Teaching | Jesus and the Paycheck | Garden City E05

Hello and welcome to the John Mark Homer Teachings Podcast. My name is Yinka Dawson and I'm your host. Each week we feature teachings by John Mark or other voices in the formation space and it's great to have you with us. We're nearing the end of our Garden City series, exploring God's original vision for work, rest, and human flourishing. In this episode, John Mark unpacks Jesus' teaching on money, possessions,

and trust from Matthew 6, challenging us to resist the work more, buy more, repeat cycle and instead live with simplicity, generosity and a God-centered vision of life. Here's John Mark.

The Gospel of Matthew chapter 6. Hey, we are nearing the end of the Garden City series, but before we wrap up, there is something we need to talk about. There is a danger to this vision of work. If you embrace this vision of what it means to be human. to be made in the image of God, to rule over the earth. If you gather up the raw materials of the planet and you work your tail off to reshape it into a garden-like city.

And if you discover your vocation or your God-given identity and calling, and then in the West with social mobility, if you then build a career out around that and you chase after it. And if you learn the art of saying no. And over time, you become really good at whatever it is you do. You become an expert in your field. You become a master at your craft. And if you do all of that, not for money or fame or hubris.

but as an expression of love and service to the city and the world and of gratitude and worship. In glory to God, if you embrace this vision, then the odds are that at some point in time, you will make money. Now, a lot of you are young. You're not there yet. Stay with it. Now, not all of you, some of you are called to a vocation that is not lucrative. It's teaching preschool or it's something that you don't get paid for like parenting or music or art or whatever.

But others of you will make not only money, but will actually make a lot of money. And here's the danger. It's really easy to get sucked into this cycle. Work more, buy more, repeat. This is the rhythm of the United States of America. Work more, buy more, repeat. And it's especially a temptation when you love your job and you're good at it and you make money. Work more.

buy more, repeat. And the end result is usually a stressed out, anxiety rife, over busy, hollow greedy, I have so much but I want more kind of temperature. The question is, how do we keep from getting sucked in to the vortex that is capitalism in the late modern West? Work more, buy more, repeat. I would argue two ways. First, we handle money well, and second, we Sabbath. So the plan for tonight is to talk about money and stuff, and then next week to talk about

Sabbath. Now just to call out the elephant in the room, I know it's weird to talk about money in the church for all sorts of reasons. One is because of the abuse of it by pastors. And so what happens a lot is pastors, like myself, overreact and don't talk. about money at all until the church is in need of more of it for a building project or whatever. So just to clarify, there's no hidden agenda tonight. With all due respect, most of you don't really have any money.

If I wanted to, like, make money, I would plant a church in Lake Oswego. Not here and not with you. With your parents, not with you. All right? So I'm not after your money at all. Yes, I mean, we want to grow and mature in generosity at Bridgetown Church for sure, absolutely. But there's no hidden agenda tonight. This is a conversation about work.

And the odds are that if you embrace this vision, you will make money. And so we need to talk about that. So to start off, let's read what Jesus has to say about money and stuff and what it all has to do with the kingdom of God. Okay? Well done. Matthew chapter six, verse 19. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. When I was a kid, I was a reader, and I was a homeschooler, and those two things kind of go together. And I was a nerd, and that's a whole other story.

And I used to collect the Hardy Boys books. Anybody read the Hardy Boys? Yeah. I thought I might date myself there, but no, like there's a few of you. Well done. So I used to collect vintage hardback. Hardy Boy books. Whenever I would go out, my grandma was an antique dealer. So whenever I would go with her to a show or a store or whatever, I would always scour and look for a vintage Hardy Boy book. And over the years,

By the end, by the time I was out of high school, I had basically every single Hardy Boy book ever. Hardback, gorgeous, the whole thing. So I got married a few years after that. And we bought this old house to remodel it. And we put all of our stuff out in the garage. And I remember a couple of months later, I went out and my Hardy Boy collection was in a box. It was there in the garage. And I...

took the box, and I pulled it up, and literally all I had was the top half of cardboard. Everything was literally gone. It had turned to dust. I don't know if it was a rat or something gross. It was an old ghetto house. And literally, there was a pile of ash at my feet. Nothing left. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and rat and something nasty and gross in your garage. Eat everything up and steal. But no, lay up, Jesus is saying.

treasures for yourself in heaven. Now, the word treasures here can be translated storeroom, which was the ancient equivalent of a bank or a storage unit where you would put all of your extra stuff. The word treasures here isn't just just money and stuff. It's anything that you give your resources to. Money, but for a lot of you, you're young, that's not really your resource right now. It's also your time, your energy, your mental real estate, or what you think about all the time.

your passion. It's anything that you look to for joy. So your treasure might be money. It might be an IRA or a money market account or a savings account or stock, or it might be stuff. It might be that furniture collection or that clothing wardrobe or that extra car or that electronics thing, or it might be nothing.

None of the above. It might be a job promotion or success in your career. It might be a dream of one day you're in public office or you start a business or you run your own company or whatever. Or it might be fame and recognition as an artist or a musician or a writer. or whatever. It's anything that you give your resources to in the quest for joy. Don't store up, or that can be translated, amass treasures.

