Tag Archives: Money

Chapter-a-Day

Celebrity

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Celebrity (CaD 1 Cor 3) – Wayfarer

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:5-6 (NIV)

When I was a young man, it was the age of mega churches and celebrity preachers. Size mattered, as well has having a preacher who could make it in the big leagues of television or publishing. It didn’t take me very long to observe that there was an entire industry built around them. Between conferences, videos, books, and guest appearances, there’s money to be made. I also observed in many instances that the higher certain individuals rose in celebrity, the harder they fell in messy, public ways.

There is something very human about the way we love celebrity. You can even see it behind the scenes in the Great Story. John the Baptist’s disciples start to feel the sting of John’s fading celebrity as the crowds start to migrate to Jesus. Jesus’ disciples start to argue over what positions they’ll occupy in what they assume will be Jesus’ earthly Kingdom. In the local gathering of Jesus’ followers in Corinth there was division based on loyalty to different leaders such as Paul, Peter, or a dynamic young preacher named Apollos.

Our local gathering of Jesus’ followers asked me to participate in trying something that was, in my experience, pretty unique. Over several years, I was asked to mentor and help individuals develop their preaching skills. not just church staff but also members who had demonstrated giftedness or calling. People were given opportunities, the messages in weekly worship were spread out among many individuals. It was a wonderful experience and I was privileged to be part of it.

In fact, there are many things that continue to be learned among our local gathering in which the multiple, diverse teacher paradigm generally continues. People began to appreciate different voices, perspectives, and communication styles. I as a listener discovered I had a responsibility to learn from whoever might be teaching any given week, not worry about who was teaching. It was amazing to watch how every teacher’s style resonated with different parts of the whole. All-in-all, I witnessed spiritual maturation taking place that was a complete contrast to the celebrity preacher paradigm I experienced in my youth and still witness in many places.

Paul is trying to make this very point with the fledgling believers in Corinth who are doing what we human beings do when we turn leaders into celebrities. Paul even tells the Corinthian believers directly that they are acting like silly human beings rather than spiritually mature disciples who understand that every leader, teacher, and preacher is an instrument that God uses to teach, develop, and grow us up. My spotlight should not be on the preacher I’m listening to, but on what God is doing in me to grow me up, mature me spiritually, and make me more spiritually fruitful each day. Or as Paul put it:

I don’t want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Lifetime Lessons

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Lifetime Lessons (CaD 1 Chr 29) – Wayfarer

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”
1 Chronicles 29:14 (NIV)

Along my spiritual journey, I have found that there are some lessons that I learned in a moment while there are other lessons that have required my lifetime to learn.

As a young person, I confess that I wasn’t great with money. Looking back, I believe there were a number of reasons for my lack of financial wisdom and discipline. It took me many years and a few mandatory classes at the School of Hard Knocks for me to wise up. Some of the lessons I had to learn about money were financial, some were behavioral, and some were spiritual.

One of the spiritual lessons I had to learn is that there is nothing in this world that is truly mine. When Jesus said He was the “Alpha and Omega” I believe that there is more to the metaphor than simply meaning He was present at the beginning and will be present at the end. I believe that everything in creation flowed from Christ and eventually everything will flow back to Him. The priest philosopher Chardin wrote about the “Omega Point” in physics. It’s the notion that just as the universe expanded from a small point of matter in the Big Bang, it will eventually collapse back into itself.

In John’s version of the Jesus Story, he begins with an epic prologue about Christ in which he writes, “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” In the book of Revelation, the same John is given a vision of heaven’s throne room. I have always found it interesting that as the multitudes praise Jesus they cry:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”
Revelation 5:12 (NIV) [emphasis added]

The Great Story presents Jesus as the Alpha Point. Everything comes from Him. It then presents Jesus as the Omega Point. Everything returns to Him. This brings me to the conclusion that nothing I have is mine. This includes my children and grandchildren who, like my finances, have been graciously given to me to steward. But, make no mistake, they belong to God. I’m simply a steward and a caretaker of all things in my dominion like the ones in Jesus’ parable of the talents. This, in turn, changes the way I think about everything I think I have or own. It’s taken me a lifetime to get here. I’m still learning.

