A God Honoring Lifestyle, Part 4
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a six-part series of articles about maintaining a God-honoring lifestyle, excerpted from the book, Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.
Our Tendency Toward Financial Self-Sabotage
Those who want to get rich set themselves up for spiritual disaster. Those who happen to be rich, simply as a result of circumstances, hard work, or wisdom, have done nothing wrong. They need not feel guilty—unless they withhold their riches (which are really God's) from his work, or their lifestyles are self-centered and excessive. According to author John Piper, "The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking a $100,000 salary must be accompanied by a $100,000 lifestyle. God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn't. Copper will do."
Solomon suggests it can be unwise to remain rich: "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:8-9). Giving is the safety valve that releases the excess pressure of wealth.
Asking The Holy Spirit for Lifestyle Guidance
There is, of course, a subjective aspect to asking God's leading in our lifestyles and giving. But it's certainly not all subjective. We mustn't forget that he's already given us his leading in the form of Scripture. There's an objective nature to Christ's command not to lay up treasures on earth but in heaven. There's an objective nature to Paul's statement of why God entrusts riches to us so we can help those who have too little (2 Corinthians 8:14-15) and be generous on every occasion (2 Corinthians 9:10-11). The Holy Spirit teaches us by reminding us of Christ's words (John 14:26). This isn't some vague, mystical, gut-level feeling, but revealed truth.
We can ask God about whether we should buy a nice, new, and unnecessary car. In the absence of an angel appearing and saying no, we typically assume that God's answer is yes. But if we read Matthew 6 and 2 Corinthians 8-9, the answer is clear. If we took these verses seriously, we might require an angel to appear and say yes before we would buy the unnecessary car rather than give God's money to help the poor and reach the lost. (Is this decision really as difficult as we sometimes make it?)
Whenever we have excess, giving should be our natural response. It should be the automatic decision, the obvious thing to do in light of Scripture and human need. We dare not trust our instinctive promptings, which tend to be self-serving, leading us to rationalizations. Too often we imagine we are asking God's Spirit for guidance, when actually we are relying on our culture-driven values. No wonder our decisions end up looking suspiciously like everyone else's.
Faith & Finance Perspective:
There are many forces acting against us as we strive to make God-honoring choices regarding our finances. We must first contend with the pressure our culture places on us to always strive for bigger, better, and more. These factors have become the metrics used to gauge our acceptance, significance, and standing in society. Add to that our own earthly desire to possess things that bring us more comfort, security, and satisfaction than we actually need, along with the temptations and enticements our souls’ enemy dangles in front of us daily, and we find ourselves either swimming against the stream or giving in to its current—and floating helplessly toward the falls.
The good news? God has promised to care for our needs (Matthew 6:26) so we never need to be in want. And He has given us His Promised Spirit, who not only guides us in all things (John. 16:13-15) but also provides a means of escape when we are tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). All we need to do is daily invite the Spirit’s power and presence and live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1).
What are some of the material temptations you’re currently battling that could drag you into the current and toward the falls? The Lord is on the shore with a lifeline. Fix your eyes on Him as he provides your means of escape.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
- 2 Peter 1:3-4