Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Money, how much of it can you have and still
be godly? Is it more spiritual to be poor or
more spiritual to be rich? What does money say
about us and how do you get God's help to handle
your money well? That's today. Here's a sobering
reality. Did you know that the vast majority
of families lose their inherited wealth within
one generation? not from poor planning, but from
never learning the truth about money. But here's
the biggest danger. Wealth is a liar. Wealth
convinces millionaires that to be satisfied,
they need to amass just a little bit more. Well,
today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram exposes
how money deceives even sincere believers and
reveals why passing on financial wisdom to your
children and grandchildren may be the most critical
legacy you'll ever leave. Well, before he starts
his message, I'll remind you that Living on the
Edge is making headway on the December match.
Every gift you give will be matched dollar for
dollar, automatically doubling your impact. We'll
share more details about the match later. Right
now, let's begin Chip's message titled, Teach
Them to Manage Their Wealth Wisely. I'm going
to ask you a series of about five questions.
And then here's how I want you to think. With
one part of your brain going, this is my answer
to the question. And then the second is, how
do you think those people that matter to you
most would answer this question? Because I want
you to begin to ponder, where are they at with
this issue of wealth and money? So this is my
answer. And then I want you to see, gosh, would
they answer it about the same? Or, oh, we're
really on different pages. And it's just a little
diagnostic tool. Are you ready? Okay, question
number one. Talking about money, how much is
enough? Write a number. I mean, don't give me
one of those soft, just enough to cover our needs
and live comfortably, whatever that means. I
mean, if it's a million, write a million. If
it's five million, five million, 500 ,000. How
much money is enough to really live and be who
God wants you to be from where you're living
for you in your world? Write it down. And then
I want you to be thinking, what would my son,
my daughter, the guys in my Bible study, what
would they say? Question number two, how much
is too much? Write down a dollar amount. In other
words, if God gave you $2 million, that would
be enough, but 11 might kind of send you over
the edge. Or $50 million you feel like you could
handle, or what you want is X a month, you wouldn't
want a big stockpile. I don't know what you,
but what's the answer to that question? How much
would be too much? You would say, God, please.
Third question, can I be both godly and rich?
Yes or no? And then you want to think about how
does the person you want to pass this on, how
would they answer that? Can I both be godly and
rich? Question number four. If riches and material
goods can choke out spiritual life. I mean, I'm
referring to that passage in Mark chapter four
and, you know, the seed of God's word and it's
four different kinds of soil. And one of the
soils is the thorny soil and the thorny soil
grows up, right? And it chokes out the very life,
the word of God in a believer's heart. If that
in fact is true, and it is because Jesus said
it, is poverty God's calling for spiritual maturity?
And if not, what is? And it is okay to write
on some of these answers, I don't know. Like,
that's a good question, I don't know. But how
would you answer that? And then how would that
guy you're discipling, how would one of your
grandkids, how would one of your kids answer
that? Final question, why does Jesus warn against
the deceitfulness of riches? And what I want
to talk about here is deceitful. Now, the definition
of when you're deceived, You don't know you're
deceived. I mean, that's part of being deceived,
right? And so apparently wealth has an ability
to allow you to live as best you know in fellowship
with God, obeying him and doing what you think
is really good and right and fruitful and actually
have your ladder leaning against the wrong wall,
be totally off. Apparently there's something
about money. Now, it's clear money's not in and
of itself evil. We have wealthy people in Scripture.
We have poor people in Scripture. But apparently,
according to Jesus, wealth or money has the power
to deceive us into thinking we're doing okay
when we're really not. Which, by the way, I think
is pretty scary. I remember my daughter, when
she was much younger, we were riding in the car.
And we have lived in very tiny little houses.
And we have taken quarters out of the back seat.
And we've had God miraculously provide. And then
my job and my world changed at different times.
And then I moved to Atlanta. And God had blessed
in a number of areas. And we were riding in our
little housing development. And there's some
big pretty trees. And we were coming around the
corner. Annie turned to me and said, Dad? I said,
yeah. She goes, are we rich? And my temptation
was to say, well, honey, we're in this subdivision
and our houses are really nice, but the really
rich people, they live in the country club of
the South, okay? You know, the mansions, you
know, with the really big houses and the beautiful
golf course and, you know, they have the statues
out front. Now, they're the really rich people.
