Allen Jackson - Money and Power - Part 1
I wanna do a couple of sessions on a topic of money and power. And I think this really came from what's been on our televisions lately. The political conventions are over for a season. Hallelujah, I'm okay with that. It was a little unsettling this week to see that one of the major American political parties thinks that they can drive an abortion bus all the way to the White House. That that's the most effective means of consolidating power in our nation is a very unsettling commentary on the heart and the conscience of our nation. At the end of the day, politics is about power.
You know, secondarily it's about money, but the ultimate goal of the money is to accumulate the power, because if you get the power, you'll get to the money. And we shouldn't be confused about that. In our nations, political leaders are a reflection of our hearts. May not like that, that may make you uncomfortable, but I assure you that is a reality. Now, we will have different leadership choices when we have a heart change. So if you don't like any of the choices on the menu, it needs to start on our knees, saying, "God, be merciful to us," because that's a reflection of the heart condition of our nation these days. And I chose this topic because I really just glanced briefly at what was going on this week. I tried to spend as little time as possible, to be candid.
But, you know, the big picture view is that, financially, we're in a mess. And part of my assignment these days is talking to people who are experts in a variety of fields that are affecting the direction of our nation and internationally. And when I talk to the financial people, they all say the same thing. You know, financially, we're in a mess just about any way you wanna look at it. Inflation been at an unprecedented level, well, they try to make us feel good about saying it's not growing as fast. All those things that went up in price haven't gone back down.
So the impact of all that, you know, it's good that it's not growing as rapidly, but the impact of that inflation is still very much a part of our lives and shaping how we're living. But beyond that, we're burdened by a bigger problem of our spending is just completely out of control. As a nation, we have overwhelming debt. We are $35 trillion in debt. That's the acknowledged debt. The smart people that look at all that stuff, not me, they said that our real indebtedness is probably more than twice that. Seventy-five percent of our personal income tax, seventy-five percent of it goes to pay the interest on the national debt. The interest on our debt is the second leading item in our national budget. Every definition you would use, the words you choose is "bankrupt".
Now, what you should remember when you hear all those numbers is the government doesn't have money. I mean, they print it, which causes some of our problems, but the only money that... the government doesn't earn money, or make money, they don't produce goods and services, they just have yours and mine. So when they're making decisions, they're making decisions with our money. And then, we all know enough stories of the excesses of the government and the poor job they do with that. The reason I think this is an important topic for those of us that are people of faith is, in an age of great deception, we need some basic biblical ideas regarding money, because those that are speaking to us and asking for permission to provide leadership for us would tell us that those kind of numbers don't make any difference.
And if you don't have a grounding in something other than what they're telling you and the propaganda that's washing over you, you'll be confused. And so, I've chosen some things that, in many respects, are fundamental, they're foundational. But I have come to the conclusion that common sense is no longer common. And on this topic, I think it's important that we probably be a little uncommon. We generally avoid the conversations about money at church, typically because we're concerned somebody's gonna want some of ours. But the offering's done and they're not coming back, so you're safe. You can breathe easily. I didn't bring a commitment card. I may in the future, but not tonight. And the reality is, God doesn't need anything that I have. When we talk about giving, in the context of church, we need to understand that giving is for our benefit.
Now, I know there's examples of misuse and abuse, but there's examples of misusing and abusing food, but I'm gonna keep eating. It shouldn't be an indictment upon those biblical principles because people have perverted them for their own selfish or carnal gain, and don't miss out on the blessings that God has for you or the provision that God has for you because other people have made poor choices. Don't let their hypocrisy rob you of what God has for you. I need to know the biblical principles surrounding the resources, the material possessions, that God entrust to me so that I can flourish and fulfill the assignment that God has for me, and so do you. So that's our target. This is really intended to be a foundational session because I'm not trying to be fancy when the pressure is great and we're living in a season of increasing pressure to resolve debt as high as we have, historically, there's very few options.
Hyperinflation would be one, inflation that would make what we've looked at in the last few months seems simpleminded. There have been various points in history, there's some in our own history, when hyperinflation has been a part of the scene. You'll see photographs of people with wheelbarrows filled with cash, trading it for a loaf of bread, or whatever basic life substance they need. Hyperinflation would be one option. Default on our debt would be another, which would bring major realignment to our role in the world. I talked to some financial person this week that said he thought we should have a soft default. I pressed him with a few questions because the only people for whom that seemed soft was somebody else. It didn't feel soft to me at all. The other way that nations have dealt with this kind of incredible debt are global conflicts.
