Michael Todd - Secure the Bag
Good morning, Transformation Church men! I am so excited that you are in the building today. If you are here, I know that God has an extremely amazing plan for your life. This is the start of a brand-new series, week one, that we are calling «Secure the Bag.» Look at your neighbor and say, «Secure the Bag!» Come on!
This is a time every year that we take to honestly realign our lives and get stronger, which is the word for the year: to get stronger in the areas of stewardship, finances, and generosity. Since the very beginning of my tenure as the pastor of Transformation Church, we have done this. It was my second sermon series that God told me: «Michael, I want you to teach Transformation Church how to live a blessed life.» Everyone say, «A blessed life!» Not just a blessed wallet, not just a blessed home, but a blessed life.
The problem is, many of us don’t know how to live a blessed life. Robert Morris, who has been one of my spiritual mentors from afar, wrote a book and has this revelation on living a blessed life. When I became the pastor of the church, I preached a series for a month on vision, and then God said, «You need to sit down and teach your church through video how to live a blessed life.»
You all already know that I can’t preach anything I don’t know. What God said is, «Mike, I need you to be an example of being humble, open, and transparent.» I stood at the front of my church during the second month of being the pastor and said, «Listen, y’all, God wants us to live a blessed life, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do it yet. So, I’m not going to play you and teach you a bunch of lies that I haven’t lived out. I’m going to let this man teach you.»
We sat and listened to the blessed life series for five weeks in a row. I sat on the front row taking notes because a leader is not a leader because they know more; a leader is a leader because they do what is best for the people who are following them.
I already hear that some of y’all needed that nugget right there, and so I said, «Every year, God would continue to give us more revelation.» Until two years ago, He said, «Michael, I think you’ve learned a few things about the blessed life that you can teach.» Not the whole series, just a couple of messages in the series. We did «Wait Till I Get My Money Right,» and last year we did «Ducks in a Row.» This year, we’re doing a series called «Secure the Bag.» Some of you are like, «Sally, securing the bag? I have no idea what that means.»
Well, I’m about to teach you right now. But first, I need to calm everybody down who may be a little insecure about the topics of finances, generosity, and stewardship, because I know some of y’all think the church just wants my money. The «church just wants my money» meter is going off right now! Relax! Everybody say, «Relax.» We don’t want your money. We’re not doing any separate offerings during this series, and we don’t have a capital campaign. In case you haven’t heard, the build is paid off! Oh, y’all hear me? And listen, we are walking in a season of abundance, so we’re not teaching this series because the church needs more money. This is the best the church has ever been financially in our church history!
I’m teaching this because I’m passionate about you living a blessed life. I don’t want the church to flourish as an organization while the church, as an organism, is not thriving. I want your home to be blessed; I want your bank account to be blessed; I want your health to be blessed. Somebody say, «I’m going to live a blessed life!» I know you might not believe it yet, but say it one more time: «I’m going to live a blessed life!»
For the next four weeks, I need you to walk with me—not because we are trying to get something from you, but because I am trying to get something to you. The crazy thing about this is that these principles from God’s Word are something I have experienced firsthand, and we need to adopt these principles, live these principles, and truly embody a blessed life.
The coolest thing about this entire series is that while we are talking about being generous stewards of what God has placed in our hands, we are not just taking second offerings to collect money; we are actually going to give money away! Now, some of you may not understand this because you just started watching Transformation Church, but when we first began, God told me, «Michael, I want you to take up an offering, and I want you to give everything from that offering away.» I am so grateful for the people who have supported Transformation Church and its vision of crazy faith from the very beginning.
On that day, we raised $8,000. You may think, «Oh, that’s not a lot,» but to us, that was everything! We pooled our finances together, and there are people in this room who contributed to that offering. When we gave, we took all of that money and sowed it as a seed, declaring that this would produce a legacy for our church, marking us as a generous church.
I’m excited to let you know that during the next four weeks, we are not giving away just $8,000; we will give to different organizations and nonprofits that help change cities in the U.S. and around the world. We are committed to giving away $350,000. Come on, that’s huge! And I can already hear someone in the back asking, «How can I get some of that money?» It’s already designated, but what I’m telling you is that because of Transformation Church’s generosity and people who have embraced this message of the blessed life, we are able to be a blessing without just asking for one.
Imagine walking into a room and having the blessing show up. What would happen if we could be a blessing instead of merely asking for one? What if wherever we go, we are the blessing that people are praying for? That is my desire: that we could be the answer to prayers instead of just the ones praying for things. But that requires us to walk in a level of generosity and stewardship that enables us to live that blessed life.
