Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8-9
“Almost without exception, the financial consultants of our world want to help us make as much money as we can. Of course, they typically take a small percentage of our holdings every year; so the more they help us make, the more they earn.
On the other hand, countless advertisers implicitly tell us not to save or invest, because they want us to buy their products immediately. If we cannot afford them, we should borrow money so we can still get them at once. Often they offer us a year or more before we have to start paying off our debts, even though interest has been accruing all along. Credit card debt is the most dangerous of all because of its exorbitant interest rates. Those who listen to both of these messages wind up in essence trying to make all they can so that they can spend all they can!
In a very different vein, John Wesley, in his sermon, “The Use of Money,” famously declared, “Gain all you can…save all you can…give all you can.” This teaching comes much closer to the biblical outlook on saving and investing. Unfortunately, Christians too often fall victim to imitating the ways of the world than to following Scripture…
We are tempted to veer toward one of two opposite ends of a spectrum. One views wealth as nothing but a blessing from God. The other thinks the accumulation of unneeded resources always offends him. Proverbs 30:8-9 offers a golden mean: “give me neither poverty nor riches” so that I don’t have to steal but also so that I don’t deny God by thinking I can provide entirely for myself. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 insists that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment,” but only in a context where we are first of all generous to others.
In today’s economy, then, saving and investing are good when they enable us to be more generous to those for whom we are responsible and to avoid our becoming a burden to others in church or society. But they are seductions to sin when they tempt us simply to make ourselves more comfortable than we need to be.”
Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, in his three-page essay “Saving and Investing: Keys to a happy life, terrible mistakes, or something in between?”” in Purposeful Living: Financial Wisdom for All of Life compiled and edited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim Macready (Rhodes, NSW: Christian Super, 2018) 79-81. Click on the title to download this free ebook today.
Blomberg’s ‘golden mean’ expression sums up the posture of the faithful steward. We neither live beyond our means so we end up in poverty nor do we aim at wealth accumulation. Instead, we fix our focus on God and give thanks for basic provision for enjoyment and sharing rather than on comforts and luxuries.
Most people are not content with “daily bread” though Jesus instructed us to pray precisely for that (Matthew 6:11). They live like Jesus said, “Give us this year, our annual windfall!” or “Give us us this lifetime, a comfortable nest egg.” Such a posture communicates no desire to depend on God. What should we do?
Blomberg charts the course. Aim for the golden mean. Avoid poverty by living within your means, don’t be tempted to accumulate more than sufficient provision, and serve as a conduit of blessing. If this sounds otherworldly, well, it should. The best investments are not saved or spent here, but stored up in heaven.