In today’s final chapter of 1 Chronicles, David places Solomon on the throne, gives his personal treasures to the Temple building project, and encourages all the people of Israel to do the same. After the treasures are given to the construction project, David prays. As he prays he gives voice to this lesson it’s taken me a lifetime to learn.

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

When I thought that everything was mine, I confess that I was Ebenezer Scrooge-like in my generosity. As I have embraced the spiritual reality that nothing is mine and I am God’s steward of everything have, it has fueled generosity. Once again, I think of Jesus’ parable of the talents. If it all belongs to Him then the real question is “How does He want me to invest it?”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself both grateful and convicted. I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned and to experience how far I’ve come from the days of fiscal foolishness and my utter lack of discipline with money. I know, however, that I’m not done learning. I’ve still got a lot to learn when it comes to stewarding all that I have been given.

The chapter-a-day journey continues tomorrow with the book of Romans!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

How the Real World Works

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How the Real World Works (CaD Lk 22) – Wayfarer

“Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
Luke 22:53 (NIV)

I once knew a good man and follower of Jesus who worked for our local rural county on the road crew. As I was asking him about his job he told me hated it. I found this fascinating as it seemed like the kind of work he would enjoy. As I continued to question him, it became clear that the hatred of his job had nothing to do with the nature of the work but the nature of the workplace.

“The whole system is corrupt,” he told me. “This week I was sent out with a co-worker to fix a stretch of gravel road. It was a two-man job, however, and my co-worker refused to work. He just sat there and refused. So, I was stuck sitting there all day, too.” He went on to explain that the county government was controlled by a union that protected and perpetuated corruption and behavior like that of his co-worker. If my friend complained he would be threatened and punished. It was better to just keep your head down and your mouth shut.

Welcome to how things work in the “real world.”

A few years ago, I did a major study on the final hours of Jesus’ earthly journey. What I discovered in my study was that Jesus was tried and condemned by a fascinating combination of “real world” systems that included the earthly kingdoms of government, religion, and commerce.

The chief priests who arrested Jesus sat atop a political machine and cash cow in the Temple system. They were rich and powerful and they would not sit idly by and let anyone mess with the system that they controlled. As Luke points out again in today’s chapter, they were afraid of the crowds Jesus was drawing, and Jesus’ public criticism of them. They needed to get rid of the threat quickly and quietly.

The arrest of Jesus happens in the middle of the night in a garden on the Mount of Olives. It was illegal to hold a trial or condemn someone to death in the darkness of night. When Jesus points out that they could have arrested him any day that week as He taught in the Temple courts, He was making a legal point-of-order to the Temple officials arresting Him. This clandestine arrest and the series of kangaroo court trials they are about to put Him through are illegal. Jesus ironically points out that it is the “reign of darkness” that has arrived in the dead of night to arrest the Light of the World.

Along my earthly journey, I’ve learned from experience how things work in the “real world.” While not every system is corrupt, I’ve observed that the larger a system is, the more power it has in society, and the more money that’s involved, the more given to corruption it becomes. I’ve personally encountered corruption in the same systems of government, religion, and commerce that Jesus faced in his six trials. Like my friend who worked for the country road department, it’s easy to feel stuck in a corrupt system when there’s seemingly no way to fight it.

