Wes, from gathering in light has posted some interesting thoughts on how, as Christians, we should go about spending our money. Money is a touchy subject (see Spending Money as Christians). Churches ofter avoid teaching on the subject because of the stigma that it comes with it. i.e. the church is just after it. However, teaching on this subject is increbly valuable, especially for those of us fortunate enough to be in the incredibly wealthy ‘West’.

Wes suggests that there are four questions we need to ask ourselves when we reach for our wallets.

  1. How does this business treat its employees?
  2. What is this business’ impact on our local economy?
  3. What is this business’ impact on the global economy?
  4. What is this business’ impact on the environment?

These are four very noble and valid questions but I think the fundamental issue behind how we view our finances has been overlooked.

Firstly, lets be clear, money is neutral. It is not good, it is not evil. For those out there that misquote the famous bible verses; money is not the root of all evil. “The love of money is the root of all kinds evil” So the issue with money is what it is used for and how you view it, not money itself.

Secondly, you are not more spiritual if you are poor. Many believe (as was looked at briefly in our study of Daniel 2) that if you have money then you should give it all away. This is not the case, we are called to be good stewards of what we have. If we have nothing how can we engage in the spiritual discipline of stewardship and the worshipful act of giving (see The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard).

Thirdly, prosperity teaching is nonsense. God doesn’t give money to the more ’spiritual’. I don’t even know where to begin with that one so I’ll make that sweeping statement and leave it there.

With that out of the way, lets look at what I think is the key to this issue. I touched on it in point two above. The idea of stewardship; what we have is not our own, we are simply looking after it. Yes, I did say that. We own nothing, everything on this earth is Gods, and we are looking after it.

There are all sorts of interesting paths this leads us down. Looking at how the use of what we have been given charge of on earth may or may not effect we are given charge of in heaven etc but for now let us stay with this point. If we view our money (as well as our possessions) as merely what we have been given to look after; to use responsibly and for Gods glory then this should radically change the way we view our spending.

Yes, this will work itself out in the four questions which Wes asked us above (amongst others) but fundamentally the issue is, as always with God, the state of our hearts. We need to understand that this money is not ours. We spend it on behalf of Christ. Would He be happy with what we are spending His money on?

Are we being a good steward?