Your money talks—whether you have a little or a lot. What would it say about you?
#Religion
#Money
#Finances
#Relationship with God
#Trust God
#Kingdom of God
#Parable
#Generosity
#Self-Control
#Andy Stanley
#John 3:16
#Matthew 25:14
Closed captions
Show Timecode
Your Move with Andy Stanley | What To Do About Money Part 3 | June 5, 2022
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- Andy Stanley: Hey, everybody, welcome to "Your Move," where we
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- help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.
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- I'm Andy Stanley, and I'll be your guide.
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- When it comes to your money, it's a whole lot easier to keep
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- up than to play catch-up, so today I'm gonna tell you the
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- secret to keeping up right here on "Your Move."
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- ♪♪♪
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- CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM
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- Andy Stanley: Now, here's something that you perhaps have
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- heard about before.
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- Did you know that it's easier to stay warm than to get warm, and
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- the reason is because when you get cold, when you lose--
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- your body loses its warmth, your body goes into overdrive,
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- and it burns more fuel to create more heat,
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- and the blood vessels, you probably know this,
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- at the surface of your skin began to contract, right?
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- And it can reduces blood flow because your body knows, "Uh-oh,
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- we have to protect the vital organs."
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- And so it just--it really creates stress for the entire
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- nervous system.
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- So it's easier to stay warm than to get warm because when you're
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- getting warm, you're burning more calories, you're burning
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- more fuel, and you're--again, your nervous system is
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- stressed out.
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- And the same is true for your money, sort of.
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- We'll come back to that in just a minute.
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- Okay, so wrapping up today, I want to talk about the third
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- thing that our money might say if our money were to begin to
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- talk, and once again, it parallels exactly what Jesus
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- said when he did talk about money and possessions.
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- And here's what our money might tell us: "I'm easy to keep
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- up with.
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- I'm easy to keep up with, but I'm difficult to catch up with.
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- I'm easy to keep up with, but I'm difficult to catch up with.
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- Keep up or you'll be playing catch up."
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- It's a little bit like staying warm.
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- When you fall behind financially and when, specifically, when you
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- fall behind knowing where your money's gone and where your
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- money's going, you begin to burn more calories.
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- You begin to burn more energy, you begin to get more
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- stressed out, you begin to get more worried.
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- You burn more energy and create more stress playing
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- catch-up financially.
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- And the truth is, and you're not gonna like me for saying this,
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- there's really, there's really no excuse for not knowing where
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- your money has been going.
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- There's really not a good excuse for not knowing where your
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- money went.
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- We should--when it comes to money, not love and not
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- relationships and, you know, not a lot of other things, but when
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- it comes to money, we should never find ourselves saying,
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- "Well, it seems to me," or "Well, I'm not sure," or "Well,
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- that can't possibly be right."
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- And the reason we should never say these things as it relates
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- to our finances is because a certain amount comes in and then
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- we send it places, right?
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- A certain amount comes in, you know how much comes in,
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- or you should know how much comes in, and then you
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- or you and your husband or you and your wife send it places.
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- So, and I've said this before if it sounds familiar, so
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- consequently, we should all be knowin' where our money is
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- going, right?
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- We should all know this, there should be no mystery about where
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- your money's going.
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- There's mystery when it comes to love and romance, there's a lot
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- of mystery when it comes to raising kids, there's a lot of
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- mystery when they become middle schoolers and high schoolers,
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- there's a lot of mystery around certain decisions, but when it
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- comes to knowing where our money went, there should be absolutely
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- no mystery.
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- And the problem is when you lose track of where it's going, when
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- you lose track of where it's going, it takes over because it
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- takes over emotionally.
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- And you know how we feel, you know how we feel, because we've
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- all been there.
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- You feel out of control, don't you?
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- You just feel like something has taken over and you're trying to
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- catch up.
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- So if your money started talking and it was addressing this
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- particular issue, your money may say this: "Look, I'm easy to
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- track, but if you lose track of me you will lose your peace of
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- mind, and if you lose your peace of mind for too long, you may
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- feel like you're losing your mind."
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- So consequently, all of us, Christian, non-Christian,
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- religious, non-religious, theist, non-theist, it doesn't
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- matter, all of us need to plan for tracking our spending so
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- we're all knowing where our money is going.
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- And this is true whether you have a little or a lot.
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- And the problem is, when I talk to people on the two extremes,
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- the people don't have much is like, "There's no point in
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- keeping up because it's hard to keep up."
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- The people with a lot are like, "Well, I don't need to keep up
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- because I have so much, I don't really need to keep up."
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- But what we're gonna discover today, especially if you're a
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- Jesus follower, is that there's every reason in the world
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- to keep up with where your money's going.
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- We all need a plan to track our spending, whether you have a lot
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- or a little.
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- And I'm not talking about a budget, right, which for some of
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- you is great news, because what is a budget?
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- And you're thinking, "Well, I think it's a waste of time."
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- No, no, everybody should to some extent have a budget, but what
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- is a budget?
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- A budget is a theory, right?
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- It's a theory that rarely reflects reality, right?
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- Now, at work, at work, you're super careful because at work
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- somebody's looking over your shoulder, and at work, you know,
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- there's consequences even though there's a little bit of margin
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- at work.
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- But in terms of our personal budget, our family budget, it's
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- just--it's a theory that rarely reflects reality.
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- It assumes a specific future, and none of us can predict the
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- future to that level or to that degree.
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- It's great for estimating, but the other problem with a budget
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- is where it lives.
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- Where do budgets live?
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- Budgets live in desktop folders, right?
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- You created it, it was perfect, you did Excel or you had colors,
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- it was beautiful.
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- You put it in a desktop folder and it has lived there
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- ever since.