Alright, I want to talk about the whole concept of «securing the bag» for a moment because a lot of people don’t know how to live a blessed life because they don’t understand how to be generous. Look at what Proverbs 11:24 says: «The world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.» That’s a powerful piece of scripture! Some people won’t even share French fries. You hear what I’m saying? They are just selfish!
But in the Kingdom of God, when we are generous with whatever we have—our gifts, talents, finances, and love—God says our world gets bigger and bigger. But if we hold back, trying to keep everything for ourselves and our immediate family, our world gets smaller and smaller. Some of you are in such tight spaces right now, not because that’s where God wants you, but because of your past choices regarding generosity.
If you refuse to give, God can expand you. If you don’t share your knowledge, He’ll give you more contacts, but you won’t help anybody else. Your world may feel like it’s collapsing around you! Right now, some of you feel claustrophobic, not due to what God has done, but because of what you have done. I’m speaking to someone here.
Today, I want us to strengthen our understanding of generosity and stewardship, so we are going to secure the bag. Now, this phrase «secure the bag» is a cultural expression that became popular in the last five years. For some of you, when I say «secure the bag,» different meanings come to mind. For example, some of you might think of the ties on your brand. You want your brand to remain intact and not be damaged, which is securing the bag.
For others, when I say «secure the bag,» you visualize a Chick-fil-A bag—you know, the only thing you want to secure is that chicken! And then there are those of you who might think of a celebrity’s purse collection; I know some of you wouldn’t want that to be the bag secured for you. Some of my friends may think about how we secure the bag with some potato chips—it’s been a long time since you’ve secured healthy snacks!
But when I say «secure the bag,» I want us to adopt a slightly different definition. Here’s one from the most reliable source I could find, the Urban Dictionary: it is an expression used to describe the act of taking advantage of a situation, or more importantly, keeping something of value. When I secure the bag, I retain something of importance. Today, I want to discuss what you value as we start this series.
What do you value? When you see something of value, our natural inclination is to secure it. Just think about the most expensive item you own—that’s the thing you don’t leave out in the open; it’s the item you don’t let kids play with; it’s not the item you let spill drinks on. You try to keep it secured because it’s valuable to you.
Often we keep things secure because they are also vulnerable. Now, let’s think: why do I secure anything? Because of its value and its vulnerability. I struggled with the concept of giving and generosity because I valued my money. I know no one else here can relate, but I wasn’t giving my money to anyone—certainly not for little things!
When someone asked me for 50 cents for kids in need, I would think, «No, I’ve got three kids in the car to feed!» Being real here! Because I valued my money, I didn’t give it away easily. When my money felt vulnerable, I tried to secure it.
Here’s the thing about our lives, especially concerning finances: the only reason you secure something is when something extremely valuable becomes extremely vulnerable. When something is both valuable and vulnerable, we feel the need to secure it. I want to give you a practical example: here’s a picture of my kids and me.
Now, once you get past how beautiful my wife is and how adorable our offspring are, you should notice that we all have on the same colored shirts. The reason for that is I, as the father of this beautiful family, felt a little insecure before we went to Disney World. The night before our trip, I stumbled upon videos about kids getting lost at the park, and I started to panic. So, 24 hours before our trip, I stayed up all night designing these matching t-shirts for our family, all in an effort to secure the kids if they ran off in a crowd.
When something is valuable and vulnerable, our instinct is to secure it. In the context of our finances, families, gifts, and talents, many of us have been protecting them because they are valuable to us. However, in some area of our lives, they may also feel vulnerable.
You need to understand: if we don’t feel something is secure, we try to control it ourselves. This is key to understanding why many of us don’t walk in our callings. We may not give what we are called to give because we feel insecure in our environment. When we feel insecure—how do I put this? —insecurity always stems from a lack of trust. When I feel insecure, I tighten my grip on what I have. Many people in the room can relate to this. Be honest: how many of you are control freaks? You want to control everything! The truth is, that desire for control often comes from a broken trust. Now you feel insecure and think, «If they aren’t going to do this for me, I need to look after myself.»
Let me give you the formula for insecurity—which you can apply to every area of life: when something valuable is placed in a vulnerable position and trust is stripped away, it equals insecurity.
For example, maybe you had a dream when you were younger that was valuable. You believed in that dream and envisioned doing great things. Then a moment of vulnerability occurred when you shared it with a friend whom you trusted, but they took that trust away. They said, «You could never do that!» Now, you’re in your 40s questioning your purpose because what was valuable to you—the dream—became vulnerable due to someone else’s words.
