Lisa and I have been talking a lot about money lately. We want to live more simply. We’ve even considered living without credit. We’ve had credit ever since we can remember. By now we have thousands and thousands of dollars accessible to us, immediately, with just one swipe. Which is one reason why we are in the trouble we are in. I mean, we have been victims of trauma, unemployment, failed busines efforts, illness and accidents, but we’ve also become victims of our own consumerism. We live in such a culture that encourages, nurtures and supports this.
But we’ve just realized something: we’ve been trusting our credit. We’ve been walking the high tightrope thinking we’ve been trusting The All in All. In fact, we’ve been trusting the net luxuriously spread out beneath us, waiting to softly catch us should we fall. It hasn’t been him, but Money, that we’ve been serving. Money, the almighty ruling power over our lives. We’ve learned, finally, that we have been serving it. It rules over us, bossing us around, making us happy or sad, strong or weak, abundant or scarce, generous or miserly. And this realization has leaked over into other areas of our lives, so that we question just how much trust we’ve had at all. Or have we been enjoying peace because of our country, life because of our health, happiness because of our many distractions, and our daily bread because of our stuffed cupboards, fridge and freezer? It is strange to see so clearly that debt is Money’s Hell… a place that offers the full luxuries of our imaginations that aren’t real, but borrowed, empty, temporary, and stolen. When seen for what it is, much of debt is the Negative Unreal which is Hell.
It seems that the he is getting shoved further and further into the corner. He’s been less a part of our lives than we thought, less important, less necessary. OR, he’s been in all this, woven throughout this story like a strong thread linking it all together and bringing us to this point of admission. In any case, I’ve discovered that it is the most difficult thing to wean myself from my favorite idol, my most useful and tangible god. But we are determined to make money submit to us, to make it serve us rather than us it. There must be a way to live free and simple, with money in its proper place. There must be a deliverance from this land of slavery to a land flowing with milk and honey.
So… I think I’m going to go ice-fishing and see if any fish have coins in their mouths.
The image is of a painting of mine called “Ice-Fishing”.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
David Hayward is a pastor artistically stripping to the essential.
Ah David,
About the first thing I ever said to you on this site was, “Go fishing.” Glad to hear you are off to the pond. I have found many coins in the mouth of the fish I have caught, but they weren’t coins of money. They were coins of joy, peace, and contentment.
Nothing like a Steelhead hitting and making that first run–however, the process of getting to that hit is the best part. Enjoy the process of simplicity, my friend.
fishon
Fishon…David will have to be satisfied with the lowly smelt….
These are significant questions. Big issues to face and think through. There are people who never have to ask themselves – I guess money never becomes an issue for them. But not many.
In some ways, I think we are fortunate in Western society if these questions do come up. But it’s a challenge, because all around us is a culture encouraging us to get caught up in money and what it can buy.
I admire your thinking here and thanks for sharing it.
I am also enjoying seeing your art work as well as your cartoons. Keep ‘em coming!
Um, sorry, what I posted may not have been clear. I don’t mean we’re fortunate if difficulties arise for us, because that can be a real trial and lead to all sorts of terrible problems. I guess I mean that, like my depression, if I have money troubles, it forces me to look at what is really happening in my life, not the anaesthetized half-life I live when I crowd my life with “stuff” and distract myself from what’s real, and more to the point, what’s eternal.
“Why trust God? I’ve got a Mastercard!”
I’ve been praying for you.
A break-through? Sounds like one. An answer to prayer,perhaps? The plot of the narrative?
I hear you man, my wife and I went through the same thing 6 months ago. I realized I didn’t trust God with my money at all, I had been trusting my carefully built up credit. “No problem, I’ll pay it later.”
We’ve now stopped using credit entirely, and live out of what we have. God’s been teaching us amazing things, as we actually wait on him. Recent lesson: His provision is not tied to my employment. I do my job, because it’s one of my acts of worship, I do it to the best of my ability… and God provides everything we need. He is not surprised by anything. So I don’t need to worry. (It’s not easy though… I was worrying last night, until my wife pointed out some good things.)
Credit I believe, is a bad thing. God gives each of us our daily bread and to live on credit is to take more than God thinks you need. I wish I could say that I live credit free but I am actively weening myself from it. Money is indeed a powerful idom that traps us in consumerism and robs us of the fulness a live trusting the Lord com pletely could be.