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- It's safe, you know exactly where it is, but nobody looks at
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- it because it's not dynamic.
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- And if you're gonna get this part of your finances right, and
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- I'm gonna encourage you as hard as I can to get this right, you
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- need something more dynamic than a budget that predicts the
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- future, that doesn't actually do anything but just sits there and
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- reminds you of what you have or haven't done, but it's not
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- really a reminder, because, again, we don't even know where
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- it is anyway, right?
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- You need a simple way, you need a simple way to track your
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- actual spending.
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- And the thing is, it is so simple now, there is no excuse
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- for all of us not to do this.
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- Now, when I say simple, I mean, it's really simple,
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- because I'm thinking back to when Sandra and I first got
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- married, and this was--this has been a habit in our marriage for
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- 30 years.
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- We've been married 30 years, we did this from the
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- very beginning.
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- And 30 years ago, we used--some of you have never seen this
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- before, in fact, for some of you this is just a desktop or a
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- wallpaper, you don't--didn't know this was a real thing.
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- We used graph paper, remember graph paper?
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- And you get a pad of graph paper.
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- Some of you are shaking your head, you're like, "Really, that
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- was a real thing?"
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- Yeah, it was graph paper.
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- And we--on the left, down the left, we put, you know, all
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- the categories.
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- And every time there's a new category, we put a new category,
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- then across the top we put all the dates and the weeks
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- and the months, and we would literally, every single week--
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- I would try to do it every day, she would do it every week.
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- We'd get out our receipts, we'd look at how much we spent,
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- and we would take a pen-- you remember those?
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- Not Apple Pencil, like, a pen with ink that can run out.
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- Yep, this thing, remember, or this thing, remember?
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- And we would actually write down every day or every week what we
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- spent in the category.
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- It was so onerous, but we did it every single year, year after
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- year after year in our marriage.
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- It is one of the two, it is one of the two best habits that we
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- established, and we've been doing it ever since.
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- If you'll develop this habit, then there's no guessing,
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- there's no seeming, and there's less wondering,
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- and there is actually less worrying, because--
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- and I made this up myself--
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- when you know, "when you know you're gonna log it,
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- you're more inclined to hog it."
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- You like that?
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- So last night, we were talking about this, Sandra said, "That's
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- not good, okay?
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- The word 'hog' sounds like you're being selfish."
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- So she came up with one, so this is her version of the same
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- thing, okay, you can decide which one you like.
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- Hers is this: "when you know you're going to record it, you
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- will be more inclined to consider whether you should
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- afford it."
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- So let me see a hand--no, okay.
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- Oh, you like that better?
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- Now, I almost made a mistake at this point in trying to figure
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- out how to say this.
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- I was gonna say-- don't raise your hand.
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- I was gonna say it's kind of like keeping track of what you
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- eat, and then I was gonna say-- don't raise your--
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- I was going to say, "How many of you have ever downloaded one of
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- those apps where you log in everything you eat?"
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- And I thought, "People shouldn't raise their hands for that."
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- But how many of you have downloaded an app where you log
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- in everything you eat?
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- Yes, so I have too.
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- You know, it's a great thing.
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- And when you use one of those apps and you think,
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- "Okay, I'm gonna put-- log everything I eat."
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- And you know that some of the apps will tell you how many
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- calories, some of 'em you kinda have to figure it out, then you
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- kinda get in a rhythm 'cause you sorta eat the same things
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- all the time.
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- And what happens when you do that?
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- A lot of you have done this.
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- You realize every time you're about to eat something,
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- you think, "Oh, I'm gonna have to log it.
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- Ooh, I don't wanna log that."
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- But what happens?
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- It slows you down, doesn't it?
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- You consider--in fact, then, you start finding out how many
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- calories foods are.
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- You get--you just--it becomes a little bit of a game.
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- You're more careful, why?
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- Because if you know you're gonna log it, you know, you're gonna
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- sort of protect those calories for something better or for
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- something later to make sure you don't go over your 4.000 calorie
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- limit every day, right?
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- Or 3.500, whatever your calorie limit is, right?
- 00:09:03.083 --> 00:09:06.553
- Now, in the paycheck-to-paycheck seasons of life, and for many
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- people and for most people that's our whole lives, right?
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- But in the paycheck-to-paycheck seasons, this is so important,
- 00:09:14.260 --> 00:09:17.330
- this habit actually takes pressure off.
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- This habit takes pressure off because it takes the
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- guesswork out.
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- It's easy to know where to cut back when you have to cut back,
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- it's easy to know where to cut down when you have to cut down.
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- And there were two seasons in our lives as married couples
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- where we had to take significant steps back financially, and
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- going backwards financially is not easy.
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- I don't care how spiritual you are and how mature you are, it's
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- just not easy when you realize, uh-oh, we've got to spend less.
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- And this happens to everybody.
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- You go from two to one income, you lose a job, you move,
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- there's a setback, you decide or one of your kids decides to go
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- out of state to college, and it's like, oh my gosh, you know,
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- we're gonna have to make cuts.
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- But here's the thing: it's never, never easy to
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- go backwards.
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- But for us, in both of those seasons of our lives, it was so
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- much easier because when--we didn't pull out a budget that we
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- had to find in a file.
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- We were able to say, "This is actually how much we actually
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- spend in all of these categories.
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- Where can we cut back?"
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- And there was stress in terms of having to cut back, but there
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- was no stress between us because there was no "Well, it seems to
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- me, well, it seems to me, well, it seems to me."
- 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:28.368
- So when we had to step back financially, it wasn't easy, but
- 00:10:28.368 --> 00:10:31.738
- it was easier because we knew where our money was
- 00:10:31.738 --> 00:10:34.107
- actually going.
