There once was a landowner who
hired workers early in the morning, agreeing to pay them a set wage for their
work. And again, in the afternoon, he hired more workers, to help complete the
task. Later that day, when the
time came to be paid, he paid them all the same set wage for their work. The ones hired first began to grumble,
saying, “You have made them equal to us, though we worked longer and harder”. But he answered them, ‘Don’t I have the
right to do what I want with my own money?’
Working
overseas as a missionary one has to face a hard reality, nothing in this world
is our own. When Audrey and I
first embarked on this journey we quit our current jobs, gave up our apartment,
sold many of our things, put the rest into storage, and “left” our family
behind. We either gave up or left
behind pretty much everything we considered our own, save for what we could fit
into our suitcases and embarked on a new journey that we felt God was leading
us to. I do not say that to boast or to brag, just to illustrate the view that all we had was temporary. But given all of that, this was still a hard thing for us to learn; and as creatures of habit, as soon as we arrived we
quickly started making ourselves at home again, collecting and hunting down
items to make our stays here more convenient and comfortable. However, there is always the looming
feeling that it is all temporary.
We do not know when or where the Lord will call us next, so we try to
live life with palms held open.
Living
here we have partly come to the realization that nothing we have is really ours
to cling to. It can be here one
moment and gone the next. In the
same way being individuals that are supported financially by friends, family,
and churches it takes it to an even deeper level that we are not even “earning”
our own income. Everything we
have is a gift. It is not ours, and ultimately it is all God’s, unearned gift.
This means we have the need to be accountable and transparent for every penny
of it. Now as I say this, I am so very thankful for all the friends, family,
and churches that support us, and all of their hard work and giving that makes
every day possible, and I hope we are doing the work you have commissioned us
for well. But I want to raise a
question. Is not all money God’s
anyway? And if this is true, does
it not then mean those same two big things are true for you as well? Do you not also have a responsibility
for how you are spending God’s money?
Is it not also a gift from God?
As
Americans across the board we all deal with entitlement to some extent. And I am sad to say this is not only
applicable to the “millennial” generation as we so often point out. It is evident in every
generation, just because we have put in the sweat, does that really mean we are
owed something? If it is all truly
God’s money, then even if we “earned” it, can we truly spend it any way we
please? I think if we view “our”
money as God’s money, this changes how we use and manage it. No longer does it become as easy to
borrow money for something that may be unnecessary or to put things on credit
that do not really matter. For
after all, where are we storing our treasures, and with Whose money are we
purchasing them? To push the item even further, is it okay to spend money on things to make our lives more "comfortable" because isn't comfortable sometimes just another word for distracted? As we become more comfortable are we becoming like the rich young ruler who was "comfortable" with his good deeds?
I do not say any of this to elevate ourselves here, or pretend like I have the
answers. We are struggling with the very same things. It is hard to be accountable to a level where everyone can
look at your finances and say you are using God’s money correctly. There are always things we, and our
flesh want, that may or may not be wise uses of the resources we have been
given. It becomes even harder when
you are trying to please both God and others who have given to you as
well. But I do want to challenge
each of you today to live like all the money given to you is a
gift from God, that you are accountable for and wanting to honor him with. It is not your own, whether you have
worked hard for it or not, it is all a gift.
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