Now, this is a line that a lot of people misread. Jesus is not saying, hey, don't buy a mansion and a Maserati now on earth. Give your money away. and then I will hook you up with a mansion and a Maserati in heaven after you die. Just to clarify, that's not what he's saying. I'm sorry.

But for whatever reason, a lot of people read it that way, as if the best Jesus can do is acquiesce to capitalism's perversion of the American dream. The word heaven here is confusing because, listen, we use it differently than people in the first century did. So first century Jews did believe in a future after death, did believe in resurrection, that one day the people of God would come back from the grave to live in this world made new by God.

But they did not call that future heaven. They called it the age to come. Heaven was a first century way of saying God. Jews of the time would often refuse to say God's name out loud, out of respect. Instead, they would say heaven. That's why in the Gospel of Matthew, in the Gospel of Mark and Luke and John, you read about the kingdom of God. But in the Gospel of Matthew, you read about the kingdom of heaven. It's the exact same idea, but Matthew is more comfortable with the word heaven.

than he is with the word God. So heaven here means God or the place where God is. The contrast isn't between treasures on earth, as in planet earth, versus treasures somewhere else up in the sky after you die. The contrast, listen here. is between treasures on earth that rot, disappear, and can be taken away from you, versus treasures in God that will last forever and that nobody and nothing can ever take away from you.

Does that make sense? If I lost you there, no worries. The point is, followers of Jesus are not to store up treasures on earth. And the reason for this is because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, end quote. Or put another way, your heart follows your money or your resources, time, passion, whatever it is for you.

and vice versa your money and your resources follow your heart if you want to know what you treasure what you're passionate about what you love what you look to for joy All you have to do is open, log into your bank account and look at the last 30 to 60 days and then flip over to your iCal and look at your schedule for the last 30 to 60 days. That's what you treasure. Where your time goes, where your money goes. That's what you treasure.

So clearly what Jesus is saying here has less to do with economic theory. Is capitalism right? Or socialism? Or even whether or not a follower of Jesus should save or should not save for retirement? Or what about this? What about life insurance? It's not what Jesus is getting at here. What he's getting at is the heart. Jesus is asking the question, what do you treasure? What is the object of your joy? Is it money? Is it stuff? Is it a new pair of...

Shoes? Is it success? Is it a promotion at work? See more followers on Instagram? Is it whatever? Or is it God?

Jesus goes on, 22. The eye of the lamp is the body. If your eyes are healthy... your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? If you're thinking, wait, what? I don't get it.

No worries at all. This paragraph here is lost in translation for most people because it was a figure of speech in Jesus' day. The word healthy, or depending on what translation you read, you might have evil, I'm sorry, good in front of you. healthy there or good can also be translated generous. And the word unhealthy or evil can also be translated greedy.

If you were generous in Jesus' time, people said you had a healthy eye or a good eye. But if you were greedy, people said, oh, she has an unhealthy eye or he has an evil eye. And I love that word picture so much. The idea is that if you look out on the world and all you see is what you want more of. If you walk down the street and you see that billboard and that thing and that shop.

You open up your laptop, you log on, whatever, and all you see is I want this, I want that, I want another pair of those, and I want a pair of those to match, and I want to go here, and I want to go there, and I want to buy that, and I need that electronics thing, and I need the new, new, new iPhone, and I need the... that's how you see the world, then your whole body will be full of darkness. Meaning you will be consumed by the unquenchable desire for more.

But if you look out on the world and you see, eyes open, the goodness of God in all of creation, that everything on offer in this city and this world is a gift from the creator God. oxygen to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, the best things in life, family, friends, community, meaning, purpose, contribution and above all, God.

And if you live into that, and if you see all the injustice in the world, the dark underbelly of globalization as the rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer. If you see the injustice right here in our own city around race or gender, around ethnicity, around the refugee crisis, around whatever it is, if you... eyes open, you see and you share, you're generous, you give, you let go, then quote, your whole body will be full of light. You will be consumed with joy and peace.

and freedom, and life. Jesus is asking the question, how do you see the world? Do you have a healthy eye? Do you look out and see eyes of generosity? Or do you have an unhealthy eye? Are you greedy, marked by the thirst for more? Jesus goes on.

24. You're like, no, I can't take any more. Well, keep reading. 24. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other. or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The word money here in my translation, the NIV, is usually translated mammon.

My guess is better. It's an ancient Aramaic word for money and stuff and whatever the object of your joy is. But listen, a number of scholars argue that it was also the name of an ancient God. If so, that would mean that the one and only rival God that Jesus ever calls out by name is not Zeus, the king of the pantheon, or Baphrodite, the goddess of sexuality, but is...

mammon or money and stuff. To Jesus, money and stuff is not nearly as equal as we want to think. It has, at times, a demonic power behind it. the more I learn about globalization, which started out as this great idea and has become a catastrophe, the more I think, man, there has got to be a malevolent... evil, demonic power at play in the way that the world is going forward. Jesus here calls Mammon a master. Don't think your boss at work. This was the word used for a slave master.

