Few things upset our stomach or throw wrenches into our relationship like money issues. Did you know that 40% of all divorces occur around disagreements and pressure that grow out of financial problems, overspending, debt, and misplaced priorities? So how do we choose peace when you're experiencing financial turmoil?
Stay with me. That's today on Living on the Edge. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Druey, and in this program, Chip continues his series, I Choose Peace, based in Philippians Chapter 4. His focus in this message will be on the obsessive love of money, and how that unhealthy habit can actually rob us of our peace. Before we begin, if you've been encouraged or inspired by this series, would you take a moment after this message and share it with a friend?
You can do that through the Chip Ingram map or by sending them the free MP3s that you'll find at livingontheedge.org. Now let's join Chip for part two of his message in financial uncertainty. What would it look like for you to develop a heart of compassion? Where could you take some of your wants and turn them into genuine needs? See, giving is the proof of our love. You can give without loving someone.
You know, you can pretend. But you can never love without giving, can you? So the first step of breaking greed is you develop personal compassion.
The second step is to develop a generous spirit. See, what money does, it not only hardens my heart, but it starts making me protective. And so as I am massed and as I get, the only way I can get more is I get to protect what I have. So when people or thoughts or even sermons start to mess around with my money, then all of a sudden we put the walls up. You know, I'll be back next week, but I'm not listening to much more of this. Shh, shh, shh.
You know. And so the only way, it's like a muscle. What we need to do is we need to get that muscle of our heart not only tender toward God, but we need to get it flowing. We need to develop a generous spirit. And the Philippians will teach us here, you develop a generous spirit by releasing the very thing that has power to consume you. The very thing that has power to consume or choke out God's life in you, you need to release.
You need to become generous in your attitude. And so notice what he says, verse 16. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
There was a systematic timing. Paul says, you know, the Thessalonica church, I mean, that's a pretty ritzy area compared to you Philippians. And he said, even though they could have supported me, but they didn't have the spiritual maturity, they just didn't get it, you, out of your need, you gave. And the phrase is again and again. In other words, they systematically, regularly gave to help Paul fulfill what God called him to do.
And it's going to be interesting what he tells them happened not for him, but in them because of that. But you develop a generous spirit by giving or releasing the very thing. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 16, one and two, and I could ask everyone, are you setting aside the first portion to the Lord because you need to give and to release?
I'm not going to do that. I was thinking, how could we get this? I don't know about you, I don't need one more ought, one more should, one more artificial guilt reflex. And by the way, I got to tell you, if you're waiting for, I bet they're going to talk about a building campaign later or the second offering will be coming around, right?
Just kind of relax, you can take your hand off that wallet or purse, there's nothing coming. This is God supplying, this is about you and your heart, this is not about any needs we have. And so I thought and I said, I got home from a speaking engagement and for me it was a little bit late and so I reviewed on the plane, but I got to this part and I thought, Lord, I need a picture to really help people see the reality but see your heart and your grace in a way that it would really connect.
And I don't have it. And so I drove in this morning in the parking lot and had about 45 minutes or an hour and you know, I went over my notes one more time and I just prayed and I said, God, would you give me a picture? Would you show me, how can I help people see this because I don't know. And he's, you know, I sit there quietly and this is how God speaks to me and he brings ideas and I said, ask him this question. I said, okay, okay. So I'm going to ask you this question.
Are you ready? And by the way, you know, relax. I mean, some of you are thinking, you're kind of new going, I don't know if I'm going to raise my hand. So you don't have to. But here's just a question. How many people when you go to a restaurant, leave a tip? You leave a tip. Okay. I mean, you just don't say, I'm not leaving, forget it, you know.
Now if it was really, really bad, I mean, if the service was good or, you know, general, you leave a tip. Okay. How many people leave 5%?
Okay. Not too many. How many people used to be 10%? How many people leave 10%? Not too many. Okay.
