We’re looking at how following Jesus impacts our view of money. I sat in Chapters a couple weeks ago, next to some guys talking about motorcycles. They all rode one kind of bike or another, and were talking about insurance, alarms and more.
One man was about to sell his house, and wanted to use the profit, all of it, to buy his dream bike. His friend got upset, and said, this is because you’re single. I could never spend like that with a wife and kids, I have too many responsibilities.
The motorcycle buyer said, “I Know, there are a lot of better ways I could spend the money, too, but this is my dream bike, I just have to have it”.
These guys had significantly different values about money. Partly this is because of their different experiences – the guy with a family had to change his spending habits to support something more important than his dream bike.
I do have to wonder, though, if this will remain his buddy’s dream bike, or if there’ll be a new dream in five, then, twenty years while this one sits in the garage. Or what happens when he can’t ride anymore, and has to sell a depreciated bike. Will this still be his dream, or is the dream always changing?
In yesterday’s passage of scripture, Paul uses the same language Jesus is known for using – he refers to storing up treasure in heaven, instead of on earth.
In other words, we need to dream bigger dreams than motorcycles and vacations. They’re not bad in and of themselves, but when they become our dream, prioritized over all else, we’ve made them into our ultimate good, and that’s very bad for us. A few weeks ago, I defined sin in this way, as when we take something good, make it our ultimate good, and that is ultimately bad for us.
We free ourselves from slavery to false, empty and fluctuating dreams by gaining and saving in order to give generously. In our series on Becoming Like Family, we talking about three ways to give: to Christian ministries like Redeem the Commute, to other work consistent with God’s kingdom values, and to save in order to directly help friends and family in need.
Challenge: Write, sketch, or imagine God’s dream for you in his kingdom. What lasting impact has he positioned you to make on the world? What financial changes would you have to make to do it?
Read the Bible in Sync Today
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We've looked at two extreme approaches to work: work to get it over with, and work as our ultimate goal.
Both extremes are sandy foundations for life. They wash away when the rains come, parliament changes the retirement age, or markets crash and change our industry forever.
Work reveals our foundations in life – what our ultimate goal or purpose is. Sometimes this can lead to our downfall. For example, in Japanese culture they so highly valued an ideal of never laying off workers, that many companies collapsed completely during a difficult recession. Closer to home, we can see how cost-savings at the Elliot Lake Mall, or the railway through Lac-Megantic, can seem to pay off for a while, then come crashing down with deaths, lawsuits and financial ruin to follow.
We should choose the foundation of our working lives carefully - it will eventually be revealed!
CHALLENGE: Write down a goal in your life. Make two columns underneath, writing in what will help you get there, and what could stop you. Now circle the ones that are entirely in control. What does this tell you about the foundations for your work in life – are they your’s, or God’s?
