Money Talks: “I’m Not the Most Important”

I am so excited to dive into our brand new series called Money Talks. During this four week financial series, we are going to train ourselves to listen to and learn from our money so that we can live freer, fuller lives and find financial freedom that is not only for our good, but for the good of others and, ultimately, for the glory of God.

Have you ever asked yourself that question: If money had the ability to talk, what would it actually say to me? What advice would it actually give me? What myths would it reveal to me that I actually kind of believe?

Well we are going to spend the next four weeks training our ears and our bank accounts to actually listen to our money. But, before we dive in to that, take the next two minutes to go get something to write on and pencil to write with and eliminate any potential distraction from whatever environment you are in right now.

WELCOME TO MONEY TALKS

Here at CCC, we want you to build your life on a firm foundation because we all know that life is unpredictable. You might be in a storm right now that is crippling your financial foundations. You might have just come through a storm and you are looking to rebuild or refortify your foundation. You might not be in a storm right now, but one day one will come that will test the foundations in your life and we want to help you right now to develop the skills that you will need in order to withstand any storm this life has coming your way.

One of those skills that I think you might be missing, especially if you are anything like me or your roommate or neighbor, is that you don’t know how to listen to and hear from your money talk to you.

The reason I know that is because most Americans don’t have a healthy relationship with their money. An article on Mint.com from last year shows that 65% of Americans have no idea how much they spent last month, two years ago CNBC reports that 75% of Americans are literally “winging it when it comes to their financial future.” And two months ago, Lexington Law conducted a small survey of 3,000 people and found that we would rather talk about politics or religion than money!

Wouldn’t it be awesome if our money could just sit us down and literally talk to us? Unfortunately, money doesn’t have a voice box, but don’t let yourself be fooled: your money is constantly talking to you. Anytime you have money coming in, move it around, or send it out through spending, your money is talking.

Whenever you do anything with money it communicates what you are building your life on, it communicates what you value or where you place your value. Your money communicates who you worship, who has control over your heart and life, and whether you are wise with your resources or fueled by desire.

Sermon Statement: Your money is talking and the first thing that it would say about itself is that it is not the most important.

POINT #1: Money says: “I AM NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT.”

We all know that to be true, don’t we? I’m sure that you could come up with at least a handful of things that you would believe are more important than money. In fact, go ahead and do that right now down in the comments. What are some things that you believe are more important than money.

For me, family is way more important than money. I grew up in a family that never really had much at all, but my family was tight, we loved each other, we fought for each other, and I have some amazing memories because of the family God blessed me with and still does.

Another thing that is more important than money is my physical health. When we moved to NYC, the plantar fasciitis that I had ignored for too long finally made it to where I couldn’t even walk my dog to the bathroom without my feet, knees, hips, and my lower back just killing me. Thankfully, I had insurance, but it got so bad that I would have given anything (especially money) to have that pain taken away.

When Money Talks it tells us that it is not the most important thing in our lives, whether we actually believe that or not. Money is not the most important.

Jesus put it this way when he was with a group of his closest friends and followers in Mark 8:36 “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Jesus is saying that you can gain the whole world, have all the money, all the possessions, anything you could of, but if your relationship with God is not where it should be than all the money or stuff in the world is pointless.

I’ve seen this point illustrated through a very helpful tool called the 5 Capitals and we are going to spend the rest of our time today working these 5 Capitals in order to show ourselves how we actually view our money because if you want to properly manage your money, then you have to have the proper view of money.

So, what are the 5 CAPITALS?

Capital refers to investable assets that you have in your possession.

FINANCIAL CAPITAL - money or other assets you can invest.

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL - creativity and knowledge you can invest. “Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein, meaning that your brain is purposefully designed and hardwired for solving problems, thinking up new ideas, and have insightful moments based on past knowledge or experiences.

PHYSICAL CAPITAL - time and energy you can invest.

RELATIONAL CAPITAL - the equity that you’ve built up with others over time.

SPIRITUAL CAPITAL - the spiritual equity that you have to invest. It looks like loving one another, serving one another, growing one another, encouraging one another. It looks like the Fruits of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23

Galatians 5:21–23 (ESV): . 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law

Jesus’ 5 Capitals:

If you look at Jesus’ life, you will find that he structured his life within these 5 Capitals because we all do!