Luke wrote back in the fourth chapter that the evil one led Jesus up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Jesus, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4)

Jesus passed on the offer, and now those kingdoms of this world under the evil one’s dominion have come for Jesus. Jesus finds himself stuck in a corrupt worldly system with no earthly way to fight it.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself reminded that sometimes being a disciple of Jesus is very simple. I observe how the “real world” works and I choose to do the opposite.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Short-Cuts

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Short-Cuts (CaD Hos 12) – Wayfarer

The merchant uses dishonest scales
    and loves to defraud.
Ephraim boasts,
    “I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth they will not find in me
    any iniquity or sin.”
Hosea 12:7-8 (NIV)

When I was a young man, I was not great with money. I confess this. It took me some hard lessons, both financial and spiritual, along with some time to get things straightened out. It has been one of the most important spiritual lessons of my entire life journey. Part of that hard lesson I learned was that sound financial strategies, much like spiritual maturity, require discipline and longevity. Short-cuts appear tempting, but they make for long delays.

Along that journey, I’ve had a number of living parables present themselves.

I’ve personally known two individuals, both sincere and devout followers of Jesus and men I considered wise, who placed all of their retirement savings in one risky investment and ended up losing everything.

My father, the accountant, has regaled me with stories, repeatedly told, of businesses he discovered were cooking the books and kiting checks. The stories end up with law enforcement, businesses closing, and business owners in big trouble.

Years ago it was recommended to me (once again, by devout followers of Jesus who I considered wise) that we switch to using a broker who was making money hand-over-fist for clients. All the powerful and wealthy were flocking to this firm. Then, I witnessed that firm quickly and suddenly implode. The palatial offices were suddenly closed. Employees were quickly spinning off to create their own companies. Investors stuck in bad investments were livid and litigious. All these years later, I hear the lawsuits are still being settled.

In today’s chapter, the prophet Hosea raises charges against ancient Israel for the corruption and dishonesty that was happening among the wealthy and powerful elites who were packing the administrations of a string of crooked kings. He describes them as sitting atop the societal and governmental food chain working their dishonest schemes and feeling untouchable while the poor and marginalized suffered.

Hosea even uses the metaphor of Jacob to describe these ancient elites. Jacob was their patriarch who deceived his older twin of his birthright and then deceived their father to get the blessing of the first-born. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and Hosea makes it clear that the nation of Israel was guilty of their namesake’s deceptive ways.

In the quiet this morning, I am sobered by the trip down memory lane and the number of good people I have known who made foolish choices out of an out-of-control appetite to have greater financial security or to increase their earthly treasure. I’m reminded of Paul’s words to his young protégé Timothy: “godliness with contentment is great gain.” I’m also reminded that Jesus constantly spoke of being wise about what we treasure. He repeatedly spoke of the Kingdom of God as a hidden treasure worth giving up everything to acquire, while He spoke of earthly treasure as the worst investment one can make from a spiritual and eternity perspective.

Where am I susceptible to making foolish choices? What “too good to be true” opportunity would I be foolish enough to consider? Where am I most tempted to take short-cuts in life?

Short-cuts make for long delays.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Money Matters

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Money Matters (CaD Mal 3) – Wayfarer

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings.”
Malachi 3:8 (NIV)

I have a confession to make.

For much of my life I was terrible with money. It started as a child when I spent money as fast as I received it, and not wisely. I loved the thrill and experience of new things. When I got into college and discovered that Sears would give me a credit card and I could buy that cool stereo and pay it off over time, I was like a drug addict taking his first hit.

During my childhood, I was also taught about tithing. It’s a concept that goes back to the law of Moses. The first ten percent you make is offered to God in thanksgiving.

That felt very legalistic.

So, as young adult I gave on occasion. When I had a little extra. Which wasn’t often. Especially when my debts were piling up.

You get the picture.

The subject of money, wealth, and possessions are deeply and intimately personal. In some cases, I’ve observed that it’s a more taboo subject than sex. One friend of mine, who has been in pastoral ministry for decades, told me that the most harsh and angry reactions he has ever received from his messages over the years has been when he talks about money.

Here’s what I’ve learned along my own life journey: A true disciple of Jesus cannot escape dealing with the subject of money, wealth, and possessions. Jesus talked about it more than almost any subject because it has such a huge impact on my very understanding of myself, of God, and of others. When I hadn’t surrendered to Jesus’ teaching about money, I found my spiritual growth and development stalled in pretty much every area of my life.