But I resisted that temptation and I said, yes,
Annie, we're rich. We have more than I ever dreamed
we'd ever have. We have an abundance of everything.
We used to have to live really tight and now
we wanna go out to eat, we can go out to eat.
We're rich, as are most Americans when you look
at it globally. But here's the deceitfulness
of wealth. I just wanna tap into this. I don't
care where you're at. Your flesh and your human
nature will take wherever you're at on the economic
scale and you will unconsciously tilt about 10
to 20 degrees above you, they are rich people
and you are sort of middle or upper middle class.
And by the way, it never ends. I was with a executive
in Atlanta and he and I was a professional basketball
player years ago with the Celtics. Even at 62,
he still plays, and we played a little pickup,
and he's about 6 '8", and we'd have a lot of
fun, and he really cares about our ministry,
and so I would teach these. They call them in
Atlanta Bible studies, you know, like 200 or
300 business people, and Big Gary would come
up to me and say, hey, Chip, I'm telling you,
I invited some of my friends. I said, yeah, great.
He said, now, man, what you're doing, man, they
need it, and I mean, I think they could be a
part of this thing. Chip, they're serious money.
Have you ever heard anyone say that? Hey, hey.
Hey, Chip, I mean, this is serious money. I mean,
they're old wealth, Atlanta. Oh, and I'm thinking,
you know, I mean, of course, in my mind, I'm
here and Gary's here. I mean, he's a former professional
basketball player. He owns his own company. He
has a place in Hilton Head. You know, he's a
multimillionaire, but he does not see, he's probably
worth, I don't know, 10, 12, 15 million. does
not see himself as rich, but these people, they
got serious money, right? Now, because of what
I do, believe this or not, I've actually had
the opportunity to do some of these conferences
where they bring very, very wealthy people together.
And I've had with a straight face conversations
with people who've told me, you know, I have
a giving plan. I really want to help the kingdom.
But once my portfolio goes, Under $500 million,
I feel like I really need to back off. And you
laugh until maybe you got $500 million. And you
have a line, and I have a line. I will guarantee
you do. And that line is far different. If I
could turn the clock back. Well, I'd have to
do it different numbers for different people,
but 10 years for some, 20 years, 30 years. But
if you can imagine yourself in your late teens,
early 20s, starting a career and someone freeze
frame you and then boom, you didn't live it,
but they said, okay, when you get to be 59 years
old or 67 years old and you have this much money,
you look and go, are you kidding me? I'd never
have that much and you have it right now. And
yet you don't think you're wealthy. You think
you're sort of. upwardly mobile and doing okay.
In fact, we've had this big thing that's happened
in the losing of money. I remember talking to
another one of my very wealthy friends who's
a great business guy who's gone bankrupt three
times. And so he has the most healthy view of
money of anyone I've ever met in my life. And
I mean, you talk about a guy who gets, it's all
God's. He says, because believe me, I can make
it and lose it and make it and lose it. And he
said, here's what people don't understand. Is
that everyone, you know, 10 years ago had X amount
of dollars. Let's say you put, you know, four
or $500 ,000 or $50 ,000 and I've just used numbers,
but let's say, and then, you know, 10 years ago,
let's say it went from a half a million to two
and a half million, or it went from 5 million
to 20 million. And that was 10 years ago. Well,
now everything crashes. And if you had, you know,
a half a million, you've only got three. but
you had nine. And so, you know what? It's like,
man, this is, I lost $6 million. My life stinks.
Or I had $15 million. Now I only have seven.
Instead of, how many people have you heard talking
about the downturn in the economy going, you
know, five years ago or 10 years ago, I only
had a million dollars and now I have nine. What
a bummer. Do you understand what I'm trying to
help you see? You and I, and this disease, Jesus
said, it's with everybody. This disease is we
reframe reality and money has this power to make
us think in ways that totally do not correspond
with what's true. And what we want to talk about,
if that's true of us, imagine those children
and those disciples and those people in your
women's group and that young girl you're trying
to help and those grandkids. Imagine if that's
true for all of you, many who've walked with
the Lord a lot longer. How do you pass on what
they need to manage their wealth in a wise way?
I came across an article by Ray Padron. It's
from Polstra and Dardaman. It's a private wealth
council. And I just want to read, I just want
you to get how serious this is. This is a secular
resource, so this isn't from a Christian background.
