7:30-9:30pm
ACC, Carey Bldg (Lighthouse)
Geoff's Notes (Talk by Sabrina Chan)
- Intro: how we view money reveals how we view God
- Witnesses for God
- Verbal witnesses: telling people about God
- Presence: how we live life is what gives us credibility about what we talk about
- Stewardship: money, time, stuff, skills/talents, relationships
- A lot of the how the world works seems to be like The Sims (computer game)
- In the Sims, you work to get money to build a bigger house (which requires more money, etc.) and for free time so that you can have fun, hang out with friends, etc.
- Our culture makes talking about how you use money taboo. Jesus talks about money more than anything else, with about a 2:1 ratio.
- He says a financial audit is a good spiritual audit. ("Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also")
- Sabrina gave a brief overview of her finances in 2004.
- Money can be used as means of attaining security, self-worth, happiness, etc.
- Our needs (food, shelter, clothes, etc.) stay about the same amount, but our wants can grow exponentially.
- Once you have the DVD player you want, then you want a bigger TV to play the DVDs on. Then you want a nicer couch to sit on. etc.
- Luke 12:16-21: How do we know when we are storing up treasures for ourselves instead of in heaven?
- Geoff: If we never have enough of it? If it would be a problem if it were taken away?
- Alex: Does it have eternal value?
- Jesus talks about money in the days when most people didn't have any money. Maslows' hierarchy hadn't been invented yet.
- 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
- It's easy for us to the people wanting to be rich (and possibly wandering from the faith and piercing ourselves with many griefs)
- Passage also commands us those who are rich to be generous. Even if we don't make much, we are rich: we have a car, DVD player, etc.
- Budgeting
- A budget is just a plan. Like a plan for going to the gym--often we won't do stuff if we don't have a plan--just make excuses.
- We budget our time; why not our money?
- [In fact, we should probably budget all our resources: money, time, stuff, skills, relationships, etc.
- 80-10-10: 80% for taxes and expenses, 10% tithe, 10% savings. As you make more, lower the 80% and raise the 10%s
- Budgeting can be freeing: make a "fun money" category. Then you don't feel bad if you spend money on something frivolous.
- Having a plan allows for margin in order to give to others
- Ex. Sabrina's stereo died. Set aside $300 for a new one because she loves music, but there was an earthquake in India. Since they didn't have houses (let alone stereos), she gave her $300 stereo fund. (Later, a friend got a new stereo and gave her the old one). Since she had budgeted, she had the money.
- Ex. Staff worker's car died. Asked a friend if he could help. He had been setting aside money for when his car died, but his car was doing fine, so he gave $2k out of the fund.
- Sabrina sees it as a fun challenge to see if she can increase the amount that she gives every year.
- Rick Warren gives away 90% of his income
- Rich Mullins set up a board which just paid him a teacher's salary and gave the rest to the Indian reservations he worked with.
- How do you want to answer God when He asks what you did with the money He gave you
- Stuff has power over us (worry about the house burning down, oil changes, etc.). One way to reduce its power over us is to let people borrow your stuff.
- Discussion
- What is the biblical basis for saving?
- Being wise about what God is doing (ants [Proverbs], squirrels)
- Save as much as you give (up to a limit)
- Sabrina found it easier to give when she was making less. She knew that she'd never have a house on the river, so in some sense, who cares?
- Andy: 1 Tim 5:8. Need to be able to provide for your family
- Alex: What are you saving for? If you're saving just so you don't have to work, maybe that's not the right motive.
- Geoff: Might want to save in order to not work at a company and work doing something that does not provide much (if any) income
- Regarding finding self-worth in money
- Once you're out of school, your salary is a quantitative way of how much people value you.
- Reveals society's values: network engineers make a lot more than campus staff, but God does not necessarily value things that way.
- Regarding when do you know when you are storing up for yourself or for God
- It really comes down to attitude. You can't just say I'm giving x% so I'm doing well. It could be that we're simply achieving a goal.