So in Jesus' teaching here, we have two options, God or mammon. Either we love and serve God or we love and serve mammon. Option A, option B. Personally, I'm more of an option C kind of guy. So I'm like, Jesus, that's great. Love you. Serve you. I'm all in. Absolutely. That's my heart. I want to do that.

But I would love to drive a Range Rover too, Jesus. I don't really even need a car. I'd ride my bike everywhere we live close in. But you know, I would look good in that car. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I was there the other day.

This is so embarrassing. And there was like a free car giveaway thing. And it was the new Range Rover, the small one, which I never thought was that cool until the recent James Bond movie. You know, the scene and the snow and Daniel Craig was like so hot and awesome. He's there, and the Range Rover, and his French girlfriend. Like, it's just so, I'm like, man, I could see myself in that, Pastor Comer.

author of loveology, you know, like I could see that. So I'm there, I'm Christmas shopping. I like look around, make sure nobody from church is there. And I like, you know. look in the window, and what do I have to sign up for to put in for free? I don't even need a car, but man, I would look good in that. That's all I have to say. So I want to love and serve Jesus, and I want to drive that.

And by the way, if you drive that, guilt and shame. And jealousy and let me borrow it for date night, okay? But notice, here's what I want to point out. Notice that Jesus does not say it's wrong to serve God and money. Like, hey, J.M., you really should not do that. No, Jesus says it's impossible. It's not an option. You can't.

serve God or money. Man, do I want to prove Jesus wrong, but I have yet to do that. It's one or the other, Jesus is saying. You love and you serve God, or you love and you serve money. And you have to pick. Jesus is asking the question, what do you love? What's the object of your desire, your affection, your hope, your angst? God or mammon?

What or who do you serve? The God who made you or money? Does money work for you or do you work for money? Jesus goes on 25. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life. Now, to clarify, pause, this is not a change of subject. So in my Bible, and I love my Bible, but there's a paragraph break here and a verse break and there's a subheading. It's not in the original Greek. This is not a change of subject.

Jesus is on the exact same trajectory. Notice that word, therefore, meaning in light of everything that I just said about treasure and where your treasure is and who or what you love and serve. Is it God or is it mammon or is it something? else. In light of all of that, I tell you, do not worry about your life. Jesus is a genius. Not surprising, I know. But notice right here, he points out the symbiotic connection between treasure

and worry. Worry or anxiety or stress or what it is that keeps you up at night is a litmus test of what you treasure, what you love, what you care about, what you worship. You could put it this way. We worry about what we worship. For example, if you worship money, then you will worry about the economy, whether or not you get a raise. whether or not there's a layoff at your company retirement your savings account when or if you buy a house the market in portland all of that

If you worship stuff, you will worry about, what if I don't have enough money to buy my thing or complete my collection or get outfit number 97 or whatever it is? That's what you will worry about. If you worship success or fame, you will worry, what if I'm normal?

What if I'm ordinary? What if I never make it? What if I'm average? What if I'm run of the mill? What if the company doesn't take off? What if my band doesn't go on tour? What if, what if, what if? But if you worship Jesus, you will have nothing to worry about at all. The thing to do with anxiety is to trace it back to the source. So you identify what you worry about, what you fret over, what you freak out about. Trace it back to the source.

The odds are that something or somebody is there that does not go by the name Jesus of Nazareth. Something has become the center of your heart, your treasure, your mind, your passion, your desire.

that does not go by the name Jesus of Nazareth. So, Jesus, therefore, in light of all this, I tell you, do not worry. He goes on about what you will eat. or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. So this is the first century. It's a different set of problems. Most people in the north of Galilee are not on abject poverty, but you're dealing with farmers who are dependent on rain, agriculture, drought, plagues.

Stuff like that is a problem. This is the kind of stuff that people would worry about in Jesus' day. But for the most part, people did not need to worry about. Most people could eat. Most people could drink. Most people could wear clothing. But Jesus goes on, 26. Look at the birds of the air. This is like Jesus' hippie moment. I love it.

They do not sow or reap or stow away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Notice that Jesus commands you and me to not worry, not once, not twice, but three times in one teaching. He is driving the point home. He really wants you to get this. He really wants me to get this. And Jesus gives a number of reasons here to not worry.

For starters, God is a loving father who takes care of his kids. In 26, we read, look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? You have a God. You have a father. Relax. It's okay. Trust. Secondly, life is more than money and stuff. I love that line in 25. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? And what's the answer? Yes.

The best things in life aren't things, you all know this. It's God, it's relationships, it's contribution, meaning and purpose in life. Things aren't bad per se, not at all, I don't think, but there's more to life. In another place, Jesus says this, quote, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Eyes open, watch out, heads up, all kinds of greed. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

Stuff, money, what you have, possessions, that's just not what life is about. Third is this, worry doesn't help anybody. In 27, Jesus asked the question, can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? What's the answer? No, that chronic anxiety is not only detrimental to your health, it's actually lethal at times. Four, worry is how pagans live, not disciples of Jesus. We see that in 32.

