Mark's Notes from TSC

The Salt Company
Ancient Wisdom- Possessions
March 27, 2008

Series on Ancient Wisdom- The Bible is intensely practical. It’s not a history book that has no bearing on your life. It has everything to do with your life.

This might be one of the more important messages you will hear at TSC.

Why?

Because your view of money and possessions will shape your life more than you know. It was one of Jesus’ favorite topics.

My goal is not to share my philosophy of money. But what does Solomon have to say about it?

A study of Proverbs yielded the following... I read all 915 verses in Proverbs and wrote a “P” next to everyone of them about money, wealth and possessions. I came up with about 92 verses. That means 1 out of every 10 Proverbs is about money. I categorized them and put them down for you as points to this talk. They are in the order of the number of Proverbs on each one…

1. Work harder at getting wisdom than you would for an engineering degree.

Let’s just face the facts. It requires much more work to get an engineering degree than it does to get a speech communication degree. It’s a lot of work!

22 Verses remind us that wisdom is better than riches:

2:4; 3:13-16; 8:10,18-21; 11:4, 16, 28; 15:16-17; 16:16, 19; 17:1-2, 16; 19:10; 22:1; 28:6

What do you do? Stay up late working on grp projects, get up early to study, spend a semester on an internship…
Do more to get wisdom. It’s more valuable than a degree that will start you at 60K.

Most college students pick their major based on what will make them the most money. I think that’s short sighted.

2. We are stewards, not owners

3:9; 11:24-26; 14:21; 19:17; 21:13; 22:9; 23:6-8; 28:27; 31:8

If you get this point, it will totally transform your view of your life.

Take a deep breath. That breath was on loan. You’re accountable to God for the way you use the breath in your lungs, this life.

One measure of how you’re using your life is how you’re using your money. Which is why Solomon talked so much about money to his sons (1 out of every 10 words of advice were about money), and why Jesus spoke more about money than anything next to the kingdom of God.

3:9 “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”

This idea of first-fruits comes from… Deut. 26:1-11

The point is that we are stewards. Giving is our reminder that it’s not ours.

Steward (def): a person who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.

Stewards don’t own anything. They are merely handling someone else’s stuff.

Illustration: Remember the Xmas production, “I’m Frank Smith, I own this place.” You could see the absurdity of it. You just felt like saying, “Frank you don’t own jack.”

A steward uses the resources.

So here’s a legit question: Why does God give you everything you have?

11:25 “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
18:16 “A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great”

Psalm 67 “so that your ways may be known on earth…”
NOT, so I can have more food for myself.
NOT just so Israel can have more corn.
The cry of a Godly steward is not “God bless me”, it’s “God bless me so that I can bless others”

First-fruits- Your best! I think it’s lame if you call yourself a Christian and don’t give at least 10 percent of all you have to your church. I think we can give much more than 10 percent, but our selfishness and American narcissism justifies poor stewardship.

We will all give an account to God for how we used his stuff:
“The rich and poor have this in common; the LORD is maker of them all.” 22:2

Sorry boss, I amassed all this wealth and never shared it with anyone.
How do you think God will judge someone who spent all of His wealth on themselves?
“He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD and he will reward him” 19:17

I will go so far as to say that how you handle money and possessions to some degree directly determines how much you will have in heaven.

A steward enjoys the resources.

Warning: Wealth and possessions in themselves are not evil, they are from God
10:22 “the blessing of the LORD brings wealth and he adds no trouble to it.”
13:21 “prosperity is the reward of the righteous.”

Illustration: Conversation with Ben P
“Mark is it wrong for me to be rich, have a lake home, jet skis, boat,…?”
Of course not, if you let me use it.
But the subtext of this question is “Can I make success my god?”

Illustration: My friend C.S.
Nobody enjoys life more. He owns classic old cars, new cars, etc
Nobody is more strategic for the gospel- Sharing with S. B. “My inheritance only 100 million”
He doesn’t care how much money you make. He’s not intimidated by your millions- he’s going to tell you about Jesus


3. Be an Ant.

(not the relative, but the creature- A-N-T)

Read 6:6-11

Work Hard: (6:9-11)

Save Wisely: (6:8; 21:20; 27:23-27)

Multiply little by little (13:11; 20:21; 21:5; 28:19)
the ant doesn’t carry the whole ant hill in one load.

Remember that sometimes a little kid smashes all you have worked for 18:11; 23:5; 30:8-9

Generally, riches cause one of two wrong responses: a false sense of security or pride

Read 30:8-9- Riches can make you proud

“Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” 23:5

God is not impressed with the size of your ant hill. “Wow, that’s a great ant.” We’re still ants. And my 2 year old Beck could smash any ant hill without even knowing it.

Remember that moving dirt is worth it. That’s what ants were made to do.

In my opinion modern Christianity has totally lost a theology of work.

Illustration: I’m going to give you a test…
I’m a pastor. The director of a large college ministry. My brother works in an auto body shop fixing wrecked and broken down cars.

Whose job is more spiritual?

There is honor in your work!!! It’s spiritual.

