The cost of taking up your cross...

“Riches are not an end of life, but an instrument of life.”

               Henry Ward Beecher

  I’ve been thinking about money a lot lately. Okay, I think about money a lot – period, but probably a little more lately. Now don’t rat me out…after all, I’m a Pastor and am not supposed to think about such worldly matters…and if you believe that….

  Some of my friends will ask about our proposed building plans. I’m quick to quip, “Got a million dollars lying around some where?”  

  As I was thinking back over my life, I’ve never been someone who wanted or needed to have lots of money. Yet, one of the biggest struggles in my life with money though was walking away from making money. Maybe it plugs into some male ego thing of needing to win or conqueror.

  There have been two major decision hurdles that I’ve had to cross that were very, very difficult for me. They were truly repentance moments where I turned from heading one direction and start heading in the opposite direction. They were Matthew 16:24 moments for me. There Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Taking up your cross is a one way trip. It’s the death to self, your own agenda, drives, and wishes.

  That first “take up your cross” moment was when I was fifteen and I gave up drinking. Even at that age, I’d already become a very heavy drinker and had a reputation as my high school’s drunk. I’ll never forget pouring out a half gallon of Bacardi as parts of me screamed that I needed and that I couldn’t give up…but I did. It was a life changing “take up your cross” moment.

  The other “take up your cross” moment was a few years after I’d graduated from Bible College with a degree in Pastoral studies. I’d served at a church in Central Illinois as their assistant pastor. Then, Jane and I had returned with our little family to the Detroit area with plans of planting a new church in Ann Arbor. I’d worked my way through college working for a commercial roofing company. After graduating, I’d returned to that field but this time selling roofing. God had blessed and I’d been very successful.

  When a company offered me an opportunity to launch an office for them in the Detroit area, I jumped at it. Again, God blessed and I was able to break all records for sales for a new office, selling something like $1.25 million that year and winning “Salesman of the Year.” Unfortunately, in my youthful naïveté, I failed to get a contract. The owner of the company reneged on his promise for my commission and I was out my commission. But the Lord used it because I really, really enjoyed selling and making money. That’s when I faced another “take up your cross” moment. I had to choose whether I wanted to stay in the ministry or pursue a career in sales. At that point, I could have gone anywhere in the country with another roofing company. The company I’d worked for had a reputation for their record year which I was a major part of. It would have been easy to have found another position. A couple of roofing companies contacted me. One, even after I’d been pastoring our church for a few years, to see if I’d consider going back into roofing. 

  Please understand – there is nothing wrong with money. Money is merely a means of exchange. It’s our attitude toward money that’s either good or bad; godly or ungodly. There are several common attitudes toward money.

  Some despise money and the making of money. Yet, they have to survive and so they’re usually dependent on others to supply the hated “exchange” they need to survive. They also violate God’s will and command that we’re to use the gifts that He’s entrusted to us as a stewardship. We’re to be creative (Genesis 1:28). That’s why working and creating is so fulfilling. It’s how God designed us. Work isn’t part of the curse. Those who won’t work and aren’t creative are often some of the most miserable individuals on earth. They’re not fulfilling their God-ordained design and purpose.

  Some love to spend money. They’re consumed by consumerism and materialism. They live for bigger, better, brighter believing it will somehow bring meaning, fulfillment and satisfaction to their lives. It never will. Instead it succumbs to idolatry and they’ve fulfilled the tragedy of Romans 1:25, “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”

  Some love to save money. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with saving money. Saving money only becomes an issue when we hoard it and neglect Kingdom opportunities. We have a responsibility to use our money for our Lord (it’s all His after all). We are also to use our money to minister to the poor, particularly those who are fellow believers (1 John 3:17).

  Some love to make money. Some are just gifted at working, being creative or making the right investments. They know how to take a little bit of capital and make it grow, often exponentially. The Bible commends them for their wise money usage (Matthew 25:14-23). There’s nothing wrong with being wealthy. Some of the godliest individuals in the Bible were also some of the richest – Abraham, Job, Lydia – to name a few.

  Some love to give money. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Our generosity has profound potential to bring God glory. Miserliness, on the other hand, sours the effects of the gospel in our lives and others. Each of us, in assessing our own level of generosity or stinginess though needs to ask some vital questions:

·        Does my generosity lead others to give thanks to God for His glory?

·        Does my lifestyle generosity obedience to the gospel and is it for to the glory of God?

·        Do I really believe God will reward me for my generosity?

  We must all heed the warning found in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

  We are so blessed that we worship a God who gives freely and lavishly. So do we resemble our Heavenly Father? Is this kind of giving reflected in our checkbooks? Does our lifestyle keep the free flow of grace going to the glory of God? The Father gave His Son for us. Will we clench His grace tightly or let it flow freely through us toward His work? Let me encourage you to let the “treasure” God has entrusted with you to slip through your fingers into ministry and let God get all the glory.