For the pagans run after all these things. That's not a derogatory term in the New Testament at all. It just means people that are not followers of Jesus. It's people who don't have life in God that have to go out and search for life and money and stuff and success. It's not us. And finally, I love that closing line. Today has enough trouble of its own.

That's funny, by the way. Like, I think you would have started to laugh at that point in Jesus' teaching. Because what do we worry about? We worry about the future, right? We worry about the what-ifs of life. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if the job is no more? What if I don't get into that college or that grad school thing? Or what if she says no? Or he's like, what if, what if, what if, what if? To beat worry at its own game, we have to live in the moment.

This doesn't mean that we don't plan for the future. It just means that we don't worry about the future. So there are all sorts of reasons right here in the teaching. to not worry. But listen, that's just the first half of the equation. The negative command is do not worry. But the positive command is, quote, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And all these things will be given to you as well. Kingdom is a shorthand way of saying Israel's story coming to a head in Jesus.

and all her hopes for peace and justice, breaking into human history through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. And righteousness is a Jewish way of saying to live right or to live the way of Jesus. Jesus is saying, listen, don't worry. Instead, aim your life at God and what he's up to in the world. Devote all of your resources to the way of Jesus. And all the other stuff, it will take care of itself. How does that sound?

That good, huh? You know, this is a radical teaching. It was in Jesus' day, and it is even more so in ours. How do we even come close to living this out? Do we go on Craigslist tonight and sell everything we own? Put it all up free? Have you ever done that, by the way? Freaky people come out of the good word work. Seriously, like...

Oh my, that's, I could tell you story after story, freaky stalker stuff. But do we put everything up for sale? Next week we're all homeless, but we really love Jesus. Do we just ignore it? well, you know, this is Portland. I live in the West. Hopefully God is cool with me. Do we explain it away? How do we wrestle with this? How do we, the children of affluence, follow Jesus who was...

And honestly, this is an area of debate and controversy in the church. Not only right now, but it has been literally for millennia. There are some who think that all followers of Jesus are called to poverty. All the way back to St. Francis of Assisi, up to Shane Claiborne today. Straight up.

We are all called to poverty. Others think, no, no, no, that's not the thing at all. Money's not the problem. Stuff is not the problem. It's all about heart posture. You know, do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you? That's all it's about. Jesus had tons of friends who were rich and he was always down.

for a free meal at somebody's house. Like it's all about heart posture. Other people point out all the other teachings in the New Testament and in the scripture about how wealth is a sign of God's blessing. But then other people point out the fact that upwards of a quarter of Jesus' teachings were on money and stuff, and in all honesty, not one of them is positive. That's great. So people are back and forth.

Honestly, I'm not even sure where I land on it. I know that I'm like a biased source. I have no desire to be poor, right? So like there's one interpretation that says poverty and the other interpretation says make a ton of money and just be generous. I like that one better. That sounds great. I'm not even sure, in all honesty, where I land, but guess what? I think this is supposed to be an area of debate and controversy.

I think it's supposed to be gray and not black and white. I think this teaching of Jesus, at least right here, is actually set up to on purpose make you and I feel uncomfortable. If you read this teaching. and you are not squirming in your seat, then with all due respect, you're not getting it. As a late modern Western European, there's a tension here.

There's a, well, what about this Jesus? And what about that? And what about the nuance of here? And this was written to an agrarian society. What about here? What's food? There's a lot of tension here, a lot. And I think it's supposed to be that way. I think we're supposed to dialogue and wrestle and pray and seek God and do it all in community, what's right, what's wrong, all of that.

about our relationship to money. That said, here's my take for tonight. And I offer it with a ton of humility to an open conversation here at Bridgetown and around the world about followers of Jesus and money and stuff. First, to follow Jesus, we have to both adopt his teachings and adapt his teachings to fit our context. So we adopt Jesus' teachings. As followers of Jesus, we live under the authority of the teachings of Jesus and the writings of the New Testament.

don't pick or choose. Not like, oh, I love what Jesus has to say about love and justice. But that whole line about don't store up treasures for yourselves in heaven. By the way, that's a command, just to clarify. How many of you are followers of Jesus? That's a command.

So if you lay up treasures on earth, what do we call that? Yeah, disobedience. Okay? So we don't pick or choose. We're not like, oh, I love this one. I'll do that one. Oh, that one. Treasures, that's lame. Like, no, that's okay. I'll pass. That's not how it works. We adopt the teachings of Jesus. But listen, we also adapt the teachings of Jesus to fit our...

context. And this has to be done with your missional community, not alone, because it takes wisdom and intelligence, creativity, open, honest conversation, all of that. But here's what I mean. Our job isn't to recreate first and So we talk a lot about how the goal of discipleship is to live like Jesus, right? Be with Jesus, but also become like Jesus. I, for example, am not a single itinerant Jewish rabbi. I'm a father. I'm a husband. I have three kids. We live on one income right in the city.

where cost of living is enormous. I mean, just what I pay for rent, and we live in a kind of old ghetto house, just what I pay for rent and food and water, just that is a ton of money. But my job, I don't think... isn't to recreate the life of a single rabbi in ancient Israel. It is for which my wife said, thank you. It's to live out the teachings of Jesus with my wife, with my three kids right here in the urban core of this city. The question for all of you, for myself,

is how do we adopt and adapt the teachings of Jesus for Portland, Oregon in 2015? How do we lay up treasure in heaven? I suggest three ways. First off, if you're taking notes, write this down. First is simplicity. This is counterintuitive, but the more you strip your life down to what really matters, you adopt a less but better kind of philosophy. The more space you have for...

the life of God. G.K. Chesterton said so well, quote, there are two ways to have enough money. One is to acquire more. The other is to desire less. How good is that? The other is to desire less. Instead of getting sucked into the rat race of money and materialism and busyness and all of the crazy late modern West, instead we can slow down. We can put on the brakes.

