Financial Crisis

Dear friends.

I hope from time to time to put up some editorial comments on our Blog.
If they offend, I am sorry. If they are biblically inaccurate, please let me know and I will be corrected.

As we have been watching the ‘economic crisis’ in the US and the world unfold, because of our undisciplined desire for more, for better, for bigger, for having now what we really can’t afford, I wonder how we as followers of Christ respond?
Do we panic with the world? Do we begin worrying about our retirement fund, our portfolio, our mortgage?

In His sermon Sunday past, Pastor Dave said that in this time of economic instability we as Christians ought to be the winners. If we live our lives in accordance to the will of God, we should not have overextended ourselves, we oughtn’t to live in debt and so we should not fear inflation.

As I was fishing this past weekend, I listened to a conference by John Piper based on his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. A great book by the way. During this conference one of his points was don’t waste your money.

As he pointed out, if we understand our relationship to money correctly, in relationship to our Lord, we must come to the conclusion that the money we have is not our own. We are stewards of His money, not owners. We are stewards of anything we believe to own. So the question then is do we use the money we’ve been given to manage according to the purposes of it’s true owner? As we connect with non-believers, do they see us using ‘our’ resources in the same way that they do? Do we buy the bigger house, buy the extra luxurious car, buy the little toys everyone wants like boats and motorcycles and whatever else? Do they hear us talk about our investments and our retirement plans in the same way they do? Or do they hear us talk about the trust we have in God, because he provides according to our need, our NEED, not our wants and desires. How do we respond when the Owner of our resources, takes them away?

Now, you may think that as a missionary it must be easier for me to talk about these things. We might not have as many resources to claim as our own as some, but let me assure you, whether a person is making minimum wage or three figures, the temptation is the same, to own the money that God has given us to steward.

What, to us, is more valuable, money or Christ?
What do we trust in more, money or Christ?
In this time of ‘economic crisis’, do we trust in our Father, or do we enter a path with the world, a mad scramble, a panic driven mentality. What if your retirement fund disappears? Do you serve a God who can take care of your needs when you can’t tend to yourself any longer? What about the money that was intended for your children’s college? Can God provide them jobs so they can work their way through school? What if you can’t afford that trip you’ve been wanting to go on for so long? Can God use you better in your own back yard?

When the question comes to our finances and whether we are wasting them, how do we view the money that we’ve been given to manage? Is it ours? Is it God’s? Is it reflected in our stewardship? How will you and I redistribute the resources of our Master, to live on what we need and use the rest for His purposes, to further the Kingdom of our King?

Lk 9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

God was not caught unawares of this economic turn – He is Lord