6.7 - Me, My Money, and My Master

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "You cannot serve God and money." The book of Proverbs has a multitude of wisdom on proper attitudes about money and our relationship to it. In today's episode, we consider warnings about the danger of wealth as well as admonitions for how we can rejoice in the blessings of God.

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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Paul: 0:30

Well, it's another week and we're bringing in another episode of the Proverbs project. Noah and our Stan Strong podcast. I'm glad you're with me here in the studio. Good

Noah: 0:40

to be here

Paul: 0:40

today. It's me, my money and my master. And so we've got money in the title. So everybody is aware we're, we're, we're going to find something about money and our wealth. And we want to dig into Proverbs to see What it's trying to get us to see, to understand and appreciate about our wealth before the Proverbs. There's no way we should go through a podcast on money and wealth. Without first hearing from Jesus, we're going to Proverbs and we're going to hear what the Lord wants us to hear in Proverbs, but Jesus has got to tell us something about money, Noah. So Matthew 6, 24, most everybody knows this. No one can serve two masters or either hate the one, love the other. He'll, it'll be loyal to one despise other. You cannot, Jesus says, serve God and your money or your riches. 12. In verse 15, Jesus, again, is wanting us to take heed, watch out, beware, be on your guard against all forms of greed. And then he says this, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things or the wealth that he possesses. So I thought that was a good place to start. Just hearing what Jesus says about our money and how we see our money. And again, me, my money and my master,

Noah: 1:56

right? I mean, starting with Jesus's words here helps us establish big picture, clear delineations, right? Clear boundaries around our mentality. Jesus says you can't serve two masters. You can't serve God and money. So that means one's going to be subject to the other. Either we're going to choose to subject God to our love for money or we're going to subject our attitude toward money to our love for God And and with that big picture in mind that allows us to go back to the proverbs and see some really practical everyday type of type of advice and wisdom for us as we handle our money. I mean, perhaps since we started with Matthew six, we should just go straight over to Proverbs 18 and we may bring this back up at the end, but this is just, it's a word of caution in Proverbs 18 verse 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his imagination before destruction, a man's hardest hottie, but humility comes before honor. So that lines up so well with what Jesus said already. There's the contrast. The Lord, he is a strong tower for those who trust in him, who Take him as master for money. Whoever takes money as a master. Well, he feels like he has a strong tower. He feels like he has fortified walls, but the proverbs writers clear. That's just in your imagination. That's that doesn't really protect you. So we need to have that word of caution right from the beginning. If we don't have the first things first, none of the rest of this is going to make a difference.

Paul: 3:48

Yes.

Noah: 3:48

Got to get the first things first.

Paul: 3:50

Yeah. And so it's whoever trusts in his riches.

Noah: 3:53

Yeah.

Paul: 3:53

See, so I want to offer this it's, it's jumping out of Proverbs, but it's in wisdom literature in Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes seven, verse 14, in the day of prosperity, rejoice. In the day of adversity, consider God has appointed one as well. And there's, there's a message there in Ecclesiastes, but, but notice what Solomon says, Ecclesiastes in the day of prosperity, rejoice. He doesn't say in the time that you're prosperous, apologize,

Noah: 4:22

right?

Paul: 4:23

And I'm afraid I've met some brethren that wanted you to apologize in the day of your prosperity. You know, like if you were driving a new car, you just built a new house. Well, you know, I guess we had a, we had a very wealthy relative that died. And so we inherited a lot of money. Like we've got to explain our wealth and our prosperity, but he's telling us Jesus told us this, Paul told Timothy, this it's not money. It's not wealth. It's the love of money or it's the trusting in wealth. Why? Because the riches are uncertain. So that's what Solomon is doing. No, a lot in Proverbs, he's just telling us if you trust in your riches. Proverbs 11 verse 28, you will fall. And he's as clear as Jesus, the impossibility, you cannot serve me and your riches. Solomon is saying, if you trust in them at some point, you will fall.