Now, I didn't come to prophesy which of those are in our future, but I can tell you we're standing in an untenable place and we need to know the biblical principles that will secure our future. Amen, Pastor. So let's start with just some general counsel regarding money and things around it. In Proverbs 11 and verse 25 it says, "A generous man will prosper; and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed". The Bible counsels us to practice generosity, and that's not just with your money, it's with your attention, with your time, with your talent. We're told that if we will cultivate generosity, it's not intuitive. Intuitively, we're selfish. We're hardwired that way. It takes the intentional development of the muscle of generosity.
And like any other muscle, if you don't use it, it'll atrophy; and if you do, it will gain strength. Practice listening to other people, giving your attention to other people, making time to serve other people. We get these goofy notions in our head that those are seasonal times, that "I did that for a season, but I don't have to be generous with my time or my attention anymore". Oh, really? Did you get to a place where you don't want God's assistance with what's going on in your life? You don't want God's refreshing? Generosity is not for a season of your life, it's for our journey under the Son. There's a second bit of counsel we're giving, and that's that God coaches us to accumulate true wealth. Most of the messaging we get is to compete in the marketplace to get more stuff than the people we know. Not necessarily evil, but it's shortsighted.
In 1 Timothy chapter 6 it says, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant or to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment". It's worth noting that God is our provider, not governments. Most of us wouldn't consider bowing down to a little idle carved out of wood or forged from metal or cut from rock, but we would put our trust in many things other than God to secure our lives. And it's not just a linguistic shift, folks. It's idolatry. God is the one who said he will secure our futures.
"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they'll lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life". The biblical attitude towards wealth, physical wealth, temporal wealth, wealth under the sun is that it is uncertain, that it's subject to change. It's talked about in many ways. It says that moth and rust can destroy it. It says that it can go away from you. The Bible talks about financial resources and wealth as something that is fluid, that it can move towards you and it can move away from you, that it's an unstable thing to attach your emotions to, or to make your plans upon.
The Bible tells us that God is our provider. In fact, he commands us to be rich in some very specific ways, to be rich in good deeds, to be rich in sharing. I would submit to you that when we have that kind of a directive from scripture, that we should attach more value to it than we typically do. We typically think of being rich in good deeds as one of those optional things, not nearly as important as going to work or paying your taxes or being sure you pay your bills. I'm not suggesting that those things aren't important, I am suggesting that we prioritize them much differently than we typically do. Something like good deeds are being generous with our time or our attention. And yet, we're giving those directives very clearly as a way.
And then we're coached to lay up treasure in another realm. Treasure as a firm foundation for the coming age. We struggle with this. We're creatures of time. We measure our days and minutes and hours, and we measure our months and days and weeks, and we measure the passing of our lives in years and decades. And we're very much creatures of time, but time is a temporary thing. We're coming, time will come to an end. Time will come to a conclusion, and this present world order and this present age will get rolled up like a scroll, and we will still be creatures of eternity. And the Bible tells us very plainly in multiple places that it's possible for us to lay up treasure in eternity.
I would submit to you that if that's possible, it would be prudent for us to give thought and attention to how we might achieve that. Many of you are very careful planners. Many of you are fastidious, you're prudent with your choices. That's a good thing, but we haven't often been taught to be that intentional and that careful about our eternity. Jesus talked to us about it a great deal. In Luke 16 there's a rather lengthy passage on wealth and wisdom. It's a larger parable. Jesus tells a parable about a manager who was dishonest and his dishonesty was uncovered. And he knew he was going to lose his position, so he called in all the creditors to his master and he greatly diminished what they owed. He was trying to create a soft landing for himself. Jesus is telling the parable and when he gives the commentary on it, he says he was very shrewd. It's in your notes.
It's Luke 16, verse 8, "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly". Jesus said that. "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light". He said, "I tell you," that's one of those phrases, "use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it's gone, you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings". That's a fascinating statement. He said, "Use your worldly wealth, your temporary wealth, your fleeting wealth to make friends in eternity". That what you do with the resources that God entrust to you has a bearing on eternity. He's using the manipulative behavior of that dishonest manager to try to encourage a behavior amongst his audience to use their resources in a way that would bring the blessing of God. You don't earn it, you certainly don't buy it. It's not about the amount you give.
Jesus gathered his disciples one day on the Temple Mount. A woman had made a very small contribution in the midst of some very large contributions, and Jesus said, "That woman made the greatest gift of everybody. They've given out of their abundance, and she put in out of the little bit she had". It isn't the amount we give. We count what we give, God counts what we keep. Aren't you glad the offering's gone? But we've got to recalibrate, folks. We have been so influenced by the spirit of the world. We've been so influenced by the messaging. We've been so influenced. It's just a casual view of history, and you can tell there have been times and seasons when the most beautiful buildings in American cities that were ever built were churches.
