Render Unto Caesar What Is Caesar’s

What's most important to you when it comes to choosing your financial advisor? Someone who's aligned with your biblical values. How about someone who will take the time to explain your options? Certified Kingdom Advisors are professionals who meet high standards in competence and integrity, and have been trained to offer biblical financial advice.

To find a Certified Kingdom Advisor in your area, visit faithfi.com and click Find a CKA. So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. This phrase spoken by Jesus in Matthew 22 21 stands as one of his most profound and thought-provoking statements in all of the New Testament. But is this verse talking about more than just paying our taxes? Today, we're going to explore its historical context and the spiritual implications these words have for us as his followers today. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well, these words from Jesus occurred during a tense encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. They sought to trap him with a politically charged question. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? At the time, Israel was under Roman occupation and paying taxes to the Emperor was a point of bitter resentment among the Jewish people. To affirm paying taxes might alienate Jesus from his Jewish followers while opposing it could label him a revolutionary in the eyes of Rome. Instead of falling into their trap, Jesus asked for a denarius, a coin bearing Caesar's image, and asked a question in return.

Whose likeness and inscription is this? When they answered Caesar's, he delivered his famous response. At a surface level, Jesus' reply affirms the necessity of fulfilling one's civic duties.

Caesar's image on the coin represents the earthly government's jurisdiction. By saying, render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, Jesus acknowledges the legitimacy of human authority in its proper sphere. This also aligns with what the Apostle Paul taught later in Romans 13 1-7 where he reminds believers to submit to governing authorities as instituted by God. Christians are called to respect laws, pay taxes, and contribute to the well-being of the societies in which they live. Yet Jesus does not stop there.

He follows with a profound counterbalance. Render unto God what is God's. To understand the weight of this statement, we must ask, what belongs to God?

Well, the answer lies in the concept of the imago Dei, the belief that human beings are created in the image of God. Just as the coin bears Caesar's image and belongs to him, we bear God's image and belong to him. Knowing this calls us to total surrender and loyalty to God. While we may owe taxes, respect, and obedience to our earthly authorities, our ultimate allegiance is to God who claims our entire being, our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. Jesus challenges our inclination to divide life into the secular and the sacred, treating faith as a private matter disconnected from our public lives.

Yet his teaching breaks down this false divide. If everything belongs to God, then every part of life, work, relationships, finances, and citizenship is sacred. Therefore, we are called to integrate faith into every sphere, rendering all things to God as an act of worship. Also, by pointing to the image on the coin and connecting it to ownership, Jesus invites us to consider whose image we bear and to whom we belong.

The question of allegiance is not just about paying taxes, it's about identity and purpose. Do we see ourselves primarily as citizens of an earthly nation or as children of God and the citizens of his kingdom? This eternal perspective should completely transform how we navigate today's worldly systems and their challenges. Jesus' teaching also underscores the transient nature of earthly power compared to God's eternal reign. Caesar's coins, empires, and systems will all pass away, but God's kingdom is everlasting. While Christians are called to engage in earthly matters responsibly, they must do so with the understanding that their ultimate hope lies in God's unshakable kingdom.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's calls us to be faithful stewards in both earthly and heavenly realms. It reminds us to honor our temporal obligations while keeping our eternal priorities in focus. As the Apostle Peter wrote, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession. This identity compels us to live in a way that glorifies God in every area of life. Ultimately, Jesus' statement is not merely a clever response to a political trap, but a profound declaration of divine truth.

It reminds us that while we live in the world, we are not of it. Our citizenship is in heaven and our lives are meant to reflect God's glory. The challenge for every believer is to discern how to faithfully render what is due to both Caesar and God, always prioritizing the eternal over the temporal. All right, your calls are next. The number to get in on the conversation today, 800-525-7000.

I'm Rob West, and we'll be right back. Are you looking for a financial professional who aligns with your biblical values? Certified Kingdom Advisors are trusted financial, legal, or accounting professionals who have completed a rigorous certification program to ensure they provide biblically wise financial advice as part of their practice.

You can find a local CKA professional in your area by going to faithbuy.com and clicking Find a CKA. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Soundmind Investing. If you have money in an investment account, you know sometimes the stock market can seem like a roller coaster, but it's possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind as a do-it-yourself investor, no matter what's happening in the market. A short video webinar about that is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Financial wisdom for living well, soundmindinvesting.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith in Finance. We're taking your calls and questions today on anything financial. You've got questions, call right now, 800-525-7000. We'd love to chat with you. Katie's been waiting patiently in Alabama.