There are teenagers who once held something of value, their purity, but then they became vulnerable. They went to a sleepover at their uncle’s house, and trust was taken from them. They were inappropriately touched. I’m being sensitive here, but this resonates with some of you. Now that experience has led to insecurity, making it difficult for them to maintain a faithful relationship or recognize their self-worth.
I want to help you see that many of the wounds and pains we carry stem from a need to secure what was damaged in earlier seasons of life. When you get a cut on your hand, the first instinct is to put a bandage on it—if I feel insecure, I will secure it. I’m trying to assist someone in this room right now. That’s why many of you are timid and shy. You weren’t always shy, but when trust was taken away in the past, you became more guarded. You stopped taking risks or stepping out in faith because of that past hurt. If you feel insecure, you will want to secure yourself, which is why many of you avoid joining small groups.
Perhaps you tried trusting people before, shared something vulnerable, and they betrayed that trust. Now, you feel insecure and avoid letting anyone in. And that’s precisely why many of us struggle this room right now, and only a fraction of them serve, and that’s not because you don’t have the ability to serve; it’s because at your last church, somebody took advantage of your time. And so now you’re making everybody else pay for the mistake of one person, and you’re securing yourself from being the blessing that you could be. I’m talking to somebody right now because when you’re insecure, everybody say, «I secure.»
So this is what I’m trying to get everybody to understand when it comes to your family, your future, and specifically in this series, your finances: are you securing the bag? Like, people say that in a positive term in culture; like, «I gotta go secure the bag, baby! I’m out here working to secure the bag! I’m about to secure the bag.» But I don’t think that’s such a positive term when it comes to the kingdom of God because I found out if you’re securing the bag, that means God isn’t. If you are the provider in your life, that means God isn’t. If you’re the waymaker in your life, that means God isn’t. I don’t think it’s something we need to be proud of when we say, «Yeah, I secure the bag,» because you’re securing what you’re insecure about.
And so when you have to be the one securing your family’s future, when you’re the one securing the family, you can’t come and spend time with the kids you prayed for because you’ve got to make sure they have money for this, that, and the other. Because you’re the man of the house, that means you aren’t letting God secure what He’s already paid for. So do you want to be the provider? Do you really want to secure the bag? Because that goes in exact opposition to what God says He is in the Word. He says He’s Jehovah Jireh, your provider. There can only be one of those, and that’s what I’m begging you to do in this series — to open up your heart and stay with me through this whole series because I want you to trust God with your finances, trust God with your family, and trust God with your future.
The truth is many of us are securing what we should be sowing. Many of us are supposed to be sowing our gifts and talents, but we’re securing. Many of us should be showing our abilities, but we’re securing. We should be sowing our time, but we’re securing. And it’s a shame because we didn’t do anything to earn what we’re securing in the first place. It was God’s grace that gave us our abilities; it was the grace of God that brought us to the place we’re at right now. See, some of y’all have forgotten where you used to be, but it’s nothing but the grace of God. And now we’re securing what God says, «No, if you give it away, it’ll multiply; if you give it away, it’ll come back to you.» If you don’t give it away, if you’re a blessing to somebody else, it’ll be a blessing to more. But instead, you’re securing it, and that’s not what you need to do.
So really, maybe the series should be called «Don’t Secure the Bag» because if you’re securing it, it means that God isn’t. And God is so good that He knew we would struggle with this in our mortal bodies, and so He gave us this parable, which is a truth alongside a story, a parable to show us what the kingdom of God looks like when we start talking about these bags and securing the bag. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25, and we’re going to start in verse 14. It says, «Again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man who goes on a long trip.» That man is God in this passage. He called together His servants and entrusted money to them. What did He entrust? The only reason I’m saying this is He could have used any other example in the world, but He uses money. And I want you to know that in the Bible, money and possessions are referenced over 800 times. It is the second most talked-about subject in the Bible because it matters.
Okay, so I want everybody to check in with me here. He entrusted them with the money while he was gone. In verse 15, He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities, and then left on the trip. And some of y’all may be saying, «Amen» right there because you’re wondering, «Why did He give one five, one two, and one just one?» All of us are already assuming that God is unfair because my situation wasn’t like their situation, that my setup wasn’t like their setup. And that’s the plan of the enemy — for God’s grace to then be snuffed out because of comparison. None of them deserved any bags; none of them deserved the one bag, the five bags, or the two bags.
