This week offered another teaching opportunity around the dinner table. We had dinner with extended family, all of whom are believers.
At one point, dinner conversation turned to the subject of investment and financial stewardship. It didn’t take long before my mother pointed out the obvious off the back of something my son said.
‘Just remember, some of the unhappiest people in the world are also some of the richest,’ she said. The silent message; money doesn’t buy happiness.
While her statement was true, I had no compunction calling out the inherent error in that train of thought. The issue I take with assertions like this is in the hidden message that, somehow, poverty is more Godly than wealth.
I responded, ‘It is equally true that some of the unhappiest people in the world are also some of the poorest.’
Love of Money is the Real Heart Issue
My point? Wealth and happiness are not the core issue believers need to deal with in this context. The real issue we need to deal with, as believers, is the love of money. That is a fight every believer has to wage, rich and poor alike. And, when combating the love of money, doing battle from a place of poverty or financial struggle won’t make our fight any easier or more noble.
When combating the love of money, doing battle from a place of financial struggle won’t make our fight any easier or more noble.
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
The reason I push back against statements like this — especially around the dinner table — is simple. I don’t want to teach my children that consumer debt and its accompanying financial struggle is a Godly way to live. Poverty offers no immunity from the love of money.
I want them to understand that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Furthermore, I want them to learn sound financial management principles so that they are able to give generously to God’s kingdom and to live their lives with a Kingdom-first mindset.
In short, I want my children to learn to live their lives in such a way that they don’t worry about what they will eat, what they will drink or what they will wear but rather to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.
There will be times in their lives when they experience God’s abundance, and there will be times when they experience lack. If they learn to be wise stewards of the money God entrusts to them then, hopefully, they will experience more of the former and less of the latter.
But through it all, I want them to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.