- 00:10:34.107 --> 00:10:36.276
- So in the years where you're kinda paycheck-to-paycheck and
- 00:10:36.276 --> 00:10:39.079
- things are tight, this actually makes life easier and puts--
- 00:10:39.079 --> 00:10:42.248
- takes the pressure off.
- 00:10:42.248 --> 00:10:44.384
- And for most of us today, probably listening, and for most
- 00:10:44.384 --> 00:10:47.554
- of us in the room, in the years of plenty, where there's
- 00:10:47.554 --> 00:10:52.625
- margin--and again, we never feel like there's plenty,
- 00:10:52.625 --> 00:10:54.894
- but there's plenty more, there's a little bit more margin.
- 00:10:54.894 --> 00:10:56.996
- You're not-- things aren't so tight.
- 00:10:56.996 --> 00:10:58.865
- In the years of plenty, this habit actually puts pressure on.
- 00:10:58.865 --> 00:11:03.670
- And here's what I mean by that, and this is why this is such a
- 00:11:03.670 --> 00:11:05.705
- good thing and this is the second reason we haven't given
- 00:11:05.705 --> 00:11:08.041
- this up as a couple.
- 00:11:08.041 --> 00:11:09.476
- As you accumulate more and more, and as you make more, and as
- 00:11:09.476 --> 00:11:14.914
- there's more and more margin, when you keep track of where
- 00:11:14.914 --> 00:11:18.218
- your money is going, you are confronted with how much you are
- 00:11:18.218 --> 00:11:22.088
- spending on you, and you're confronted with how little you
- 00:11:22.088 --> 00:11:28.061
- actually give.
- 00:11:28.061 --> 00:11:30.764
- And it's embarrassing, but it can be motivating and it can
- 00:11:30.764 --> 00:11:34.968
- be inspiring.
- 00:11:34.968 --> 00:11:36.436
- And for some of you, it takes the fear away of being more
- 00:11:36.436 --> 00:11:40.206
- generous, because it--you always feel like things are
- 00:11:40.206 --> 00:11:43.143
- tight, and one of the reasons you feel like things are tight
- 00:11:43.143 --> 00:11:44.911
- is because you don't know where it went.
- 00:11:44.911 --> 00:11:46.446
- But once you know where it's going and once you get in a
- 00:11:46.446 --> 00:11:48.448
- habit of looking at it, it will actually keep a healthy pressure
- 00:11:48.448 --> 00:11:51.851
- on you, because the more you have, the more you have or the
- 00:11:51.851 --> 00:11:55.221
- more you make, the closer attention you should pay to
- 00:11:55.221 --> 00:11:57.323
- where it's going, not because you have to, but because,
- 00:11:57.323 --> 00:12:01.461
- as we're about to discover, it is actually in your best
- 00:12:01.461 --> 00:12:05.532
- interest to.
- 00:12:05.532 --> 00:12:06.966
- It's in your best interest to, because to borrow from
- 00:12:06.966 --> 00:12:09.502
- something Jesus said, here's what he said, he said, "If
- 00:12:09.502 --> 00:12:12.505
- you're not careful, those of you who have extra, those of you who
- 00:12:12.505 --> 00:12:15.542
- have more, those of you who don't necessarily have to be as
- 00:12:15.542 --> 00:12:18.278
- careful as you should, if you are not careful, you will begin
- 00:12:18.278 --> 00:12:21.948
- to hoard for the future.
- 00:12:21.948 --> 00:12:23.950
- You'll begin to store up treasure on earth,
- 00:12:23.950 --> 00:12:26.853
- and it will be a source of embarrassment later."
- 00:12:26.853 --> 00:12:31.024
- Because, let's face it, human nature is this: when you have
- 00:12:31.024 --> 00:12:33.893
- more of something than you need, you're just not careful, right?
- 00:12:33.893 --> 00:12:37.497
- When you have more of something than you need and when you have
- 00:12:37.497 --> 00:12:40.033
- when there's plenty, you're just not careful.
- 00:12:40.033 --> 00:12:41.768
- If you don't have to be careful, you're not careful.
- 00:12:41.768 --> 00:12:43.169
- This is why you leave the sink running and you go over to the
- 00:12:43.169 --> 00:12:45.738
- refrigerator to get something and water just runs and runs
- 00:12:45.738 --> 00:12:47.841
- and runs.
- 00:12:47.841 --> 00:12:49.175
- It's why you wash your car and you know you couldn't get the
- 00:12:49.175 --> 00:12:50.944
- thing to screw--the handle to screw on, say, "Eh, forget
- 00:12:50.944 --> 00:12:52.545
- that," and you just let it kinda spill off into the grass.
- 00:12:52.545 --> 00:12:54.848
- We let water run all the time, why?
- 00:12:54.848 --> 00:12:56.749
- We have way more water than we need.
- 00:12:56.749 --> 00:12:59.152
- It's like water, water everywhere, I mean,
- 00:12:59.152 --> 00:13:00.553
- we don't have to be careful with water.
- 00:13:00.553 --> 00:13:02.622
- There are places in the world, many of you have visited
- 00:13:02.622 --> 00:13:05.024
- those places.
- 00:13:05.024 --> 00:13:06.359
- If they saw, if they saw how much water we were careless with
- 00:13:06.359 --> 00:13:09.596
- in a day, they wouldn't even have a category for that, why?
- 00:13:09.596 --> 00:13:15.101
- Because it's scarce.
- 00:13:15.101 --> 00:13:16.469
- But when you have more of something than you need, human
- 00:13:16.469 --> 00:13:18.805
- nature is "I just--since I don't have to be careful, I'm
- 00:13:18.805 --> 00:13:21.174
- not gonna be careful."
