MONEY WORRIES
Another of the popular responses to ‘what hurts you the most?’ is what you might call ‘money worries’. This includes comments about ‘being in debt and having no one to help me’ or ‘struggling to make ends meet’. It also includes responses about being unemployed. This response is most common in the 18-34 age bracket, where it’s the 6th highest category. This makes sense when we consider that is commonly a time when people are under the greatest pressure financially.
Here are some other key statistics:
It’s the eight most common kind of response.
It’s more common in men than women
It’s remained fairly constant in popularity over the years, perhaps a surprise when we consider we have been in a period of austerity
Money has the ability to make people do very stupid things. In Kentucky two men tried to pull off the front of a cash machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine, though, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the scene and drove home…
…with the chain still attached to the machine.
…with their bumper still attached to the chain.
…with their vehicle’s license plate still attached to the bumper.
Californian Bill Helko was thrilled when he had the winning numbers in the local lottery: the first prize being $412,000. Straight away he went and ordered a Porsche, booked a family holiday in Hawaii and had a champagne dinner with his wife and friends at an expensive Hollywood restaurant. When he went to pick up the winnings he found that 9,097 others had also won first prize and his share of the jackpot was $45. 8
It may shock you to hear that Jesus spent a great deal of time talking about money. In fact, about 10% of his recorded teachings concern the subject. However, there was only one occasion when Jesus clearly linked money and worry together. He said this:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
...“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:19-34)
Money has the power to make us worry and ultimately despair
In this Bible passage Jesus makes a clear link between money and anxiety. He says “You cannot serve both God and money therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life”. Many people feel deeply anxious and ashamed about their financial problems.
The financial crisis of 2008 showed that a wrong attitude to money also has the power to cause utter despair. A series of tragic suicides followed afterwards: a money manager in California who was out of work and had lost a fortune killed his family and committed suicide; a Danish executive of the HSBC Bank hanged himself in the wardrobe of his £500-a-night suite in Knightsbridge, London. The chief executive of Sheldon Good, a leading US real estate firm shot himself in the head behind the wheel of his red jaguar; a 90 year old widow from Ohio shot herself in the chest as authorities arrived to evict her from her home of 38 years. 9
Tim Keller is the pastor of one of the largest churches in the city of New York. He says “There is a difference between sorrow and despair. Sorrow is pain for which there are sources of consolation. Sorrow comes from losing one good thing among others, so that, if you experience a career reversal, you can find comfort in your family to get you through it. Despair, however, is inconsolable, because it comes from losing an ultimate thing. When you lose the ultimate source of your meaning or hope, there are no alternative sources to turn to. It breaks your spirit.” 10
There is nothing inherently wrong with money, but there is a real danger that it can start to control us when it becomes too important to us. Money promises protection and status – we can feel more important and insulated from the troubles of life but Jesus tells us that money cannot really deliver these things. For a start it does not help with the really important things. Jesus said ‘Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?’ People are more precious than things and money doesn’t guarantee a great relationship with them. John Paul Getty was the richest man in the world, worth over 4 billion dollars, and he knew this to be true. He said: “I have never been given to envy except the envy I feel towards those folk who have the ability to make a marriage work and be happy in that marriage. It’s an art I have never been able to master. My record – five marriages, five divorces, in short, five failures, I have never been happy.” 11
Money is also a poor form of security and control; through having it we cannot avoid tragedy, pain or brokenness. Money cannot provide insulation from the things that hurt us the most and is not a reliable protection. Jesus tells us not to ‘store up treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal’. Money is prone to instability because of the natural corrosion that can affect anything material and also the unpredictable nature of human beings who can steal and make serious mistakes. The recent financial crisis highlights how vulnerable wealth can be to simple human error.
Money has the power to keep us in the dark from our greed
’If your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.’
Greed and materialism control us by keeping us in the dark - as Jesus puts it we have ‘bad eyes’. This is seen in how greed is the one sin that nobody thinks they have a problem with. Consider how very few people consider themselves to be rich even when they are. The average UK earner is in the top 1% of richest people in the world and yet that fact is so often shocking to many. Speaking from experience as a church leader – I have had many people confess to me their sins but no-one yet has confessed to the sin of greed!