Noah: 5:19

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, not too long ago I was teaching a class of 18 to 25 year olds, and we were talking about work. And the value of money. And we were also talking about being warned against the idea of covetousness and those kinds of things, jealousy, greed. And I asked the question, is covetousness more of a temptation for the wealthy or for the poor? And part of the reason I phrased it that way was because covetousness in that context, largely links with the love of money. And normally we associate the love of money with people who have a lot of money. And that is oftentimes true, but those who have very little of it can also love money to the same degree because they don't have it. And and so the Proverbs, I think I say that now, because I think a lot of what we're going to talk about today is going to have really clear application to those of us that live. Prosperously and and the fact is most of the people listening to this probably do live Prosperously if you live in the United States you're already, you know far more prosperous than much of much of the world and if you live in an urban area and have a You know, an average job in that area, then you're more prosperous than a large part of the United States. So a lot of this is going to very easily apply to those who are prosperous, but it's important if you're listening and you're thinking, well, I'm not prosperous and so this doesn't apply to me. Money can still be your master.

Paul: 7:00

Right.

Noah: 7:00

If you are not careful about it and these principles apply to us regardless of the number in our bank account,

Paul: 7:06

right? Okay, so I'm offering to for a thought here on this subject here proverbs 27 and verse 20 death and destruction are never satisfied and Neither are the eyes of a man And then Proverbs chapter 30, verses 15 and 16, the leech has two daughters. Give, give, they cry. There are three things that are never satisfied. Four, that never say enough. The grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water and fire, which never says enough. Enough. And you connect those two together. The commonality is the possibility of people who trust in their wealth. And yet Solomon is saying, if you trust in this, you're never going to have enough.

Noah: 8:02

Yeah.

Paul: 8:03

The billionaire says I want more. It's I've gotten more, more, more, more, more. The more we get, the more we want, we're just never satisfied. If you, if you think about. The cars we drive.

Noah: 8:17

Yeah,

Paul: 8:18

three years later, there's two years later, one year later, there's something newer, bigger, better, faster. It's, and if I'm that kind of person who struggles with contentment as a result of trusting in what is uncertain, then I realize that it's money or it's wealth or the desire to get more. And we may see a passage that says we want to get it, we want to get it real quick. It's going to cause a lot of, in the words of Paul to Timothy in first Timothy six, a lot of heartache, a lot of headache.

Noah: 8:52

Yeah. I think you might've been referencing Proverbs 13 verse 11 there just a moment ago when he says wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Now there's some just good economic advice there in the Proverbs, but there's, there's also with it a warning about the attitude. Of of wanting to get rich quick. I mean we have a phrase in our culture get rich quick Because it's such a common a common desire and you know, oh I could make if if I just struck lucky on on the you know on the lottery or If if this cryptocurrency works out in six months, then I could make in the next however long, you know Six months what I wouldn't be able to make in 10 years at my job, right? That's, what is that appealing to in us? That's appealing to really a lack of contentment, a lack of satisfaction. And and that makes me think of Proverbs 30. One of my favorite verses in the last couple of years is Proverbs 38 and 9, where he says, Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full. And deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Those verses emphasize the need for contentment in whatever area of life we are. I, I just love the attitude that's conveyed there of saying God. I not only trust you to take care of me, I trust you to satisfy me. I want to be satisfied. And so don't, don't give me more than I need so that I lust for more and say, I don't need God. But please give me enough that I'm not tempted to sin and bring dishonor to your name. I think that's such a powerful attitude, a powerful perspective to have as we talk about money.

Paul: 10:57

Yeah. And there's so much deception, Noah, as you know, that attaches itself to a person's desire. To obtain more. And sometimes in fact Solomon calls it an evil eye in Proverb 28 and verse 22, the person with the evil eye tries to get rich quick, get rich quick, and it only leads to poverty if, if money wasn't so deceptive, if, if this desire to acquire, I probably stole that from somebody probably. If, if that wasn't so deceptive, then explain. 90 percent of the Proverbs that talk about money, God is trying to pull back the blind and, and expose a blind spot that we can have as it relates to money. And we say, I could say, well, it's not my master or my intent was this. I, you know, I don't have the evil eye by trying to get rich, you know, play the lottery or do this or that at roll the dice, take a risk. My intention was I'm going to take a risk and then I'm going to give 50 percent of it to the poor. I'm going to give 50 percent of it and to the Lord's work and all these kinds of things. Yeah. But go back to what's the motive? What's the motive? What's your desire? What's fueling that in me? And he keeps bringing us back to better is a little with righteousness. Yeah. Than vast revenues without justice. Proverbs 16 and verse 8. What is true righteousness look like? What does a heart of contentment How does, how do we think when we have, when I have a heart of contentment and he's trying to bring us back to the right perspective on life as it relates to our wealth.

