Faithful Stewardship: Embracing Generosity and Trust in God

Hey, online Rooted! How's it going? What an incredible story! If you're like me, going into week eight, we know you may be seeing a little bit of your story in what we just watched.

For everyone, when we come into Money Week, we don't know exactly what to expect. First of all, congratulations for making it this far! We've been praying for you. We've been hearing stories of what's been happening in your Rooted groups. We've been excited because our facilitators are pumped—not just because you're taking hold of your purpose, not just because you're coming to group and talking about the homework you did that week and having discussions with everyone in the group, and it's coming to life every single week, but that you've stayed committed to something.

Now, this week is an incredible week, and the reason we gather together like this for week eight is so that you hear a very clear, very concise biblical presentation of what God has to say about money and how it relates to us—how we find ourselves in that story. We're going to be joined by one of our lead pastors, who's going to unpack for us what God has to say about this and what we have to learn from it.

So, without any more waiting, I know you guys are all having a blast in your Rooted groups. We're going to hear from that lead pastor, and then we're going to get back into group time and have some great discussion. So here you go, let's kick it off.

So, my relationship with money has always been a little bit tricky, especially when I was young. I remember my mom, who is a pastor's wife, and for that reason, we weren't making a ton of money. I would often see her on the phone checking to see whether this next check would, in fact, clear. I just remember thinking, "Gosh, I just don't want it to be that way when I'm older, when I'm married, if I have a family."

So, I've always had a struggle with being able to really give, to really let go, to really trust that God will take care of me. There was this worry all the way from high school to college. Taking out student loans—was this too much? That sort of scarcity mentality impacted my giving to the church. I always wanted to give that kind of standard 10%, but always wondering whether I should give any much more than that.

I think as I got older and then got into marriage, as folks say, oftentimes in a couple, there's one spouse who's more the spender or giver, and the other who's more the saver. I'm certainly more the saver. There was a very interesting moment that came when Rooted was on the topic of giving. At the end of our evening, my wife and I were chatting about whether we should perhaps increase our giving.

When I asked her about it, I said, "You know, maybe we should take some time to give it a week or pray about maybe upping our giving at church." It was kind of neat—her response. She said, "Let's just do it." I found myself experiencing this sort of joy of relief. I can trust that God will provide. We're making this decision on an act of faith and with joy.

There is a different way to live. There's a better way to live. There is a freer way to live. There's actually a more joyful way to live, and it comes when we come to the end of ourselves and actually, in some sense, show the world that we are carefree because we're cared for.

We have a son, a 2-year-old, and I think of my son and how there is nothing I wouldn't do for him. I look at him with such fondness, and all I have to remember is that my God, my Father, looks at me with that same fondness, but times a million. If I could just get a glimpse of what that must be like for Him to love me in the way that I love my son, then I wouldn't have a worry in this world.

Welcome to week eight of Rooted! You have made it so far already, and there are only a couple of weeks left. Now, this week, I'm excited for you because we're going to talk about a subject that oftentimes many people wonder: where does the church stand when it comes to the role of money or finance in our life? That's a tricky topic, right?

It's important for us that a pastor like myself takes a few moments just to share with you what is God's perspective on money. There are a lot of misconceptions out there. There are a lot of people who want to say that the church is misusing or mishandling, or actually the motive behind finances is wrong. So, we have to look at God's word to really understand why money is so important in our spiritual journey.

But before we get too far, I just want to say, look at how much you have already done. You have spent time in God's word. You have understood what it means to hear His voice. You've had prayer experiences. You've shared your story. You have made some courageous decisions so far, and God has been with you all along the way.

As we get into this topic, one that can be really challenging for many of us, what I want you to see is that God is with you in this topic as well. God wants you to grow and to learn more about Him, even with topics that are challenging to so many of us.

Now, the primary reason that we're not here is that God needs your money. God actually does not need your money. He's doing just fine on His own. But the challenging thing is, if you ask the question, does the church want your money? The answer to that is actually yes, but probably not for the reason that you think.

You see, as I open up God's word, specifically in the Gospels, and I look at the things that Jesus did, the places He went, the things that He taught, I see a theme that emerges. Jesus was always going at whatever the issue of the day that was warring within the hearts of people—the things that were separating them from understanding who God actually is and what it means to live in His kingdom.

