Our Goal

We are familiar with African safari scenes, where wild animals live in packs and stampede. If one of them perceives danger and starts running, all others follow suit. They run at full speed. Without a definite direction, they just run like crazy. Not even an inch of space between them, they run with their fellow beasts in front and rear. If one falls, the animals behind are tripped, and they begin to stumble. Then the ones following behind trample the fallen herds in front and continue running.

This can be compared to the conditions of a modern materialistic society. It is greedy, selfish and breeds money-is-everything views under the pretext of economic development and enhancing the quality of human lives. Even brothers and sisters of faith, forgetting their Christian status, devote themselves to the pursuit of wealth, and are swept into the crowd that runs like crazy. They don't seem to have a definite purpose, but just compete fiercely to accumulate and possess more and more. We also find ourselves among this crowd. Whether we make a thousand, ten thousand, or one hundred thousand dollars a month, we are not content. We want even more. Yet we think we cannot afford to give. There are times when, in order to make a fast money, we toss away our conscience and faith as if they were a pair of worn-out shoes. Believing in God seems to be in the way of our making money.

Regardless of need, we compare our material wealth to that of others, and are content only if we have more. If this is the case, we are no better than the wild animals in the herd that run like crazy in the wrong direction, unable to get out of the stampede. No matter what kind of society we live in, we believers should get out of the craze, even if we are trampled down and out of the race. Now, we must look to the Cross, not to money, and run toward our purpose, pleasing God. We, the brothers and sisters of faith, have no other choice.

The problem is not the money itself, but we humans who earn and use it. "Money is evil," we often quote. However, nothing is wrong with money. It is the individual who handles it that creates the problems.

Money has historical roots as old as mankind, and has been an important tool in its economic activities. Genesis 23:16 reads, "Abraham...weighed out for him the price...four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants." So we know money was in existent at the time of Abraham and has been used ever since.

Money not only helped humans eliminate the inconveniences of bartering, but also miraculously enriched our way of living. It is also fact, however, that money in our society, as its role reached beyond convenience and enrichment and became a goal for life and as a tool for the endless accumulation of wealth, has accelerated our greed and caused us to sprout the roots of sins and spiritual death within us.

In fact, money, an essential element necessary to our survival, has its merits and demerits just as there are two sides in a coin. Some put spiritual value in money, but basically whether the money is used rightly or wrongly is up to us. It is the same perception of looking at the fruit of knowing good and evil in the Garden of Eden. The sins of Adam and Eve did not originate from the fruit itself, but was produced by the greed of them who were granted the freedom of choice.

Is there anything that is not beautiful in God’s creation? Most of the problems occurring in relation to money are created by humans themselves, and are the results of the desire and selfishness sprouting deep inside their hearts. Such greed is indeed typical characteristics of the devil.

Jesus said, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire" (John 8:44). So, the Lord makes it clear that human desire, spurred out of the human greed, is a characteristic of the devil. Nothing can be as destructive to human beings as the excessive desire to own things.

Humans were created to rule all things as God said to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28), yet if we cannot control money, we get into a cycle of endless greed, and the greed gets uglier and crueler than a virus, destroying both divine and human nature. When infected with a virus, we feel physical pain and know we are sick, so the sickness can be treated. But the disease caused by greed is more dangerous, since it has no symptoms, nor pain, and on the contrary, in many cases gives us a certain pleasure.

"Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:15). This points out clearly that desire is the starting point to sin and death. Had Apostle James of 2000 years ago lived today, he would have warned us, "After the desire of money has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

Needless to say, many crimes, such as murder, robbery, theft, fraud, and arson, in today's societies are related to this money and behind money crouches human greed in wait. The word of God in "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves," (1 Timothy 6:10) rings the alarm for us believers. The phrase we must note here is "wandered from the faith." This means that the main reason of giving up the life of faith is the love of money.

Because we cannot realistically live without money, it is not an exaggeration to say that the only way to conquer money is to conquer (extinguish) the excessive desire in our hearts. "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife" (Proverbs 17:1). This wise saying deeply touches our heart. If we don't control our desires, meeting with money leads us down the wrong path. To us Christian’s death is not only physical, but also spiritual, that is, the state of falling away from God.