What happens is we get the grace of God, and then we start looking at what they got and what they got. We need to understand that God is so good that He tells us why He gives them the bags they got. He said He divided it in proportion to their abilities, and most of us want things to be fair, even though we squandered the last season that God gave us. Even though in the last opportunity, we didn’t do what we were supposed to do, maybe we should all be on the same level. But God is a good master, and I need you to understand this: the next season of ability is going to depend on the last season of responsibility. Oh, that’s a good word right there! The next season of ability is going to depend on the last season of responsibility. How did you steward over the last year? How did you steward over the people that you have under your leadership? How did you steward over the $50.62 you got from that job last week?
Many times, we don’t count it as anything, and so we think we don’t have to really do anything with that. But the Master is watching your ability; He’s watching how you handle what He’s placed in your hand. And He’s saying this next level is going to be based on how you were responsible with the last level. So at this point, God knows what you can handle because He’s watching how you handle it. He knows what you can handle because He’s observing how you manage it. Some of you have on your wish list a new house; it isn’t coming until you handle that apartment. Y’all don’t want to hear that! But it’s not the new car you’ve got looking clean in the picture; it is far away from you because of the mess you drove to get here today.
We know what you have going on for the last four weeks; if we just look at the bottom of your floorboard in your car, what I’m telling you is God is watching how you handle what you have right now. And many of us need to understand that God wants us to go to a whole other level of being blessed, but our next season of ability is coming from our last season of responsibility. See, the biblical term for this is stewardship. Everybody say stewardship. It’s not even a sexy word, like stewardship; that’s not a trendy term. But it’s a powerful one because if you could ever grasp the concept of true stewardship, then you wouldn’t be able to do things that your pedigree doesn’t support, that your education doesn’t justify. God’s looking for somebody He can trust.
And the thing you have to understand about stewardship is this: stewardship says today matters. When I’m a good steward, I’m not looking to the future; I’m looking at what I’m doing today. And that’s why people say, «I’m going to be a better friend in the future.» Be a better friend today! Call that one person. Text them back! Everybody talks about, «I’ll be a better employee tomorrow; I just have to get through this season.» But stewardship says today matters. How I love today matters. How I respond today matters. How I save my money today matters. The thing you’ve got to know about stewardship—the reason why today matters—come closer, because today always shows up tomorrow! Some of y’all look at pictures of yourself when you were smaller. I’m coming for your house today! And you’ve been like, «Oh my God, why didn’t y’all tell me? Why didn’t y’all tell me?» That didn’t happen overnight; that wasn’t a shock to anybody. That was you not stewarding over the day.
And because you didn’t steward over that day, it showed up the next day, and you didn’t steward over that day. And it shows up the next day. Do you hear what I’m saying? Today matters! Somebody shout, «Today matters!» In this story of Matthew, we see two different types of people: one who would steward over it, and the one who was securing. They would steward over what the Master gave, and the other one was securing. And I want to introduce this concept because when we start talking about finances and we start talking about stewardship, you know people get a little antsy. There are some people in this section who are tight right now, and I want you to know that I’m not here to judge you, but I want you to be able to assess yourself.
And that’s one of the best spiritual gifts: self-awareness. So I want to give you an opportunity to assess yourself using something I’m calling the Bag Barometer, okay? We’re going to put up a couple of different scenarios, and you’ll be able to see where you are. Either you’re going to be a person who stewards the bag, which is what God wants us to do, or you’re going to be a person who secures the bag, which is what our fear has us do. So, I’m going to present these scenarios, and we’ll illuminate some revelations that show what those two types of people do. Either we’re going to steward what God’s given us, or we’re going to secure this bag.
And honestly, as I look at this story, it’s a matter of perspective. If you’re going to steward the bag, that means you know you’re a manager, not an owner. See, everybody who’s a steward knows that it belongs to somebody else, and they’re just taking care of it. They’re just managing it. But if you’re going to secure the bag, you take on the mindset of an owner. The reason why you think, «Why do I have to do this with my money?» is because this is your job, and this is your money, and this is your family. You do feel like you own something.
And the thing you need to know as someone who steward over it is, «No, this is God’s family; this is God’s job; this is God’s money; this is God’s church. All I am is a manager.» Yeah! Some of y’all couldn’t even say it because you’re like, «Nah, that’s a lie.» Many of us take the place of the owner, and that’s what we see in this chapter. In verse 16, it says, «The servant who received five bags of silver went to invest the money and earned five more.» The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. I just got to talk to somebody real quick; if you’re in a season right now where you’re just so creative and waiting on God that you’re not stewarding over the season you’re in right now, you need to be responsible enough to work on your passion.
