Money demands attention — particularly in challenging economic times. Rich or poor, people think about it daily, whether paying for a hamburger or praying for a job.
Lives can change quickly and drastically as a result of a few critical financial decisions. Many people live on the brink of poverty, even though some may not realize it. The loss of a job can instantly cripple a family already burdened with the high cost of living.
Dave Ramsey, creator of Financial Peace University, and Howard Dayton, cofounder of Crown Financial Ministries, both name the Bible as their primary resource for financial advice and base their money- management programs in Scripture.
Dayton insists more than 2,000 Scripture verses concern money. Using the Bible for instruction on financial management seems like a no-brainer to Ramsey.
“It works, if you bother,” Ramsey said. “It's worth studying … to learn what God says about money and then start doing it, because it works.”
But which verses? The ones about wealth and prosperity as part of a life with God? What about Jesus' instruction to the rich young man to sell all he owns? The message seems contradictory to some Christians.
These questions and others complicate decisions Chris-tians make about how to manage resources in a way that honors God and the gospel of Christ. Most churches agree the Bible instructs believers to give a 10 percent tithe of their incomes.
Jim Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, said that's a “basic biblical minimum” for learning how to give sacrificially.
“C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, ‘We must give more than we can spare.' Sacrifice is part of the Christian life. … It's the only safe rule,” Denison said.
“For some people in our church, giving 10 percent to the church wouldn't be anything close to a sacrifice. For others, it's nearly impossible.”
Author and speaker Tony Campolo, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, also affirmed that giving biblically has to be more holistic than the traditional tithe requires. He quoted John Wesley, who said, “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Although a 10 percent tithe gives Christians a baseline standard, many people struggle with handling the other 90 percent of their money, Dayton said. Managing resources — not just finances, but time, talents and assets — requires discernment and a surrendered heart.
“It's key for us to understand that the Lord is the owner of everything,” Dayton said. “God's the owner, and our responsibility is to be a steward or manager of what he entrusts to us.”
Denison applies that statement literally: “I'm driving God's car. I'm wearing God's clothes.”
With that mindset, financial management becomes as much a topic for prayer as teaching Sunday school, leaders said. How well or poorly a person manages money has real impact on how much time, money and energy he or she can give to God's kingdom.
Being debt-free — a goal Dayton and Ramsey promote tirelessly — is not only financially smart, but it's advocated in the Bible and allows more freedom to give, proponents of “financial freedom” insist.
But financial management takes commitment. Maybe that's why Jesus laid such a challenge on a wealthy inquirer. The episode in Matthew's Gospel — where Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, give them to the poor and follow him — provokes a spectrum of reactions among Christians.
“So much for opulence,” Campolo said, when asked for his interpretation of the passage. “The accumulation of wealth is permissible if you go into the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we have some real problems with the accumulation of wealth.
“Wealth can do things to people. … It alters the way you see the world. … I don't think we realize the impact wealth has on us and on our spiritual lives. People who visit the poor … are amazed at the depths of their spirituality. Maybe the depth of their spirituality is because they are poor.”
Though Campolo explained he did not consider poverty or wealth conditions for salvation, he expressed skepticism about maintaining wealth in Christian life.
Ramsey disagreed.
“If you take (the story) as an indictment of the rich, then you'd have to say no rich people ever went to heaven,” he said.
“The idea that we're not supposed to manage money — lots of it — is crazy. But God does also call people to poverty. You find people on all points of the spectrum who are walking with God.”
Denison noted that Jesus answers the basic question, “What must I do to be saved?” differently with Nicodemus. And the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea holds a prominent and positive role in the gospel story.
“The passage teaches us that if money is our god, it must be sacrificed,” Denison said.
Money, or lack thereof, won't guarantee salvation, leaders said. Even though possessing money isn't sinful, managing it takes caution.
Darin Petersen works with Shane Claiborne, author of Irresistible Revolution and founder of The Simple Way community, to experiment with ways Christians can share resources and support one another spiritually and financially.
“Wealth can give you a sense of independence and a sense of self-sufficiency to where you are no longer living in a community of interdependency,” Petersen said.
Petersen and Claiborne cofounded Relational Tithe, a community network that developed from conversations about responsibly handling resources. Relational Tithe is an economically diverse Christian community of 35 people who tithe 10 percent of their resources to a community fund and redistribute it among themselves according to need.
Relational Tithe also networks hundreds of similar groups to share experiences and new ideas, and they're working to develop technological tools to “enhance the process of redistribution” and help groups in collaboration.
The community encourages “a healthy understanding of a theology of ‘enough,'” Petersen said.
“There are people who live in excess when there are so many who are living without. … Throughout the gospels (Jesus) is redefining what we mean by the word ‘our' and the understanding of what is ‘ours.'”
Relationships are central to the community's resource management process.
“There's no more than one degree of separation between the recipient and the giver,” Petersen said. “It's not that the rich and poor no longer care about one another; it's that they don't know one another. We're trying to create a place where people can know one another.”
To honor God with resources, Christians must become creative and intentional. Josh Patterson, executive pastor at The Village Church in Highland Village, talks about managing resources with respect to how Christians reflect the image of God.
“When I think about giving, I think of it as an aspect of sanctification,” Patterson said.
“As I'm transformed into the image of Christ, my stuff becomes less and less important to me, and I recognize it as a tool. … Scripture says that the believer's heart is to mirror that of the Father, who has a very generous heart. Giving is motivated by grace, not by guilt.”
One way Petersen challenges congregations to give creatively is to put a limit on how much money in offerings goes to the church itself. Money received above that limit is distributed to the poor. When churches have tried the method, the result is astounding, Petersen said.
“Giving goes through the roof, because people's imaginations are sparked,” he observed. “It really starts to challenge people's ideas of needs and wants.”
Christian musician Chris Tomlin agrees that seeing first-hand the results of giving to ministries that help poor people is incredible.
“When you see it with your eyes … you meet them and you touch them, and you realize your little $30 a month is going toward pills that keep them alive, and schooling and food. … It's amazing,” Tomlin said.
Entering into conversation about finances takes courage; in most circumstances, and especially in the United States, people are loath to discuss financial success and struggles alike. In the church, however, opening dialogue about money can help solidify community through vulnerability and support, just as Christians are encouraged to do with their spiritual lives.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little humility and a step of faith. For Patterson, seeking financial advice provided the groundwork for new avenues of ministry.
“That was invaluable,” for his family, he said. “Now we have an understanding of our finances, so we're able to more intentionally and purposefully give. … Now we have the opportunity to teach others” about financial management.
“It can be very daunting. … People shy away from talking about it, but it's a part of the church. We're called not to put up pretense, but to let our guards down and be vulnerable to change.”