In order to live a life of faith, we cannot just recognize the negative aspects and shun money and material things. Money by no means holds the meaning of life or value of its own, but there is no denying that it is the means by which we live a life headed for the Cross. If we deny this, we must be lying. In reality, money is the barometer by which we Christians lead a life of faith. At the same time, if we earn, manage and use money in a proper manner, it plays the role of a lever that helps our faith grow and please our God. I firmly believe that this is the true reason why God gave us money.

Let us examine ourselves living in this modern materialistic society. Indeed we have immensely wide uses for money. Money is for clothes, food and shelter, but is also a necessary element in doing God's work and living a faithful life. Since churches are operated with offerings, and offerings help fund church operation, mission works, and evangelical activities, money directly affects the Lord's work. Money has such a strong buying power that we should be able to manage it well.

As believers, we must boldly acknowledge the merits of money, and should no longer treat the subject as taboo in church and family. At the same time we must carefully guard against money becoming the goal of life instead of the means, or against us serving money greedily or becoming pitiful followers of Jesus just looking for material blessings.

In order for us to tackle this two-sided money properly for the will of God, we must know and conquer it thoroughly. First of all, we must understand well the teachings about it in the Bible and build a correct perspective, and be able to apply this to our family's everyday financial life. Process of ruling money is the process of not being ruled by it, and of being trained to lead a precious and devout Christian life.

Handling and managing this powerful money according to the will of God and applying it to our daily life, however, is not an easy task. If it were that easy, I could probably end this book right here. We can also understand, through the temptations and the trials Jesus and Job faced, that it is not easy to conquer money and your desire.

Jesus' first test in the wild was a material one. It happened before he began his public ministry, when he was starving after forty days of fasting. The devil said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread" (Matthew 4:3). Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4), and rejected the temptation. His word did not mean humans do not need bread to live. He meant bread is needed, but the word of God is more important and should come first. His word is a direct warning to our society in which the 'almighty money' prevails.

The first trial Job had to go through was also a material one. "But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face" (Job 1:11). He was rich and a model man of faith at the time. Yet, God wanted to make certain whether his faith was genuine, or due to his wealth.

Brothers and sisters of faith living in this materialistic society are constantly being tested. Therefore in order to guard our faith against ever-creeping temptations of money, and to remain faithful to God, we must arm ourselves with his word and live in the grace of the Spirit.

Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and Money" (Matthew 6:24). This phrase implies that money, since long ago, has been wrongly considered, used and served by humans, as to be compared to God. It also means that to find out whether one truly serves God or not is to find out whether the person is serving money or not. There is only one choice. If one serves money, the person is not serving God. How much are you depending on money? How much of your mind is concerned with money? If you are not certain whom you serve, try to reflect how long you spent your time with God today, this week, or this month carefully. It may tell.

I realize how important it is for brothers and sisters of faith to have the correct attitude and perspectives toward material things. Let us serve God. Money and materials belong to God, and they are simply the means to serve Him, no more, no less.

Some might ask, "Are rich men with many possessions serving wealth?" Possession of wealth itself is not the same as serving. If we possess in the will of God, even if we have a lot, it helps, not harms. The Bible acknowledges the rich and the poor living side by side. Proverbs 22:2 reads, "Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all." This emphasizes that rich people and poor people coexist in this world, yet the maker of both is God.

Let us look back to the scene of the birth of the baby Jesus, the Messiah two thousand years ago. Poor shepherds and the wise men that symbolize rich men came together to the place and worshiped him on their knees. What is really important to us believers is not the matter of rich or poor, but whether we have completely submitted ourselves to the Lord or Money. A rich man cannot enter the Kingdom of God not merely because he is rich, but because he serves Money, instead of God.

Let us study the case of a rich man, the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. He said to Jesus after welcoming him in his house, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham" (Luke 19:8-9). The rich chief tax collector, too, once freed from his material greed and fraudulent mind, could come to Jesus and be saved.

On the other hand, the Bible warns the lazy poor on many occasions. "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth" (Proverbs 10:4); "You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours" (Psalm 128:2), and other verses caution that we become poor because we are insincere and lazy. Proverbs 21:25 and 2nd Corinthians 9:6 in the New Testament use similar words.

