Though I often daydream of farming, hunting, gathering, and bartering for all my basic needs - the world we live in requires some form of money to navigate daily life.
Money is a story we agree on to help us store and exchange economic value. If I am a farmer with peaches and you are a quilter with blankets, we can barter and likely keep track of our trade even if we don’t both have exactly what the other needs all at one time. Add in a mason with bricks, a lumberjack with firewood, and a shepherd with wool - suddenly the record keeping gets complicated. Layer in 7 billion people with more abstract things to contribute like marriage counseling and piano lessons - it becomes clear that agreeing on a single unit helps us keep track of exchanges through time.
My peaches are delicious but will also rot, and our characters’ other goods are too useful to keep the score. As long as we can agree on a common unit, we could pick almost anything. It helps if the unit is difficult to create more of, useless for most other purposes, and doesn’t decay - things like shells or gold have been used for thousands of years.
The economy becomes this massively complex system where we divide up tasks according to each person’s skills, resources, and time; then distill value into an agreed-upon unit. It is a beautiful dance where we all rely on God’s provision and what He equips each of us with. This keeps us from total self-sufficiency, which is appealing but from experience I can tell you it is a lonely place. The economy brings us back to each other.
In the reality of our broken world, the economy too is broken - the rules are not fair, inflation is built into the system, and some people benefit while many others suffer. It is healthy to wrestle with this but easy to get stuck here, we have to find a way to move forward with what we have control over.
I used to think money was THE root of all evil. Years later, I see more clearly how Jesus taught the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money alone is just a tool, like a hammer. A hammer can break fingers or build houses depending on the hands that wield it.
The problem comes when money grows in our hearts and minds to more than it is meant to be. Shells to keep score can take on a life of their own in our minds, corrupting our hearts by convincing us we will have power, control, security, purpose, and a ticket to the good life with just a little more. On the other hand, money can be used virtuously as part of what feeds us, clothes us, and supports other people in times of hardship or disadvantage.
Money itself is too small a story to be the center point of our lives. It can be the wind in the sails of a ship charting a course, but without a set course the ship will just blow around in meaningless drifting.
So chart a course - define what is important to you, explore ways to move God’s human project forward - and use money as a tool to help you get there. When it is not anchored in a larger story, money can become the default pursuit as others fill in the story for you.
A few guiding principles:
- Spend less than you earn, borrow cautiously, give, save, and invest the surplus.
- Define what game you are playing - are you seeking to live faithfully with what’s been given to you? Trying to get rich quickly? Slowly? Be honest here as this will drive the voices you listen to and the steps you take.
- Compound interest works both ways. Get it on your side to work smarter, not harder.
As for me, I am interested in good stewardship, family life, and financial flexibility. I enjoy working, applying myself, and contributing value to the world, and I also acknowledge work is more fun when you have some choice in it. I want the freedom to focus on things other than money and I think slow, unsexy, long-term money strategies are the surest way to get there.
Even if we boil the ocean in all this exploration only to decide we like exactly where we’re at with work and money, we will be doing so with greater awareness of the stewardship dilemmas surrounding money.