Money's Just a Number

Today Scott and I paid bills. We balanced our checkbook, and set to writing various checks and paying several online bills. As I wrote my checks, clicked "submit payment," and subtracted the amounts from our checking account total I thought of how it seemed like nothing more than a math problem. Our total increased when I added in our paychecks on Friday, and now it was quickly decreasing. I was adding and subtracting. I was typing in numbers on a website and clicking "ok." I was signing sheets of paper with numbers written on them. Never once in any of this did I touch cash. We rarely use cash and when we do, I consider it play money. I almost feel like it doesn't count when I spend cash. Oh, goody, I have a dollar in my wallet! I'll buy a coke!
I realized in all of this that money is really nothing more than a number. It's not really an exchange of any sort, it's just changing around the numbers in various accounts. I looked at my online account for my student loans, and briefly thought how it seemed like an awful lot of money, but I quickly dismissed the fact. It's just a number that we're gradually subtracting from. Eventually it'll be gone. It will probably take a long time, but eventually the number will be zero. And in that moment I realized how insignificant money really is. It's just a number.

I started thinking about how much we let money rule us. God warns us against this several times in the Bible, and for good reason! It's extrememly difficult to not let money rule your decisions. So much of the world seems to run on money and you need it for almost everything. People decide where to live based on money, when to get married, where to go to school, what career to choose, how many kids to have, what to eat, what to wear, what to drive, how much to give....the list goes on and on. So, how do we regard it? How do we biblically approach the concept of money? I think it's something that we all struggle with--believers and unbelievers alike.

Before continuing, I must admit that this is all a hodge-podge of ideas in my head right now, and I should probably take some time to plan this out so that it's more coherenent and thorough, but because this is a blog and only a handful of people will read it anyway, I'm jumping right in!

First of all, we are told that we should not love money and that we cannot serve both money and God:
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will love the one and hate the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth." Matthew 6:24
"keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have." Hebrews 13:5

We immediately throw up our defenses, don't we? "I don't love money! I'm just being practical!" "What am I supposed to do? Just not pay my bills and go to church all day?" It's hard in this world where we're expected to pretty much live to make money (working) and spend money (the fun times...when we aren't working). Of course we need to pay our bills and we do have to work in order to do that. And no we shouldn't go spending our money all willy-nilly making crazy claims like "money's just a number!" ;-) But seriously, where is the line?

And I think the sin comes not from the money itself. There is nothing evil about paper money, nothing evil about checks, debit cards, or credit cards either. I used to be scared to get a credit card. I had heard so many horror stories of college students going into major debt. It wasn't until I finally broke down and got one that I realized the card didn't make you go into debt, it was your mentality towards the card. Some people see the card as endless magic money that gets them things they otherwise couldn't have. So, they charge up a bunch of debt and later blame the card. But the card didn't make them do it, their thoughts about the card did. And money in itself isn't evil and it doesn't make us slaves to it, it's our mentality about it.

It's the love of money that is a sin. It's the fact that desiring money and stressing out about money CONSUMES us! It completely takes our focus and trust off of God, which is really the problem with all sin. So many people are scared to do anything because of money. They won't give to others or the church because they're afraid they'll run out of money they need for themselves. They completely disregard the point that if we're faithfully giving, God will provide for us. Some will stay in jobs they hate, jobs where they aren't fulfilling the potential God created them for, simply because they make good money. And even if they aren't doing it because they claim to love money, they may be doing it because they feel like they need the money to survive. This fear/desire associated with money prevents them from taking a leap of faith and trusting in God to guide them and provide for them accordingly. And as I've said before, if we're stressed about money we don't have, we're essentially saying God isn't able to provide what I need in life. And I admit, it's definitely a challenge when funds are low to stay calm and trust in God to pull you through. But if you talk to God about it, and spend time in His word, you are guaranteed to feel better about it...no matter how challenging it is for you: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:6-7 It may seem impossible to you to not let money get you down, but God promises that, though it's hard for you to understand or fathom, He will give you peace if you talk to Him about it.

And if you are always looking for money you will never be satisfied: "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." Ecclesiastes 5:10. Not only will you always be left wanting more, but should you end up in a challenging financial situation, you will be left devasted, anxious, and afraid. Those who trust in God know that He is bigger than money and will take care of us.

After all, if God can create the entire world and set it into motion, change a sinner's heart, heal diseases, and on and on and on because we believers know nothing is beyond God, then how is it so hard to believe that He can control money? After all....it's just a number.