- 00:13:21.174 --> 00:13:22.742
- But if you're a Christian, if you're a Jesus follower, when it
- 00:13:22.742 --> 00:13:27.013
- comes to your money, that cannot be a factor, that cannot be a
- 00:13:27.013 --> 00:13:31.618
- reflection of the reality of what you do with your money
- 00:13:31.618 --> 00:13:35.488
- because of what Jesus taught.
- 00:13:35.488 --> 00:13:37.757
- So here, I want to give you a little challenge.
- 00:13:37.757 --> 00:13:39.726
- The challenge is this: just for two months, okay, I want to
- 00:13:39.726 --> 00:13:42.629
- challenge you to figure out a way to document your spending
- 00:13:42.629 --> 00:13:44.664
- for two months, just two months, okay?
- 00:13:44.664 --> 00:13:46.900
- I want you to spy on your money.
- 00:13:46.900 --> 00:13:49.068
- I want you to follow it, I want you to see where it's going,
- 00:13:49.068 --> 00:13:51.170
- what it's doing.
- 00:13:51.170 --> 00:13:52.538
- Create a Google Doc, share it with your husband or your wife
- 00:13:52.538 --> 00:13:54.173
- or not or share it with a roommate or share with a friend,
- 00:13:54.173 --> 00:13:56.910
- you know, share it.
- 00:13:56.910 --> 00:13:58.244
- And the thing is, there--this is so easy, you don't have to
- 00:13:58.244 --> 00:13:59.979
- buy any graph paper, you don't have to use a pen.
- 00:13:59.979 --> 00:14:02.415
- There's so much free software,
- 00:14:02.415 --> 00:14:03.750
- there are so many apps to do this with.
- 00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:05.318
- So many of you use the Cash App and Venmo, it's easy to see
- 00:14:05.318 --> 00:14:07.754
- exactly how much you spend, it's easy to track that,
- 00:14:07.754 --> 00:14:10.690
- it's just so easy.
- 00:14:10.690 --> 00:14:12.025
- I want you to do that just for two months, just log it.
- 00:14:12.025 --> 00:14:15.061
- And then the second thing is I just want you at the end of
- 00:14:15.061 --> 00:14:17.030
- those two months to sit down and look at it and then adjust
- 00:14:17.030 --> 00:14:20.300
- if necessary.
- 00:14:20.300 --> 00:14:21.634
- For some of you, you're gonna be thrilled.
- 00:14:21.634 --> 00:14:23.236
- For some of you, you're gonna be shocked.
- 00:14:23.236 --> 00:14:25.371
- Now, if you're married, one of you hates me right now and the
- 00:14:25.371 --> 00:14:30.710
- other one wants to come up here and hug me right now.
- 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:32.879
- I understand that because opposites attract, right?
- 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.381
- Or you're watching and it's like, "Why isn't he here to
- 00:14:35.381 --> 00:14:37.684
- hear this?"
- 00:14:37.684 --> 00:14:39.018
- I get that, opposites attract.
- 00:14:39.018 --> 00:14:40.353
- So don't make a big deal out of this, don't commit for the rest
- 00:14:40.353 --> 00:14:42.655
- of your life.
- 00:14:42.655 --> 00:14:43.990
- This isn't, you know, forever, just for two months.
- 00:14:43.990 --> 00:14:46.326
- Especially if you've got kids and you got a family and get
- 00:14:46.326 --> 00:14:49.295
- your kids involved.
- 00:14:49.295 --> 00:14:50.630
- Just for two months, just track your spending, and then sit down
- 00:14:50.630 --> 00:14:54.400
- and look at it.
- 00:14:54.400 --> 00:14:55.768
- Now, one of the objections I get or one of the responses I get
- 00:14:55.768 --> 00:14:57.804
- whenever I bring this up is-- and it's always the same credit
- 00:14:57.804 --> 00:15:00.740
- card that gets mentioned so I'm just gonna use the credit card I
- 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:03.409
- always hear.
- 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:04.744
- People say, "Well, that's probably a good idea, but Andy,
- 00:15:04.744 --> 00:15:06.746
- it all shows up on my Amex bill.
- 00:15:06.746 --> 00:15:08.915
- I mean, I just use Amex for everything, use American Express
- 00:15:08.915 --> 00:15:11.284
- for everything, and it just shows up."
- 00:15:11.284 --> 00:15:12.719
- Okay, that's not my point.
- 00:15:12.719 --> 00:15:16.022
- Knowing you can know is not the same as knowing.
- 00:15:16.022 --> 00:15:20.727
- And the fact that you have access to how much you spent is
- 00:15:20.727 --> 00:15:24.097
- different than sitting down and looking categorically at how
- 00:15:24.097 --> 00:15:27.033
- much you spent in each category.
- 00:15:27.033 --> 00:15:29.168
- So the good news is, if you spend--if you use Amex for
- 00:15:29.168 --> 00:15:32.438
- everything, guess what?
- 00:15:32.438 --> 00:15:33.806
- This should be easier for you than the rest of us.
- 00:15:33.806 --> 00:15:36.309
- So you have less excuse, okay, to sit down at the end of two
- 00:15:36.309 --> 00:15:39.979
- months and categorically look at and sit down with your husband
- 00:15:39.979 --> 00:15:42.648
- or wife or your family or just-- if it's just you and say,
- 00:15:42.648 --> 00:15:45.151
- "Okay, how did-- where did my money go?"
- 00:15:45.151 --> 00:15:48.921
- Now, you're thinking, "Yeah, this is good practical advice."
- 00:15:48.921 --> 00:15:53.693
- And I didn't make any of it up, I learned this from other people
- 00:15:53.693 --> 00:15:56.095
- through the years, but here's the thing.
- 00:15:56.095 --> 00:15:58.197
- If you're a Christian, if you're a Jesus follower, this goes way
- 00:15:58.197 --> 00:16:02.402
- beyond practical and this goes way beyond helpful because Jesus
- 00:16:02.402 --> 00:16:07.673
- actually taught specifically as to why this is such a big deal.