Katie, go ahead. So I am on a limited budget. I'm paying for school. My husband has to help cover, well, he has to cover more of the bills than I do. My job, I have no problem giving gifts at work. We're asked to, you know, give gifts like for boss day. We gave $10 each from everybody to give to our boss for a thank you, and I was fine with that. We did a meal for Thanksgiving and made something, but then somebody lost a loved one and we contributed and bought them a gift, and then Christmas came up, and then we had to, things have just been adding up to where I don't have the money to give out these gifts and the Christian part of me is like, well, this is a donation, you know, like I kind of think of it as a donation or a contribution, but I really don't have the means to do this, and I've probably spent over $200 in the last month just with little gifts at work. So my question is, how do I tell my co-workers, because it's not my boss asking for the money or the gifts, it's my co-workers that are like, hey, you know, can you send me $10 to pay for this? Can you send me $10 to pay for that? So how do I, is it wrong of me or not Christian of me to not want to give?

Should I have a different mindset or should I tell my co-workers that I don't have the budget for this right now? Like it's gone too far? Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I totally hear you, Katie. And no, there's nothing that would just based on your, you know, being a Christ follower and wanting to live out, you know, God's Word as a steward.

I totally get it. You're on a limited income. You're trying to budget and be responsible with what you have. And you know, you just only have so much for kind of these extra things.

Now, should we be generous people as God's people? Yeah, absolutely. But we also need to have a plan and you only have so much to work with and limited resources. And so you are the steward of that and you need to you and your husband work that out prayerfully before the Lord. But that doesn't mean you should be expected to support every little thing that comes up.

And you know, other people may have more discretionary income for a variety of reasons. So I think there's a couple of approaches you could take. I think I know you said your boss isn't the one that's kind of making all of this happen. And yet I think if you had just kind of a side conversation with your boss in private, you know, perhaps it would go something like listen, I love working here and I love my co-workers and I love you know that we're looking for ways to be generous and support people that have needs and we like to have fun, you know here and that's great.

But I would just love to share with you just a little perspective on kind of what has happened in. Let me just use the last couple of months as an example and just you know help you to see that this is has gotten beyond what I have the means to cover and would you mind in whatever way you think is appropriate just kind of generally making it known like, hey guys, you know, I just want you to be aware that this is great that we're doing this stuff, but we can't let it get out of hand because you know, some people just may not be able to participate as frequently as these things are coming up and perhaps in a staff meeting or something like that. He could just you know, kind of nonchalantly drop that in and maybe set the tone for this is a good thing, but within reason and so I think that would be one approach without you having to go to each person and have that conversation.

Now if he was not comfortable with that or you would rather not go that approach. The other approach is to kind of approach each person once any one of these things come up and if you can participate great, but if you can't just pull that person aside and say, hey, I really appreciate what you're doing here. I just want you to know I'm not going to jump in on this one and I just am stretched a little thin and I don't have the ability to do that and and perhaps as you have a few of those conversations throughout the year, maybe that in and of itself will kind of dial this back because you know, a better approach would be anytime one of these comes up and maybe your boss could set the tone for this for them to make it really clear that this is optional, right and hey, we want to put this out there to be able to bless this person or this cause or whatever it is, but we know not everybody, you know can participate and everybody has lots of various, you know priorities. And so if they put that kind of more optional participation on the table, it would make folks who are unable to jump in not feel like they have to do it and that's really the place you want to be. Does that all make sense though?

That does thank you very much. Absolutely. Listen, I don't want you to feel guilty at all about this, you know in different seasons of life.

We have different levels of discretionary income. And so the fact that you can't participate at every turn when somebody kind of dreams up something that everybody needs to jump in on is not anything you need to feel bad about whatsoever. And so I think if you go into it with the right heart posture, you know affirming first and then just sharing your heart and just the reality of the situation, I suspect every person you talk to, you know that will be met with great receptivity and hopefully lead to maybe a change because I suspect they just haven't thought about it in that way. And you know hearing your perspective will probably go a long way to helping others who are in the same position, Katie, that just you know aren't going to take the effort to say anything about it. They'll probably be glad you did. Hey, thanks for your call today. Lord bless you. Let's take a couple of emails.

