Financial Independence: Wisdom or Idolatry?
Is it wise to pursue financial independence? Are those who advocate sacrifice in pursuit of this goal providing wise guidance on how to manage finances, or are they leading people astray? Using Jesus’s words about money in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6) as a test, we find the advocates of Financial Independence offer a mixture of wisdom to be followed and idolatry to be avoided.
1. The “Store Up Treasures on Earth” test
Do I value earthly possessions too highly?
The financial independence advocates pass this test with flying colors. Some of you may be jumping out of your quiet-time chair. After all, aren’t we focused either on consumption or generosity? That is an oversimplification. The financial independence movement is as strident on the downfalls of material consumption as any Christian stewardship training and has delved into the psychological misconceptions that cause us to make poor decisions.
Suppose you show up at a financial independence meeting in a new BMW, wearing designer clothes and a luxury watch, and proceed to brag about putting 18% of your salary into savings. In that case, you're more likely to be mocked than celebrated. The financially independent drive average cars, are content using their phones to tell time, and put 30% or more of their salaries into savings. The path to financial independence relies on a decreased level of consumption to achieve independence at an early age.
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✅ Wisdom
2. The “Healthy Vision” test
Do I live with an abundance mindset?
Those who pursue financial independence see a world of blessing and opportunity. Rather than view a world where people get rich only at another person’s expense, the financially independent seek to improve their financial position by creating value for others. They work side hustles, create new businesses, and focus on meeting needs.
Their abundance mindset spills over into how they invest. Those on the path to financial independence save a large portion of their salary, often 30-50%, and often invest a large portion in the stock market. Jesus tells us not to be anxious, yet the world's risks too often paralyze Christians. An abundance mindset does not focus on the short-term fluctuations in the market. Since its inception in 1957, the S&P 500 has delivered returns of around 10% annually during Republican and Democratic administrations, rising and falling interest rates, and friendly and unfriendly cultural trends.
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✅ Wisdom
3. The “Serve God or Money” test
What comes first?
Most in the financial independence movement would describe financial independence as an initial goal that allows you to make choices in line with your values and unburdened by financial constraints. The underlying assumptions of this thesis should be challenged. It assumes you have the correct values and that pursuing money won’t shape you. The order is money first, then live out your values. The Rich Young Ruler asked, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” after he was already wealthy. Jesus told him his wealth was an impediment to his heavenly destiny.
In the early stages of pursuing wealth, here are two tough questions to ask yourself: Am I currently serving at church, or am I too busy running a side hustle for some extra income? Am I waiting to be generous until after I reach financial independence, or am I giving in faith along the way? As the Rich Young Ruler found out, putting wealth before God isn’t a neutral choice, and getting the order wrong may prove financially profitable but spiritually costly.
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❌ Idolatry
What can Christians learn from the financial independence movement?
Engaging the heart, mind, soul, and strength is our best weapon when battling the instinct to consume. Thriving stewards can benefit from the psychological tools that financially independent people use to ward off consumerism.
Having an abundance mindset (healthy vision) creates opportunities to exercise generosity and serve others that a scarcity mindset turns a blind eye to.
The pursuit of good outcomes should never become primary. As His children, we worship only the One truly worthy of our praise.
