Are You Serving God or Money?

 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

–Matthew 6:24

We know that we’re called to serve God rather than money. But in a culture that constantly pulls us in the opposite direction, it’s easy to drift into serving money without realizing it. We want to do the right thing when it comes to stewardship – but how can we tell if we’re on the right track? How do we know if we’re serving God as stewards or serving money as owners? Are there some guidelines we can use to gauge our stewardship?

In this article, the first in a series of “measuring stick” articles, we’ll look at some helpful indicators of whom we’re serving.

It’s Not About Wealth

The question of whether we’re serving God or money is not strictly a matter of how much or how little we have, but more an issue of how we steward that wealth.

The Wealthy Can Serve Either Master

The Bible gives many accounts of wealthy people who served God with their wealth and with their lives. Abraham chose serving God over serving money on multiple occasions:

• He allowed Lot to choose which land to take when they separated, and God responded by repeating his covenant of land to Abraham (Genesis 13).
• He gave a tenth of the plunder to Melchizedek the priest after the victory in which he rescued Lot – and this was hundreds of years before the tithe was established as law for Israel! (Genesis 14)
• At the same time, he refused to accept any of the spoils from the victory so that his wealth would never be attributed to the king of Sodom, but to God (Genesis 14:21-24).

David also exemplified serving God in the context of wealth; a couple of examples include:

• He insisted on paying for Araunah’s threshing floor as a place to build an altar, saying, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:18-25).
• He led the way in providing for the building of the Temple through his donations (1 Chronicles 22:2-4).

In the New Testament, wealthy women followed Jesus and supported his ministry out of their means (Luke 8:2-3). When Paul gives Timothy instructions to pass on to the wealthy in the church at Ephesus, he does not condemn their wealth but rather encourages faithful stewardship of it (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

On the other hand, we also see examples of wealthy people who served money. Contrast the responses of Zacchaeus and the rich ruler to their encounters with Jesus. One determined to use his wealth for good; the other decided not to follow Jesus because he couldn’t give up his wealth. The rich fool in the parable of Luke 12:13-21 served money in two ways: first, in the pursuit of wealth, then in the selfish use of it for his own comfort.

It’s even possible for a wealthy person to serve God and serve money at different points of life. Consider Solomon, the wealthiest man who had lived to that point. In his early years, he followed God faithfully; but then his heart was turned by his wealth and foreign wives. By disobeying the directives God had given for the king regarding wealth (Deuteronomy 17:16-17), he wandered away from God.

The Poor Can Serve Either Master

What’s true of the wealthy is also true of the poor. They can serve God with the little they have, or they can devote themselves to money.

Jesus praised the widow who put her meager means into the temple treasury for how she served God with what she had (Mark 12:41-44). We’re reminded of an earlier widow who had used up the last of her flour to bake bread for Elijah – only to find that the flour didn’t run out for the duration of the drought (1 Kings 17).

On the other hand, those who are not wealthy can let their lives be driven by the pursuit of wealth. Consider Achan, whose coveting of some of the spoils from the battle of Jericho (spoils that belonged to God – see Joshua 6:17-19) led to the destruction of his entire family.  Or the example that Jesus gave in the parable of the unmerciful servant, where a man had a large debt forgiven only to turn around and demand payment of a much smaller debt.

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Whom Do You Serve?

So if we can’t tell based on our wealth whether we are serving God or serving money, how do we make that determination? To repeat our opening question, how do we know if we’re on the right track?

Like so many aspects of stewardship, there are few if any hard-and-fast rules on this. But there are Biblical and practical guidelines that will help us see where we stand. So, in our best Jeff Foxworthy imitation…

You Might Be Serving Money If…

• You see yourself as owner rather than steward. You consider your possessions, including money, as your own, and resist any attempts from “outside” (even the Bible!) to influence how you treat money. Related, you see yourself as the main source of your provision, rather than God, resulting in a lack of gratitude.
• You live with a scarcity mindset. You’re constantly worried about money and think there’s never enough. You feel pressure to earn more and save more and worry that you can’t catch up, let alone get ahead. You find it difficult to trust God to provide and as a result, you struggle with contentment.
• Your finances are subject to “lifestyle creep”. With every increase in income – whether that’s regular income, such as salary, or windfall income, like bonuses or tax refunds – your first thought is to add to your lifestyle. Over time, although your income continues to increase, your lifestyle increases in parallel, so that you’re never creating more margin.
• You look to money for security. Related, you consider your savings (rather than God) as your security. You put your hope in wealth rather than God, contrary to Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 6:17. This may drive compulsion to over-earn and over-save, and may hinder generosity.
• You’re driven to earn beyond your needs. Your career is the most important thing in your life and your identity is based more on your job than on your relationship with Christ. Your family and other relationships suffer because of the imbalance between work and home life.
• You struggle with generosity. You resent the notion of God’s ownership. Giving takes a back seat to other spending priorities. You never consider foregoing something you want in order to give to God or to others.
• You over-spend your income. Whether through a desire to please yourself or others, or simply through lack of attention, you consistently outspend your earnings, creating negative cash flow and failing to multiply God’s resources.
• You save beyond your needs. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you constantly feel the need to save more. Like the Rich Fool in the parable, you’re driven by accumulating as much as possible “just in case”. This compulsion to accumulate drives earning, spending, and giving decisions.
• You’ve accumulated significant consumer debt. As a result of overspending, your credit card balances have grown and you find yourself in a position where it’s hard to meet all your financial obligations.