Today’s chapter was instrumental in changing my fundamental perspective about the relationship between my finances and my spiritual well-being. It was in my memorization and meditations of verses 8-10 that were life-changing. I began to realize that my thoughts and perceptions about money were flawed at the very core. When I thought about tithing and giving God the first portion of my income as a legalistic rule, it was because I mistakenly thought that the money was mine. Therefore, wrenching my money from my possession was limiting the amount of my money that I could spend on the my desires.

Then I came the realization of what Jesus really taught. As a disciple of Jesus, I am to understand that nothing is mine. Everything is God’s. My job and my income are God’s blessings I have been graciously given that I might be a generous steward. And, I’ve learned that God’s modus operandi is the wise management and investment of resources for the sake of extravagant generosity which God has modeled for me and asks me to practice with others.

The story of my spiritual journey is inextricably woven with the story of my financial journey. My progress in the former is predicated on my progress in the latter. I humbly admit to making many mistakes along the way, and I am by no means perfect. Nevertheless, over a period of time I changed my core understanding of money, wealth, possessions and resources. I clawed my way out of debt. I learned how to practice financial discipline. Perhaps most importantly, I began to increasingly take the resources God has generously given Wendy and me and generously channel them to God and others as we are led.

It’s really what God was trying to teach His people through the prophet Malachi: If you don’t get the money thing right, you’ll never get the Spirit thing right.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

A Hobby Kind of Thing

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A Hobby Kind of Thing (CaD Matt 10) – Wayfarer

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
Matthew 10:16 (NIV)

I was in the local pub last week. I had to wait on some paperwork and figured I’d whet my whistle and work on responding to some emails while I waited. The pub tender told me that he’d been told I was a blogger. I explained that I’d been blogging for many years and had started podcasting in the past two years. I then got to explain my chapter-a-day model. I wasn’t sure, but I sensed that he might have had the impression that it has something to do with my career. I explained that it wasn’t a commercial thing and that I didn’t make money doing it.

“So, it’s just a hobby kind of thing?” he asked.

Another patron required the pub tender’s attention, and he slipped away. The question, however, continued to resonate within me. As with so many things of the Spirit, the pub tender’s question was loaded. The answer is layered. It is at once simple and mysteriously complex.

“Why do you do it?”

Matthew structured his biography of Jesus around five major discourses, or teachings, of Jesus. The first was the message on the hill in chapters 5-7. Today’s chapter is the second major discourse, in which Jesus’ calling of His twelve disciples and His instructions to them as He send them out to proclaim Jesus’ message.

As I read through the instructions, I was struck, once again, by the humility and austerity that He expected of them…

He told them not to pack any extras. Just the clothes on their back.
He told them not to take any money, but to trust God’s provision and the generosity of others.
He told them to give away Jesus’ teaching since it had been freely given to them.

Jesus then goes on to prophetically tell The Twelve not to expect the job to be easy.

They’ll be rejected and unwelcomed.
They’ll be arrested and taken into custody.
They’ll be flogged by God’s own people.
They’ll be put on trial by civic authorities.
They’ll be betrayed, perhaps by their own family members.
Their lives will be threatened.

In the quiet this morning, I couldn’t help but contrast this with all the televangelists and their personal kingdoms I’ve observed along my life journey. I contrasted it with all of the pastors, authors, teachers, and speakers I know and have met who make a living doing Jesus’ continued work on this earth. I don’t think it’s appropriate to expect that Jesus’ literal and specific instructions to The Twelve should be projected onto every single follower that came after. At the same time, there’s an underlying attitude that I think is always applicable. Things of the Spirit are layered with meaning.

I’m not responsible for others. I am responsible for myself. So, I find myself questioning my own attitude and motivations as the pub tender’s casual question continues to resonate in my soul.

“So, it’s just a hobby kind of thing?” he asked.