So, if Jesus were to show up here today to you and I could teach at our church or could have a conversation with us at a coffee shop, what do you think He would want to talk to us about? You see, we live in a time where money is critically important. In fact, it is a driving force in many of our lives. So, if Jesus wanted to talk to you and I about a topic, I believe high on that list would be the role of money in our life.

Now, the Bible is not shy when it comes to talking about money. In fact, you and I would probably agree that prayer and faith are two really important topics. Throughout the Bible, there are about 500 verses on prayer and faith. So, what about giving or generosity or finance? There are 2,000 verses. So, just by sheer numbers, the Bible is showing you that there is a lot to say about the role of money in your life.

So, let's look at a parable that Jesus teaches about understanding the role of money in our life. Now, every time Jesus tells a story, His intent is that He's going to share a reframe—a way for us to relearn what it means to understand the kingdom of God. Then He wants for us to discuss it. In fact, oftentimes as He shared stories, He knew that His disciples would go off and they would discuss the story that they heard.

I love that we do that in Rooted. In fact, as I share this story, you may want to discuss it in your group as well. So, here's Matthew chapter 25, beginning in verse 14. It says, "For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one, he gave five talents; to another, two talents; and to another, one talent, depending on each one's ability. Then he went on a journey.

Immediately, the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way, the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money."

So, right off the top, Jesus is going to flip the script on our understanding of finance in our life. I actually believe that this first principle is the most challenging. If we can press in here and we can cross this threshold together, everything else starts to make sense. It becomes a little bit smoother in our life.

You see, the first thing that Jesus does is He sets up two characters in the story: there's a master and there are servants. Anytime we see those two things, the master is going to be God, and the servants will be us. The master gives a distribution of his own possessions to his servants. God has given you everything you have in your life. What we have been given changes everything that we understand about what we have.

So, right now, as you think about all the things in your life, you think about your bank account, the clothes in your closet, you think about the portfolio that you're managing, you think about all of the possessions—those are things that have been given. You see, far too often, we think that these are things that we have amassed, we have earned, we are owners of, and therefore we are entitled to.

You see, you and I are not giving to God; we are faithfully stewarding what God has given to us. So, the master in the story gathers three servants. There's a person who gets five talents, another two, and then the last one gets one. So, what is a talent? Well, it's equivalent—in our day, it's actually quite a bit of money. In the first century, a talent would have been a bag of gold equal to an average person's weight. So, let's just call it 150 pounds or so—that would be the weight of a bag of gold.

Now, in today's economy, each bag, each talent would be roughly $1.4 million. So, he gathers three servants, and the first one gets five bags, each of $1.4 million—roughly $7 million is handed to the first one. Then the second one gets two bags, around $2.8 million.

What does Jesus say happened for those two first servants? They received something from the master, and they immediately put it to work. They went and did something with what they were given. They were recipients of something that they knew was never theirs in the beginning, and they did something with what they were given.

Now, what I love about God's word is it says immediately they put it to work. When the master comes back, both of them—the ones who put it to work—had doubled what they were given. There is no character in this story that was receiving something, putting it to work, and came back with nothing.

You see, when we are responsible with what we are given, we will have a return. We will be able to give something to God because He has given to us. So, as the master comes back, he gathers his servants together, and the one who got five and the one who got two present before the master what they had done with the possession, the money that they were given.

I want you to see the master's response when the one with five brought back ten and the one who was given two was given four back. Now listen to what the master says. His master said to them—he says it twice in this passage—"Well done, good and faithful servant. You are faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things."

And then this is my favorite part: he says, "Share your master's joy." Aren't all of us on some quest in life to try to figure out how to be happier? Like, every one of us wants to feel more joyful in our life. What Jesus is saying is actually the pathway to joy is generosity. It's having a right understanding of where our possessions, our wealth, our life comes from, and then doing something with it.

As we do something in obedience and response to the one who gave us everything, we will naturally experience joy. It's what comes out of us. But there is another character in this story. For the first two, they immediately put it to work, and they got to experience joy. But look at the other one—the one who received only one bag of gold, one bag of $1.4 million. He was still given more wealth than what the average person of the first century could have ever fathomed in their life.