But he writes and he counsels very wealthy people
about transfer of funds. He says, when it comes
to learning values and decision making, there's
one thing I've found to be true. Some things
are taught, some things are caught, and some
things have to be learned the hard way. i .e.
experience. Just because our children grow up
and leave home doesn't mean that parenting is
over. As parents, we'll be given a host of opportunities
to help guide them. The methods and the tools
may require a bit more sophistication, but the
fact is I will always be ahead of them in life,
its opportunities, and its responsibilities.
One of the final experiences we create for our
families will actually happen right after we
leave this world. For many families, that experience
is being left to chance more than they realize.
Listen to this. It is estimated that approximately
$52 trillion will change hands to the next generation
between 1998 and 2052. That's trillion. $52 trillion.
trillion dollars. Here's the bad news. Approximately
70 % of the estates fail following their transition
into the hands of heirs. That's right. 70 % of
heirs involuntarily lose control of the transfer
of the assets by poor investments, dissipation
through family arguments and legal expenses,
or just plain inattention and lack of preparation.
Now, this is the key. What is not the problem
is poor estate planning. What I mean is that
most people's estate documents are just fine.
The reason for the failure with estate transitions
lies within the family itself. Now here's some
stats. 60 % of failed estates fail due to the
lack of trust or communication and breakdown
in the family. Another 25 % fail because of a
lack of training to ensure the family's prepared
to manage the wealth that they've inherited.
Manage means more than just professional money
management, but also the discipline to spend
it wisely and not all of it in a short period
of time. Now, I hope at this point in time, here's
my hopeful experience for where you might be
at mentally and emotionally. There's some questions
about money that you haven't thought about that
have a real definite answer, and you're soft
in your thinking about them. When I ask how much
is enough, you know, it was sort of like there
must be some secret Christian answer, but like
as much as I can get was the answer that I've
always played around in my mind, right? Or how
much is too much? Well, I never thought of that,
yet in Scripture, we have the wisest man in the
world praying, God, don't give me too much, right?
Don't give me too much, more than I can handle,
least I forget who you are. Don't give me too
little, least I steal and defame your name. And
then this issue of, well, can you be godly and
rich? A lot of rich people struggle with all
kind of guilt because instead of seeing it as
a stewardship and from God and my priorities
in order, and by the way, I don't have to tell
everyone I got it on sale or that I won the great
vacation to Vail or to Cancun. It's like I had
the money, I'm generous with my money, I wanted
to go there, I enjoy skiing, I had a good time,
and I'm a Christian, okay? And we didn't build
the swimming pool to do baptisms, all right?
God's blessed me. And the second home wasn't
just for the pastoral staff because that's who
we really care about and we wanted a little getaway
for them. I mean, you can't imagine all the phony
baloney I hear from people, you know? But a lot
of that is rooted in guilt. A lot of that is
we don't understand what God's given us, what
it means to be a steward, how to enjoy richly
what he's given you and how to be sacrificially
generous with what he's given you and to know
you're in the right spot with your money. Your
money. is the clearest singular barometer of
your soul of anything going on in your life.
That's why Jesus talked more about money than
heaven and hell combined. My money reveals my
priorities. My money reveals my values. My money
reveals where my heart is. Imagine, if you will,
your wallet or your 401k or your black... credit
card that you own or your purse. Imagine a chain
connected to that into your heart and wherever
that money goes, that's the real reflection of
my heart. And so when you start thinking about
transferring the things that matter most, man,
you have to have not only a clear plan, but help
those you care about, those disciples or kids
or grandkids to go into training because it's
so deceitful. So with that, let's dig in together.
And let's talk about a theology of wealth or
stewardship. And let's teach them how to manage
their wealth wisely. I mean, again, if you were
gonna die exactly 365 days from now, there's
few things you could do that would help those
you love the most than to teach them, model for
them, and put into place some things how to manage
their wealth. Because their entire focus of their
life will follow that. Okay, theology of stewardship.
And this is sort of a summary of a lot of teaching.
I just want to give the basics and we'll dig
in. God owns everything. And you can jot Psalm
50 verse 12. The earth is mine and the fullness
thereof, declares the Lord. God owns everything.
That is a big, big step that you need to pass
on. Second, God has entrusted his things. time,
talent, and treasure to us to manage for him.
The apostle Paul would write, what do you have
that you haven't received? So this is the tipping
point. This is the clarity of all about stewardship.