We can enjoy what we have rather than obsess over what we don't have. We can enjoy the simple pleasures, water to drink, roof over our head. I woke up this morning warm. Well, ish. My house is really old and the heater is expensive. Warm-ish. It's all relative. Warm, dry, not scared. I'm safe in my home. I'm safe in my neighborhood. Not hungry. I have food in my stomach.

not thirsty, I have water out of a tap right there. That's a beautiful thing. We can enjoy the stuff that really matters, community, relationships with family and friends. a life of contribution, a life with God at the center of it, the Holy Spirit at work deep inside. That is a whole alternative way.

to live and to be human in the late modern age. You know, I'm a huge fan of the minimalism movement. I don't know if any of you follow that. It's a huge deal over the last year or two. By minimalism, I don't mean the design aesthetic, although I'm a huge fan of that as well.

But that's not what the minimalism movement is. It's basically that design aesthetic, but at life as a whole. What if your entire life was less but better? So it's basically just a rebellion against the rampant materialism of the West and all of the busyness and stress and chaos. Some people...

wracked by anxiety, just saying, man, what if less stuff is actually a better way to live? And so there's this whole movement of people all over America and all over the Western world that are learning to live with less clothing and less busyness and less stuff and less square feet.

feet and all this just great stuff so you can go read it all and read a read a book read a blog whatever it's great But every time I read this stuff, I laugh because all it is, the minimalism hashtag or whatever, all it is, is the way of Jesus, but without the best part, Jesus. Followers of Jesus, if you know anything about church history, you know that going back to Jesus and the writings of the New Testament,

followers of Jesus have been writing about simplicities, the language that was usually used, or back in the day it was frugality. That's just a nasty word, but simplicity. was the word that was used literally for millennia. This was a huge part of the church right up until about World War II in America. We just don't talk about it anymore. It's not a thing for the last, I don't know, 50, 60, 70 years.

But it was a hallmark of discipleship to Jesus. It was kind of like, well, yeah, you follow Jesus. Then you live a simple life. That's a huge part of life in the kingdom of God. And it's a huge part of just life with God. One of the things that...

that I started to do over the last year or two, as I started to read all this stuff, my wife is in on it with me too, is I just started, this is a simple, easy, anybody can do this. It's not hard. I started to cut back my wardrobe. So the average American has 31. outfits like head to toe. It's average. That's not like your crazy materialistic shopping addict. That's you. Okay. So average run of the mill, middle American.

31 outfits. Now most of us don't need an outfit for every single day of the month. So I started, I went down to seven outfits. I'm super OCD. So I had one for every day of the week. I would like, I had a Monday outfit, a Tuesday outfit. It was awesome. And then Sunday was my choose your own adventure day. So it was so fun.

And I was like, that's still a lot of clothes, right? But I was so into it. I'm like, man, this is awesome. I don't have to think about what should I wear today? I'm like, it's Thursday. That jean, that t-shirt. Let's go, you know? But then I started to realize that's so illogical and just...

No offense, but it's just unintelligent. I don't need seven outfits. So then I went down to three. That's where I'm at now. And I love it. Then there's Josh who was here last hour. You all know Josh Porter who has one outfit, like one. We call it the uniform. All right. So Josh tonight is wearing black jeans and a gray t-shirt and a black jean jacket. Tomorrow, guess what he'll be wearing?

black jeans and a gray shirt and a black jacket. Now I asked him once, I'm like, you don't smell too bad. So do you have like copies? He's like, yes, I have three sets of black jeans, green t-shirt, black jean jacket, three sets. That's it. The other day, I saw him and I always just feel so not like Jesus when I hang out with Josh Porter. It's just not there. But I saw him the other day and he's wearing this nice new sweater. And I'm like, Josh, you bought clothes. I've known you for years.

you were wearing that outfit when I met you and you bought, you bought clothes. And he goes, Oh, actually it's from the lost and found at first Baptist. According to Josh, the lost and found here is a goldmine for you fashionista type of people. Now, my point in this, I'm not at all saying that you need to go down to...

seven outfits or three outfits or one or whatever. That's not my point. My point is that one of the best things you can do with the teachings of Jesus is just try it. Even if you're not a follower of Jesus, just try it because it's actually a better way to live. And what I have found is that a year or two later, a year later, I actually am more content than I was a year ago. More happy. Is that a word? Happier than I was a year ago.

more at peace, and it gives me more money to buy clothes that are made ethically and not by slaves or with economic oppression. And it gives me more money to be generous. There's all sorts of great stuff that comes out of it. And best of all, I don't have to think about what I'm going to wear every day because it's Tuesday. Except on Sunday. This is still choose your own adventure.