But his comparison to the other is what knocked him off course from the very beginning. It says that the one who had been given one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. So, when the master collects the servants back together, there are three of them walking, but only one of them is dragging this dirty, dusty bag of gold that he had to unearth from the ground that he hid it in.

I want you to see this person's response to the master as he gathers them back together. He says, "Master, I know you. You are a harsh man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed. So, I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours."

It's pretty scary—the first words from this servant because he says, "Master, I know you," and he couldn't be more wrong. So, if the first concept that we have to wrestle through here today is that God is the owner and therefore the generous giver, that makes you and I the faithful stewards of everything that we have been given.

But as we can see from this third servant, there's a second part that we have to wrestle with, which is this: your view of God will dictate your activity in the kingdom of God. However you see Him, whatever characterization of God that you have, will absolutely inform all of your behavior, all of your thoughts, all of your actions in the kingdom of God.

This third servant proves that point. He shows that the way he saw God forced him, pushed him to bury what was given to him, and he is the only one that came back without a return. He came back with exactly what had been given. He presented before the master the same thing that was given to him, and he did not get to experience the joy that the other three had.

Now, we live in a time today where we have a lot of people telling us what to do with our money and how to actually gain more wealth and what it defines about us. You see, for so many of us, our money defines who we are. It becomes a critical part of our identity, and that's because we live in a broken, fallen world.

The world that God created in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, that we see in that beautiful opening of God's word, that world is no more. Genesis chapter 3 changed everything, and it is broken, it is fallen. So, we live in a world that is constantly drifting away from the beauty of what God created in the very beginning.

Now, that means that you and I are self-centered in our nature. In fact, there is a word in the English language that really you didn't have to be taught. If you raise kids, if you've been around little children, perhaps 2 or 3 years old, if they have a toy that they love and you hand it to them and try to take it back from them, you will hear the single word that you never had to teach them, and that word is "mine."

A kid will white-knuckle grip onto something that they have, not wanting to let it go out of fear that if they let it go, they will never see it again. They grasp onto something that they have been given and hold on so tightly for fear that they will never see it again.

Now, in a 2-year-old, it's okay. We can teach them little things like "sharing is caring," and over time they'll start to understand that if they let go of that toy, it will be there when they come back, right? But when it happens in a teenager or a young 20-something, when they still have that "mine" mentality, when they white-knuckle grip onto their possessions, their talent, their status, when they hang on to their very things, that "mine" mentality starts to become a character flaw and something that over time is incredibly hard to let go of.

I would even venture to say that that starts to become a stronghold, just like we discussed in week five of Rooted. Now, I know it's not you, but you could probably think of somebody in your life that is even well into adulthood that still has that "mine" mentality.

If we have a "mine" mentality to everything that we have been given, we are not faithfully stewarding what God has given to us. We signed up for a spiritual adventure. We signed up to grow more in His likeness, which means that we acknowledge everything's been given to us, and therefore we can live more freely and more open-handed to everything that we have.

One of the primary things that you and I are going to have to overcome is the message that is always given to us: that money is power. Let me explain what I mean. Have you had one of those days where you're feeling a little insecure about yourself? Perhaps it was a tough day at work, or you're just not feeling great about the way that you look. We feel a need deep inside of us, and so we want to make ourselves feel better.

So, what do we do? We hop onto that Amazon cart that we've stored up and we've clicked "save for later," and we make that purchase that we've been wanting to make to make ourselves feel better. A little retail therapy never hurts, right? Well, what do you need in order for that retail therapy to work? You need the money in order to make it happen.

You see, we've made a connection between the money in our bank account and the feelings that we want to feel, or even deeper, the needs that we have. For instance, think about how right now in your job, maybe you're in a lull in your workplace. You're kind of struggling with just the day-to-day monotony of getting the work done that you have to do.

So, what happens on your lunch break? You open up Instagram, you start to scroll through other people's lives, and of course, everyone is having a better day than you. In fact, they're probably on vacation, sitting on a beach, enjoying their day. It's beautiful where they are, and it's not where you are. So, what do you feel? Well, I feel like my life isn't as good as theirs. In fact, I start to become increasingly more dissatisfied with my own life, and the one thing that will make me feel more satisfied, that will make me feel happier, is to be on vacation. But you need money to make that vacation happen.