How many people, you go to a restaurant, the service is good, leave 15% as a general rule or maybe a little more. I'm not going to, go ahead and raise your hands if you do. If you don't, it's okay. Almost everybody. And here's the question God brought to my mind. What has occurred in American culture? What is the deception that has occurred where the peer pressure and the sociological aspects of why you would never think of leaving less than 15% that you don't have to on a table for a waitress or a waiter and yet about 2.7% of American Christians give even 10% of their income to God systematically? Now think this through.
Think of how powerful our foe is. I'm not quite sure, but I don't think my life, my breath, I wasn't created by the waiter. They didn't create the food, they just served it. And yet over here, the creator of the world who sent his son, who died for me, who raised from the dead, who covered my sin, who implanted his spirit within me, who has sealed me forever and ever, deposited spiritual gifts and has commanded me to remember it all belongs to him who says a beginning point.
I mean this isn't it. A beginning point would be a tithe and then learn proportionally as he blesses and the average American believer, about 97% of them, are disobedient to this and yet obedient to that cultural norm. If in the illustration where I talked about our foe in the scouting report, if you had any sense in which this really doesn't apply to you, if there was any sense in your heart where you said I'm not really greedy, but I bet there's some people that really need to hear this in this room, then the only thing I would ask you is, today at this moment, are you more faithful to give 15% to a waiter or a waitress who serves food that they didn't create than you are to give a minimum amount of the first portion of say 10% or more to the God who created the food and you and purchased your salvation.
And if you look at your own life and say I'm very consistent here and it's a real hit and miss here, can I tell you something? That Philogoria has you by the neck. And the problem is not that this church or some church or ministry needs your money. The problem is when I turn to the front page, it says that it is a lure. It says that it will plunge. It'll say there's destruction. It'll say that you're in the process of wandering from the truth because according to Jesus, wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart really is. And the only way to address this is first to get your heart soft through becoming compassionate and the second is by becoming generous and of course it's generosity in this way, but I think it's down to little things.
I think it's a lifestyle. I just tend to think about me. Sorry, I'm working through it. I'm growing, but I think about me.
I was in the airport. I had two hours and I thought well I'll study a little bit and I was kind of tired. I spoke about three or four times and I was at this coffee shop and this guy, it can't take this long to make a mocha, whoever this lady was in front of me.
I mean it's just like on and on. I just want a regular coffee. I'm just standing there and another guy came and he waited and waited and he got fed up and he just left and I'm just thinking and I'm tired and so my impatience and my focus on me is rising and my lack of generosity, patience and understanding is diminishing and I'm thinking buddy, buddy, buddy and you know I'm thinking it's not like the way I'd normally order coffee so it's not going to be quite as good. So I finally get a cup and then I go over and you know sometimes how they have the cream real loose so I just want to put a little in and it goes you know ah brother. Now it's not very strong and it looks like white milk and I take a sip. You know so I'm thinking to myself you know I pour a little out but I'm thinking I can't pour too much out.
He may not fill it back up because I don't know him like I know the guy at the corner. So I go over and I say hey this is the phrase. I said you think I could get a little grace?
He said what do you mean? I said buddy I put too much cream in. If I like just dump some out could you pour some more coffee in so it turned the right color? And he said yeah I'll do that for you and so he goes over and he pours in and gets the right color and as I got it I just thought to myself you know something attitude change. So I reached in my pocket and I said hey here's a buck I just want to tell you it's so great to be people with people that have such a good attitude and he went from this stoic pressure everyone doing that and from beam to beam he grinned he goes thanks man.
I said no thanks I really appreciate that. Two things for a dollar's worth of generosity for a dollar's worth of generosity this guy's attitude changed and I got a cup of coffee and instead of my critical spirit it was transformed to but you know I feel pretty good about getting to bless that guy. Do you understand when we're speaking of greed and generosity it's not just about money and it's not this little compartment called the church and what you give or not giving it is about a complete mindset about how you live and if you want contentment you're going to have to beat greed and the only way you beat greed is you got to develop personal compassion. You got to care about people and then you have to develop a generous spirit and then third you've got to develop a eternal perspective you've got to begin to live in such a way as though you actually believe there's a heaven and there's a hell and there's certain good things that happen in heaven to people who live in a certain way and that it's really wise to live life God's way. It's exactly what Paul's going to say.
