A Look at Personal Finance Within the Body of Christ
This is by far the most taboo post I’ve posted to date. You’ve been warned 
One of the things that I don’t see posted on Christian Personal Finance Blogs that I think need mentioning is the fact that there is a lack of “to others” in most churches. Each Christian should seek out opportunity to serve one another with financial and spiritual and labor oriented needs. What if you could help someone else at your church save hundreds of dollars by coming over and doing some honey-do list items on Saturday because you saw the opportunity, you met the need, and you loved them with the very life of Christ?
One case in point was recently on Gather Little By Little when the pastor’s wife verbalized something that was odd: Thank God for Credit Cards. That is putting a reliance on the wrong things for sure. Hopefully this post will outline some of the philosophical changes that need to be put in place in the life of believers when it comes to finance and the body of Christ.
Relationship with God
This post doesn’t mean anything if your relationship with God isn’t first priority. The Bible says that the Christian has been identified with Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating in the Heavenlies (Romans 6:6, 6:8; Col. 2:12; Col 3:1-3). That identification means that you don’t have to be dealing with any guilt for sins past or present. It also means that every Christian can boldly approach the throan of God (Hebrews 4:14-16) because you’re seated there in Christ (Colossians 3).
II Corinthians 3:18 tells us that we’re to behold the Lord Jesus Christ for spiritual growth. This beholding is part of the relationship. I liken this to a bride and groom gazing at one another during a wedding ceremony. If anything were to get in between them they’d know it! At least in their minds would be, “Hey! That’s not my husband!” or “That’s not my wife!” Think of your relationship with the Lord as the same thing. That relationship must come first before the rest of this post will have any value. If you’re not sure about some of this, I’d strongly recommend the daily devotional “None but the Hungry Heart” which you can buy at mjsbooks.com [disclosure:I have helped with that site in a very limited way but do not get compensated. One of the elders at my church is the steward of that site].
Relationships with One Another
The body of Christ is made up of individuals that have hearts, minds and spirits (spirits that commune with the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 2:12). This body works as a unit. As Paul illustrated in I Corinthians 12 each person plays a part. Here’s the thing though: there is a very real need for the body to have a strong inter-personal relationship focus which operates like a neurological network. That is to say: I should know you, and you should know me because we’re in the body, and we should know each others joys and sorrows! We should each choose to cultivate an attitude of intimacy so that we can understand when needs arise. I personally believe that credit card debt in the church is evidence of shallow relationships. I’d be ashamed to tell anyone that I have a need because they don’t know me and I’ve put on a false face! The opposite should be true. We should be gladly admitting our needs and fulfilling them for one another (Romans 12:13).
As that last reference to Romans 12:13 states we should be giving to those who are in need. This can come from an attitude of service, but it can also come from the provision that exists in our own resources. While I’m getting out of debt I simply don’t have lots of extra money to throw around to help others, but once I’m out of debt, I will explicitly seek to give some of my money to those in need. Each believer who is not in need should wait on the direction of the Holy Spirit (sometimes its a phone call, sometimes its an observation, and sometimes its a prompting from God) and give to those in need through financial or service oriented opportunities. While I don’t have money I am going to serve others with my time and abilities.
An Attitude of Unity of Mind and Unity of Body
We as believers need to have unity of mind. In a relativistic culture that teaches, “We just need to disagree, ” we need to have a counter-culture mindset that says we agree that we may disagree here, but we’re working towards unity. I disagree with lots of Christians about lots of things, but I never once set those things aside as something to be ignored. Instead I see that as an opportunity for us to grow together and fulfill the command of the scriptures to be of the same mind (Romans 12:16).
An attitude of unity of body is similar to a unity of mind. We need to see to it that we’re hospitable to one another and identify how our lives can intersect beyond a handshake and a howdy on Sunday morning. Acts 2:42-47 describes the very first church, and in doing so it clearly explains that they were intimate and united spiritually and physically.
A Doctrine of Provision
All of this boils down to a doctrine of provision: God provides the needs, God provides the solutions, and God provides the agents of those solutions. Philippians 4:18-19 clearly presents the idea that God handles needs. It is clear that in times of need we have growth in our lives, so God can be seen to use these needs and provides them (James 1:2-4). The real area that I desire to see growth in the lives of believers (those who blog and those who do not) is the understanding that the doctrine of provision accounts for an agency! We are agents of God in the lives of those around us. God will provide fulfillment for needs. Period.
Conclusion
Practically speaking as Christian Personal Finance bloggers I would love to see a greater call for serving one another and helping others in the body get out of debt in creative ways. There is far too much ‘me’ and ‘I’ going on in the form of ‘get yourself out of your own debt.’ This isn’t to say that this is all bad, we need to own our mistakes, but it is to say that we should look for ways to help folks get out of debt and instead teach them to grow into financial dependence on God with personal responsibility for our stewardship as believers. What things can we add to this concept to help teach a greater attitude of servitude? Serving one another presents opportunities for saving, learning, growing, love and a whole slew of unity and goodness.
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May 4th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Thanks for pointing me towards this post, Randy. I agree with everything you’re saying–because basically you’re saying our money (as everything else in our lives) should be used to obey the two greatest commandments: loving God and loving others.
Saying that I agree with that is easy because it’s pretty black and white in my mind: God said it, I believe it.
But what’s trickier, at least in my mind, is understanding how this works in day-to-day life. You have a friend who has a need–how much/often do you help them? Do you do it anonymously or not? How many of your friends can/should you do this for and how often? Saying that there are needs within the body, and that the body should meet them, is true and wise. Yet I kind of feel like that gives me more questions.
Like with other day-to-day matters, I look at the doctrinal principles: God commands us to love others. God commands us to give generously (which, let’s be honest, is very subjective). So I want to fulfill that as best I know how, while also fulfilling other commands: being a good steward of my money to plan for the future, being financially responsible to pay for my needs and not burden someone else, etc. And then I come up with whatever amount I can/should give, as best I know how.
What do you think? These thoughts are a little random, I guess.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
This topic is an important one to consider. It is important to understand that ‘the law of Christ’ is about communion in the relationship and being motivated by Grace. The term we use at our body is ‘Logical Imperatives’ which is to say: because of God’s great love and outpouring in our lives we should logically be doing the things outlined in the passages that are imperatives.
As the Holy Spirit moves in our lives during the daily communion of fellowship (AKA abiding in Christ or walking in the Spirit), He will direct us to do various things. However, the concept of agency comes into play with a few stipulations:
1) Provisions
2) Seasons
If you look more deeply at Acts 2:45 and study some of the language you will see that the properties and possessions were excess. The word possessions in the Greek implies wealth, which is slightly less obvious in the English. God had provided the excess for just such a use. The other side is that sometimes we’re in the season or time in our life where we’re the recipient. Sometimes that changes from one day to the next, and sometimes that changes over years. If you look at Ephesians 2:10 you’ll see that the opportunities to do good works are prepared before hand, and if you’re abiding, you’ll do those things. If you’re not abiding, you’re justified and so your ledger account shows Christ’s righteousness in your stead there. The body grows due to the needs and fulfillment of those needs - needs are good and having the fulfillment of the need is good - but its orchestrated by God. Don’t look to fill every need, but don’t be embarrassed by your needs because they’re often from God for edification of the body.
In short you shouldn’t have to beat yourself up for these things and instead focus on the daily relationship with our bride-greem. You can read a bit more about the concept of stewardship and agency in the PDF I created here if you’re interested. It’s part of a greater study on the Body and the Believer [which is currently going on as of the this writing, so you'll find there are only 5 or so handouts in that series right now].