Materially poor, however, does not mean spiritually poor. Sometimes we find around us a person who leads a poor life with no possession simply because he or she wants to dedicate himself or herself to the Lord. From the reading of Acts 4:34-35, "...those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet..." we know the followers of the apostles disposed of their wealth and houses in which they were living in order to help the ministry of the poor early church.

If one's poverty did not begin with these kinds of beautiful acts, but with irresponsibility, squandering, and extravagance, then that poorness must be the wrong kind. With these exceptions, from ancient times, the difference between the haves and have-nots depends on whether the individual worked hard, was frugal in spending, and managed his money well, and is not a criterion for salvation or his faith.

As we see from the parable of sheep and goats in Matthew 25:32-46, whether or not a person can inherit the Kingdom prepared by God from the creation of the world, that is, whether to receive eternal life or everlasting punishment, is not contingent on wealth or poverty. In conclusion, let us note that, as we read in the word of Jesus, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). Whether or not we helped and loved suffering brothers and sisters of Jesus becomes the basis for being separated as 'sheep on his right' or 'goats on his left.'

In helping and loving less fortunate brothers and sisters in fact, poverty or riches cannot matter. Whatever little we have, we can give. Even if we have nothing at all, we can still give our hearts and prayers. However, if a person is rich and wealthy, and turns away from the brothers and sisters in need of help, it is much more difficult for him/her to enter the Kingdom of God than for those who are too poor to help. Therefore, the word of God in Luke 18:25 that reads, "Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," cautions those who are rich yet do not share and give.

In fact, there is a huge difference between the rich not giving and the poor not giving. So if one thinks he is rich, he or she should not forget to make efforts to give. He should strive to seek out and be closer to those people suffering and in need of help. As Richard Foster pointed out in his book, "Money, Sex, and Power," one of the problems created by affluence is insulation from poor people.

The only reason we make, and save money is to use it. And to us believers the use must also be for the glory of God. Giving is the wonder drug of wonder drugs for us to suppress our selfish mind and proactively control our greed. Therefore, it does not matter if we believers are rich or poor. It is whether we share or do not share, and whether we act as owners or stewards.

Behind our greed crouches our desire to have, and this desire to possess in most cases starts from a wrong ownership concept. In order to fully understand money, first, we should examine our perception about ownership. That is, we have to deal with these questions of who made money and is the owner, and what role we should play when it comes to money. The following Bible quotations help us to properly understand the entire material matters including money, and give answers to the above mentioned questions.

God made it clear that he is the creator as we read, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis1:1). Then using the characters appearing in the Bible, he repeatedly made it certain that he is the owner of all things.

By telling Moses, "...out of all nations you will be my treasured possession...the whole earth is mine..." (Exodus 19:5), he says even we are his possession. Through Moses in Deuteronomy 10:14, Job in Job 41:11, and the psalmist in Psalm 24:1 God reiterated he is the owner of all things.

Haggai reads in detail, "'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty" (Haggai 2:8), and God makes it clear that the money in the world is also his. Especially through Romans 11:36, "For from him and through him and to him are all things," God tells us all things including money are from him and for him, and in the end go back to God, its final destination.

If the owner of money is truly God, as in "I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions," (Luke 12:44) we are not the owner but the steward who keeps and manages his owner's property for a while. He might be called a property manager.

A manager has a responsibility to manage the money well and increase the property in charge, and satisfy the owner, and cannot use or waste the property at his will as if he owned the property in his care. After managing the property well, he has to turn it all over to God. This should be the attitude of us believers toward money.

In Luke 14:33, Jesus says, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple," and this does not mean we have to abandon everything we have externally, but we must stop idol-worshiping and follow the Lord, taking our new ownership perspective to heart and turning over everything we have to God.

For Christians, It is very important to see the difference between the words, have and possess. As phrased by A.W. Tozer in his famous book, The Pursuit of God, ‘You can have everything, but you can possess nothing. It sounds like a joke but it is the spiritual secret. It may be very easy to understand this concept by looking at how Abraham, the father of faith, lived. Abraham had everything one can possibly imagine as said in the Bible. But his inner heart was free from them. The world said, “Abraham is rich,” but the aged patriarch smiled. He could not explain it, but he knew that he own/possess nothing. That’s how he was able to give up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God upon the God’s request.