- 00:16:07.673 --> 00:16:12.578
- And here's why I say that, and here's why I want you to take
- 00:16:12.578 --> 00:16:16.349
- this extra seriously if you're a Christian, and it goes a little
- 00:16:16.349 --> 00:16:19.218
- bit back to something I said last week.
- 00:16:19.218 --> 00:16:21.287
- You're betting, think about this, you are betting your
- 00:16:21.287 --> 00:16:24.357
- entire eternity on John's words, John who wrote the Gospel of
- 00:16:24.357 --> 00:16:28.494
- John and he was there when Jesus was having a conversation with
- 00:16:28.494 --> 00:16:31.164
- Nicodemus and he tells Nicodemus, "You must be
- 00:16:31.164 --> 00:16:33.399
- born again."
- 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:34.734
- And later as an older man, John is recording this conversation,
- 00:16:34.734 --> 00:16:37.703
- and as he's recording the conversation, it's like John
- 00:16:37.703 --> 00:16:40.039
- gets so excited, he's like, "I just want my readers to know
- 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.175
- exactly what Jesus was saying because we weren't sure we
- 00:16:42.175 --> 00:16:44.811
- understood it either, and Nicodemus didn't understand it.
- 00:16:44.811 --> 00:16:47.046
- And now on this side of the cross, on this side of the
- 00:16:47.046 --> 00:16:49.515
- Resurrection, it's so clear."
- 00:16:49.515 --> 00:16:51.250
- And John kinda breaks into the conversation and then he writes
- 00:16:51.250 --> 00:16:53.920
- these words that many of us memorized as children: "For God
- 00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:57.423
- so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever places
- 00:16:57.423 --> 00:17:01.494
- their faith in him would not perish, would not fall away from
- 00:17:01.494 --> 00:17:04.197
- God, would not be lost to God, but would have eternal life."
- 00:17:04.197 --> 00:17:07.400
- And many of you, if you're a Christian, you prayed some sort
- 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.869
- of prayer as a child or teenager or college student or maybe an
- 00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:12.672
- adult, and what you said is, "God, I believe Jesus is your
- 00:17:12.672 --> 00:17:15.575
- Son and I am trusting you through him with my
- 00:17:15.575 --> 00:17:19.445
- entire eternity."
- 00:17:19.445 --> 00:17:21.747
- So you've already trusted the teaching in the words of Jesus
- 00:17:21.747 --> 00:17:25.284
- for your eternity, right?
- 00:17:25.284 --> 00:17:28.054
- And beyond that, you've actually defined your relationship with
- 00:17:28.054 --> 00:17:31.924
- God based on Jesus's invitation to address him as "Father," that
- 00:17:31.924 --> 00:17:35.294
- many of you, when you pray, you begin your prayer, "Dear
- 00:17:35.294 --> 00:17:37.163
- Heavenly Father."
- 00:17:37.163 --> 00:17:38.764
- And the reason you do that is because when Jesus taught his
- 00:17:38.764 --> 00:17:41.167
- disciples to pray, he said, "When you pray, pray like this:
- 00:17:41.167 --> 00:17:43.903
- 'our Father, who is in heaven.'"
- 00:17:43.903 --> 00:17:47.540
- Besides that, he said your Father, your Heavenly Father,
- 00:17:47.540 --> 00:17:50.610
- knows what you need before you even ask, and you've
- 00:17:50.610 --> 00:17:54.313
- accepted that.
- 00:17:54.313 --> 00:17:55.681
- So you've trusted God with your eternity, you've defined your
- 00:17:55.681 --> 00:17:59.719
- relationship with God based on what Jesus taught, so why, why
- 00:17:59.719 --> 00:18:05.758
- would you, why would I, why would we not lean just as
- 00:18:07.360 --> 00:18:10.096
- heavily on what he said about money and possessions?
- 00:18:10.096 --> 00:18:14.300
- I mean, when you're sick, you ask him to intervene in
- 00:18:14.300 --> 00:18:18.638
- your health.
- 00:18:18.638 --> 00:18:20.006
- When your children are prodigal, you ask him to intervene on
- 00:18:20.006 --> 00:18:23.242
- behalf of your children.
- 00:18:23.242 --> 00:18:25.311
- When your children are about to go away to college,
- 00:18:25.311 --> 00:18:27.113
- you pray for God's protection.
- 00:18:27.113 --> 00:18:28.548
- In other words, if you're a Christian, you invite God in
- 00:18:28.548 --> 00:18:31.884
- on everything you can invite God in on.
- 00:18:31.884 --> 00:18:35.988
- Why in the world would we hold back when it comes to our money
- 00:18:35.988 --> 00:18:39.992
- and our possessions?
- 00:18:39.992 --> 00:18:41.360
- And let me answer that for you: because on all those other
- 00:18:41.360 --> 00:18:44.697
- categories, you have no control over them anyway, so it's easy.
- 00:18:44.697 --> 00:18:49.368
- And number two, many of those categories you can't see.
- 00:18:49.368 --> 00:18:54.073
- And this is why Jesus is so brilliant.
- 00:18:54.073 --> 00:18:56.842
- This is why I believe the New Testament actually reflects
- 00:18:56.842 --> 00:18:59.946
- his teaching.
- 00:18:59.946 --> 00:19:01.280
- This is why he's the master teacher, the master storyteller,
- 00:19:01.280 --> 00:19:03.549
- and even if you're not convinced he's the son of God, it's why
- 00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:06.485
- you should lean into the teachings of Jesus.