Follow along now in step three. He says develop an eternal perspective how? By understanding the inseparable relationship between our money and authentic worship. Now this is all throughout the scripture but here's what you got to get. Your money is here, worship is here, we tend to have money in this category and worship in this category and God says that you can never separate them. Every financial decision you make ends up being a worship decision of some kind and I got to tell you as pastors I need to apologize to you on behalf of all my other pastors and I probably spent the first 10 or 12 years failing churches as well. Pastors don't talk about money. Jesus talked more about money than heaven and hell combined. Pastors don't talk about money and so the average believer doesn't know the relationship between money and worship. All they've heard is now and then we need some and we'd like to visit your house and find out how much you can give us and so money has been a bad word in the church. Money is about worship. There's a link between the two and once you see that, I mean those are from the words of Jesus and we've done a terrible, terrible job. The only time you hear money in church is about what you ought to give in some big need instead of this is what it means, here's how to be grateful, here's how to use it, here's how to align your family, here's how to protect your marriage, here's how to use money as a tool to develop your kids.
But how does this happen? Watch in this passage, this is an amazing thing. The apostle Paul is going to talk through and he's going to use financial and business terms to describe the gift that he gave them and then watch how he'll put a twist on it at the end and he'll say business, business, business, business, money, money, money and then it's like worship, God, spiritual terms. Notice what he says.
He says okay, I can do all things through Christ. It was good of you, I appreciate it. I mean even when I was in Thessalonica in that kind of wealthy place, you gave systematically but I want you to know my motives, not that I'm looking for the gift. This thank you note is not like you know the thing that you tear off on the bottom and so you can give your next gift. Not that I'm looking for the gift, I'm looking for what may be credited to your account. The phrase credited to your account is an accounting term of debit and credits. He's saying I'm looking for what of the spiritual P and L statement in heaven so that debits, credits, I want you to know that this gift isn't about the gift that I got, I'm happy because in heaven it's getting accredited to your account. Notice what he says, I have received full payment.
The phrase means literally, it's like I've got the receipt in my hand. I received in full payment and even more, I'm amply supplied. In other words, you know, Epaphroditus when he gave, I got plenty of money, that's not the issue. Now that I received it from Epaphroditus, the gifts you send me, they are, now notice the shift. What happened to the financial gift? How does he describe the financial gift?
They are underline fragrant offering, underline an acceptable sacrifice, underline pleasing to God. You gave, the gift is accredited spiritually to your account and the literal phrase, when you did that, it was like a burnt offering, a fragrant, a sweet smell that went up into the nostrils of God. He looked at it not as money but as a sacrifice unto him and it brought joy or pleasure to his heart. You see, the apostle Paul is teaching them and teaching us that an eternal perspective requires that you gotta see this relationship between your finances and your money and that when we give, it's an act of worship and what we do with our money is an act of worship and God wants you to know that every financial decision you make becomes spiritual decision, that sacrifices the heart. Don't you remember David in the threshing floor, remember that? Remember that time where he had sinned and he realized, hey, I've really blown it and he learned this is what I need to do and he was at the place, the guy's name was Aruna and God says, offer an offering and so Aruna goes, hey, man, you're the king, you can take my oxen and I've got some wood and I'll pay for the whole deal and remember what David said? Far be it from me that I would offer a sacrifice unto the Lord that cost me nothing. See, the Bible says that when I give my time, my energy, my talent, that there's a spiritual transaction occurs that accredits to me in heaven and I gotta believe, I've gotta come to believe that accumulating and getting and impressing and having now is not the end of the line.