You see, you've made the connection between money making you feel more satisfied in life. Money will make you feel happier. So, the problem is not the feeling; the problem is the connection that we have built between what we want to feel and the money that's going to make us feel better.

So, thankfully, research has shown us that that's not actually true—that money doesn't actually equal power to make us feel better. Years ago, Harvard did a study where they tried to understand how much money is actually enough for the average person.

Here's what they did: they gathered groups of people that made similar annual incomes, and they had a very basic question for them: how much would make you feel better about yourself? How much is actually enough for you?

So, the first group of people made about $30,000 annually, and they gathered them together and said, "Okay, you guys make about $30,000. What we're curious about is how much would be enough for you?" The $30,000 group kind of put their heads together and came up with a number. They said, "If we could just make $60,000, we would feel so much better."

So, the Harvard people took their clipboards out and made some notes. "Okay, thank you, that's very interesting." Then they got to the next group, which made about $50,000 a year, and they asked them the same question: "We know that you make about $50,000. What would be the right number for you?"

They said, "Well, thank you so much for asking. We've been struggling a little bit, and if we could just make about $100,000 a year, all of our problems would go away. That's all we really would ever need."

So, Harvard wrote down, "No, that's a thank you for sharing that with us." Then they gathered a group of people that actually made about $100,000 a year and said, "How are you doing?" They were like, "We are not doing good. We are really struggling making $100,000."

They said, "Well, what would it take? What would you need?" So, the $100,000 crew got together and said, "If we could just make $200,000, every problem in our life would go away."

So, Harvard's like, "Wow, that's really fascinating. Thank you for sharing that." Then they got a group together that made $250,000 a year and said, "How are you?" They were like, "We are awful, actually. It's been really tight this month. We need to make more money."

They go, "We understand. We can't imagine how hard your life is. How much money do you need to make?" They said, "Well, very few people ask us how we're doing. Thank you. If we could make $500,000, you see where this is going, right?"

So, the last group of people they gathered was the million-dollar club—people whose annual salary is a million dollars a year. Harvard said to that group, "How much money do you need?" They said, "Thank you. It has been very tight. We're really not sure if we're going to make it by the end of the month. If we could just make $5 million, we would be better."

So, what can we learn from this Harvard study? I think two principles come to mind. First is, no matter what you make, enough is never going to be enough. That line of where you will feel comfortable in life is always out in front of you.

The second thing is there's evidence to show that the more you make, the further that line actually gets. So, will enough actually ever be enough? The answer to that is no.

So, we have to address this idea of money in our life. Believing that it is power is actually an inverse of trusting that God is the almighty, powerful one who gives you everything in your life. If we don't trust God like a generous owner and giver, then we will never be a faithful steward.

Now, when I first started coming to church, I heard a talk just like this, and I was trying to understand what it is that I am supposed to do. How much am I supposed to give? What does it mean for me to be generous? I'll be honest, I was a young college kid who had just given his life to Jesus, and I heard a talk similar to this. I heard someone talking about recurring giving, and I was like, "What are you really going to do with my $184 a month? There's just nothing that you can do with that."

So, I hid behind that lie for a really long time—that my amount meant very little. Until years later, I started to wrestle with the grip that greed had on my own heart. I started to notice these patterns and trends emerging in my life where I was white-knuckle gripping onto my own financial life.

I started to then give to places where I could see the immediate gift. I would give to the homeless person or to the charity or to a high school kid going to camp. I would give so that I could feel the grip of greed relief in my life. But it was actually a few years into my own marriage that I started talking to my wife about recurring giving.

I said, "You know, I think we should start giving at the same frequency that we are given." Meaning, when we get paid, I think we should be giving back to God. My wife, who grew up in a beautiful Christian home, was like, "Obviously, I've been kind of waiting for you to say that." I was just so in awe of the faith and the courage that my wife had in that, and so she led me in that way.

We started having conversations about recurring giving, and that right there began this beautiful journey of generosity in my own household that is still now present to this very day with my own kids. I can say to you that the beauty of giving is that we get to experience the joy of our Father. That as we give, we experience His joy.