Drive downtown Nashville and the historic parts, the beautiful churches that are there. The post offices and the churches were typically the two most prominent buildings in those places in town. We've come so far away from it. The messaging that's washed over us, it's influenced how we think, it's influenced how we prioritize. Now it's typically the stadiums and the arenas. We're back to the Colosseum. And Jesus is giving us some counsel. It's worth making a little space in your heart and asking the Holy Spirit to help you.
Again, my objective is to ground us for what's coming. There is turmoil in front of us. It's more real than that virus that was headed our way from Wuhan. And we're gonna need a biblical grounding. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much, and whoever's dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much. If you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who would trust you with true riches? If you haven't been trustworthy with someone else's property, who would give you property of their own"?
See, everything we have in time is the stewardship proposition. God has given us breath, he's given us strength, he's given us gifts, he's given us opportunities. We are stewards of all of those things. They're not mine. So when I share my time or my attention or my resources, I'm simply directing back towards the Lord what he's entrusted to me. Again, those are not conventional ideas. They will separate you from most of your peer group. "No servant can serve two masters. Either he'll hate the one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money". This is Jesus. The next sentence is perhaps the most striking in that whole thing. "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all of this and they were sneering at Jesus".
Did you know that sneering at Jesus is not a 21st century phenomenon? I mean, we know Jesus is mocked and ridiculed, that if you embrace a biblical worldview, if you allow Jesus's coaching to influence your thoughts and what you do with your time and your treasure and your talent, that you'll have friends and associates and all sorts of people look at you as if you have lost your balance. And I think it's at least worth noting in passing that that's not something that's new. That's been true in every generation. We want to attach it to the end of the age and the return of the Lord. And I would submit to you, it has a great deal more to do with the human nature and our old Adamic nature, our earthly nature.
The Pharisees knew the scripture, they offered sacrifices, they tithed scrupulously on the things they would purchase and possess. They would tithe on the spices they bought in the market. But their hearts were so far from God that they sneered at Jesus's coaching. And finally, Jesus told us that if we'll seek God, he will bring blessings to us. That can be perverted, as can any truth. But in Matthew 6, it's a part of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. He said, "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' The pagans run after all these things, your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well".
Again, it's very plain language, but it is very countercultural. Seek God first, give priority to his kingdom. He knows the needs that come with our journey through time. And if we will prioritize him, he said he will see to those things. You know, as a young man that was a bit of a mystery to me. I understood the promise, but it was very, very, very difficult for me to imagine choosing a way to spend my time that didn't maximize my earning. It was just logical that whatever you would do, you'd wanna leverage it to make the maximum possible return for your time. Whatever your intellect, your gifts, your training, or your education could afford you, that would be the direction to go.
And it took me a significant season of time to work through that, to say that I would choose God as a priority in my life, because it went against all of my natural inclinations. And I grew up in a Christian home. Tithing's been a part of my life since I got the first payday I ever earned. It wasn't that I was a stranger to biblical principles. So when I talk to you about the need and the challenge of bringing alignment with how we think to what the scripture says to us, I would submit to you we are widely divergent on this one. We're more awake on the abortion topic than we are on the financial topic. That's startling because we've sacrificed 60 million children. We treat this pretty lightly and I believe it's as much a part of the presentation we've given and the principles that we've been given as any of the moral codes that we would understand.
Now, I wanna take the balance of the time we have and move really quickly through some biblical ground rules. Just as there are biblical principles for human sexuality or forgiveness, if you embrace God's principle, you reap kingdom benefits. Jesus said if you forgive, you'll be forgiven. He defined what's moral and immoral. He defined marriage. We weren't asked to do that. Well, I believe if you ignore God's principles, you reap destruction in any of those arenas of your life. Well, I believe that's true about our resources as well. And there are many indications that we don't embrace biblical principles regarding the management of our resources. We don't carry much angst for the skyrocketing debt. We just think something will mysteriously happen to it, it won't be our problem.
I wanna pray with you before we go, that God will give us a revelation of himself beyond church, beyond just information. A revelation, something beyond study, to help us understand who God is and his love for us. Let's pray:
Father, I pray that you would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we might know you better. Far beyond sermons or church or Bible studies or small groups, by the Spirit of God give us an understanding of your majesty and your power, in Jesus's name, amen.