I’ve been right there with you for months!!!
Last November, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, I preached on the connection between “credit” and “credo” the Latin, “I believe” – like the creed my congregation says each Sunday at our traditional worship services.
I believe in God….words that are followed by action?
The credit card company believes in our ability to repay them…and we act like we believe we will too so we spend $$$ on “black friday” on visa and mastercard believing we’ll continue in our jobs and in good health and pay those bills – eventually!
About a year go I got on the “Dave Ramsey” plan for personal finance – kill the debt and never use credit. I still have both my M.Div and B.A. to pay off…but I’m years ahead of where I’d be if I followed their minimum payment plan!
Money is not the issue, in fact rarely is the problem actually what is happening to us. Our challenges are usually the outcome from the issues we havnt dealt with. Well balanced individuals have no problem using credit properly. Life is not just about “trusting” that God will take care of us, its about implementing our talents for growth. There will always be areas in which we need growth. Maybe right now yours is in the area of finance. Tomorrow it will be something else. Thats life.
“The root of all evil is, the LOVE of money”
As a purely practical side to things, there are a variety of people and groups who focus on helping people get finances under control. Dave Ramsey is probably one of the better ones I’ve dealt with.
“Debt is money’s Hell” – I like that way of putting it. For what it’s worth, I’ve been debt-free (apart from a mortgage, which I can’t realistically get rid of) for about four years now, and I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for my mental and spiritual health.
I have been sucked into the credit/debt mess for nearly all of my adult life. It is easy. My wife and I have an outrageous amount of debt. We have mortgaged our future and quite possibly the future of our children for “things”. Seventy percent of Americans are in the same shape, so you are not alone. We took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace plan as well. While I do not agree with all of Mr. Ramsey’s opinions, his methods for climbing out of debt are excellent. He does a spectacular job of teaching people to use money as a tool…rather than being a slave to consumerism. Since the class, I have come to some startling conclusions. Funny about conclusions…once you know, ignorance is over and you can’t really go back. We tithe, but how much more effective could we be if we were not in debt. I watch newscasts about homeless people here and abroad, about war torn countries where people are slaughtered or sold into slavery, about children who are born with aids and die before they have a chance to live, about victims of earthquakes in China, orphanages, starving children, disease, and the list goes on and on and on. I watch newscasts about these things, newscasts that are constantly interrupted by ads for the latest and greatest everything…soup to nuts, automobiles to blue-ray players, cell phones to restaurants, GPS systems to medications. It’s NOT OK for us to live like we live, at least for me it isn’t now. It’s NOT OK for us to be swallowed up like we are. I am ashamed. I stand convicted. BUT, I have to say that throughout this whole ugly realization, God has extended his mercy and forgiveness. He always does. Sorry to go on so long. I have been reading your posts for many months. For this one I can say that I’m exactly where you are…and there is hope.
This was quite good! It’s a discussion course. We just went through it. Gave me a lot!
http://www.besom.com/simplicity.htm
stunning. thought provoking. challenging.
i’m terrible at budgeting. our debt is gradually going down… mainly because my earnings have gone up, not because i’ve been in any way clever. we are trying to get our building site of a house sorted, but refuse to do it by borrowing. i can’t help thinking that budgeting would put an end to a lot of the power money wields over us.
the other day, clare said we should budget more. i stayed quiet. reluctant for some reason. maybe it’s guilt and i hate being found out. anyhow, i feel convicted. i shall be raising the issue of budgeting with her tomorrow. it always takes me an age to catch up with my wife.
i just wanted to comment that my wife and i are going thru almost the same thing. i don’t have any answers, but feel that its beneficial to us that they are others struggling along side with us. sometimes i feel so alone in this struggle.
Hi David, this is very uplifting!
Let me give you a couple of hints of where to start. First of all go on a pantry- diet. Don’t buy anything more before you’ve eaten all the food that is in the house. This can become a challenge but with your artistic talents you can use your creativity in this department too! Depending on how much food you have it might keep you out of the grocery store for weeks! Use what you saved to pay off debt and after that plan your weekly meals and only buy what you need for the coming week. ONLY go to the grocery store once a week, on a full stomach! When you see something that you want to buy, clothes or whatever, wait one month and if you still want it you might need it.
It was a happy mortgage- burning party, at church at least!