Noah: 12:41

Yes, absolutely. I love that question that you asked. What does righteousness look like? What does contentment look like? in, in the life of a Christian and someone who's trying to follow the wisdom of God's Proverbs here. And I think that that's a good, a good place to transition. We've done a lot of warning about the idea of, of money mastering us or greed mastering us. But if we are to rejoice in the day of our prosperity, What next? You know what? Okay. We've rejoiced. That's good. Now, what do we do? And and that leads us in, I think, a more positive direction. How, how do we glorify God now in our prosperity? Proverbs three, nine says, honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of your produce. That's a good reminder that our prosperity, just like any aspect of our lives. Our money, our possessions, our resources, those are things that we steward on behalf of God and we use for His glory. And so He should receive the first fruits of this. And we could get into a whole discussion about, about first fruits, but the idea is first and foremost, what we're blessed with, we use for His glory.

Paul: 13:58

Right. Right. Right. You know that. That we keep coming back to the the contentment that is needed What what will help me what will help us to honor the Lord with our wealth is a heart of contentment You know Paul didn't tell the Apostle Paul didn't tell Timothy that godliness He said, Godliness with contentment, those two connect themselves together, a Godward attitude as it relates to the concept of, of, of an awareness and a, and a satisfaction with what I have. And if you think about contentment Better a little with the fear of the Lord, Proverbs 15, now 16 and 17, a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. That doesn't, Solomon is not saying that every person who has great wealth will have, will live a miserable life. Right. I've known some of the most godly people I've known are very, very wealthy.

Noah: 14:55

Right.

Paul: 14:56

But it's a relative thing. But he's warning us, look, little with the fear of the Lord. Then great wealth with turmoil, better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. It's better to eat McDonald's. And to sit around the table with, with, with a family that loves one another and is content with what they have, than to be in a restaurant where, you know, it's everything on the menu is over a hundred bucks and everybody's on their cell phone and nobody wants to be around everybody. They're just there to eat the food and move on. There's no love there in that relationship. He's trying to take us back to what true satisfaction, how we should see true contentment and satisfaction. It's again, how many people, Christians, let's just say that for the sake of this podcast, are deceived into thinking that if I had more money, I'd be happier.

Noah: 15:51

Right.

Paul: 15:52

Or if I just owned this or lived here, I would be happier.

Noah: 15:57

Right. Right. And you will hear that refrain over and over and over again. I, I heard recently there was a, there was a man who is trying to kind of debunk the idea that money doesn't make you happier. And And he was doing it by trying to reason that even those who are rich and say, well, money doesn't make me happy. If you said, okay, well then give me all your money are going to say, no, no, thank you. I'll keep it as if that proved that no money is the source of the happiness that that doesn't prove anything. And what we see in the Proverbs is that contentment when we have that spirit of contentment, it's restoring a perspective. On real values and real priorities. Not that money is valueless. We're not trying to say that, but that there are things that are far more valuable than money and resources and, and prosperity. I mean, we could real quick go through, you know, Proverbs 22, one, that our reputation is of greater importance than our money, Proverbs 16, 16 wisdom is of greater importance and greater value than money. Proverbs 11. 4. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. In the end, money's not going to save you. Right? There's all of these reminders restoring the perspective. Money has its place, but it makes a terrible master. You do not want it as your master. In fact, we get a taste of that as well. We were talking about that verse not long ago, Proverbs 23, 4 do not toil to acquire wealth, be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone. For suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven. The idea being don't wear yourself out working for money. Why? Because in the end, It's not gonna save you and there is a whole lot more that's more valuable.

Paul: 17:56

Yeah, what's that Proverbs 23?