These come in every week and we don't always get time to tackle them. So I want to do a few of them now before we head to our next break and then in our final segment, we will be taking a few more of your phone calls. So if you have a financial question today, whether it's related to your lifestyle spending and staying on budget, maybe it's getting out of debt, any of those topics and more, we'd love to tackle your questions today. You can call right now.

We have lines open 800-525-7000. This question comes from Cindy. She writes, I have a friend who's married to an unbeliever and her spouse sees no value in money beyond spending it. Do you have any advice for how she can make a budget and share it with her spouse so that his eyes might be open to the importance of financial stewardship?

And boy, this is a great question. You know, we come to the marriage relationship with different money backgrounds. Money was handled differently by our parents usually than our spouse. Keep in mind, your approach to money was largely formed based on research by the age of nine. And so how tightly you grip it, how loosely you hold it, whether generosity was modeled, whether a spending plan was modeled by your parents, all of these things shape how you handle money today. And so part of getting on the same page as a married couple to deal with things like the importance of having a spending plan comes down to understanding. I need to understand my spouse and what they bring to the table with regard to money management.

They need to understand my spouse needs to understand me. And that's a good beginning point. And then we build on that. And I think the big idea with regard to budgeting is not that we're trying to restrict anybody. It's not necessarily about hey, we need to put a budget in place because you're overspending.

I mean that may be part of it. But the bigger why is the budget is the way we accomplish God's purposes. And we're never going to get to the destination we want to without a plan. So let's define our values and our priorities. Let's let those inform our goals.

And then let's see the budget not as a restriction, but a way to accomplish God's purposes. Give that a shot. Well folks, we're just getting started here today. We've got some great questions coming up.

We do have a few lines still remaining open. So if you have a financial question you want to get in on the conversation, this would be a great time to do it. Call right now.

1-800-525-7000. You know, our goal in this program each day to be an encouragement to you, to be hopeful and wise, also to be reverent to God's Word. We believe stewardship of God's resources is a high calling. We want you to get that right.

We'll be right back. God has made they want to help investors do well by doing good to explore a new way of investing that aligns with your values. More information is available at one ascent.com and by clicking analyze my investments empty stomachs waterborne illnesses hopelessness. These are harsh realities for impoverished African children, but you can make a difference join with cross International to share the love of Jesus with a child in critical need today. Each gift of $62 provides a child with life-saving resources.

Give now at cross international.org slash faith or 866-843-9500 and help kids go from barely surviving to thriving. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. All right, we've got room for a few more questions today. We're taking those calls at 800-525-7000 anything Financial going on in your life today. Let's talk about it. All right, we're going to head to Indiana Steve. Thanks for your patience, sir. Go ahead. Hey, thank you Rob for taking my call. Appreciate your show.

Appreciate your Godly wisdom and I echo everything you said that everything belongs to God. Well, I'm 57 and my wife and I are pretty much debt-free and we have this desire to work together, but I'm just a little bit navigating some waters of how to do that and what to do. What's the process and should I do it or at my age is it too much of a risk or are you never too young to do that venture? Yeah, I would say you're never you know, it's never too late. I think you just have to recognize that especially in this season of life, you know, when we look at the numbers we see how many small new small businesses fail. I mean it's upwards of 80% and that shouldn't scare us but it's one thing when it's kind of early in our work career or midway through and we've got plenty of time to recover. What you don't want is kind of in this season of life to go into something where you know, you're taking a lot of the hard-earned money you put away and putting it at risk without the ability to recover.

So you just don't want to put your financial house in jeopardy through, you know, the starting of a new business. With that said, I like what I'm hearing. You guys, you know, you're 57. I'm going to say you're young. You probably have plenty of energy, you know, you're debt-free.

That's awesome. That means your lifestyle expenses are probably pretty lean and you know, this may be a great season for you guys to do something together and start something that you can build. I would just say, you know, you want to be thoughtful about that and especially if it's going to require you to take on any debt or put your savings at least that portion that's going to be necessary to provide income in the future if this is unsuccessful, you know, at risk.

And so I think that's the key idea there at the start. Beyond that, you know, what are the steps to considering starting a new business? Well, you know, you want to look at, you know, a thoughtful evaluation of your idea. You want to explore the market and I've already mentioned your personal readiness. So in terms of validating your idea, I mean, you want to make sure you know what the problem is that this business solves and who your target audience is and then, you know, is there a demand for it? So that's the market research. Who's the competitors?