- 00:19:06.485 --> 00:19:08.321
- Because Jesus 2.000 years ago knew your money and your
- 00:19:08.321 --> 00:19:14.360
- possessions is where the money-- is where the rubber meets the
- 00:19:14.427 --> 00:19:17.763
- road in terms of your ultimate devotion.
- 00:19:17.763 --> 00:19:20.666
- And it's so much easier for you to give your heart to Jesus than
- 00:19:20.666 --> 00:19:25.404
- your money to Jesus.
- 00:19:25.404 --> 00:19:27.440
- So when Jesus started talking about "Where your heart is,
- 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:30.009
- there your treasure will be also," and the ultimate
- 00:19:30.009 --> 00:19:32.345
- measurement, the litmus test, of your devotion to God is what you
- 00:19:32.345 --> 00:19:34.847
- do with your money.
- 00:19:34.847 --> 00:19:36.215
- And a person can't have more than one master, you're either
- 00:19:36.215 --> 00:19:37.883
- gonna serve God or the devil?
- 00:19:37.883 --> 00:19:39.385
- No, God or money, why?
- 00:19:39.385 --> 00:19:40.987
- Because he knew this.
- 00:19:40.987 --> 00:19:43.155
- And so, over and over and over, he says, "Come on, you're gonna
- 00:19:43.155 --> 00:19:46.592
- trust me with your eternity, your health, your children, your
- 00:19:46.592 --> 00:19:50.529
- marriage, your singleness, your joblessness, your opportunities.
- 00:19:50.529 --> 00:19:56.569
- Why would you hold back when it comes to your money and
- 00:19:56.569 --> 00:20:00.973
- your possessions?"
- 00:20:00.973 --> 00:20:02.308
- It doesn't make any sense, does it?
- 00:20:02.308 --> 00:20:06.178
- And what did Jesus say about money and possessions?
- 00:20:06.178 --> 00:20:09.315
- He was so clear.
- 00:20:09.315 --> 00:20:10.683
- He said this: "It's not even yours.
- 00:20:10.683 --> 00:20:13.919
- Belongs to my Father in heaven.
- 00:20:13.919 --> 00:20:16.122
- You're not an owner, don't kid yourself.
- 00:20:16.122 --> 00:20:18.724
- You're a manager."
- 00:20:18.724 --> 00:20:21.027
- In fact, in Matthew 25, Matthew was the tax collector who
- 00:20:21.027 --> 00:20:23.596
- followed Jesus, such a cool story, right?
- 00:20:23.596 --> 00:20:25.097
- "Matthew, follow me." "Where we going?"
- 00:20:25.097 --> 00:20:26.499
- "To your house." It was such a great story.
- 00:20:26.499 --> 00:20:28.467
- Matthew the tax collector who followed Jesus, his gospel
- 00:20:28.467 --> 00:20:31.971
- associated with his name, he records a bunch of the parables
- 00:20:31.971 --> 00:20:34.907
- of Jesus, and Jesus's parables, for the most part, explain how
- 00:20:34.907 --> 00:20:38.010
- heaven meets earth.
- 00:20:38.010 --> 00:20:39.345
- They explain the kingdom of God.
- 00:20:39.345 --> 00:20:40.713
- The kingdom of God isn't someplace you go someday.
- 00:20:40.713 --> 00:20:42.882
- The kingdom of God is the value system of God that touched down
- 00:20:42.882 --> 00:20:45.985
- on planet earth in Jesus.
- 00:20:45.985 --> 00:20:47.987
- And Jesus's parables constantly said, here's what the kingdom of
- 00:20:47.987 --> 00:20:50.990
- God looks like when you live it out on planet earth, when you
- 00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:53.626
- live it out in your life as a teenager or a single or married
- 00:20:53.626 --> 00:20:56.395
- adult or a senior adult.
- 00:20:56.395 --> 00:20:58.331
- And over and over and over, these parables would intersect
- 00:20:58.331 --> 00:21:00.733
- with the topic of money and possessions because he knew this
- 00:21:00.733 --> 00:21:03.903
- was such a key area for us to follow him.
- 00:21:03.903 --> 00:21:07.206
- So in one of these parables, it's one that if you grew up in
- 00:21:07.206 --> 00:21:11.010
- church you've heard before, here's how Jesus begins this
- 00:21:11.010 --> 00:21:13.779
- particular famous parable.
- 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:15.681
- In fact, it's so famous I'm not even gonna read the whole
- 00:21:15.681 --> 00:21:17.483
- parable, I just gonna read the first part of it.
- 00:21:17.483 --> 00:21:19.685
- Here's what he said, he said, "Again," because he's talking
- 00:21:19.685 --> 00:21:22.555
- about something he's talked about many times.
- 00:21:22.555 --> 00:21:24.423
- "Again, it," the kingdom of heaven, the value system of God
- 00:21:24.423 --> 00:21:28.294
- that he wants lived out on earth, "again, it will be like a
- 00:21:28.294 --> 00:21:31.364
- man going on a journey, who called his servants and
- 00:21:31.364 --> 00:21:34.166
- entrusted his wealth to them."
- 00:21:34.166 --> 00:21:37.370
- Now, in a parable, as you hopefully know if you've been
- 00:21:37.370 --> 00:21:39.805
- around for a while, a parable, there's always a "God" figure
- 00:21:39.805 --> 00:21:42.708
- and there's always an "us" figure.
- 00:21:42.708 --> 00:21:44.310
- Somebody in the parable represents Jesus's audience,
- 00:21:44.310 --> 00:21:46.345
- somebody in the parable represents God the Father.
- 00:21:46.345 --> 00:21:48.714
- And if you read this whole parable, it becomes clear that
- 00:21:48.714 --> 00:21:51.117
- the wealthy man who's entrusting his wealth to the servants is
- 00:21:51.117 --> 00:21:53.853
- God, and the servants to whom the wealth was entrusted is me
- 00:21:53.853 --> 00:21:57.223
- and is you and is the followers of Jesus
- 00:21:57.223 --> 00:21:58.791
- or the potential followers of Jesus.
