I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:12
Recently, my church pastor began a series on Biblical contentment— and this is the verse he led with. His first sermon was both informative and challenging. Let’s face it, when it comes to money, contentment is seldom our natural human response. He spoke really well on the subject and left me with much to think about over the subsequent week. That said, I believe he fell into a common trap — pastors offering financial advice.
It happened so quickly. A simple, off-the-cuff, remark that felt a little off, to my mind. I went home and processed this to figure out why his comment had bothered me. And I offer my conclusions below.
To set the scene, my pastor quoted an article that asserted the following; in order to be considered wealthy, you need to have a net worth of $1,900,000. The article’s assertion was based on the premise that the annual interest earned on this amount would be substantially higher than the average wage in the USA today.
I did a quick calculation; a 4% yield on $1,900,000 would earn circa $6,300/month, as compared with the median USA salary of $4,600/month at time of writing. So, yes; I guess we can agree that such a net worth would qualify one as wealthy.
Then came his off-the-cuff remark…
Pastors Offering Financial Advice
Sermons about contentment and the love of money, carry with them the inherent danger of pastors offering financial advice — albeit inadvertently.
‘Apparently, you can’t be wealthy and work, according to the article,’ my pastor asserted with a wry smile.
The congregation responded with a polite ripple of laughter.
I can see why many would find such an assertion amusing. So why did it not sit well with me?
Actually, the answer is quite simple — and, frankly, the article (not my pastor) — is correct.
In simple terms, every person’s work lifespan has an expiry-date. Whether we like it or not, a day will come when we are no longer physically capable of working to earn a living. This could be as a result of old age or, God forbid, a physical accident or dread disease. At that point, our income will dry up and drop to a big fat zero. How will we pay for the roof over our heads, keep the lights on and put food on the table when that day comes?
There is no way to candy-coat this. If we have no other means of income on that day when we are no longer able to work for a living, we will be impoverished. So, sadly, that article’s assertion is correct; you can’t be considered wealthy as long as you have to work to earn a living.
There was a second aspect of my pastor’s comment that neither he, nor many members of my congregation appeared to take into account.
Another reason why pastors offering financial advice is a bad idea.
When he made mention of the $1,900,000 net worth, I spotted the wry smiles and heard the soft ripple of derisive laughter across the congregation. How absurd! That the writer of that worldly article should insist that we aspire to such a ridiculous level of wealth; the nerve. Sounds like the love of money — doesn’t it?
This from a congregation of hard-working middle-class folk, all of whom dutifully put money into their pension schemes each month. What do we think that pension pot is for? And how much money do we think we are aiming to save up over a career spanning forty-plus years?
Normal hard-working people put money into a pension scheme each month for this exact reason; to ensure that they have accumulated enough — wealth — in order to support them when they are no longer physically capable of working.
It is fair to say that most of my Christian peers are not interested in stockpiling wealth in this world. They would much rather remain spiritually-minded and store up treasure in heaven. All they hope for is a retirement fund that is able to support the modest living-standard to which they are currently accustomed. They don’t want mansions, private jets or luxury yachts.
Just a modest lifestyle that will keep the roof over their heads and put food on the table in their twilight years.
This is a fair aspiration. So let me put it under the microscope for a moment. I hope the story below illustrates the inherent dangers of pastors offering financial advice.
Let’s assume Jane embarked on a career in her early twenties with a starting salary of $2,000/month. And let’s assume she would increase her salary at a steady rate of 5% each year for a career that spans 45 years.
Jane has just celebrated her fortieth birthday. In this scenario, she currently earns the median USA salary of roughly $4,600/month — and she can expect this amount to continue increasing over the next twenty-five years to keep track with inflation.
Let’s assume further that Jane will have put 20% of her total earnings into a pension scheme over the course of her career by the time she retires. That will mean that she will have accumulated a net worth of $766,000 by the time she reaches retirement age.
In the above scenario, Jane can expect to earn roughly $2,500/month for the rest of her life once she retires. This is roughly the same amount she earned back in her early twenties. Far from the “modest” lifestyle that she is currently accustomed to, when earning the average USA salary of $4,600/month, Jane will have to tighten her belt and live a far more frugal lifestyle in her old age.
She won’t be impoverished. But she won’t be comfortable either.
In order to maintain the comfortable, if modest, lifestyle to which Jane aspires, she would need to store up — wait for it — just under $1,400,000 in her pension scheme by the time she reaches retirement age. That would earn her the USA average wage of $4,600/month which would continue to keep Jane in the comfortable but modest lifestyle she has built for herself.
I acknowledge that this is less than the amount suggested in the article my pastor cited — but not by much. Suddenly, $1,900,000 isn’t looking so silly — or greedy — is it?
Let’s not forget, the above numbers don’t even begin to take inflation into account.
So what does this thought-process have to do with Contentment? This is one of those counter-intuitive Biblical truths. The only way to save enough money for our retirement is by living beneath our means in the present. Our human nature finds this incredibly difficult.
Instead our tendency is to spend everything we have. We never have any money left over at the end of the month. Conversely, if we learn to be content with what we have, we would spend less and, as a result, we would have more money to invest in our pension scheme to ensure that we will be able to support ourselves in our old age.
Of course the benefits of learning to be content in all circumstances go way beyond mere financial freedom. There are psychological and emotional benefits of learning this virtue. An attitude of contentment will make believers more kingdom-minded and produce eternal rewards. My pastor covered all of this in his sermon and I look forward to hearing the rest of his series over the next few weeks.
While I am prepared to call out the dangers in pastors offering financial advice, I still recognize the value of the spiritual advice they offer when unpacking God’s word.