Greed keeps us from asking searching questions. Tim Keller suggests there are three ways we can see this power in action. Firstly, greed has the power to make us choose a job that we don’t enjoy or find fulfilling and not really question why. Secondly, to make us do nothing about the unethical practices of the companies we work for. Finally, it has the power to make us avoid asking ‘do I really need to be spending this much?’ We hate asking that question, we just want to make a decision and not think about it. The question ‘is there a way I could be more generous?’ is not asked.
How can we be free?
Jesus gives the answer right at the beginning and the end of our text. He says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.”
1. Jesus gives us a greater cause to live for
Jesus doesn’t say money or earning money is evil but he suggests that we need to be captivated by something more important. Jesus frees us by helping us see differently; it’s like he lifts the curtain of our reality and shows us something even deeper at work. He tells us that we live in a world where not everything that matters is visible. There is another reality already breaking in which will last forever …where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. He calls it the Kingdom of God. CS Lewis once said “Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed; you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you’re really listening to the secret wireless from our friends.” 12
Jesus invites us to join this secret rebellion and fight for his kingdom. In his kingdom things work differently. Secret good deeds are rewarded and social status is not recognised as important. The prostitute who offers heartfelt worship to Jesus is remembered, the poor beggar who played his part faithfully is a hero. A man sold out for his cause once said “You haven’t lived until you’ve found something worth dying for.” 13 We’re all longing for something bigger than ourselves, more important than our individual lives. Jesus offers us a greater cause to live for, one which eclipses the seductive lure of wealth.
2. Jesus offers us another treasure
If money has become our ultimate desire then it needs to be replaced with something else. Deep down many of us recognise that people are more important than things but if so, what person should be our number one? According to the Bible, Jesus himself is the greatest treasure. Jesus here talks about ‘treasures in heaven’ and the Bible is clear that what makes heaven ultimately amazing is that we get to be with him. All Christians have tasted something of the indescribable joy that Jesus brings. If you know a Christian why not ask them to tell you about their own experience of Jesus?
One Christian pastor puts it well: ‘The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness ...we are made for a magnificent joy that comes from outside ourselves’. 14 This is why Christians place such an emphasis on worship. Joy comes as we forget ourselves and remember the one who created the universe.
Money and debt
Debt affects every single one of us because Britain’s total debt, comprising private, public and financial sector debt, is the highest in the world. Much of our tax is not spent on services but paying interest on debts.
For many people debt is a very personal and painful subject. One person described what it is like to be in debt: ‘When I woke up in the mornings, I’d feel instantly unwell and wonder how I’d have the strength to get through the day. It wasn’t just the monotony of our lives, but the daily struggle that really ground me down ... When you’re in debt; the most crippling feelings are shame and fear. It was the shame of our financial situation that made me want to hide away and cry.’
There is hope for people in debt because Jesus helps us be better stewards of our money; he wants us to be wise. Sometimes we struggle financially because we are not good stewards. This means sometimes we should not be praying ‘Jesus give me more money’ but ‘Jesus help me be a better steward and live within my means’. If Jesus gives us more money but we don’t become better stewards we’ll probably just end up in the same difficulty again. The kindest thing for Jesus to do is not to simply give us more money as this doesn’t address the root problem.
On the other hand some people are in debt not because they have been unwise but because of genuine misfortune and difficulty. Regardless of what got us into debt, the way out always involves learning to be a better steward. Just to be really practical I want to flag up some wise principles that organisations such as Christians Against Poverty recommend.
You have to find out the amount of money you need to live on to pay back your debts and then you need stick to it. We call this living on a budget. Once you have a budget you can also learn wise ways to increase your income and reduce costs.
There are some clever ways to help you manage your money. Many recommend splitting your accounts into a regular payments account, a cash account and a savings account.
Live on cash rather than cards. Living on cash and getting away from cards means you know exactly where you are and help you to spend less money. It’s statistically proven that you spend 33% less money when paying by cash rather than cards. It’s God’s desire that we should live within our means. 15
8. These two illustrations are widely available on the internet, no author is stated
9. Examples taken from Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller and a ‘Huffpost business’ article
10. Counterfeit Gods
11. Sir John Paul Getty, KBE (September 7, 1932 – April 17, 2003)
12. CS Lewis, Mere Christianity
13. Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Founder and President
14. John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life
I am grateful to Tim Keller’s excellent talk on Money vs Treasure found here (www.gospelinlife.com/treasure-vs-money-5124.html?___SID=U) for some of the ideas found in this chapter.
15. Rephrased guidelines from CAP online