Now, my point here is I don't personally think that followers of Jesus are called to a life of poverty per se, but it's simplicity, for sure. There's no way around that. Which leads to, second, if you're taking notes, generosity. When you spend less money on crap you don't need, you have more money to give away. And guess what? Then you start to want less.

Here is another counterintuitive axiom. The more you get, the more you want. And the more you give, the more you are happy with what you have. That is counterintuitive, and trust me, that's true, and if you don't believe it, try it. Sociologists talk a lot about the hedonic treadmill. So hedonism, or the good life, that meal out, that car, that thing, that outfit, whatever, it's like a treadmill.

Think of a treadmill. You take step after step after step. You buy this. You buy that. You go here. You go there. You experience that. You see the show. You buy this outfit. You blah, blah, everything. But on a treadmill, you never get anywhere. You never arrive. You're never there. And giving is a way to get off of the hamster wheel of materialism. Giving, it's almost like it's the antidote for the disease of greed.

I love this line from the writer Stephen King. Don't worry, it's not like a quote from Carrie or some horror book. It's a great quote. He writes this, giving isn't about the receiver or the gift, but the giver. It's for the giver. One doesn't open one's wallet to improve the world, although it's nice when that happens. One does it to improve oneself. I give because it's the only concrete way I have of saying that I'm glad to be alive and I can earn my daily bread doing what I love.

Giving is a way of taking the focus off the money we make and putting it back where it belongs, on the lives we lead, the families we raise, and the communities that nurture us. He's not a follower of Jesus, but I'm pretty sure Jesus would smile on that. But in spite of the fact that we have more money than any other generation in human history, we are not known.

for generosity. In fact, you may or may not know this, but in the U.S., giving is at a lower level right now than it was during the Great Depression. So during, in the middle of the Great Depression, America was giving 3.5%. to charity. Right now we're at or right under 2%. But this is the way of Jesus. And it is the way to joy. You know, I know a number of people who are wealthy.

but who live simple and are crazy generous. I have one friend who lives on 50% of his income. I know a number of people who reverse tithe, who give 90% and live on 10%. I know one really sharp young guy, entrepreneur, already successful. His life goal is to live on 1% of his income. And guess what? They are some of the happiest people. I know. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's almost like Jesus was right.

Now, for those of you, I know for a lot of you, you're young and this is all new. Here's a couple of ideas on generosity, kind of just nuts and bolts stuff that may or may not help. This is stuff that my wife and I practice. stuff that a lot of the leaders, if not all the leaders here, practice. First is the tithe. That's a Hebrew word meaning 10%. It's an ancient practice where you give 10% used to be to the temple in Jerusalem.

And for most people now, it's to your local church. So you tithe 10% to Bridgetown. If you're not a part of Bridgetown, whatever your church is, I do this. I think it's the starting place for generosity. I think there's more for most of us. But I think this is a great starting place. If you've yet to take this step and plunge in, if 10% is crazy.

First off, take a close look at your budget. The odds are you can make it work. And if not, then start somewhere. This is a great thing to work up to. Then on top of that, do justice. Like as you have money on top of that 10%. Share with those in need here in the city and around the world. Sponsor a child. That's a great thing to do. In my missional community, there was a season where we had a family in need in our community, no longer in that season. And I have such a great memory of that.

time where we all had the joy to share and give. And those of us that had extra food, literally, and extra money would drop off. Here's a bag, here's food, here's money, here's whatever. It was a beautiful season in the life of our missional community. Then another great idea is to have a blessing fund. I know a lot of people who do this. My wife and I practice this and love it. A lot of people set it to like 1%. It doesn't have to be a ton of money, but part of your monthly budget.

where we just take cash and we put it on an envelope. And every month, that's our blessing fund. It's not even a ton of money for us. It's, I think, 50 bucks a month. And so every month, my kids know, my wife and I, we all know, like, who are we going to bless this month?

And so it might be buying dinner for somebody or groceries for somebody or Christmas presents for a single mom and her kids. Or last month it was the refugee care, collection box, whatever it is, just to have a blessing fund, just money set aside for you to bless. And then, of course, as you get extra money from a tax return or a commission or a bonus or whatever, lay it before God in prayer and just ask God, God, this is your money.

I'm your manager. Like everything I have belongs to you. I'm your manager. This is your money. What should I do with it? And I would say bare minimum tithe. But after that, maybe the spirit is stirring. Like take your wife to Hawaii. Maybe. I don't know. Or maybe give it all. Give it all here. Give it all there. Give it all to the refugee initiative. Give it all to the church. Whatever it is for you. I have no idea. These are just a few ideas for how to practice the way of Jesus in generosity.

And if you're thinking, yeah, that sounds great, but I'm in debt. I'm over budget. I'm in the middle of school. I have no idea how to handle money. We put on a class every once in a while called God and Money. The next one is coming up right after Christmas. You can sign up now on our website.