It's God's. He's entrusted it to you. It's not
yours. It's not mine. It's his. You're a manager.
You're a steward. The New Testament word is oikonomia.
It comes from the root word of the house. It's
the governor of the oversight of a household.
And he's put so much time and so much energy
and so much spiritual gift and so much money
deposited into your world, and you're his money
manager. Okay? We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's
message in just a moment. First, we're inviting
you to multiply your year -end donation through
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livingontheedge .org. from his series called
Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever. Again, our
Bible teacher, Chip Ingram. Third, God expects
a positive return on his investment. I mean,
he is the best banker in the universe. He has
deposited certain things for different people
at different times according to our ability and
purposes and expectations. And when you meet
him, not to deal with the issue of your sin,
But for the issue of rewards, he expects a positive
return. In fact, the next line is God will hold
you accountable. You might jot down 2 Corinthians
5. You might read through that slowly. It's called
the Bema Seat. It's a judgment, not again for
your sins. That's been judged at the cross. But
you're saved by grace. Now, what did you do with
the new life? You'll stand before God. I'll stand
before God. And I'll give an account of this.
How did you use the money I gave you? How did
you use the time I gave you? And then I'll be
rewarded or disappointed accordingly. Notice
the motivation. God wants you to share in his
joy. He's given you money not to be a burden
around your neck. He's given you wealth and opportunity
not so that you feel like, oh, what am I supposed
to do? It's to create. A relationship at a level
in your heart so that as you learn to use it
and say, you know, it's kind of like this, Father,
how would you like this money used? Father, how
would you like this money used? As you cooperate
with that, his whole goal is that you would have
a level of joy and intimacy with him through
that transaction. I'll share a story of how that
works in a minute. But this is just sort of the
outline. Finally, the Old Testament roots are
Genesis chapter 1, 26 through 29. And just listen,
just listen to, it says, then God said, let us
make man in our image and our likeness. And then
let them rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air and over the livestock and over
all the earth and over all the creatures that
move along the ground. And so God created man
in his own image. In the image of God, he created
him. Male and female, he created them. And then
listen to this. God blessed them and said to
them, be fruitful and increase in number and
fill all the earth and subdue it and rule over
the fish of the sea and the birds of the air
and over every living thing that moves on the
ground. Then God said, I give to you every seed
bearing plant on the face of the whole earth
and every tree that has fruit and seed in it.
They will be yours for food. Do you see what
it is? Look, it's my earth. I created you. Have
at it. Manage it well. I'm putting you in charge.
You're in charge of the planet. You run it. You
develop it. You're my steward. Job put it another
way in Job chapter 1. After some devastating
things that were taken away, Job understood,
wait a second. It's hard to lose stuff, but...
I guess if it really wasn't my stuff, it gives
me perspective. He says, See, I get really angry
when God takes things away when I start thinking
it's mine. How could you do that to me? I worked
hard for this. This is my stuff. I had a plan
for this. And so part of the whole stewardship
thing is really coming to grips that God owns
it all. The two biblical profiles here, New Testament
command is Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 through
30. And I put that in your notes. It's a very
long passage. And in light of that, what I'd
like to do is give you the summary. You're familiar
probably with it. Jesus is teaching about stewardship.
And Jesus is teaching about being ready for his
return. And Jesus is talking about what it looks
like to be his manager. And so he tells this
story. And he talks about this person who's going
to go to a faraway country. And he gives five
talents of treasure to one. Two talents of treasure
to another. One talent to another. He goes for
a long period of time. And the one with five
talents doubles it. So he brings in five more.
The one with two doubles it. He brings in two
more. And both of those hear this. Well done,
thou good and faithful. servant or steward. Come,
enter into the joy of your master. This was my
stuff. I entrusted it to you for a period of
time. You had brains, opportunity, and you could
do with it whatever you want. But the goal was
that it would be pleasing to me. I've come back
to hold you accountable. My dream in holding
you accountable was not to be down on you. It
was to you to get to experience some things in
our relationship and what I had. Now, well done.
Now the one with one, it says he went and hid
it in the ground, which basically says he didn't
put it in the bank. Basically also says that
the bank would know it actually belongs to someone
else. And so he comes and then he makes an excuse.