- 00:21:58.791 --> 00:22:01.327
- But here's the question that's not a trick question: What
- 00:22:01.327 --> 00:22:03.763
- percentage of the man who'd bestowed his wealth to the
- 00:22:03.763 --> 00:22:06.632
- servants, what percentage of the wealth belonged to the man?
- 00:22:06.632 --> 00:22:10.669
- All of it, exactly, 100%.
- 00:22:10.669 --> 00:22:12.471
- And what percentage belonged to the servants?
- 00:22:12.471 --> 00:22:15.107
- Zero percent, exactly.
- 00:22:15.107 --> 00:22:16.642
- I'm not--even I can do that math, right?
- 00:22:16.642 --> 00:22:18.444
- It was all the master's and he said, "I'm gonna give it to
- 00:22:18.444 --> 00:22:20.579
- you," and if you read this parable, it's kinda interesting.
- 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:22.515
- He gives one guy five bags of something of value and another
- 00:22:22.515 --> 00:22:25.785
- person two bags of something of value and the other guy got
- 00:22:25.785 --> 00:22:28.320
- one bag.
- 00:22:28.320 --> 00:22:29.655
- And he said, "Now, while I'm gone, I expect you to go do with
- 00:22:29.655 --> 00:22:32.224
- my wealth what I would do with my wealth, and when I get back I
- 00:22:32.224 --> 00:22:35.027
- hope to have a return on my money.
- 00:22:35.027 --> 00:22:36.429
- I want you to manage it the way you think I would.
- 00:22:36.429 --> 00:22:39.165
- And when you get back, I--when I get back, then, you know,
- 00:22:39.165 --> 00:22:42.401
- I wanna know what kind of return.
- 00:22:42.401 --> 00:22:43.936
- So I want you to work on a return so that when I return,
- 00:22:43.936 --> 00:22:46.672
- I get the return on my wealth."
- 00:22:46.672 --> 00:22:49.175
- And if you remember the parable or if you read it, you should
- 00:22:49.175 --> 00:22:51.243
- read it later, two of them do really well.
- 00:22:51.243 --> 00:22:53.979
- They go and, you know, basically double their master's money.
- 00:22:53.979 --> 00:22:56.482
- And then one of them doesn't do so well, he buries it.
- 00:22:56.482 --> 00:22:59.485
- But the point of the parable is this: Do you remember the
- 00:22:59.485 --> 00:23:02.354
- difference, do you remember what made the difference in the
- 00:23:02.354 --> 00:23:04.924
- outcome of the story?
- 00:23:04.924 --> 00:23:06.292
- Do you remember what made the difference when the master
- 00:23:06.292 --> 00:23:08.027
- returned and asked them to give an account?
- 00:23:08.027 --> 00:23:11.030
- The issue was not the amount each of them were asked
- 00:23:11.030 --> 00:23:14.700
- to manage.
- 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:16.101
- The issue was what they did with what they were asked to manage.
- 00:23:16.101 --> 00:23:21.173
- And the point of the parable that Jesus is making is that
- 00:23:21.173 --> 00:23:24.143
- 100% of it belonged to the master and 0% of it belonged to
- 00:23:24.143 --> 00:23:30.416
- the servants.
- 00:23:30.483 --> 00:23:31.817
- They were managers, not owners.
- 00:23:31.817 --> 00:23:34.153
- And here's the great news about that paradigm and that idea and
- 00:23:34.153 --> 00:23:37.556
- that picture and that approach, and again, Jesus, so brilliant.
- 00:23:37.556 --> 00:23:41.260
- You see, no matter how much money you have and no matter how
- 00:23:41.260 --> 00:23:45.431
- much money you make and no matter what you possess, you
- 00:23:45.431 --> 00:23:47.833
- should never, ever, ever feel guilty and you should never
- 00:23:47.833 --> 00:23:51.070
- allow anyone to make you feel guilty, and here's why: because
- 00:23:51.070 --> 00:23:55.040
- money managers don't feel guilty.
- 00:23:55.040 --> 00:23:59.545
- It's not their wealth.
- 00:23:59.545 --> 00:24:02.214
- Money managers feel responsible and accountable
- 00:24:02.214 --> 00:24:07.786
- for how much of it?
- 00:24:07.786 --> 00:24:09.421
- For all of it.
- 00:24:09.421 --> 00:24:11.490
- This was such a paradigm shift in the 1st century, and it's a
- 00:24:11.490 --> 00:24:15.661
- paradigm shift that the church struggles with and continues to
- 00:24:15.661 --> 00:24:18.497
- struggle with, but Jesus could not have been any clearer.
- 00:24:18.497 --> 00:24:22.768
- The reason you should keep track of where your money is going:
- 00:24:22.768 --> 00:24:27.673
- it's not your money.
- 00:24:27.673 --> 00:24:31.644
- We should be knowing, we should be knowin' where our Master's
- 00:24:31.644 --> 00:24:36.148
- money is going, so you should pay attention.
- 00:24:36.148 --> 00:24:39.018
- And the more you have, the closer attention you should pay,
- 00:24:39.018 --> 00:24:43.589
- so create a system.
- 00:24:43.589 --> 00:24:45.357
- Just do this for two months, create a system where you
- 00:24:45.357 --> 00:24:48.260
- monitor where your money goes, and then sit down
- 00:24:48.260 --> 00:24:51.330
- and look at it.
- 00:24:51.330 --> 00:24:53.265
- Stop every once in a while and just take a look.
