There are many good things in life that bring us joy! A beautiful sunset, a great relationship, a good Fillet Mignon and yes, even money!
There is nothing wrong with good things, in fact, it’s my belief that God has given these things for us to enjoy! Yes, to enjoy!
I wholeheartedly believe that Christians should be the biggest hedonists in the world, but our hedonism is of a different sort. We live for pleasure through a right relationship with God.
God should be ultimate in our lives and everything else is secondary. Those things become a tool to glorify Him when we are using them properly.
John Piper says it best, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied with Him”.
Christians should be some of the happiest people on earth because God has given good things for us to enjoy so that when used and viewed rightly we bring glory to Him.
This includes money. I love talking about money and happiness. In our culture, it seems that we’ve gone off track somewhere though.
Most Americans seem to believe that if they could only get that next promotion or the bigger raise, then they’ll be able to afford a nicer car, a bigger home, more stylish clothes and be happier.
To some degree, more money does make us happy, but don’t you see what we’ve done? We’ve made money the ultimate!
Any time we take a good thing and make it ultimate, it becomes our functional savior! It becomes our idol! We think that particular thing will save us from our problems, calm our anxieties and fears, and satisfy our search in life for something more.
But here’s the thing – money is not our savior! Christ is!
So, if you’ve been defined by your money and have viewed money as ultimate in your life, whether that has shown itself through workaholism, greediness, frugality, obsessions with saving or buying or even, dare I say, an obsession with becoming debt free – you need to re-evaluate what is ultimate in your life.
What To Do If Money Has Become Your Functional Savior
Repent from the Idol
We always need to start here any time we discover we’ve been worshiping at the feet of another god. Turn from your idol worship and turn to God and worship Him.
Replace the Idol
We can’t just simply say, “I’m going to stop loving money so much” at the surface level. There is only one way to deal with this issue correctly and that is a reorientation back to the gospel of Jesus Christ – to see in the gospel the wealth of God to give us the Son.
2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
Any effort to break the grip of money as your functional savior will fail if you do not deepen your understanding of what we have in the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Rearrange your priorities
Instead of thinking, “what’s the next level of income, job status, house, car or TV you can achieve” – think about the next level of using your money for the sake of the gospel!!
In a sense our priorities should be set on simplification, not accumulation.
Our priorities should be the advancement of the kingdom of God, the reign and the rule of Christ here on earth, and how we can store up treasure for ourselves by giving to those in need.
What are some practical ways to rearrange priorites and strip money from being a funcitonal savior?
- Build generosity into your budget
- Give time and money to local shelters
- Become a tutor for a local child in need
- Have a garage sale or sell junk on ebay and give the proceeds away to a hurting family
- Adopt a child
- If you’re good at handling money, then serve at a shelter & teach financial skills
- Instead of accepting a promotion based on money think about whether your job will allow you to invest into others
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I have struggle with this lately! When our finances just fell out from underneath us, I freaked out and looked for more money! After my initial freakout, I leaned back on to trusting that God is the provider and he was taking care of us. So we buckled down, asked for a loan from the rents- and started paying down debt. It also helped that I got a raise and a bonus once I threw my hands up and said “fine God, your plan, not mine.”
thanks for the great post
.-= Ted´s last blog ..The shame of debt =-.
Great points! Many Christians have replaced Jesus with banks and money as their first line defense to issues with their lives. Instead of trusting God and waiting for God to supernaturally provide in our lives, we have allowed easy money from banks to take away our fellowship with Him. Hopefully, Christians can come back to God’s desire for finances of living humbly, staying away from debt, and giving generously.
Keep up the good work,
Eric
Thanks Eric. You bring up a good point about trusting in God compared to trusting in our credit cards and loans – easy money. Generosity, humility and trust should mark every Christian when it comes to money.
Ted, thanks for the comment. I hear a lot of stories like yours where once we get to a point of surrender, God steps in and provides. He was just waiting for us to get out of the way so He can prove Himself once again to be faithful and true! Keep trusting Him!
Preach on Brother! You are exactly right. Sometimes we don’t realize that too much of anything is not good. We have to continually find balance in our lives. Although it’s hard, I try to re-evaluate myself daily to make sure my priorities are in the right place. This is good!
Hey Patrenia, moderation in everything is a good practice. So often we get consumed with one thing after another including money.
My challenge is to go to a third world country. Experience a village that lives on $2 per day per family. That will humble you. That will help keep your priorities straight. Great post. Very convicting.
.-= @conqueringPF´s last blog ..Step 1: Define Passion =-.
Conquering PF – I have not been able to do that, but my wife spent some time in Mauritania and Gambia and some of the stories she tells is unbelievable. We can’t fully grasp it until we go and see it. You’re right it does humble us and keeps our priorities in line. Thanks for checkin’ in!
Jason,
You got my attention with “I wholeheartedly believe that Christians should be the biggest hedonists in the world”, but after reading on I fully agree. I had never heard the term “functional savior” before, but it is an apt one.
Like the real Savior said, “You can’t love God and money”.
Thanks for the great post!
.-= Joe Plemon´s last blog ..Seven Ways God Works Through Our Finances =-.
Thank you for the insightful article Jason, I enjoyed reading it.
I believe it’s not possible to make a general statement on whether money makes people more or less happy. Money comes with a whole set of new elements that may have
good or bad impact on our happiness, and depending on how susceptible we are to every one of them, the conclusion will go one way or the other (i.e. different from
person to person).
I recently made an effort to provide a more comprehensive picture of what these ad- and disadvantages are. I invite you to have a look at Money and Happiness
and tell me what you think!
Thank you,
Nick
Joe – thanks for the comment! The Christian Hedonist idea is not my own, I’ve been shaped by John Piper and Matt Chandler in regards to it, but I love the idea! It makes a lot of sense to me especially when we realize that all of life is centered on worship – everything we do is a reflection of what we worship. Our problem comes when we view the things of this world as the end rather than a means to glorifying Him more. That is our chief end – glorifying Him by enjoying Him in all things.
Hey Nick, I understand what you’re saying, but I do think we can make a general statement on happiness based on our own experiences and the experiences of others. We’ve all been elated to a degree with a big check, big promotion or new money we’ve come into – but the point is that the happiness derived from those types of things are fleeting and capped. In other words, we can’t receive ultimate happiness from them.
I agree with you. And our government needs to read this blog post. I find it very sad how we have turned into a country of what you have is important, not who you are inside.
Debbie
Debbie – wow, very convicting and true. Unfortunately, the shiny outside matters more than the inside in many cases.
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