Lifestyle Caps
The following was excerpted from Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church by Cameron Doolittle.
My childhood hero, Steve Largent, was my favorite American football player, then became a US congressman. I worked for him as a speechwriter, and we became friends. Years later, I asked Steve for advice about handling my growing wealth.
He looked at me and said simply, “It’s a great question. Here’s what you do. Live like it’s not there.”
It was simple and profound advice.
But how do we “live like it’s not there?” Fulton Sheen, late Archbishop of Rochester, once wrote, “Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left.”
As givers become generous, they often set—after much prayer—a “lifestyle cap,” which is the amount that they believe God gives them to spend on themselves annually. They get to give the rest away as God leads.
Christopher from South Africa explains, “It’s not ‘what do I give?’ Instead, it should be ‘What do I keep?’”
Givers don’t always give away the rest all at once, but the lifestyle cap protects them from the temptation to spend it. They may set up a separate bank account to collect God's until He leads them to the right opportunity. An Indian friend told me: “The absence of a conversation about limits leads to an open-ended lifestyle. Do you need a four-bedroom house? OK. Why not freeze it for yourself at four?”
A lifestyle cap is a prayer-driven, self-imposed limit to what we spend on ourselves. It’s a great way of “living like it’s not there.”
John Cortines and Greg Baumer, authors of God and Money, did hundreds of interviews with Christian graduates of Harvard University. In the end, they concluded that people, at some point, no matter their income, should limit how much they spend on themselves each month or each year. “Should there be a ceiling on consumption?” they ask. “There is an income above which a Christian’s marginal propensity to consume should fall to zero.”
Stefan in Germany says that “before, I had never defined ‘how much is enough’ for me. That was so powerful. Not just ‘I give a lot away, but I give because I have a cap and am following Christ.”
Finn in the Netherlands is living this out. “We had two cars, but we asked God and now we have just one car. It was such a joy giving the car away and seeing the blessing this other person has with it. We’re trying to shrink the circle to be able to give more away.”
Givers generally set up their spending limits in one of two ways:
Fixed Living Amount
Most say, “Of all the money that comes in, our family is going to live on this amount of dollars/RMB/euros/pounds/etc. and give the rest away. No matter how much comes in, we will live on this set amount.”
I have heard fixed living amounts ranging from the median income of a country up to five times that amount (for a family whose children have expensive medical needs). What's important is to ask God, “How much is for us?” and wait until you have a clear answer from Him.
Fixed Giving Percentage
Others set a percentage: “We will only keep this percentage of what we make.”
Saif in Dubai says, “We give a minimum of 20 percent. Above that is gravy. I'm very excited about it.”
Roy in the United States says, “We give away 70 percent of our income. We split that three ways: 10 percent to the church; 15 percent to small gifts, like mercy gifts to individuals; and 45 percent to bigger strategic gifts.”
Amit in India explains, “I came across teaching that the Old Testament tithe was more than 10 percent. A Jew gave 23.34 percent plus other offerings. That was very touching to me. Under the law, the Jewish people gave 23 percent. How can I give less than that living under grace? That’s when I started increasing my giving. Then, of course, the joy of giving makes you increase your giving and not look at the figure, and you end up paying much more than 23 percent. Every year, I endeavor to increase, not just as a percentage, but as a total amount. By God's grace, we have just reached about one-third of our income now. Our endeavor is to keep seeing that we can increase.”
One ministry I know has a “50-50 Club” in which participants pledge to give away half of what they receive. Behavioral psychologists tell us that, on the whole, people underestimate what they spend and overestimate what they give. Setting a cap helps us make sure that our treasure actually reflects what our heart wants to do.
Faith & Finance Perspective
To our old, fallen nature, the notion of a lifestyle cap may seem like a harshly imposed restriction on our well-earned freedom to pursue earthly pleasures. But for our redeemed, “new creature” nature, the cap offers a much truer freedom—unbinding us from the material gratifications that deliver only a fleeting, short-lived sense of fulfillment.
Now, as slaves only to righteousness (Romans 6:17-18), no longer serving idols and chasing counterfeits, we are released to share the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)—relying on the Father’s provision for all we need (Philippians 4:19), His strong-tower protection from the enemies of our souls (Proverbs 18:10), His ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1-3), and the inexpressible joy of His abiding presence (1 Peter 1:8).
Now that’s a cap I’ll put on every morning.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. - 2 Corinthians 5:17