Is it a growing market? What are the startup costs going to be and how much, again, can you afford to risk and do you have a financial safety net? And then I think beyond that, it's really just, you know, creating that business plan, maybe testing the idea by starting small if that's possible and then, you know, get some advice and counsel along the way. But those are just general ideas.

I mean, we can talk specifically about what you're thinking, but hopefully that, you know, gets you started. Yeah, no, I'm currently in the trades and construction and working on some homes, but at the same time, you know, my wife and I, we really enjoy doing that together, remodeling our own home and have done it several times, but looking to branch into that arena. So the startup costs, I don't think would be too extensive, but at the same time, it's generating the leads and having the support system behind it. Do you recommend as far as investment wise to just separate everything, like do a LLC or just sole proprietor or what's your recommendation in that aspect? Yeah, I think an LLC would be the way to go just to limit your liability and to have everything separate in that legal structure from your personal financial situation. And I'd get some counsel on that as you not only get that business, that corporation set up, but put the legal structure in place. So would you be buying kind of fixer uppers, doing the work yourself and then trying to flip them? Is that the business?

No, we would just be focusing on kitchen and bathroom remodels and in that area. There just seems to be a lot of need for people updating that, but you know, we pray and we seek the Lord's guidance, but at the same time, there's always that fear and hesitation that, you know, you jumped into something and there goes the economy. So yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I think the good news is I have a lot more confidence in where the economy is headed, you know, now just because of what I know about President Trump's policies.

That's not necessarily a political statement. I'm just talking about on the merits of the, you know, the economic policies and he's come out of the gate really strong just in terms of deregulation and cutting taxes and just creating a really pro-growth environment in the US, which is going to bode us well, so long as we can keep our debt under control and I know a lot of what he's trying to do is going to address that as well. So I think, you know, this sounds like a great business in the sense that you've got the skill set and the know-how.

You've been doing it a long time. You guys are wanting to go into business together and do something together. I love that idea and it's not like you're taking on a lot of debt trying to buy homes, you know, you'd be coming in and, you know, doing the remodels there with the kitchen and bathroom specifically and, you know, you'd obviously bid it out and then get an initial down payment that would allow you to buy all the materials. So it doesn't sound like, you know, you'd have a whole lot of out-of-pocket costs and you could kind of let this thing grow over time. And if you're a craftsman, boy, there's no shortage of demand for people that, you know, that want to, you know, redo bathrooms and kitchens and I know there's a lot of profit to be made there as well. So I like the idea overall.

I think the key is just go slow and be careful not to, you know, put too much at risk and I would get some good counsel both from a tax and a legal standpoint. Okay. Well, it's great to hear from a brother in Christ talk about this and appreciate the show and the avid listener and paid five partner. So that's amazing. Well, Steve, thank you, man.

That's incredible. We're grateful for your partnership with us here at Faithfy and all the best to you and your wife in this new venture. Hey, call us back and let us know how it's going along the way. We'd love to check in with you as you get this up and launched and you guys have fun working together.

That sounds fabulous. God bless you, bud. Well, folks, we are about out of time today, but I'm so thankful to have you along with us today. And you know what?

We're always grateful for your questions and you stopping by. At the end of the day, here's our heart is that you would be able to manage God's money wisely. You know, I think it was Rick Warren, the author of The Purpose Driven Life and the pastor that said there's two questions on the final exam when you get to heaven. What did you do with Jesus? That's the most important. And then second, what did you do with what you were given? And that's the part that we deal with here.

Once you've surrendered your life and placed your trust in Christ for your salvation. Now it's about stewardship of time and talent and treasure. Yes, money and relationships and truth. And we want to help you be that wise and faithful steward of the resources, the money that God has entrusted to you, recognizing it all belongs to him. And so now the way we're found faithful is to understand his heart, the heart of the master. The only way we can do that is to look to scripture. And so each day, our hope and prayers, we can be an encouragement to you in that, give you some practical ideas to think about, remind you of a biblical worldview of money management, looking at everything through the lens of scripture. Far too few Christians, even Christians today, operate truly out of a biblical worldview in every domain of life. We want to help you get that right in this money area.

It doesn't mean we have all the answers, but we know the source does and that source is God's word. So hopefully you found something helpful today. Let me say thanks to my team today, Amy, Tahira, Jim, Anthony, and everybody here at Faith Buy. We'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Bye-bye.