Don’t Buy Into These Lies: Five Mis-Messages of Spending and Their Opposing Truths

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or – worse! – stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is th place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
                                               
                           – Jesus according to Matthew 6:19-21 (in The Message//Remix, a para-translation)

Make a plan to save & you will!
Start small & learn to save big! 
According to July 2014 statistics*the average 50 year old in the U.S. has less than $45,000 saved up for retirement. To give you an idea of what that means, retirement is now about 18 years for most people. The average cost of healthcare for that same period of time is $215,000! That’s about five times more than the average 50 year old has saved, and that’s just healthcare alone!

We are not a nation of savers. In fact, 36% of all Americans don’t save anything for retirement and 25% of American families don’t have any savings whatsoever. On the other hand, the average American household has $118,000 in debt. It seems that what we are is a nation of unhealthy spenders and borrowers.

And it is no wonder. After all we are given some very interesting messages about money. Here are five false messages we are told:

1) Spending money is patriotic and our civic duty.
We are told that our economy is built on our spending, that a stable economy requires us to constantly be purchasing things. And we all want a stable economy – it benefits us and others (True.) – so we must go out and shop more (False!). In a democratic republic like ours, an informed and civically engaged person is a much better patriot than a spend-thrift. The quality of our nation is not built upon the purchase of its citizenry but upon the quality of its citizens.  

Know the difference:
'Needs' vs.'Wants' 
2) You save money by spending money.
“Buy two and get another at half off!” Logically, if you need two, a third item still costs more, even at a discount. But we think we are being wasteful by not purchasing that discounted third item. Or take your rewards credit card, the more you spend the rewarded you are! In actuality, we save money by using it to buy only what we need, no more and no less. It’s a simple, uncomplicated truth.

3) More is always better.
   Super-size, bottomless, and unlimited are now frequent words in our purchasing parlance. We are told, “Buy in bulk and save” so we buy quantities we don’t use or in quantities that encourage us to be wasteful. And our national epidemic of obesity (eating too much of non-healthy foods) is driving us to spend more and more on diet plans, exercise, and healthcare.  It is becoming common knowledge that our environment and our bodies cannot sustain our consumptive wastefulness. Prudence, not ‘more’, is always better; having too much leads to our misery and demise.

4) Time is scarce! [But money isn’t.]
“Hurry! Sale ends soon!” and “Don’t miss out on this incredible deal” are familiar slogans. We’ve created a whole genre of cuisine that is based on time and convenience, not nutrition. We call it “Fast Food.” In addition, the use of credit cards, leads consumers to spend 12-18% more than cash users. And though paying at the pump or online with a credit card is often faster than using cash, McDonald’s reports that credit card users spend an average of $7 per meal, while cash users spend only $4.50 per meal. Instead, lets slow down. Lets choose wisely. God provides enough time and money to do what God calls us to. Truly, happiness isn’t to be found in the harried race for efficiency.  

5) You NEED this! You DESERVE this!
Advertising is not necessarily a bad thing. We need to know what is available to us. But far too many advertisers presume too much. One assumption is knowing what we need. What we need is basic - water, shelter, food, companionship, health, safety. What we want is much more complex - success, ease, happiness, admiration, popularity, surplus. Becoming content and happy, and being a good steward requires becoming content with having our basic needs met. Our wants are just frosting on the cake! And as for what we deserve, who but God can tell us that!   

From these five mis-messages you can see we are taught, told, and even commanded to spend money in ways that are not according to our heart’s desire. We are told to spend money in the way that benefits the self-interest of others. And that’s where Stewardship comes in.

Stewardship is NOT just another person telling you to spend money the way they want you to. Stewardship is learning to use all our resources – time (schedule & energy), talents (skills), and treasure (money & assets) in ways that match God’s good priorities for your life and for the lives of others. It is God saying, “Let me show you what to do with what I’ve given you so that you can by joyful, generous, free, and constructive people! Let me show you abundant life!”  Stewardship is just training to be the kind of person we want to be and the kind of people that God calls us to be.

So when you hear talk of “stewardship,” think “priorities coaching” and “training the heart’s desires.” After all, Jesus says…

                What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccuptied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over [material] things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns are met.

-          Jesus according to Matthew 6:32-33 (in The Message//Remix, a para-translation)  


*Statistics are from statisticbrain.com  whose sources are U.S. Census Bureau, Saperston Companies, and Bankrate.  



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