dollars a year, they own mansions and private jets, they wear $1000 suits and $500 shoes, they have butlers and maids, and they live this way off the tithes and offerings given by faithful people. I remember hearing of a popular TV preacher whose church recently bought him a private helicopter so he could avoid sitting in traffic- ummmm that could have built a home for someone in need; that could have paid off medical bills for a person battling cancer; that could have done a lot of things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Fourth, earn all you can, but not at the expense of your mind.
Fourth, earn all you can, but not at the expense of your mind.
Listen to what God told the Israelites in Deut 25:13-16:
“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God.
If earning money compromises your personal convictions, integrity, or honesty you are earning money outside the will of God- period.
You can’t put a price on personal integrity.
Do you remember when Jesus was tempted by Satan? One of the things that Satan told him was if Jesus bowed to him he would give him all that he saw- the world! Satan makes this same offer to us, we see things or money and he says if you just bow to me you can have it. Some people choose to bow- even if it’s just a little. Lying a little bit about how many hours we worked; forgetting to report that extra income to taxes; not being fully honest in wages or reporting…