I once had a college professor tell my class that he could tell more about the theology and spiritual health of a church by attending one of its business meetings than by attending a Sunday school class or worship service. He would say, in effect, “If you want to know if a church is healthy or not – find out how it spends money.”I wonder if he would say the same thing about individuals. That is, if we want to know something about the psychological and spiritual health of a person, should we examine his checkbook or credit card statements?
This has been an interesting thought to me recently, as our Sunday school class has begun a four part series of lessons structured around a book by Randy Alcorn. The focus is on “storing up treasures in heaven.” That will possibly cover a lot of ground, but at least one issue has been how we think about our money and personal possessions – our “treasures on earth.”
Is our spiritual health related to how we think about money and possessions?
In Luke 3:1-15, we read a story of John the Baptist (the forerunner to Jesus’ ministry). At one point, he says to the people around him, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” My paraphrase – “Live a life outwardly that is an accurate reflection of what is happening inwardly.” JTB (as I like to call him) is then asked a very important question in response to this command: “What should we do?” Three different groups of people ask him this same question. Each group gets an answer related to their money and possessions.
Each group hears, “Produce fruit that reflects your repentance.”
Each group responds, “OK. Please tell us what that means. What do we do?”
Each group is told, “Handle your money and possessions well.”
More specifically, the respective groups are told to (1) be generous in sharing their money and possessions, (2) be honest in earning money and gaining possessions, and (3) be content with their money and possessions.
It seems that there is in fact a profound connection between our spiritual health and our money/possessions.
I’m looking forward to the next three lessons.
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3 comments:
if the rich folk in your class want to really get into the spirit of the teaching, they can just give me a big chunk of their money
We've got young married couples in class, Craig. Don't know any of them would qualify as "rich folk."
Besides, you are the one making the big bucks in youth ministry, right?
i mentioned this book in my sunday school class once and a guy wanted to borrow it. he is a sr vp at a BIG company (you would know it).
He brought the book back the next week and said, "Thanks a lot. You just ruined my life."
I said, "How's that?"
He said, "I've got more house than i will ever need, his and hers bmw's and more money than i can really spend respectably. But i dont know of i am willing to turn loose of all the stuff. I like it. But now i realize i amw asting my life and money. But i dont know if i want to trade what i have in this life for what is in the next life."
I said, "You're a sr vp. Do the math and make the smartest decision."
He said, "But i would rather do what feels good now."
I will never forget his honesty. It's easy for us to criticize him because he has so much money. But we are all in the same boat.
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