There are some people under the sound of my voice waiting on this big break. Maybe you need to clock in instead. Do you hear what I’m saying? Because you have to manage the seasons so that you can be prepared for what God has for you to do. Somebody say that courageously: «Work!» I don’t know who that was for, but I just went off on a tangent just for somebody! Here we go, verse 18: it says, «But the servant who received the one bag dug a hole in the ground and secured the bag.» Or you could say, «He hid the money.» So, let me return to my Bag Barometer. If you’re going to steward the bag, that means you know you’re a manager of the bag, and that means you would be one like the guys with five and two who invested; they sowed the bag.
See, the thing you need to understand when you’re managing something that God gives you is that you can sow it because any good farmer knows, «When I sow something, I’m not saying goodbye to it forever. I’m putting it into the ground or putting it into a place where it can produce more.» And so many of us are so scared to sow because we don’t understand the concept of sowing and reaping. When I put something good in, that means I’m going to reap something good, but if I don’t put anything good in… See, the guy with the five and the two, they sowed the bag. But the guy who tried to secure the bag dug a hole and hid the bag.
And I just wonder how many of us are trying so hard to secure what was supposed to be a seed? Like that book you haven’t given to anybody because you’re scared of them judging it—it wasn’t even the best book you were meant to write, was supposed to be a seat you were supposed to show, so that wasn’t even the one that was going to blow up. That was the one that was going to allow somebody to see you, who was going to partner with you for the book that was actually going to blow up. But because you dug a hole and hid it, you’ll never be able to see what God wanted to do with it because you wouldn’t show it.
I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but the Spirit of God is challenging me to challenge you to dig up whatever you tried to put in the ground: dig up the song, dig up the curriculum. I feel the presence of God in this place. You better dig up that art piece; you better dig up that idea and take it out of the place where it was going to be a grave and plant it in good soil. Thank God, He is going to take that thing and multiply it! Somebody say, «How much?» So, the bag! Say it again, «I’m going to show the bag!» I’m telling somebody in this room right now that God is in the idea of trying to get what He placed in you out of you, and He doesn’t want it back the same way He gave it to you; He wants it multiplied. But you can only multiply something when you’re stewarding the bag. You know you’re not the owner; you’re the manager of the bag, and you’re not going to dig a hole for the bag, but you’re going to sow the bag.
Verse 19: After a long time, the master returned from his trip and called them together to give an account of how they used his money. Remember, they don’t own it; they were managing it. But if you’re managing something with the perspective that you own it, you’ll do the wrong thing with it. Verse 20: The servant to whom he had entrusted five bags of silver came forward and said, «Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and guess what? I earned five more!»
I want you to see what the one who knew he was stewarding the bag with the perspective of prosperity did: he acknowledged where the bag came from. If you’re going to steward what God has given you, you have to acknowledge God. Many of us have been walking around as if everything we have is something we deserved, but God is saying, «Hey, it’s me! The air that you’re breathing? That’s me! The use of your limbs? That’s me! Everything that’s going on right now? That’s me!» I don’t want you to stop doing what you’re doing; all I need you to do is—everybody say «acknowledge me.» That’s why the Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:6, «In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.» Some of you have been on the wrong path because you stopped acknowledging the one who made the path.
I don’t know who I’m talking to today, but the key you came for is that you are going to start acknowledging God. «This isn’t the job that I want, but I’m here, and I thank you for allowing me to be here. God, I acknowledge that you can make a good situation out of a bad one. God, I acknowledge that the only reason I have my right mind right now is to be able to bless and help people.» Father, I acknowledge this. I was about to test them out, but I acknowledge that you helped me—teamwork!
Now, in direct contrast, if you’re trying to secure the bag and own the bag and dig a hole for the bag, look at what happens in verse 24. Then the servant with one bag of silver said, «Oh man, you know what? You look good. I knew you were a harsh man. I knew you harvest crops you didn’t plant, and I know you gather crops you didn’t cultivate.» I have to stop right here because this man assumed he knew what God was going to do with what he gave him. When you are stewarding the bag, you acknowledge God, but when you are securing the bag, you assume about God. Some of us have gotten so prideful that we enter relationships thinking we know how they will go. You look at the money God asked you to give, you look at the time He asks you to sow, and say, «I know what God will do.» Do you really?