Turning over our possessions to God, however, is not as easy as we think. Such an attitude change is an important sanctification process of a Christian dying and carrying our own cross, and impossible to attain on our own without our Lord's help. We are making this effort, yet at certain moments without even realizing it, the Lord's resource becomes mine and we use it as we wish, and find ourselves beginning to have greedy desire for more of it. In most cases, we don't realize that we have the greed, or intentionally ignore the fact, because no one wants to acknowledge that he has avarice.

In order to change our ownership perspective, we must ask the Lord for help through prayer, and continually train ourselves to lead a God-fearing life. Otherwise, we can never be free from the yoke of greed for money persistently luring us.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, when his home was burned down, is said to have declared, "My Lord's house has burnt down and gone. One of my responsibilities has been lifted." What would we have said in the same situation? The 'My house' perspective prevents us from making such a bold remark. Wesley must have had the spirit of stewardship all along.

If we changed from an owner to a steward, God shows us a new way of life. First of all, freed from the greedy desire to possess, we are protected from it. We also become free from all kinds of unnecessary worries and concerns caused by money, and have peace. All we do is to serve only God. Nothing can be the object of worries and fear except God. By revering God, we stop idolizing other things. Free from the desire to possess, we lead a new life of giving.

When our brothers and sisters of faith earn and manage money before establishing such ownership perspective, they too can easily fall to the temptation of money, and swamped by wasting and extravagance, or leads a life of depending on the money rather than God. Worst, we have seen around us many cases that it harms the life of faith, and not only lead to giving up one's faith all together, but causes ill effects to other believers as well.

Therefore, I would like to make suggestions to readers as follows: Pray hard, before going to work, or any time as often as you can, "Lord, I turn over to you everything I own. Help me to live as only your steward!" I am assured that the first step to the road of conquering money and excessive materialistic desire is the change to this stewardship attitude.

Taking up the role of a steward with a right ownership perspective does not mean we cannot use at all the property that belongs to God the owner. As we read, "...for the worker deserves his wages..." (Luke 10:7), receiving the wage after a work and solving the problem of food, clothing and shelter according to personal lifestyle is one of the blessings granted by God.

Important point is since even the wage we have received is a part of God's property; we should manage and control it well as a steward. We must use it to reveal the work and glory of God the owner. Only under such self-controlling mind and ability of a steward can we satisfy our desire for materials and lead a thankful life.

As we read in Genesis 1:26-28, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over... all the creatures...' God blessed them... and said, '...fill the earth and subdue it... Rule over... every living creature," we Christians should endeavor to rule over God-given wage, that is, money. This is not only the command given to us by God, but also a blessing from Him.

According to statistics, among the parables Jesus told, sixteen are related to materials and possession. So Jesus also was gravely concerned with the problem of money. I have not confirmed this yet, but throughout the Bible, 500 verses are said to be about prayer and faith and 2,000 verses about money and possessions. This illustrates that the Bible is truly a record of the wisdom of Christians' proper material management. We try to refer to as many helpful verses as possible in this article. But we feel still far away from perfect, so I ask for readers' understanding in this matter. I believe that the Lord will pour on you individually much more precious wisdom not covered in this book. Yet, His word is the truth, answers to any. Let’s seek His guidance/wisdom with regards to the money matters.

When we realize that, since long ago, wealth has been ranked with God and was wrongly revered and served by humans, we come to know how important it is for Christians to possess the right ownership perspective. To help readers to adopt this stewardship perspective, ‘Prayer’ and 'Affidavit’ (Table 1-1) are added next.

After the prayer, itemize the possessions that you have and thought belonged to you on paper, and with the resolution that you are transferring those to the Lord, sign and date it. Saving and referring to this document regularly will help you, as a Christian; make the first step toward the role of steward.

Affidavit

All rights and ownership of the following assets I hereby transfer to you, God. May these be used to reveal your glory! Help me be no longer the slave of materials, but rule over them and be free from their bondage.

Fixed assets:

1. House:

2. Land:

3. Car:

4. Other:

Current assets:

1. Cash:

2. Bonds:

3. Stocks:

4. Annuities:

5. Other:

My capability/ability:

I transfer all of my ownership rights over the above to you, Lord. I seek your mercy and guidance!

Signature___________________________ Date___________