Noah: 17:58

Yeah, Proverbs 23 verses 4 and

Paul: 18:00

5. Yeah, I like this I like this translation of the Proverbs 23 because you mentioned discernment Which that's a key, key component in this discussion, but this translation in Proverbs 23, four and five, do not wear yourself out to get rich. Have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches and they're gone for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Before he even says the vanity, the, the, the fleeting. Concept of the rich is they're gone. Don't wear yourself out to get rich. So, so connect that to the discernment. You know, there, there's the temptation. I think we're hardwired to a degree as men, as providers and leaders, I think we're hardwired. We need to be, we need to be, there's a sense in which we need to be actively involved. We need to be industrious. We, we need to be hardworking. We, we need to be discerning. Not just work hard, but work smart because we want to provide for our family. But there's a temptation to go to an extreme. And so you've got that guy that, that gets married now in his twenties. And now by the time he's in his early thirties, he's got the family and the kids are young and growing up and he's gone all the time. He's working all the time and his family has everything. They want for nothing. But, but dad's not there. They have everything but dad.

Noah: 19:30

Yeah.

Paul: 19:31

Dad's gone all the time. Dad was wearing himself out to get the wealth and the riches. And then finally, what you have is you have him reaching a point where he realizes he has no relationship with his kids. His kids are grown and off and have left the home and he can't get those years back. And the bank account is full and everybody there has what they need. Except they didn't have the very thing that that family needed. They didn't have the righteousness, and they didn't have the peace, and they didn't have the joy. They didn't have relationships, and so he says in Proverbs 17, verse 1, Better a bite of dry bread eaten in peace than a family feast filled with strife.

Noah: 20:15

Yeah.

Paul: 20:16

And people say, well, we don't fight all the time. Well, that doesn't mean that, that you have peace there,

Noah: 20:22

right?

Paul: 20:23

That doesn't mean that you have joy. That doesn't mean the foundation of that family isn't, isn't strong. It's you weren't there.

Noah: 20:31

Right. Right. Absolutely. There's, there are so many priorities that we get out of whack. And once we, once we see the wisdom of the Proverbs that restores this perspective, then it allows us to turn around and go, okay. This, this prosperity is a blessing from God that is a resource for me to use for his glory, for the, for the, yes, to bless my family but not for it to master over me. And in the end that allows us to, I mean, first of all, that allows us to have an attitude of gratitude to, to look to God and say, thank you for these blessings, but then to turn around and say, please. let me use these blessings to bless others. In Proverbs 22, in verse seven says, the rich rules over the poor and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity and the rod of his fury will fail. Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed for he shares his bread with the poor. How we use our money matters. And I think that's part of what's being talked about in verse seven with the rich ruling over the poor, the borrower, the slaves of the lender. Is there practical, again, economic advice there? Sure. But part of what's being said is how we use our money in regards to others matters. And that last verse tells us he who has a bountiful eye, he who is generous with what he's been blessed with, he We'll be blessed. He will be happy. If we wanted to use the, the the idea of the beatitudes in Matthew five, he will be blessed. He will be happy. And I would say to elaborate on that happy in the way that matters.

Paul: 22:21

Happy in the way that matters. You know what? I wondered how long, and this podcast is starting to dwindle down. We're already past the 20 minute mark.

Noah: 22:29

Yeah.

Paul: 22:29

There's so much in the text, just in Proverbs on wealth. Here's a common thing to be honest. Here's a company. And it's not just with like young couples who just start, start out in, in, in their married life. All of us have to watch this. The, the borrower is a slave to the lender. Solomon is not saying that it's, it's always wrong to borrow money, but he is saying when you borrow and you need to pay back and pay back what you owe. Be very, very cautious and careful because you can become a slave. You can, you can get in debt so deep that you couldn't pay it back in a lifetime, in 10 lifetimes, right? And the credit cards and look, I I'm probably the least qualified to, to start going after the foolishness. credit card debt. I can tell you, and it's a hundred percent on me. I had to learn this 35 years ago.

Noah: 23:28

And

Paul: 23:28

it had it not been for the mercy of other people. That would have been tough for me, but the harder thing than getting out of debt because I had somebody that was merciful to help me to do that was learning the lesson. And that stung

Noah: 23:43

for

Paul: 23:43

me to sit back and look at what I had done as the leader when, when I could have said no or should have said no. And, and you don't realize how it can just pile up. I'm talking about the person I'm talking about, the people that say, Hey, let's take the trip. Let's, let's, let's go on vacation and let's charge it and we'll, we'll pay it back because we can pay it back with everything like our lifestyle and you've got a job and I got a job and we can pay this back in a year and we won't have any interest or we can pay this back in a month and we won't have any interest or whatever. And then life happens and you couldn't pay it back and you meant to, and you thought you could, and then the next month comes or the next year comes and that X amount of money vacation that you thought you could pay for, you ended up not being able to pay for what is Solomon saying to us, don't go by something that Learn to wait that that's probably a better way to be fair. Learn to wait, right? Learn to wait. Discipline yourself. It's it's yes, it's contentment, but it's also the discipline. And sometimes we go buy things to impress people. We don't even like, or we get into debt because we think we've got to have it yesterday,

Noah: 25:03

right?

