Over the past 6 months, Jesus has taught me all about money. I wouldn’t dare say I am a financial guru. In fact, I am quite the novice; I am still learning how to budget! But money is one of those topics where you could talk for days and days and days about it, and yet, we choose to rarely talk about it at all. When someone tells you how much they make, it’s like they dropped an F bomb. When people can see what money I spend, they can see all the dumb decisions I’ve made, all the things I care about, all my guilty pleasures, and how selfish I am. But money is way too important not to talk about.

The wisdom I’ve learned about money has been brewing inside of me and I just want to organize it into one coherent thought. You—O lucky reader—get to join in on this smorgasbord of financial ponderings. I won’t be able to fit this all into one blog post (Hooray for those with short attention spans!). But nevertheless, what is about to follow is a series of posts on what I’ve learned about money. So like Scrooge Mcduck diving into a pile of gold coins, let’s jump right in.

Christian Finance

Money talks. Money is power. Money is the pursuit of labor. Everyone always wants more and no one seems to have enough. Our grandparents went through the depression and saved every penny. Our parents went through the tech boom and spent (almost) every penny. Now, in the midst of a market as stable as a Weeble Wobble, where do we lie in our financial ideology?

The Studies
A recent survey asked the following question: How much money would you need to make a year to feel like you have enough money? Participants how made about $25,000 a year said if they could just make around $50,000, they think they would be happy. Participants who made around $50,000 a year said if they could just get to $100,000 dollars, they could live happily. Participants around $100,000 dollars said that if they could just get to about $200,000 a year, they would have enough. Do you see the trend?

Another study asked millionaires just how much money they would need to consider themselves ‘rich’. They respondents said that if they had 5 million dollars, they would consider themselves rich.

In another study, researchers concluded that in America, once you reach a level of about $60,000 dollars a year, money has little to no impact on happiness. So any money above that threshold, is does nothing to make you happier

In yet another study, researchers found the money really only contributes to happiness when you spend it on experiences and other people. It’s the Ol’ giving is better than receiving.

Conclusion: Once you reach a certain level, money can’t aid happiness, and even before then, you will never feel like you have enough. Likewise, money really only brings happiness when you spend it on others.

The Wealth
Do you consider yourself wealthy? When we think of those who are rich, we almost never think of ourselves. We think other people with more money are rich. Likewise, someone thinks you are rich.

·         If you make more than $2500 dollars a year, you are wealthier than 85% of the world
·         If you make over $50,000 a year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world (some estimates as low as ($36,000)
·         The average income is under $1000 dollars a year

Do you feel wealthy yet? Ever the poorest of the poor in this country got stacks on stacks on stacks compared to my little buddy Joseph Akpeng in Ghana. We are wealthy.

The Importance
Did you know that if you count the number of verses Jesus talks about money, it totals over twice as those about faith and prayer combined? In fact, about one third of His recorded teachings deal with money. By quantity, THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

You don’t have to have money for it to be your idol. So often, we judge the really wealthy people as evil because they could be doing so much more with it. But who are you to say you wouldn’t do the exact same thing in their position? Has not God blessed the snot out of you? Money is one of the only temptations that everybody is fine with.

Everyone thinks someone else is rich. Well guess what? Someone thinks you’re rich. If you’re reading this, you’re rich. You’ve heard it said: where your treasure is, so also is your heart. Jesus asks us “Is that money your god or am I?” Are you afraid when your piggy bank is on a diet? Do you find yourself asking for opportunities to get more stuff? Maybe we should remember that Jesus exclaimed: “How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Have you ever noticed that the homeless person making mud pies in Haiti is happier than the millionaire in the gated community? I’ve seen it firsthand. As a wise theologian once said: MO money, MO problems. Perhaps we’ve ascribed too much practical importance to money and not enough spiritual importance. Money is one of the most important aspects of our lives. How we handle our money determines who we become and who we serve.


I’ll stop here. Look out for my next installment of Christian Finance: The Owner