- 00:24:53.265 --> 00:24:55.134
- And if you don't like what you see, adjust.
- 00:24:55.134 --> 00:24:57.336
- And if you realize, "Good grief, how could two people spend that
- 00:24:57.336 --> 00:25:00.172
- much money on themselves?
- 00:25:00.172 --> 00:25:01.740
- Good grief, how could one person eat that much money?
- 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:05.044
- How could one person wear that much money?
- 00:25:05.044 --> 00:25:07.780
- How could one person spend that much money on travel?
- 00:25:07.780 --> 00:25:10.816
- Oh my goodness, this is embarrassing."
- 00:25:10.816 --> 00:25:13.419
- And then you adjust, because-- and this is the bottom line.
- 00:25:13.419 --> 00:25:17.122
- This is throughout the teaching of Jesus, and this may seem
- 00:25:17.122 --> 00:25:20.659
- one-sided, this may seem too heavily weighted on the side of
- 00:25:20.659 --> 00:25:23.329
- money and possessions, but I would challenge you to read the
- 00:25:23.329 --> 00:25:25.331
- Gospels and read the parables.
- 00:25:25.331 --> 00:25:28.367
- How you and how I, how we manage our money speaks volumes about
- 00:25:28.367 --> 00:25:34.607
- who and whose we are.
- 00:25:34.673 --> 00:25:38.510
- And here's how you know this already.
- 00:25:38.510 --> 00:25:40.946
- It's not because of what you do with your money that convinces
- 00:25:40.946 --> 00:25:43.716
- you of this, it's people you've met along the way, because you
- 00:25:43.716 --> 00:25:47.686
- have met some very generous people.
- 00:25:47.686 --> 00:25:49.955
- You've met some generous people who had a little,
- 00:25:49.955 --> 00:25:52.257
- who had a middle, and who had a lot, right?
- 00:25:52.257 --> 00:25:54.627
- And when you saw what they did with their home, when you saw
- 00:25:54.627 --> 00:25:58.097
- how generous they were with their car, when you saw how
- 00:25:58.097 --> 00:26:00.766
- generous they were with their possessions, you walked away
- 00:26:00.766 --> 00:26:03.569
- from those conversations or those encounters thinking, "Wow,
- 00:26:03.569 --> 00:26:06.772
- that person is the real deal.
- 00:26:06.772 --> 00:26:09.708
- I can't hear their prayers, I don't know about their secret
- 00:26:09.708 --> 00:26:13.245
- habits, I don't know what happens behind closed doors,
- 00:26:13.245 --> 00:26:16.215
- I don't know how they parented their children,
- 00:26:16.215 --> 00:26:18.851
- I don't know any of that.
- 00:26:18.851 --> 00:26:20.185
- But my goodness, they are the real deal because of how they
- 00:26:20.185 --> 00:26:24.323
- manage their money and their possessions."
- 00:26:24.323 --> 00:26:27.926
- And Jesus, so brilliant, knew the very same thing.
- 00:26:27.926 --> 00:26:33.198
- So how you manage your money says so much, it says probably
- 00:26:33.198 --> 00:26:37.236
- more than anything else about who and whose you are.
- 00:26:37.236 --> 00:26:41.974
- So come on, pay attention.
- 00:26:41.974 --> 00:26:45.744
- If you pay attention, you will live better, you will love
- 00:26:45.744 --> 00:26:49.615
- better, you'll definitely be more generous, you will have
- 00:26:49.615 --> 00:26:53.852
- less fear, and you will have far more purpose.
- 00:26:53.852 --> 00:26:59.191
- If our money could actually talk, what would it tell us?
- 00:26:59.191 --> 00:27:03.529
- I think it would begin with telling us, "Hey, I can add
- 00:27:03.529 --> 00:27:06.432
- meaning to your life, but I'm not the meaning of life."
- 00:27:06.432 --> 00:27:10.069
- Our money would tell us, "I'm a better servant than I am a
- 00:27:10.069 --> 00:27:12.371
- master, but ultimately it's your self-control that determines
- 00:27:12.371 --> 00:27:15.774
- which one of us gets in control."
- 00:27:15.774 --> 00:27:18.010
- Our money would tell us, "Hey, I'm actually pretty easy to keep
- 00:27:18.010 --> 00:27:20.612
- up with, but I am difficult to catch up with, and you will
- 00:27:20.612 --> 00:27:23.982
- stress yourself out if you lose track of me.
- 00:27:23.982 --> 00:27:28.320
- And then ultimately, reflecting the words and the teachings of
- 00:27:28.320 --> 00:27:31.423
- Jesus throughout his ministry, what you choose to do with me
- 00:27:31.423 --> 00:27:35.594
- speaks volumes, speaks volumes about who and whose you are."
- 00:27:35.594 --> 00:27:41.633
- Andy Stanley: Well, that's it for this episode.
- 00:27:44.403 --> 00:27:45.771
- As always, thank you so much for staying up late or maybe getting
- 00:27:45.771 --> 00:27:48.674
- up early.
- 00:27:48.674 --> 00:27:50.042
- If you'd like to watch today's episode again or share it with a
- 00:27:50.042 --> 00:27:52.544
- friend, head on over to our "Your Move" YouTube channel,
- 00:27:52.544 --> 00:27:55.714
- where you'll find all the latest "Your Move" content for free,
- 00:27:55.714 --> 00:27:59.351
- and it's all designed to help you make better decisions and
- 00:27:59.351 --> 00:28:02.254
- live with fewer regrets.
- 00:28:02.254 --> 00:28:03.689
- Thanks so much for watching, we will see you right back here
- 00:28:03.689 --> 00:28:05.691
- next time on "Your Move."
- 00:28:05.691 --> 00:28:22.141
- ...
- 00:28:25.377 --> 00:28:25.377