Paul: 25:03

Nevermind that our parents and grandparents worked and saved for years. Yes.

Noah: 25:08

Yeah.

Paul: 25:09

To buy it.

Noah: 25:09

Yeah. Well, and the type of lifestyle that you're describing is also something that goes hand in hand normally with that kind of mentality of I'm going to get it now, I'll pay it off later. What that ends up doing is that ties us into a lifestyle that can only think about self. Because I already spent the money. Now I have to pay it back. And as long as I am slave to that lender, I don't have anything. I don't have any energy. I don't have any resources and I don't have any money to have this generous eye that's described just two verses later in Proverbs. And that is extremely important as we have been blessed. God wants us to bless others. And so If we get, if we get sucked into that type of a lifestyle, we will quickly find that we will, we will be unable to, to do with our blessings what God would have us do.

Paul: 26:09

Yeah, you know, I, I cited several times, so I want to make sure as we're ending this podcast that I cited 1 Timothy 6. And we've talked about God in us with contentment, that's 1 Timothy 6, 6 and the people who long to be rich and the love of money, that's 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10. But to the point of this podcast, Noah and I, that are, that are spending time in Proverbs trying to open and unpack the word for our good. Is there something that Paul said to Timothy as an evangelist, as a minister in first Timothy six, that's important. He says in verses 17 and verses 18 of first Timothy six, teach those who are rich in this world. And that's us.

Noah: 26:52

Yeah,

Paul: 26:52

that's me not to be proud, not to trust in their money. It's because it's so unreliable. He says, but to trust. in God who richly gives us all that we need for, for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works. They should be generous to those who are in need and always being ready to share with others. And what we have there is we have a clear word from the Lord, Paul to Timothy, that these are things that have to be taught. They got to be taught in the home. They got to be taught in our pulpits to, to the end or to the degree that we understand what it means to be content. and godly to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves or our riches and then be able to share and be generous as we share. And I can tell you people that let money become their master also deal with guilt because if they're regular church going folks and they're hearing podcasts or hearing a sermon about be generous with your wealth and honor the Lord with your wealth and they're saying I don't have anything. To honor the Lord with, I've spent it all and now I owe people because I'm a, I've borrowed and I'm a slave to the lender. And so he's trying to get us to a point that we don't end up where we never really want it to end up.

Noah: 28:10

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think that that is a, is a great reminder to go ahead and wrap up on. I know that we've pushed longer than our average episode. But this is such an important topic and the Proverbs have, have so much wisdom to share that can help us practically in this area. So I know this has been encouraging for me. I pray it has been for you as well.

Paul: 28:33

All right. So Lord willing we're next week, we're moving into another episode of the Proverbs project. Noah, where are we? Where are we going? Next,

Noah: 28:41

next week's episode is titled council for couch potatoes.

Paul: 28:47

Oh my

Noah: 28:47

counsel for couch potatoes. I think it's going to be one that will be not only enjoyable, But I think it'll be challenging and I think it's something that I know, let me rephrase that. I know it's something that I need to spend time considering and meditating on. So I'm looking forward to that discussion. I know it'll be good for us.

Paul: 29:05

Numbers are going to go up. We're going to give a huge listing audience on the council for couch potatoes, couch potatoes. Well our intent thank you again for listing. We, we've got a lot of support, generous people, very generous with their comments. And we're, we're grateful for that. Please, we want to hear from you. If there's something you haven't yet heard about that you think is a good topic, or, you know, it's in the Proverbs and you want us to talk about it, reach out to Noah or myself, we'd be happy to do that in this Proverbs project. But between now and next week, thank you. And we pray that the Lord will help us together stand strong.