Financial Capital - Jesus actually worked and earned a living, he also raised financial support for his ministry and invested that back into every other area of his life.

Physical/Intellectual Capital - Jesus grew is stature and wisdom (Luke 2:52).

Relational Capital - Jesus spend time three years of his in intentional relational community, discipling 12 guys, 11 of which ended up carrying his message of hope to the world and changed the world so much so that we are still experiencing it today.

Spiritual Capital - Jesus intentionally spent time with his Heavenly Father (6 Instances of Jesus’ Spiritual Capital investment)and because he invested his time into that spiritual relationship, he was able to then pour himself out for others.

POINT #2: Money Says, “I’m Kind Of A Big Deal.”

This is why Jesus talks about money so much! In fact, 28% of Jesus’ parables (short word picture that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson)had to deal with money and we’ll look at some of those over the next three weeks. In the Bible, there are over 2,000 instances where money is talked about and in Jesus’ three year ministry he talked more about money than he did about faith and prayer combined.

Jesus had a lot to say about money and we can basically sum up how he viewed his money by examining his most famous sermon found in Matthew 6:19-24.

READ Matthew 6:19-24 (ESV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We don’t really have to worry about the types of threats that Jesus mentions . Instead, we have new ones. The stock market could tank, the housing bubble could burst again, an unexpected accident or medical bill could wipe us out. Jesus’ point about money not being the most important is because it is are perishable, destructible, and limited.

Instead, he would say that you should invest your money into something that doesn’t perish, can’t be destroyed, and is unlimited - your spiritual capital.

Jesus is showing us that we have a choice to make today: either build up earthly wealth or use our earthly wealth to build up kingdom wealth.

That’s that foundations video is so important for us to internalize and apply to our lives. You will either be the guy building on a solid foundation or you will be the guy who loses everything because you build on a shaky foundation.

The choice is yours and how you are prioritizing your money right now shows you which guy you will become and whether you are properly prioritizing your money in order to properly manage it.

Transition: We’ve heard our money tell us that it isn’t the most important, but it’s kind of a big deal. But in order to properly manage our money, we need to properly prioritize it in our lives by understanding that it is a tool designed to grow us.

POINT #3: MONEY SAYS, “I CAN FUEL GROWTH IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE.”

When you properly prioritize your money, then you can properly manage it which should fuel growth in every other area of your life, not just financial.

Placing your financial capital in the important but last place shows you where you heart is, shows you where you are storing up real treasure, and it allows you to use your money the way it was designed to be used: for your good, the good of others, and ultimately for the glory of God.

When you place you money anywhere else, then you run the risk of making your money an idol and it will eventually control you instead of the other way around.

So how do you that? How do you make your money work for you and fuel growth in every area of your life?

1. Be a Generous Giver

Luke 12:33–34 (ESV): 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

When you give away your money, you are actually sending it on ahead of you as an investment into your spiritual future!

2. Be a Sacrificial Servant

1 Timothy 6:17–19 (ESV): 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

3. Be Like Jesus and Invest All Your Capitals

Colossians 2:14 (ESV): 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Jesus took your spiritual debt, allowed himself to be nailed to a tree in order to pay your spiritual debt off so that you could live a freer, fully life which is only found in him! He invested every capital within his possession in order to rescue you and restore you back to a relationship with you Heavenly Father.

Application: Where is your heart? Even better, who has control over your heart?

CONCLUSION: FILL OUT CAPITAL SHEET

In order to answer that take that sheet of paper and write out three columns.

COLUMN 1: In the first column, write down what you see on the screen.

COLUMN 2: In the second column, place either an UP arrow, a DOWN arrow, or a SIDEWAYS arrow to signify whether you are in a SURPLUS (UP) and you are growing in that area of your life, a DEFICIT (DOWN) and i need to grow my capital in this area of my life, or you are NUTRAL (SIDEWAYS) and you don’t feel like you are growing or that you even need to grow.

COLUMN 3: Now, in the final column answer this question: What is ONE THING I CAN CHANGE?

In order to grow a capital that you lack, invest the other four capitals into that area, just like Jesus did.

Close in prayer