In a series of articles, the Pioneer Business team have been introducing the values of their community and gathering people to explore each principle through monthly zooms. If you would like to receive their updates directly to your inbox and join their events, subscribe to their email list here.

Money

Honour the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
Proverbs 3:9 ESV

We are inviting members of Pioneer Business to commit to generosity and wise stewardship of resources: at work to tithe from your business, at home to make provision for family and close friends, and in church to commit to giving and to meeting the needs of those across the church.

One time John D Rockefeller, when asked the question, ‘How much money is enough?’ quipped, ‘Just a little bit more!’

His answer reveals a profound truth about the human heart; a motive that is played out in wider society and, all too often, in the hearts and minds of believers in Jesus Christ as well. It’s a truth that, if we’re really honest, can creep into our own minds and hearts from time to time.

For years as a self-employed tutor I really struggled with not attaching my worth to the volume of work I did. I was paid by the hour, so the more I worked the more money I earned. Earning money made me feel valued, and in turn it attached value to my contribution to everything else.

The logic was sound: the more I earned, the more I could give, provide, bless others with.

The outcomes were noble: generosity towards church community (2 Corinthians 9:7), provision for my family (1 Timothy 5:8), blessing to those in need (Matthew 5:42).

The motivation underneath it all was simple economics: the more I had, the more I could give.

But the economics of the kingdom are the complete opposite.

When Jesus watches the widow drop her two coins into the offering in Luke 21:1-4, he claims she has given more than anyone else: ‘…she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on.’

Jesus' instruction around money isn’t based on how much we have, or on what we can afford. Jesus calls us to live by a completely different value system: faith. David understood this when he said, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14).

All too easily we take the good aspirations of generosity, provision and blessing, and replace God as the giver with ourselves. I think that’s why the rich young ruler went away disheartened when Jesus instructs him in Mark 10:21 to “go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

He didn’t understand that his many possessions were not really his but God’s, and therefore entrusted to him to steward. He couldn’t take that step of obedience to Jesus because his wealth had taken residence in his heart.

Is it any wonder that Jesus said that you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24)?

So what does it look like to live by faith with our businesses and our finances?

Jesus’ invitation to the rich young ruler is to follow him, the widow’s offering is an act of sacrificial devotion, and the challenge from Matthew 6 is “who do you serve?” For me, all these are summed up in one word: obedience.

Obedience requires faith, and is a beautiful way of expressing submission free from any hint of legalism. It allows us to contextualise the instructions of Jesus and marry that with a prophetic leading.

Jesus calls us to live by a different value system, different metrics to measure our successes and failures by, inspiring us to lay aside a worldly pattern of greed and storing up treasures on earth, and to make investments not of cash but of faith (Matthew 6:19-21).

Traditional metrics and tools can be helpful. We want to be wise stewards of what has been entrusted to us, wise as serpents, innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). (In fact, we use many of them in our local church context to manage budgets, plan for growth and project future finances). But if they become the primary focus we can become a slave to the numbers and lose sight of God in the process.

What would it look like for your business, workplace, or even your own personal finances to be measured by kingdom metrics?

Suppose you measured your success by obedience. What if you reached the year end and, instead of just looking at profit, you looked at impact?

You could ask yourself questions like: Did clients became Christians? How many colleagues heard the good news? How many previously unemployed were given jobs? How much time did you spend praying for your business/workplace? Did you take any new directions or faith steps? What did training look like for the staff you are responsible for? What missional contexts were you able to support? Were you able to fund other peoples’ faith steps in God?

These will be different depending on your context, and traditional metrics and tools can be helpful, but we must never lose sight of our ultimate goal: to serve God and not money. And my hunch is that, if you’re reading this, you are discovering that God has a much bigger picture and a grander plan for your work.

So let me end with two questions for you to reflect on: What does obedience look like in this season? What would change if our business/work endeavours didn’t simply release money for us to go and do the mission, but became the mission?

We don’t have all the answers and want to learn from those who have walked the walk, are walking the walk and are engaging with the issue and making progress. Maybe that’s you?

We believe we can encourage and help each other to do this in order to help businesses empower churches and local communities.

The value of money (Pioneer Business)

Money

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