What did Adam and Eve do in the garden before they sinned? (besides have sex…)
They worked!
What will you do when you get to heaven? You will work.
God will give you possessions and you will be a steward of them. You won’t be floating in the clouds with a harp singing all the time. There will be work in paradise.
Your job has meaning and there is value in what you do no matter how mundane or menial it may seem.

Do you scoop dirt? Move dirt to the glory of God.
Do you design magazines? Design with pop sensibility that will sell millions
Do you sell trinkets? Find people who want to fill their houses with unnecessary clutter
Are you a journalist? Write without spinning your news story
Do you frame houses? Don’t cut corners- Make the strongest houses possible
Are you a politician? Serve your country with honor. Don’t abuse tax payers money
Are you an accountant? With integrity, save your boss money and make them rich
Aerospace engineer? Design a shuttle that can get to Mars
Farmer? Grow corn to the glory of God
(Farmer who saw “PC” in the sky and he thought it meant “preach Christ” but when he went to heaven, God said, “NO, plant corn!”
Teacher? Love your students and help them all excel
Do you sell cell phone plans in the mall and you don’t like it? Well…???? Go to college and get a different job???

Jesus was a carpenter for most of his life
Paul made tents
How many tables and chairs that Jesus made are still around?
How many tents do you see that Paul made?
None. They’re long gone. And yet their jobs were filled with meaning and purpose.

C.S. Lewis Quote, “We don't need more people writing 'Christian books' [but] what we need is more Christians writing good books”

If you’re an architect you don’t have to design a skyscraper with a cross on it to make a Christian building.
If you’re a musician you don’t have to say “Jesus” in your song to make it a good song
If you’re an artist, you don’t have to make Christian art for it to be beautiful.
If you’re a janitor, you don’t have to leave gospel tracts on the urinal to make your job worth it (who are these people who leave tracts in the bathroom- it’s litter!)

What do you have to do to make your life worth it? Be a steward. Be an ant.

Illustration: Saving Private Ryan (if time)
The whole point of the movie: Was private Ryan worth saving?
You don’t have to find the cure for cancer to be worth it.

Full-time missions is not the only way to honor God with your life!

I’ve seen more people want to get into ministry full time and I think “NO!!” Do us all a favor and be an engineer. Just b/c you don’t like your job doesn’t mean you should be a pastor/missionary.

Note to those who have gone or are planning on overseas trips:
If your missions experience has caused you to disengage with your work or school b/c it feels like a waste of time OR, you feel distant from family/friends b/c they don’t get it and aren’t as spiritual as you…

Congratulations- you have totally missed the point of your overseas missions experience.

Of course God wants all of us to engage in his global agenda- but there are a lot of ways to do this.

Illustration: Rachael
First week of school- a girl came up to her on playground. Can I talk to you in private?
Sure.
“I heard you’re going to be a missionary” (they are going to C.Asia in a year)
“I’m a missionary too”
“Really”
“Yeah, and I’m going to need your help this year. Can I count on you?”
“Sure”
“I need you to pray for me and help me share Jesus with our class.”

What do you say to that?

Wherever you’re at, be all there. Be on a mission all the time and remember your work is intrinsically spiritual.

God made you for it. You won’t be doing missions in heaven, you’ll be working and it will glorify God, so you better get used to it.

4. Great ways to jack yourself up financially…

Go into debt- Spend more than you make (22:7)

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (22:7)

Beware of school loans. Destroy your credit cards. That stuff will eat you up. It will be like a snowball (at first it’s fun to make) then it gets rolling and it will crush you. There is no such thing as free money. I’ve got a 50 year old friend who

As my friend Dan Johnston says, “College is not a right, but a privilege”

Love pleasure (21:17)
Illustration: My friend went to counsel this couple in a bad part of town and when he knocked on the front door he heard yelling from the inside, “Go around to the side door!” What in the world? He got in the house and saw the entertainment center was blocking the front door.
Most of the poorest of poor in America who are poorly clothed, malnourished are ppl w/ Satellite TV. Not all, but many people are poor b/c their priorities are out of whack.

Drink and Sleep too much (23:21; 24:30-34)


5. There are advantages to being wealthy

Friendships (14:20; 19:4, 6-7)
Honor (14:24)
You can look back and think, “I worked hard to get it, I did it the right way, and I blessed the nations because of it.”
You can give more (18:16)
“A gift opens the way for the giver”


6. Beware of getting it the wrong way

1:13-14, 19; 10:2, 16; 11:18; 20:17; 21:6; 28:8, 16, 25

“A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare”

“Is it God’s will to embezzle money to pay my credit card company?”
“Should I steal stamps from my company to send my personal mail?”
“Should I cheat on my taxes to get more money back?”
“Should I ignore the fact that my company Enron is lying in their accounting practices or do I blow the whistle?”




Application:

1. “Gain all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can” – John Wesley

Illustration: Conversation with Craig, a student who said, “Mark I’m going to make a lot of money. What is your advice?”
Unfortunately he did 1 and 3 but not 2 and he’s paying for it.

2. Take FPU before you graduate
Informational sign up sheet

3. Take Perspectives before you graduate.