As long as I believe that lie, I will never ever become a generous person and therefore I will never ever beat greed and therefore I'll never be content. The horizon will just keep moving. Well, a scouting report has two things, right? A scouting report tells you about the other team or the foe, their strengths, their weaknesses, but what does a good scouting report do? It gives you recommendations, hey, they run this kind of defense, you need to run this kind of offense or hey, I tell you what, that girl, she dropped the last seven guys and this is the way you did it, you say, hey, I'm not going to ask her out.
And so Paul is now going to give some scouting recommendations. He's going to give four specific commands about how you can now, okay, you know how formidable the foe is, out of the same chapter, he's going to give four specific commands to start you on a journey so that you could beat the greed monster and I think this is going to be a lifelong process for you and for me. And by the way, if you're sitting here thinking, if giving is the antidote to greed and if this is going to release my heart, I got to have eternal perspective and if your heart's kind of sinking and you're going, man, if this guy even had any idea how much debt I've gotten credit cards alone, plus I got a car on time, you could show pictures of kids with their bellies out to here till Jesus comes, I can't give. Am I destined forever and ever to be out of God's will? I mean, I think the hook is not in my mouth, I think it's somewhere down into my internal intestines, you know, and it's got me so how do I get out of this?
You get out of it through a process that begins today. And by the way, you know what, I didn't grow up in the church, I'm a skeptic and I ran into all kind of like what I call religious jerks and you may have had that and you're sitting here thinking, yeah, right, I think this guy's conning me. Give it to world vision. I mean, start being generous but if you think our motives are wrong, it's okay, just give it somewhere.
Here's the four commands, they're very clean, very clear, very quick. Command number one, command those who are rich in this present world, that's us, not to be arrogant or put their hope and wealth, which is so uncertain, see, it's to protect you, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Yes, we're to be sacrificial but we're to enjoy what he's given us.
You can't enjoy it if you're always worried about the payments and error. So he says, first of all, it's a focus. Put your hope on God for contentment and fulfillment, not on stuff. Second, verse 18, command them to do good, is the second command, to be rich in good deeds, third command, and to be generous and willing to share. So he says, look, you need to get your focus on God, then you need to have a lifestyle of doing good instead of getting, and then you need good deeds, give away your time, and then he says, be willing to share, give away your money and your possessions. So it's very general command, not hope on stuff, hope on God, do good, be a giver instead of a getter, then begin to share your time, good deeds, and then begin to share your stuff, be willing to share. And then what I love is that he says, if you do this, you're gonna win the game.
You'll beat the competitor. Look at the very last line. In this way, they will lay up treasure where you circle the phrase for themselves. We get this idea that, oh, you know, we're just doing this for some day, some way, somehow. God wants us to learn to be generous because in eternity, he says, there's a forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and you can increase the quality of that experience. He says, in this way, they'll lay up for themselves treasure as a firm foundation for the coming age so that in this present life, here it is, they may take hold of the life that is truly life. What does life that's truly life kind of sound like? Does that sound like a life where relationships work, a life where you have it and God can tap you on the shoulder and you can give it or keep it? You have it and instead of telling everyone how you got it on sale and feeling guilty about it, you can say, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't believe I get to live in a house like this. You've let me be generous. I don't have debt.
I've done this. Lord, who am I that you'd be so good to me? Life that is really life, a life without creditors calling, a life not believing the next thing or the biggest thing or the next style will fulfill but a life that knows in plenty or in want, I can do all things through Christ. I'd like you to ask the Lord a question as we close and the question I want you to ask him is this. Father, will you show me the extent to which greed has infiltrated my heart and my life?
And just sit quietly. Ask him to help you be honest. The goal here is to help you and then as you think about that, as you listen to his voice and then ask him, Lord, will you show me just the first step?
Don't try and solve all your problems and all your debt and all. Just say, Lord, will you show me the first step to move toward developing a heart of compassion, a generous spirit, eternal perspective? He will speak.