There have been so many times in my life that God was working something behind the scenes that I had no clue about. But in my pride and arrogance, I assumed I knew what God was going to do, and God says that’s a characteristic of someone who doesn’t trust me and is trying to secure the bag because you want to provide for yourself; you want to be in control. God began to tell me, «Michael, you don’t know me.» Have you ever met someone who acted like they knew you but really didn’t? Some people make assumptions about what they don’t know, let me say it more clearly: they make assumptions about people they don’t know. That’s why it’s very bad to listen to people who don’t have a real relationship with God in areas of your life, because they will assume and put onto you what they think about God, and they don’t even have a real relationship with Him.
This man assumed what God was going to do, but I hear God from heaven telling all of us—as He’s told me a hundred times—what He said in Isaiah 55:8, «My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,» says the Lord, «and my ways are far beyond your imagination. For just as high as the heavens are above the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.» You better stop assuming how God can take a little bit of sacrifice, a little bit of seed, a little bit of intentionality, and multiply it into something that will bless so many others. You don’t know what God has in store for you!
I feel that thing! You have no clue what God will do with a little obedience, a little faithfulness, a little bit of love to somebody who feels broken and downcast. That’s why any time I walk into a situation, I acknowledge God. «You’re the reason I’m here. Direct my path: whatever you want me to do here, whoever you want me to say it to—I’m open!» Somebody needs to thank God right now! Come on, just give Him praise right now that you are going to be one who acknowledges Him! Come on, take 5 seconds and acknowledge God right now! We thank you, Lord! We magnify you! We lift you up!
I don’t have to secure my future; I don’t have to secure my finances; I don’t have to secure anything because I’m just stewarding all this anyway. The truth is, when you’re trying to secure the bag—securing your finances, securing your family—all of this exposes who you trust.
The sad thing to say in front of thousands of people watching in Transformation Nation is that most of us are in a building and lifestyle of Christianity where we act like we trust Him, but we actually don’t. I know we don’t say it in public, but our actions expose who we actually trust. Today, I want us to have a different response than the person who had one bag, dug a hole, and thought he owned the bag. Look at the response God gave to the people who stewarded the bag the right way. Matthew 25:21 says, «The master was full of praise. 'Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this small amount, and now I will give you more responsibility.'»
Wait, I always get messed up by this. He’s talking to the guy with five bags, and remember at the beginning, everyone was probably comparing themselves: «You got one; you got two; you got five.» But look what the master says to the one with five: «That was still a small amount!» Oh, you thought this was just a test? You thought you were starting up here? The business you have right now? That’s still a small amount! The influence you have right now? That’s still a small amount! I’m the God of abundance; I’m the God of blessing. That’s the reason I came, that you might have life and have life abundantly!»
You’re thinking, «Oh, my God, I don’t need anything unless I have a boat. My kids are in private school.» All of that is still a small amount, baby! But what God wants to do is take it from glory to glory, level to level. And that’s why you’ve got to understand this point: God is not limited by our small thinking; He’s limited by our small obedience.
If we don’t start obeying God in the small things, the seemingly insignificant things—He told you to go read with those kids at that school, and you don’t think it’s important because nobody else is doing it because it’s not a church-wide event—God said, «I need you to be faithful over the small thing. One day you’re going to be the principal of that school, but I wanted you to sow seeds into that school when it didn’t matter. You seem so narrow; you see so small, and God is saying, 'I see so much bigger! ' Whatever you think it is right now, that’s still a small thing. Like when I started as the soundman at Greenwood Christian Center. When I decided to stay and be obedient in the small thing, God saw this! He saw the arena full of people; He saw it paid off. But He asked, 'Will you be faithful? ' All I’m asking you right now is not to look at what anybody else is doing because your obedience is significant. And that’s true stewardship, whether you’re an intern or a CEO. Your obedience at that level is significant for what God has for you in your life.»
Verse 22: «So the servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I earned two more!'» The master said, «Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this small amount, and now I will give you more responsibility.» Not money! Ah! See, y’all thought this was prosperity gospel. You thought if you give three hundred and thirty-three dollars, you’ll get three thousand and thirty-three dollars. But this is the key of what God is saying: the reward of being a good steward is more responsibility. You thought it was more money? You thought this was a magic trick? You thought this was the lottery? God says, «When you handle what’s in your hand, I’m going to give you more responsibility so you can go ahead and train.» This is not a gospel of prosperity; this is a gospel of responsibility. Can God trust us?
The problem has been—and I have to apologize on behalf of all the pastors and leaders who mishandled the responsibility of guarding people’s finances and trust in their lives. I’m so sorry that God would trust men with influence who are imperfect because they didn’t have accountability, were drunk on pride, or didn’t understand the weight of what they were holding. On behalf of all of them, I say, «I’m sorry!» What God is trying to do is not make us rich to be rich; He’s trying to make us blessed so we can be a blessing. There’s a world out here that’s hurting; there are people who need help. They need homes, shoes, and to be rescued from sex trafficking. And because we’re often so broke, we cannot be a physical extension of God’s hand and heart.