Now, one last passage just briefly comes out of 1 Timothy chapter 6. This is the Apostle Paul, and he is instructing a young pastor who has planted a church and is trying to figure out how to lead his people well, clearly in some form of an affluent area. Look at what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, starting in verse 17. He says, "Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of what is truly life."

So, Timothy is now instructed to lead his church in this way—to say if you want to experience true life, the good life, he breaks it down into two simple points: do good and be generous. To do good and to be generous really is the backbone of everything.

So, what does it mean to be generous? Well, the Bible gives us two words to understand that it is regular and proportionate. Regular means consistent. It means just like I shared in my own story, at the same frequency in which money comes into my bank account is the same frequency in which it goes to God.

Setting up that recurring kind of giving makes the most sense because what it does is it fights against my drift towards wanting to grip on tight to what I believe wrongly is mine—that I have earned and I am therefore entitled to.

So, what about proportionate? Proportionate means that we're going to take a portion of what we have been given and set that aside to give back to God as a faithful steward—the one who acknowledges God has given to me, and out of obedience, out of worship, out of response, I give a portion of that back to Him.

Now, I'm actually less concerned about the portion as I am about the frequency. I think that setting up recurring giving is the first and most important step, and then the second one—the portion in which we give—is the journey that we'll go on for the rest of your life.

As you give, your trust and your faith will grow, and you will see that you are always able to trust Him more, which means we can always, always give more. So, it's less about the number, and it's more about the posture of your heart. It's more about putting us in a place where it almost feels like we're out of our comfort zone just a little bit, taking that next step in risk and saying, "God, thank you for giving me what you have. I want to give just a little bit more so that I can experience your joy and show that I want to trust you with everything that I have."

One of the things I hear often is when we're talking about generosity in our life, someone will say, "I'll become generous as soon as I get out of debt." Now, I recognize that many of us are dealing with debt. In fact, in America, consumer debt is worse than it has ever been in history. Many people are carrying around credit card debt, auto loans, and what that's kind of similar to me is that friend in your life that says, "Oh, you go to church? Man, that's really great for you. My life is a total mess. I'll go to church as soon as I clean my life up."

Don't you look at that friend in your life and say, "Oh, you've completely misunderstood the church." You see, the church is where I go to help my life get cleaned up. I believe that's the similar thing with generosity—that we don't go and become generous when we are no longer in debt. We take baby steps side by side as we become more generous. We also make strategic and intentional steps to chip away at our debt.

So, I believe that as you are right now kind of thinking through, "All right, what does this look like for me?" that the real crux of the issue is to sit down and have an honest conversation with God and say, "God, thank you. God, thank you that everything I have you have given. Now, as an act of worship to the great giver, the one who has provided you with all things, how are we going to step forward from here?"

It's about deciding how frequent can I give? I would recommend it's at the same frequency in which you get paid. Then what's going to be the gift that you give? Start somewhere. If you are already giving, what would it look like for you to take your next step and say, "I'm going to go from 3% to 4% of my annual income?" Take that courageous step forward.

So, as we close, allow me to pray for you as you just consider what it is that God wants to do in your heart.

So, God, thank you. God, I trust that today as we have opened up your word, that your Holy Spirit has been moving. I believe, God, that if we can here today acknowledge that everything we have is something that you have given us, that it will move us to worship because, God, you have given so generously in our life.

So, as we worship you, allow us to worship you with our generosity—not giving back to you, but saying, "God, thank you for what you have given. What will you do with what I can give?"

So, God, I pray that as we all sit and we kind of think about what's the frequency and what's the amount for us, God, the final thing that I would say in my own heart is that, God, you have trusted me with everything that I have, and so I want to trust you with what I am able to give.

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I hope you all enjoyed getting to hear a little bit from God's word about what He has to say about money. In addition to your homework, I believe you're going to have some great discussion going into group time, and I want to get you there as quickly as possible.

Just remember this: everyone finds themselves on a different spot in the journey of generosity. As you're discussing, as you're talking, and going with an open mind and open heart, as others share their story, you may find yourself in a different place. That's great! Everyone is going in the same direction toward Jesus.

I love that! So, let's have some great discussion and have some enjoyable time. Thank your facilitators—they love you very, very much. Have a blast, guys! See you later!