Just ask him. Chip will be right back with his application for this message in Financial Uncertainty from his series, I Choose Peace. Chip's focusing his attention in these programs on the circumstances that rob us of our peace, whether that's troubled relationships, difficult circumstances, moments of anxiousness or financial insecurity. This series provides practical biblical answers to these areas where we struggle to maintain peace.
And the fact is we all wrestle with finding contentment and harmony. So let me encourage you to reach out to a few friends and go through the series together and discover God's truly satisfying peace. For more information about this series or to order Chip's brand new book, I Choose Peace, visit livingontheedge.org.
App listeners tap special offers. Well, Chip, you've got an important application to share for this message. But before we get there, would you take a minute to explain why we ask listeners to support Living on the Edge financially? Well, first of all, ministry is always an issue of the heart. And Jesus says that wherever our treasure is, that is where our heart will be. The Bible also commands us to be generous and open and free. And everything that I have, everyone listening to my voice right now, everything they have, God has entrusted that to them. The second is the Bible is really clear not only that we should be generous, but aware we should be generous.
I personally believe that your first commitment is to your local church. But then there's that opportunity to give over and above that first portion and to express love because God says wherever you're spiritually ministered unto. In fact, the apostle Paul would say to a group of Christians, I ministered spiritually to you. And he actually went so far to say is, you have a financial obligation to minister back to me.
And in his situation, it wasn't like for airtime, I guess it was maybe donkey time or, you know, I need some new parchments or I need your financial resources to get on that ship to go from Corinth to Ephesus. And it's just the same here. You know, if you get ministered unto, one of the ways that you not only say thank you, but then you generously pass it on to others is to support that ministry that's ministering to you. So that's kind of what biblically why we do it. And, you know, there's just the reality of need and it's a partnership and a team. And so, and people are generous.
I mean, I'm thrilled. I'm very excited about how they do give. And so I want to say, if you haven't, you can get in on this.
And if you have, thank you very much. Well, if you're benefiting from Chip's teaching, now would be a great time to join the team. You could minister with us to help others receive the same blessing you're enjoying.
To send a gift or to become a monthly partner, donate online at livingontheedge.org, tap donate on the app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003. Your partnership is greatly appreciated. As we close today, I want to be gentle, but here's the deal. We all struggle with greed. Okay?
It's the human condition. So resist the temptation that I'm talking to someone else. All right?
It's just you and me right now. And I'm talking to you. So let's take a deep breath and say, okay, God, would you please show me, show me personally where greed still has a hold in my life? Would you show me where my fingers need to let go and my heart needs to get soft?
God, will you show me, would you give me, would you grant me the courage to trust you? You know, we learned two specific steps that God has given us in this passage that allow us to say no to greed and create a generous spirit and compassionate spirit. Step number one is compassion is cultivated when we put others' needs ahead of our wants.
What would it look like for you to do that today? And second, we really hit today as a generous spirit grows when we give away the very thing that can absolutely strangle our soul. I don't know how to say this to you, but unless you start giving your money away, let me encourage you to do something regular and some percentage, but give first to your local church. You need to begin to be that person that releases your money because you recognize it's not yours, it's God's. And as you begin to release your money, I will tell you, your heart will get softer and softer, your joy will be greater, and it will force you, it will literally force you to get priorities in line that will bless you for the rest of your life. Can I encourage you just from my pastor's heart, there isn't a demand, there isn't a get with the program, this is for your good.
Release your finances to the Lord, be compassionate, and you will find a God who will provide for every need. Well just before we close, our mission at Living on the Edge is to help Christians live like Christians. And one of the ways we do that is by giving away free resources. So when you hear a message that's especially helpful, we hope you'll pass it on to others.
They're easily shared from the Chip Ingram app or by forwarding the free MP3s from our website, livingontheedge.org. And don't forget to include a note about how it made a difference in your life. Well be sure to be with us again next time when we continue our current series. For Chip and the entire team here, this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.