So what we have to do now is repent! I’m repenting on behalf of every leader, CEO, and boss who misused your trust or took away your trust and made you insecure. Today, I’m asking you to give God another chance through another leader or another group of people to be able to stand and say, «You know what? God doesn’t want us to steward this just to add more and be okay for our family. We don’t need to secure anything; we have to be grateful, and we have to steward over what God has given us.»
And right now, I feel such a burden: people have been hurt by what’s been done to them. Today, I believe the Spirit of God is healing people. He’s healing your perspective; He’s healing your heart; He’s healing your mind. The enemy’s trick would be to let a man keep you from a blessed life. The enemy’s trick would be to make you blame someone, and now you’re not living in the fullness of what God has called you to live! But today we’re here to reverse that situation.
I believe in this room—come on, somebody help me! —that God is coming to restore trust in His word and in the men and women of God to whom He has entrusted this mission. We are supposed to live a blessed life. Look at verse 24: «Then a servant with one bag of silver came and said, 'Master, I knew you were a hard man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.'»
Here’s the whole reason he dug a hole; this is why he tried to secure the bag: fear was the culprit that kept him from faith. We’re yelling crazy things; we’re wearing it on our hoodies. But you can wear a crazy faith hoodie and still be walking in fear. You can sit in this big auditorium that God provided in faith and still leave here in fear. What I’m coming to do as your pastor over the next four weeks is break the spirit of fear off of you. First Timothy tells us that God didn’t give us that spirit; He didn’t give us the spirit of fear and timidity, but He gave us the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Speak that over your life!
The man trying to secure the bag wasn’t a bad man, just the way many of you who have been trying to secure the bag for yourselves and your families are not bad people—you’re just afraid. You’re afraid that God doesn’t have a plan that’s bigger than your savings account. You’re afraid that God doesn’t have a plan bigger than your first divorce. You’re afraid that God doesn’t have a plan bigger than your failures. But I’m here as a living witness, telling you that God’s plans for you are not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a good future.
That’s why we can’t be the ones to secure the bag and dig a hole for it, assuming of God because we’re afraid. That man was afraid to lose the bag, and there are too many of us right now. If your living status changed, you wouldn’t be okay. If you went from a home to an apartment, you would feel like you were downgrading. If you went from three cars to one ten-year-old car, you would feel like you were on the verge of disaster. Aren’t you still driving? Aren’t you still able to do what God asks of you? I don’t know, but this spirit of fear has taken over our culture when it comes to finances, family, disease, and all this stuff. Many people are digging holes and securing bags because they’re afraid.
But when you steward over something that you know you’re not the owner of, but just a manager of, and you acknowledge God at every step, what you know is that you trust God’s plan for the future. You don’t have to worry where the next blessing is coming from. You don’t have to worry if God has a plan. If transformations are shut down, the household will be fine because you made a declaration to God: «As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.» That means you’re a manager. So if He takes something away, it means He has something better for you. Oh, y’all better hear me in this room! I do not worry about where the next bag comes from because I am secure in the One who called me to this place. Some of you need to catch that—you’ve been worried about healing, your family, and trying to secure it, and all God is saying is to have faith and trust Him. He who began a good work will see it to completion; His name is Alpha and Omega. I don’t worry about where the next bag comes from. I know if I sow today, love today, and am faithful today, the next bag is coming from the One who supplies all the bags.
Verse 29 states, «To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.» Doesn’t that sound like the blessed life to you? That sounds like a blessed and abundant life! Maybe securing the bag is not the way we should live our lives because when we secure the bag, it exposes our insecurities. It shows that we don’t trust because we only secure what’s valuable and what’s finite. This scripture tells us that if you’re going to secure the bag, you have to use what you have right now effectively. He said, «I knew you were a hard master,» so what I did was not the faith thing; I did only what would give you back what you gave me. I said I couldn’t—I could have kept it at that. When I gave you that singing ability, I didn’t give it to you so you could give it back to me the way I gave it to you. When I gave you that administrative ability, I didn’t ask you to give it back to me in the same way. I wanted it to multiply; that’s why when you steward the bag, you use it effectively.
