A Millionaire's Heart (not owners but stewards)

Bill Brown .... Xiamen University
"To him who has much, much will be given." Matthew 25:29

"And God said, "Let us make man in our image...and let them rule..." Genesis 1:26

"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours." Harry S. Truman

The present economic crises may appear chaotic to many, but I am thankful that examples from the bible, and even from more recent history, show that our Creator can use even chaos for His purposes--as we see in this excerpt from a story by Dale Carnegie...

"On April 14,1902, a young man with five hundred dollars in cash and a million dollars in determination opened a dry goods store in Kemmerer, Wyoming--a little mining town of a thousand people...That young man and his wife lived in a half-storey attic above the store, using a large empty dry-goods box for a table and smaller boxes for chairs...Today, the largest chain of dry-goods stores in the world bears that man's name: the J.C. Penney stores--over sixteen hundred of them covering every state in the Union. I recently had dinner with Mr. Penney, and he told me about the most dramatic moment of his life."

[Penney says]: "Years ago, I passed through a most trying experience. I was worried and desperate. MY worries were not connected in any way whatever with the J.C. Penney Company. That business was solid and thriving; but I personally had made some unwise commitments prior to the crash of 1929. Like many other men, I was blamed for conditions for which I was in no way responsible. I was so harassed with worries that I couldn't sleep, and developed an extremely painful ailment known as shingles....nothing helped. I got weaker day by day. I was broken nervously and physically, filled with despair, unable to see even a ray of hope. I had nothing to live for. I felt I hadn't a friend left in the world, that even my family had turned against me...."

Penney literally thought he was dying, and wrote farewell letters to his family one night...and was surprised to wake the next day and hear people singing, "God will take care of you." He said "I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before. I realized then that I alone was responsible for all my troubles. I knew that God with His love was there to help me. From that day to this, my life has been free from worry. I am seventy-one years old, and the most dramatic and glorious twenty minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning."

Was Penney Responsible? Penney said he alone was responsible for his problems, but he did not personally cause the Great Depression any more than you or I are caused the present economic crises. Yet Penney was responsible for his attitude. As one of the world's richest men, he had forgotten that he was not an owner but a steward, and he took upon himself more responsibility, and blame, than our Father ever intended for him.

The Millionaire's Attitude I am thankful that I own as much as a Penney or as little as a pauper because I don't own anything! I am only a steward, and when my time comes, I will leave everything behind. Someone asked a grieving relative how much the deceased left behind in his will and the relative said, "Everything." My Father, however, owns everything! And a constant theme of Jesus' parables was stewardship, because our Father is constantly seeking people who, during their brief tenancy on planet earth, will wisely steward His resources and then pass them on to the next tenant.

I'm quite happy to be a steward and not an owner because this leaves the ultimate responsibility with my Father. But I also know that to him who has much, much will be given, and to him who has little, even the little he has will be taken away. This was the reason that Sue and I did not fear leaving business to teach in China for almost 1oo times less income. We knew that our Sources was neither the business nor the university but our Father, and he will provide no matter where we are, as long as we are wisely stewarding what He has given us (which, in our case, was our lives, as we left behind everything else).

Be a Steward, not an Owner, and have the peace that comes with knowing that our Father will indeed give us all that we ask--if we can do with it what He asks.

Still, I know these are stressful times, so here are a few tips I've used over the years for dealing with stress:

Eight Tips for Handling Financial Stress

1. Pray with Thankfulness. Remember that we are stewards, not owners, and our Father will care for us if we allow Him to--and if we are wise stewards. God's promise is two-edged: "to him who has much, much will be given, but to him who has little, even the little he has will be taken away (Matthew 25:29). But if we are obedient, we can "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God..." (Philippians 4:6).

2. Tithe, or Pockets with Holes? I tithe my week with the Sabbath because I can do much more in six days than in seven (Click Here for "Why 6 > 7") In the same way, I tithe my money not because we are commanded to but because "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Because giving is blessed, I can do more with 90% of my income than with 100%.

No one makes too little to tithe. In fact, it is the poor who often give the most. Even in high school, I tithed the 38 cents an hour I earned part-time, and was blessed. And 10% is just a start. People like J.C. Penney tithed 90%, unlike many wealthy people who hoard the wealth that they mistakenly think they own. Haggai (1:6) warned that by not giving, we are putting our wealth into holes with pockets, and will never have enough. And Malachi wrote:

Malachi 3:8-10 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings..."Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse...and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

3. Set financial goals. I often joke that Chinese immigrants in America make $3,000 per month and save $3,300, whereas other Americans make $3,300 per month and spend $3,300 (or more). But I'm not entirely joking! It is a fact that most Americans cannot handle their finances, no matter how much they make. How can we be good stewards if we have no idea what we've been given or how we are using it? Again, "to him who has much, much will be given..."

4. Save! Put aside 10% right off the top after tithes, invest it wisely (which nowadays may be a mattress), and get used to living on the remaining 80%. A little here, a little there (home-brewed coffee in a nice mug instead of a $5 Starbucks) and you'll find you can live better off 80% than 100% because you'll also have the joy of knowing you are obedient and wise in your stewardship.

5. Keep active outside the home. This is the time for your family's couch potatoes to escape the TV and news, get some fresh air and exercise, and enjoy the many free activities with which we are blessed: parks, libraries, social centers, church activities. Exercise is good for mind as well as body, and is one of the best cures for stress and depression.

6. Reach out. You can't save someone if they won't grasp the lifeline, but today many people are struggling for hope and Answers. This is the time to reach out, because if you think times are bad for you, they are much worse for many around you. Help yourself by helping others. And this is the perfect time for churches to organize more group activities for both members and nonmembers.

7. Control Internet, e-mail and TV. We are not emotionally, mentally or physically capable of handling all of the world's problems. Even Jesus escaped the crowds for peace, solitude and recreation with his inner twelve. Limit your exposure to electronic media. It does not help you in your own life and calling to know that a bus with 71 people drove over a bridge in Bangladesh or that dynamite was found in a Paris department store. Being informed is good; being obsessively informed about everything is another. 100 years ago, you'd have not known about 90% of the world's woes. Today, you don't need to know, instantly, about everything everywhere in the world. Catch up on news once a day, and if it's not something you can do anything about, pray about it. Of course, with all the news hitting us, no one can pray for everything everyday; there isn't enough time in the day. But that also doesn't mean to ignore everything afar, as Ginny O. of JAARS wrote today:

" I remember Ken Boa or one of the speakers we had this year at JAARS saying that he gets his prayer list from the evening news, so that was another good reminder that we are to be bringing EVERYTHING and even the (humanly) impossible issues to our Father who can do all things."

8. Balance. In good times and bad, some folks just have a messiah complex in which they feel they need to reach the world. The fact is, even Jesus did not try to reach the whole world. He could not, because he chose to be born a man, with a man's limitations. He hungered, thirsted, and tired. So he worked within the small sphere within which he was born, and discipled others to go beyond that. And Jesus was very careful that, while he reached out to others, he reached within to his Father. Our light cannot shine if we run out of Oil.

Stewards, not Owners. These are indeed stressful times, but they are also times to put into practice the trust and belief that we so easily preach about in good times. We do not know tomorrow, or how much or little we will have, but we do know that our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and seeks out faithful stewards--and rewards them.

J.C. Penney's story was adapted from Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living."
JAARS, at www.jaars.org "Partners in Bible Translation", offers high quality technical support services to Wycliffe translators.
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