There's a link right there. Starts in January. It's two weeks long. It's free. And it's everything from kind of God and Bible and theology of money and justice and generosity to all the practical stuff. How to do a budget. How to do online stuff. Should I buy a YouTube?

used car, new car. How do I save for a house? Should I buy a house? Should I rent? What about school loans? How do I get out of debt? What about credit card debt? All of that stuff is in the class. You can sign up for that. So first, simplicity. Second,

generosity. And then last, stay with me, is spirituality. What I mean by spirituality, I don't mean that in like the Oprah sense. God bless her. I mean a God-saturated life. where God is the focal point of your thinking and your feeling. We live, for all the talk about spirituality, for the most part, we live in a secular, not a spiritual society. People look to things for what people used to look to God and faith and religion for. But our desires for more things...

are actually misplaced desires. We think we want a new pair of shoes or the iPhone 6S or that car or that promotion or whatever, but really what we want is life. Joy, peace, comfort, safety, meaning, purpose, satisfaction. And all of that comes from one place, life with God. Here's the thing. Materialism promises what it cannot give. It's propaganda. That's what it is. It promises to make you happy or sexy or content.

but it does not live up to the hype. In fact, when you have too much money and stuff, it actually makes you unhappy, stressed out, discontent, warped on the inside, so on and so forth. One of the reasons, or the reason, that we desire an endless string of more things is because we have yet to find our life in God. When you have God, all the other stuff...

is great. You enjoy it. It's an act of worship, but it's not necessary. A couple of weeks ago, I was with a friend of mine who has money, and he... Bought a bottle of wine for $250. And we had that bottle. And it was awesome. I don't think I've ever paid more than $15 for a bottle of wine. True story. And dude, let me just tell you, there's a reason it costs more money. It was amazing. Guess what? I've not had a $250 bottle of wine since. And guess what? I'm doing just great. Shocking. I know.

I think about it actually a lot. Every time I have my $8.99 bottle from Trader Joe's, I'm like, thank you God for this not as awesome glass. But guess what? I'm great. Because that's not life. That was a gift. That was a great evening for us, and my wife was there, and we had a great time together, and I will remember that for a very long time, that celebration. But you know what?

This morning I got up, and I had a Bible open, and I had time with God, and it was the highlight of my day. This is great. This morning was the highlight of my day. That's it. All the other stuff, it's great, but it's not necessary.

when God is the great joy of your heart. This is the kingdom vision, to live into simplicity and generosity and spirituality, to grow and mature in this as we follow Jesus. And if we live this way, God is the great aim of our heart. And all the other stuff, it will work out just fine. So to end, turn over really fast to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Just a few pages. It will not take more than a minute or two.

over to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Remember what I said about how we have to adopt and adapt the teachings of Jesus to fit our context? I want to show you an example of that in the New Testament, okay? So Timothy is written by a guy named Paul to a young protege named Timothy who is leading a church in Ephesus. This is a wealthy, urban, progressive city. So don't picture...

a church of a farmer and a merchant and a fisherman. This is wealthy, urban, educated, professional, all of that, very much like the city that we call home. And I want you to see how Paul does that. and adapt. He takes Matthew chapter 5, we're about to read a quote of Jesus in Matthew 5, and he works it out for followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus. Read with me, 1 Timothy chapter 6.

Look down at verse 6. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Love that line. We brought nothing into the world. We can take nothing out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. That's enough. You have food. You have clothing. That's enough. Those who want to get rich, notice not those who are rich, but those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money, not money, but the love of it is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief. This is a hard, straight up warning to all of you in an... affluent, urban, educated, professional kind of context.

Wow, watch out for the love of money, for the desire to get rich. Skip down to 17. Command those who are rich in this present world. Now pause. I read this for years growing up, and I always thought it was about somebody else. Those who are rich, not me. I'm like straight up middle class. I was born in a suburb in California. My dad's a pastor. Like our vacation was camping. We never did Hawaii. I was like, rich people did that stuff.

So I used to read this and I used to think, oh, that one guy I know. Oh, my friend's dad, his family, yeah, rich, BMW, wow. Guess what? Who is this about? It's about us. So some of you tonight are tuning me out because you think, well, I'm a poor college student. Well, kind of. Do you have an iPhone? You're not poor. No offense. Like, how much do your jeans cost? That's raw denim? Of course. Yes. You're not poor. You have a car? You have a $3,000 bicycle? Same thing?

You just like look poor, but you're not. Yeah, just to clarify, you're not poor. So there's a spectrum, all right? And... Those who are rich in this present world, think about this with a global eye, okay? The reality is that who in this room is rich? Almost all of you.

Not all. Some of you are here and you're off the streets. You're coming from the Portland Rescue Mission. You're a single mom. You have nothing. We are so happy you're here. Do not feel out of place. Welcome. We want you here. You're a part of our family. But almost all of you, even if you are in college, you work part-time, you make like negative $30 a month, whatever, the school loans, the reality is you're rich.