It reminds me of a saying: «All you have is all you need.» God said you don’t need another bag; just flip the one you’ve got. He wasn’t looking for the one with one bag to end up with ten bags—the one with five ended up with ten because he doubled it, and the one with two ended up with four because he doubled it. All He was looking from the person with one bag was to multiply. My question to you is, have you been so anxious and fearful while trying to secure the bag that you forgot to double what you have? If you do that, you will hear, «Well done, my good and faithful servant.» But for those who feel this is scary, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless piece of servant into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That’s what many of our finances look like.
Let me help you: our only true security is in trusting God. I’ll say it one more time: our only true security is in trusting God. I gave you the equation of insecurity earlier, but let me give you the equation of security: trust plus value plus vulnerability equals security. When trust is the foundation, I trust Him with what I value. I trust God with my money; I trust Him with my resources. It’s vulnerable when I bless others, when I give to the church, when I tie my income. But that’s the only way you have true security. Let me give you a practical example. I have a daughter named Bella, and Bella trusts her father. Because she has that trust and knows she is valuable to me, she has no problem being vulnerable with me.
We were at the pool this summer right after we took that Disney picture. We were in a little rental house—the Airbnb we had—and Bella can’t quite swim yet. Her mom is super protective, saying, «Stay away from the water!» But I was in the deep end of the pool and said, «Bella, jump!» Her mom yelled, «Don’t jump!» But I looked her in the eyes and said, «Jump!» Because she trusted her father—she said, «I don’t know how this is going to end up,» but in a place where she couldn’t secure herself, she saw that my hands were there to catch her.
Some of you are going to take steps in this next season. Trust God! I just feel that in this room. That’s the picture God wants to give some of you: as you step out, put your trust in the One who will never fail you. You can be vulnerable with Him, and He won’t let you down. I want your heart to be open to what God is saying. When you trust God with what you consider valuable and are vulnerable enough to sow, He provides. Trusting God means we have to learn so much more about generosity and stewardship over the next four weeks. You don’t want to miss a moment of this series because it can change your life. We wouldn’t be here today if we hadn’t embraced this idea of living the blessed life.
Maybe securing the bag isn’t the best way for us to live; maybe it’s better if we steward the bag. I don’t have to secure the bag because I am secured by God! Oh, that’s good teaching right there! I don’t have to secure anything because I am secured by God. The revelation found in verse 28 struck me for the first time last year. The man who secured the bag had his bag taken from him, but what did God do with that bag? I had never paid attention to what He did with the bag until this moment, and this shows God’s grace, love, and mercy for those who steward well.
Look at verse 28. This reveals God’s heart: «Then He ordered to take the money from this worthless piece of servant and give it not to himself but to the one with the ten bags of silver.» God wasn’t trying to take more so that He could just be rolling in dough. He said, «Give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.» He wanted to give more to the person who stewarded well. That’s the heart of God. He’s not trying to take from anybody; He just wants what He has given us to be used properly. Many of us right now have our bank accounts with other priorities, our families have other priorities, and God is saying, «Hey, can you stop securing the bag and steward over it so I can secure you?»
What I’ve found about this servant with ten bags is that he didn’t know he was getting another bag. The master saw how he used what he had given him, and He blessed him. He put His grace on it; He put His abundance on it; He put the blessed life on it. While you’re trying to secure a bag, God is trying to supply you with more bags. Some of you are so uptight about securing this one thing, and God is saying, «I’m trying to give you more if you would steward it.»
I’m going to pray for everyone within the sound of my voice right now. Come on, all over this room, stand up and lift your hands. I want to pray that if there’s an area of your life where you have been trying to secure the bag and you know you need to give it over to God right now—whether it’s your finances, your family, or your talents—if there’s an area where you have been securing the bag and now want to steward it with the right heart so He can direct your path, lift your hands all over this place, whether you’re watching online or on rebroadcast.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I believe today You have given us revelation. You don’t just want us to live an okay life; You want us to live a blessed life. Today that starts with trusting You with what’s valuable and being vulnerable, God. I’m asking You right now, in front of all Your people, to touch the hearts of those whose trust has been stolen and give them a supernatural sense of safety in this building to believe You again. I’m asking You to give us the faith of the ones with five bags and two bags—not to try to gather as much as we can, but to do well with what You have put in our hands. Today, Holy Spirit, I’m asking that You start a surgery inside of our hearts that will allow us to come from living in poverty to living a blessed life; that moves us from living a greedy life to living a blessed life; that transitions us from a reserved life to a blessed life. I command that the floodgates of generosity be open in this church, in our lives, and in our families today. God, we surrender everything we have been trying to secure, and today we put our trust back in You. Have Your way in our lives, and I thank You that we don’t have to secure a bag because we are secured by You. In Jesus' name, amen!