Yes, and…there’s so much more to it than that. As Jesus instructed The Twelve in today’s chapter: “You received the Message for free. Give it away for free.”

And so, one weekday and one chapter at a time, I freely scatter seeds of thought and Spirit to the four winds of the worldwide interweb. Perhaps, someday, I’ll find out how some of those seeds germinated, took root, flowered, and bore fruit. In the meantime, I keep doing what I’ve been called and compelled to do.

Here you go, wind…

[cue: clicks “Publish” button]

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Of Spirit and Paperweights

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Of Spirit and Paperweights (CaD Ecc 5) – Wayfarer

Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 (NIV)

I still remember a big, glass Skippy jar that belonged to my brother, Tim. The lid was wrapped tight with athletic tape and a slot for change was snipped into the tin lid. It was filled with change (Note: a Skippy jar full of pocket change could go a long way in those days). It sat there. For years it served as a paperweight on my brother’s desk. For years I saw that thing just sitting there…years.

During those years. I didn’t have a piggy bank or any such change jar. There was no point. If I had a dime I spent it.

That’s a parable, by the way.

It’s also a confession that I was not great with money for much of my life. It was a lesson that ended up being a long, hard stretch for me on both the spiritual and physical levels. But learn it, I did. As a sincere follower of Jesus, I couldn’t get around the fact that money and the spiritual implications of it, was His number one subject.

Not sex.
Not drinking.
Not drugs.
Not politics.
Not church attendance.

Money, wealth, possessions and their spiritual implications was numero uno on the Top Ten list of subjects that Jesus talked about. And, for anyone reading this who has not read Jesus’ teaching on the subject yourself, please know that it’s completely opposite of those televangelists who twist His teaching in order to pad their own pockets.

Yesterday morning I had the honor of kicking-off what will be a six-week series of messages about the economy of God’s Kingdom (it’s on the Messages page, btw). Talking about economics is always a tough subject from a spiritual perspective because money and economics are so intertwined with my life, my mind, my heart, and my spirit. I believe that’s why Jesus talked about it so much. I can live a good, religious, morally pure, upright life, but if I don’t get the spiritual lessons of economics right, then I’m still hopelessly stuck in spiritual kindergarten.

It felt like a little spiritual synchronicity that the Sage who authored Ecclesiastes is talking about this same subject in today’s chapter. What fascinated me is how it dove-tailed what I spoke about yesterday, and what stuck out to me in the chapter was an interesting contrast.

In verse 10, the Sage warns of the spiritual trap that wealth creates because there’s never enough, and the dissatisfaction and discontent of the perpetual more will eat a person’s soul.

In verse 11, the Sage warns of the spiritual trap of limitless consumption because it is also never satisfied. It leads to life as described in the movie Wall-E.

In verse 12, the Sage observes that there’s a certain simplicity of life and peace of spirit the comes with having very little, while having much only adds increasing layers of complexity and anxiety. This robs life of sleep (and peace, and joy, and goodness, and contentment, and etc.).

Wealth and consumption are spiritual traps that lead to bad places.

Then at the end of the chapter, the Sage observes what appears to be the exact opposite: “when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.” 

But I couldn’t help but notice the key ingredient in this latter observation. The wealth and possessions flow from God, they are received and held as the gift from God that they are by a person who manages those resources with a sense of gratitude, contentment, and spiritual discernment.

In my message yesterday I spoke about the spiritual lesson that I’ve learned (and learned the hard way) which must precede any conversation about money itself. Interestingly enough, Jesus told one wealthy man that selling all his possessions and giving it to the poor was the one thing he had to do. But Jesus had other people in his life, like Lazarus and his sisters, who were wealthy and Jesus didn’t ask them to do the same thing. I find this an important distinction that the Sage is revealing in today’s chapter.

The wealth isn’t the issue. The issue that precedes the money conversation is one of heart, eyes, and worship. You’re welcome to listen to the message if you’re interested in unpacking this more.

By the way, on my dresser sits a large coffee mug full of change. It basically serves as a paperweight. It’s been there for years.