And his excuse is a very warped view of God in
the context. And it's, I knew you were a harsh
master and you, you know, glean where you haven't
sown and you are really tough to live with and
you're going to be. He said, okay, if that's
who you think I really am. take this wicked one
away and give his one talent to the one that
has ten. Because see, what he did is he buried
it. He didn't do anything with it. He didn't
even put it in the bank and get interest for
his master. And Jesus' point of that whole talent
Is that each one of us according to his purposes
for us. And some abilities deposited in us. Have
been given different levels of gift. Different
levels of financials. Different levels of opportunities.
And the measure is not how do I do compared to
someone else. The thesis of the whole parable
is. What did you do with what God entrusted to
you? And did you notice that number five talent
guy and number two talent guy got the same commendation?
They got the same praise. Because they both fulfilled
with what they had what God wanted them to do.
And part of it is because the Spirit of God,
as we're going through these very basic things
from His Word, is beginning to expose some of
how we're deceived. And some of you are feeling
really uncomfortable. Can I tell you, that's
probably a good experience. Because how do you
ever change if you don't realize, wow. And when
God convicts us, and he's not down on you. He's
not in heaven, you know, tapping his toe. Come
on, Ingram, give it to him, baby. Give it to
him, you know. His whole goal when he shows me
sin in my life. is to restore his son back into
intimate fellowship with the father. So he could
say, Chip, you know, you were deceived. You know,
you kept thinking everybody else is rich and
your daughter asked you a simple question and
you finally had the guts to say, yeah. But you
know what? Your dad came from depression era
and you've been poor most of your life and you've
actually, you know, struggled with money and
didn't know how to. And so you are uncomfortable
with God's blessing, even though, you know, I
should say, are my priorities in on? Yeah. Are
you giving more than you ever dreamed you could
ever give? Yeah. So why don't you enjoy the house
you're in? oh God, because I'm a little uncomfortable
instead of thank you. And that's what God wants
to do in our life. Let me give you a picture
and then I'm going to give you practical ways
to pass this on. The two pictures are one, if
you ever want to read about a man, one of my
most favorite characters. is Nehemiah in the
Old Testament and Barnabas in the New. And the
story of Nehemiah very briefly is he's the right
-hand man to the most powerful man in the world.
Israel has sinned against God, so he promised
he would... dispersed them across the world,
and he did. And so you have Jews in all these
different places. And now Persia is the ruling
empire. And Nehemiah opens with this place called
Susa, which is up in the mountains, so it's cool
because it's very hot in Persia or Iran in the
summer. And so the king has this right -hand
man named Nehemiah, and he's called a cupbearer.
But the cupbearer's job was more than, you know,
tasting the wine or the food to make sure it
wasn't poison. He became a confidant. And so
basically, Nehemiah has the hottest job. chariot,
the greatest clothes, the most money, the best
food. He is a person of great influence and affluence.
He's filthy rich and he lives in a palace. He
drives a Lexus chariot and doesn't feel guilty
about it. He's got a Rolex Sundial. God deposited
that in Nehemiah for a window of opportunity.
And he wasn't a prophet and he wasn't a pastor.
And if you studied all of God's agenda for his
people, you would find out that man was the linchpin
between all of God's prophecy going in the tubes
and Israel being restored. He sent Ezra back.
It didn't work. He sent Zerubbabel back to rebuild.
It wasn't until Nehemiah, the business guy. The
guy with position, the guy with power, the guy
with leadership gift who could mobilize everyone
to turn everything around. Stewardship isn't
feeling guilty for having money and position
and power and brains. Stewardship is understanding
it's not yours. All you get is a verse that's
hard to live with. To them, much given, much
is required. And so when you make a lot of money
and say, I tithe, God is not impressed, nor is
anyone else. I mean, how hard is it to tithe
when you're six figures or seven figures or beyond?
The most generous people in the world right now
are the poor. And when things go down, the people
who stop giving first by all the research is
us rich. And Nehemiah... He's this model of what
it looks like to be godly, to be wealthy, and
to be generous. In fact, he decided, no personal
expenses for me. There's much more Chip Ingram
wants to show us about Nehemiah, the consummate
model of generosity. Chip is here to share an
important closing comment, and that's coming
up in just a moment. So please stay with us.
If you arrived late in the program, you're listening
to Living on the Edge. Today, Chip Ingram is
talking about leaving a legacy that lasts forever.
The subtitle for this series is How to Give Your
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