Daddy’s Money
My dad might have failed in a lot of ways, but managing money wasn’t one of them. He knew exactly how much he had and what it was being used for. Every payday, he’d dole out my dollar allowance, put a twenty in the offering envelope, and put that big ole’ wallet back in his pocket. As a kid my dad loaned me money a few times, but gave me money only once…the week my mom had breast cancer surgery. He didn’t want to worry about feeding a teenager so he handed me $20 and said “Take care of yourself this week”. He was scared. He needed to be with her.
I followed in his footsteps, using Ron Blue’s “envelope” system to teach my kids to manage their money. They made mistakes but overall, they did okay.
But when they went off to college, I noticed a strange phenomenon. When we’d visit and offer to take them out to eat, they’d start inviting people. Come one, come all! It was like a birthday celebration. There would be a caravan to the restaurant. They’d have to bring out the wobbly tables and scooch them together for everyone to sit together. Being at one table was important. Even a college kid might feel guilty ordering up a feast on someone’s tab they weren’t sitting with. Kids ordered food like protesters coming off hunger strikes. Appetizers. Desserts. You name it.
I finally figured out there’s two kinds of money in the economy of college students. Their money and daddy’s money. When it’s their money, they’re tight. They use coupons. They check prices. They hold back…stretch it out. But when it’s daddy’s money, they’re wide open. Enjoy! No restraint. Eat, drink and be merry! (for tomorrow we’ll be back on OUR money!) Not totally careless, but way different from their own.
So what’s the lesson here?
It’s ALL Daddy’s money.
All our money comes from God and it all belongs to Him. Every spending decision we make has a spiritual component. Just because we gave our tithe and met our giving goal doesn’t mean we should carelessly throw the rest away. I can visualize Jesus enjoying the blessings of life. He occasionally modeled that when He was here. But I can’t see him in Vegas playing high-stakes poker with His Daddy’s money. Can you?
We may be using God’s money to feed appetites that come back and kill us. We’re modeling for our kids as we decide how we spend God’s money. And we’re voting for the products we buy with the money we spend. Scary huh?
There’s not two currencies. Just one. And Christ-followers believe in stewardship, not ownership. Jesus’ parable of the talents says there’ll be a day when the Master returns and requires an accounting for what we did with our time, talent and treasure.
Let’s be thoughtful with Daddy’s money.
Question: Do you believe it’s all “Daddy’s money”? Does that influence your spending decisions? Tell us what you think here:
Breathe New Life Into Your Discipleship
Small group mentoring can help you engage your people, build your core group of leaders, and transform your church. Our free resources equip you with all the tools you need to launch a sustainable mentoring program.
Responses (6)
A great reminder and a wonderful analogy. As someone who took advantage of Daddy’s money when he visited me at college, it makes perfect sense. And now as a father, this resonates on every level — modeling and voting indeed. Now I need to figure out whether to say thanks or apologize to my father… probably both.
thanks Heath. Look forward to your return to the States.
“Stewardship implies acceptance of responsibility for certain assets and resources with the expectation that at the end of your watch you will hand them on in more abundance and in better condition than when you recieved them. When you think of yourself as a steward you do not expect honor to accrue to you, rather you feel honored to be involved in something so worthy of your time and talents.” Betsy Sanders
Through the Mentorship program I have come to understand that I must be faithful with what I have been entrusted with. For too much of my life I was looking for the next greatest thing instead of focusing on what God has entrusted to my care.
Lord help me to live in the present and to be a good steward of your resources.
Wonderful, clear definition. Thanks Tony.
Regi,
Good post. Thank you.
Do you think God will judge how we spend his money?
Consider Luke 16:10-12
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
…
It seems that there is a direct correlation between our stewardship of money and whether or not we’re living a Christ centered life.
-David
As Christ-followers, we avoid the judgement. But our reward will be affected by what we do (or don’t do) with our time, talent and treasure.