I’m learning.

Chapter-a-Day

An Uncomfortable Realization

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If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:17-18 (NIV)

Very early in my spiritual journey, I was given the task by my mentor of choosing a couple of verses that would be my “Life Verse.” In other words, they were verses from God’s Message that I wanted to shape and inform the rest of my life. I was a young teenager at the time.

One of the verses I chose in that exercise still hangs on the wall in my office, written in calligraphy by one my brothers. It was a gift to me many years ago. That verse is from today’s chapter, which I originally memorized from the Living Bible paraphrase:

Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.

That verse understandably leapt off the page at me this morning, but the thing I really noticed was the verse before my life verse:

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

I have to confess this morning that generosity was not something that came naturally for me. Growing up, I had everything that I needed, but definitely not all that I wanted. Being the youngest of four, I grew up used to receiving the things handed down to me. Somewhere early in life, I developed a gross measure of selfishness. Any money I was given or earned flowed quickly and freely through my fingers. I would quickly spend everything I had to get something, anything that was new and shiny, and all mine even if it was something I quickly consumed.

Along my spiritual journey, I eventually had to own up to the fact that I had a massive blind spot. I was deep in debt, had very little to show for it, and a look at my finances would reveal that my behavior pattern hadn’t changed since I was a young boy. I continued to quickly spend everything I had (even money I didn’t have) to get something, anything that was new and shiny, and all mine even if it was something I quickly consumed.

The harsh truth of the matter was that I had memorized words that said I wanted to love people and show it by my actions. Ask me and I could rattle it off by heart at the drop of a hat complete with the reference. If you asked me to recite the verse before it, I would have looked at you with a blank stare. I had completely ignored the description of what that love by action really meant. How can I say that the love of God is in me and that I am following Jesus when everything in my life revealed a total lack of generosity fueled by endless and out-of-control consumption?

I am glad that this life is a spiritual journey. It allows time and opportunity for old things to pass away, and new things to come. Just as John had to be transformed by love to address his anger, rage, and lust for prominence (which I wrote about in yesterday’s post), I needed to be transformed by love to address my selfish consumption, fiscal irresponsibility, and lack of generosity.

I confess that writing this post is a little uncomfortable for me this morning. However, that’s another lesson I’ve learned along my journey: If I’m not at least a little uncomfortable then I’m not making progress.

Before me lies another day. In fact, it’s day 19,723 for me (FYI: You can quickly calculate your days at this website). It’s time to press on.

Thanks for reading, my friend.

Chapter-a-Day

All Worthwhile Things…

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Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
Proverbs 12:11 (NIV)

When I first met the man he was a drug dealer. He knew it was wrong, but it was so easy and the money was good. He’d never really given college a serious thought (even though he was very intelligent and had been offered a full-ride). His job options, therefore, were somewhat limited. As the years went on I would see him on an occasional basis. He gave up dealing, but it appeared to me to have given him an appetite for easy money. There was a period of time in which each time I saw him he was trying a different get-rich-quick scheme. I observed that every new scheme he was convinced was his golden ticket to wealth had an up-front-cost to get started which, ironically, quickly made him poorer. The “get rich” part of the schemes never panned out. He eventually worked a few menial jobs for a period of time but his life continued to spiral into despair and depression. Last I knew, he hasn’t had a job for a long time and lives in depressive isolation.

I thought of him this morning when I read the proverb pasted to the top of this post. I have never met a person who so diligently sought a shortcut to riches and ended in such a tragic place, though I have certainly encountered others like him along my life journey. I am reminded of a visit that I paid to a former high school teacher many years ago. As he shared with me the changes that he’s witnessed in students over the years of his career he said, “If my students simply took the time and energy they expend trying to cheat and applied it to their studies they’d be fine.”