You're young, you're out of school, you're in your first job, you live in a house with Southeast with 28 other guys, like whatever. The reality is... You're rich. And then a ton of you are here. We joke, a ton of you are here, and you're actually 28. You're professional. You're single. You make six figures a year. Six figures. Like the Princess Bride? What is that? Yeah.

Sorry, I'm tired. You make a ton of money, so obviously, we're all over the map. All I want to say is, as we read this next paragraph, this is about you, this is about me, this is about us. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God. That's where we put our hope.

who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. God is provider and everything that you have, food, drink, shelter, friendship, life, clothes on your back, it's all for your enjoyment. This is not like a feel guilty. No, not at all.

gratitude, worship, thank God for what you have. Here's the command, 18. Command them, command you, command me, to do good, to be rich in good deeds. Meaning make your life about contribution. not consumption.

Those of us here in the West that have social mobility, that have an education, that have a good job, that have a career, we are the ones that actually have the power and the authority and with it the responsibility, the staggering weight of influence. We actually have... influence on how the world is and is not.

So make your life, leverage that for those that don't have social mobility, those that don't have a home to stay in, those that don't have an education. Leverage that for the people in the world with no voice and in the city with no voice. Make your life about... contribution, not consumption. And I love the second half of that command to be generous and willing to share. Be generous. Can that be said of you? Can that be said of me? This is something that we really want to grow in as a church.

and mature. And we have been over the last year or two in some beautiful leaps and bounds, but there's more ground to cover. Be generous with whatever it is that you have, however much, however little, and willing to share. In the same way, and here's the quote of Jesus from Matthew 5, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age.

That's how you lay up treasure. Contribute, work hard, leverage your life for those in need, share, be generous. That's how you lay up treasure. And then listen to that last line. So that they may take hold. It's one of my favorite lines in the entire New Testament.

of the life that is truly life. The life that is truly life. In closing, question. What if Jesus was right? What if he was right? In all honesty, I hate to teach about money, not because I feel awkward in front of you, but because I hate hypocrisy. And if I teach on stuff, I need to live that stuff. And like, Jesus' teachings on money are just really hard for me to swallow at times. I don't want to be poor. Generous, that's cool. That's like hip right now.

Zuckerberg giving his money away. That's cool. But simplicity? Ah. And so... For years now, there has been this gap in my life and my discipleship to Jesus between how I live and the teachings of Jesus on money and stuff. So over the last year or two, my wife and I have been, and she's not materialistic. She's just better than me all around.

We both have been, you know, making progress to live more like Jesus when it comes to money and stuff. Stuff like the clothing thing was great. We sold my car and I buy my bike everywhere and love it. It's great. So stuff like that. And this is so embarrassing for me to admit to you guys. But I've had a huge kind of change of heart over the last year in particular. As I've started to realize...

This is so embarrassing to say, but I've started to realize, I think, and believe for the first time that Jesus' teachings on money and stuff are not only right, but are actually the better way to live. You get the difference? So it's not only that what Jesus says about simplicity and generosity and spiritually, that it's right. And if you lay up treasures on earth, you disobey Jesus. Sure, all of that. But it's actually a better way to live.

Do you actually believe that? Because I have not for a very long time. And now I'm starting to. And it's so true. And it's so good. And it's so beautiful. Do you believe that the path to life, to the life that is truly life, it's not another pair of shoes. It's not another jacket. You already have 14. It's not. More money. It's not a raise. It's not success in your career, as great as that is. It's not more square footage in your apartment or your house. None of that. It's the kingdom.

And it's the way of Jesus. And do you actually believe what if more money and more stuff, and I mean that in the West, I don't mean that for people that are starving around the world, I mean that for you and me. What if more money and stuff actually equals more stress, more anxiety, more discontentment, more greed, more I want more, more entitlement, more...

oppression and injustice at a global level through market factors and so on and so forth, shopping habits here in the West? And what if less stuff Not poverty, but simplicity in general. What if less stuff actually equals more joy, more peace, more contentment, more gratitude, more justice, more good in the world?

more kingdom, more life. What if the way of Jesus is the path to the life that is truly life? That would really be something. To wrap up today, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on how we might step further into Jesus' teaching on generosity. Whether it's remaining more present today and not worrying about tomorrow. or sharing what we have with others, let's ask the Holy Spirit what he has for us from this teaching. So if you can take a few deep breaths with me to slow yourself down.

start by asking the Holy Spirit to bring to mind what stood out to you most about the teaching I'll leave a few seconds here for you to listen And when you're ready, ask God, how would you like me to respond to this teaching this week? I'll leave a few more seconds here for you to listen and close with amen.

Thanks for listening. This podcast is from Practice in the Way. We develop resources to help churches and small groups apprentice in the way of Jesus. Thanks to Little Thoughts for our show music. We're a crowdfunded nonprofit, so everything we make is completely free because it's already been paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks today goes to Kristin from San Francisco, California.

Chelsea from Cedar Park, Texas. Brad from Fort Woods, Texas. Ed from Fort Liberty, North Carolina. And Tara from Orleans, Ontario. Thank you all very much. To join these friends in the circle or learn more about our resources, visit practiceintheway.org. Until next time, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Be with you all.