You’re Probably Serving God If…

• You see yourself as steward rather than owner. You recognize that everything, even the ability to earn money, comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). You see God as the owner of all things (Psalm 24:1). This leads you to gratitude for God’s provision and to looking to God rather than to money for security.
• You live with an abundance mindset. Since you see God as your Provider, you tend to think that you have “enough” (regardless of what that looks like). You live with contentment – not that you don’t work to multiply God’s resources and enhance your lifestyle – but that this doesn’t drive you, because you have a sense of “enough”.
• You have a lifestyle cap. Related, you don’t feel compelled to expand your lifestyle with each new level of income. When you take in more, you prioritize giving and saving rather than spending it all. You may or may not have defined a specific earning goal, but your sense of “enough” frees you to enjoy God’s provision (1 Timothy 6:17) in the context of stewardship.
• Your “stewardship indicators” are positive. You have positive cash flow and you’re growing your net worth over time, multiplying God’s resources. You prioritize generosity and consistently grow in this area.
• You work/earn diligently. Your attitude at work is not driven by how much money you’re making or by climbing the ladder, but rather by serving others. You work wholeheartedly, as if working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23). You maintain a positive attitude without grumbling or arguing (Philippians 2:14-15) and respect your bosses even when they are less than reasonable (1 Peter 2:18-20). You emphasize creating value for your employer, not just putting in time. You look for ways to maximize your earning but you’re not driven by dollars.
• You give generously. You prioritize giving as the first use of income and you give systematically and proportionally. At times, you make sacrifices in order to give. You find joy in giving – seeing results in the growth of God’s kingdom and in the lives of others.
• You save wisely. You make both long-term and short-term saving a priority. You have an Emergency fund of 2% or more of your annual gross income set aside. You’re saving ongoingly for retirement and other long-term goals. You’re working toward a 3-month net and possibly replacement savings beyond that. You have specific goals you’re saving toward and have an understanding of how much you need to save; you don’t hoard by saving “just in case”.
• You approach debt cautiously. You don’t carry consumer debt or, if you do, you’re working toward paying it down as a top priority. You carefully evaluate the potential for efficient debt (such as mortgages or student loans).
• You build stewardship habits into your finances. You have a Spending Plan and you regularly review your spending against that plan, making adjustments as needed. You understand your priorities and non-negotiables and your Spending Plan reflects them. You make adjustments as your life circumstances change.
• You’re intentional about stewardship. You involve your family (as applicable) in financial discussions and decisions. You pass on Biblical wisdom about money to your children. You’re aware of your own money motivations and how they might affect your decisions. You understand that financial decisions often involve trade-offs and you make those decisions knowing the consequences.

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Finding Meaning in Whom We Serve

Wealth is deceitful and uncertain (Matthew 13:22; 1 Timothy 6:17). It promises meaning, but it fails to deliver. Whether we serve money through accumulation or through spending, it ultimately leads to a life without purpose (Ecclesiastes 5:10; 2:10-11). We serve money when we look to wealth for security or for happiness. We serve money (consciously or unconsciously) when we think of ourselves as owners rather than as stewards.

But real meaning comes in serving God – in seeing ourselves as stewards of his good provision. Such a mindset leads us to:

• Contentment regardless of circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13),
• Enjoyment of God’s good gifts (James 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:17), and
• Treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21; Colossians 3:1-4).

Serving God may sound like drudgery from the outside; but for those who live this lifestyle, it’s a source of joy. The Westminster Catechism instructs us that our chief purpose is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Serving and glorifying God isn’t the opposite of joy – it is the path to joy.

So where do you find yourself in the above descriptions? Did you resonate more with the characteristics of serving money or those of serving God? What is God leading you to do about what you’ve discovered?

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