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that work is work, and there is no avoiding this fact. It’s stated plainly right at the beginning in the Genesis story. Ironically, I just heard it referenced on Ash Wednesday last week as a young man rubbed ashes on my forehead:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)

There is something in me that desires for life to be easy, but I long ago embraced the reality that worthwhile things require time, energy, attention, and discipline. In other words: it’s work. This is true in pretty much every area of life including education, career, relationships, family, physical health and wellness, and spiritual growth. I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that work is required for results. Right now I’m struggling with the changing body metabolism that occurs naturally at my stage of life. I need more sleep. My body doesn’t burn energy as efficiently. The same diet and exercise regimen suddenly has diminishing effects in comparison to a few years ago. It takes more work than it used to.

Worthwhile things require work. It is what it is. I can try to avoid it, or I can embrace it.

It is Monday morning. Time to get to work.

Have a good week!

Chapter-a-Day

Money Trouble

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When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.
Acts 16:19 (NIV)

I’m writing this morning’s post in the airport. Having wrapped up a week-long business trip I’m headed home. I spent the week serving a client in the financial sector. As I meditate on all that I’ve done this week, the teams I’ve worked with, the managers I’ve mentored, a common theme has been money.

  • Agents leaving their jobs to go to another company to make more money.
  • A manager who told me she’s turned down multiple job offers, including one that promised to double her pay, because she was happy in her job and her father taught her that more money was a foolish reason to leave a job you loved.
  • A young man telling me about his job scrutinizing the flow of money for potential threats.
  • A manager struggling to find new hires because most applicants have such poor credit histories from the way they handle their money.
  •  An agent at a restaurant with his boss, an award he’d received for his exceptional customer service, looks at the menu and then asks how much money he could spend.

All these little moments come back to me as I think about today’s chapter. Until this point in the history of the early Jesus Movement the conflicts (and there has been a lot of conflict) have been theological in nature between the Jewish tribe from which the Jesus movement sprang, the orthodox Jews who viewed the Jesus movement as a threatening heresy, and the explosive growth of non-Jewish believers who had no interest in holding to Jewish traditions.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that there had been an inflection point, and today’s chapter begins to hint at the differences that are beginning to emerge. Paul and his companion, Silas, are in the town of Philippi sharing the Message of Jesus. A conflict arises in which Paul and Silas are accosted, beaten, threatened, accused, and thrown into the local jail. The conflict wasn’t about theology, however, it was about money.

A young slave girl, possessed by an evil spirit, was a capable and profitable fortune-teller because of the presence of the evil spirit indwelling her. She was also so annoying that Paul commands the spirit to leave the girl in the name of Jesus. The spirit leaves. You’d think that this was a good thing, but not for the slave girl’s owners. No spirit, no fortune-telling. Paul and Silas, these out-of-town street preachers  had effectively screwed with the business and cash-flow of an upstanding member of the Philippi Chamber of Commerce.

You want to stir up trouble for yourself? Visit a strange town and mess with a local businessman’s cash-flow. As my week conducting business with my client reminds me this morning it’s always about money.

I sit this morning amidst the hustle and bustle of business travelers scurrying about in a major international airport. I’m reminded that Jesus said more about money than almost anything else. He used stories of money in parables because he knew that everyone could relate. He compared the spiritual desire we should have for the Kingdom of God to the frantic search of a poor woman for her lost savings. And of course, there’s that uncomfortable bit Jesus had to say about money being the number one thing that distracts us from that which is of eternal value.

This week as I sat in mentoring sessions with managers and supervisors, I found it fascinating that most of them came to our sessions with things that they wanted to talk with me about. For one it was the break-up of a long-term relationship, for another it was managing conflict within a personal relationship, and for another it was about a struggle to remain sober. Funny, the things with which they were ultimately concerned were not about business leadership and finance, though we did talk about those things. What they were frantic about was not about money, but about life and relationships and matters of Spirit.

Me too.

It’s been a good business trip, but now I’m headed…

Home, where my thoughts escapin’
Home, where my music’s playin’
Home, where m’love lies waiting silently for me.

Have a good weekend, my friend.