What To Do When Money Is Tight
“I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.”
-- Steve Martin
“Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money.”
-- Jackie Mason
“People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.”
-- Joan Rivers
I heard about a gentleman who admitted, “My wife and I have more money than we could ever spend.” Then he added, “And more of it comes in every month than we know what to do with it.”
If that is your situation, contact me immediately! If having way more money than you’d ever imagined is your reality, this article isn’t for you.
This is for the other 99% of us who may be feeling like we need a bit more money right now.
Personally, this past year has been quite tight money-wise. I took a significant cut in pay, while more expenses popped up than we planned. Our family emergency fund emptied.
With the Excel Leadership Network, everything is going great…except the financial reports. Actually, donations to Excel are up! But opportunities are up even higher. When we started Excel, I wanted to invest at least ten percent of our funds in church plants that would never be able to give back what we put in. Currently about forty percent of our plants are in circumstances where we do not expect any give-back.
We do ask those churches in Cuba and Mexico and Africa and inner cities and elsewhere to give, but we utilize those offerings to serve the local planters with connection events and coaching.
So, money is a bit limited. Okay, what do we do when money is tight?
Here are three passages from the Bible I’ve been ruminating on lately:
“You give them something to eat…”
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
--Matthew 14:16-17 (NIV)
I’ve been feeling like the disciples who were unsure what to do with all the people in need:
As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”—Matthew 14:15 (NIV)
We have all these opportunities to help leaders, and Jesus seems to be saying, “You give them something to eat.” My temptation is to respond, “With what?” And I anticipate Jesus concluding, “With whatever you have!”
“At least…”
“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’--Matthew 25:26-27 (NLT)
In this famous parable of the talents or minas or money bags, Jesus suggest four possible financial outcomes.
The one with five bags invested and doubled it and received a “Well done, good and faithful servant,” response from Jesus.
The one with two bags, likewise invested, doubled and got the “Well done.”
The one with one bag, buried his treasure and heard, “You wicked, lazy servant.”
We often miss the fourth outcome: “At least you could have gotten some interest…”
I’ve worked with a number of Christian organizations that have millions of dollars in the bank. Almost all of them follow the “at least” principle and live off the interest rather than invest.
I suspect we are all tempted to be “At least Christians.”
What’s the least I can do to be a Christian?
What’s the least number of times I can attend church in a month or a year?
What’s the least I can give?
What’s the least I can do to share my faith?
What’s the least I can do to serve?
At Excel, we don’t want to do the least. We’re happier investing, risking, supporting leaders.
“Silver and gold have I none…”
“I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
--Acts 3:6 (NLT)
Right after the Pentecost miracle we see Peter and John starting out in ministry. Their first words are, “Look at us!”—Acts 3:4 (NIV)
Their second words are, “We don’t have any money.”—Acts 13: (NIV)
If money is tight, maybe we’re right where we need to be.
Norman Vincent Peale stated, “Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.”
Those three passages have been bouncing around in my brain for a while. I don’t have all the answers, but I do have some takeaways for what we can do:
Keep giving.
We can keep giving what we have. Maybe its only a couple fish and some loaves of bread. God can multiply.
Keep investing
We can keep investing. Emergency funds are important. Saving keep sus content. But we cannot stop investing.
Keep serving
We can keep doing what God has called us to do—supporting church planters and leaders.
Keep relaxing
I do not see the New Testament believers getting too worked up and worried about money. Why should we?
Keep asking
We’re asking. If you can step in or step up your giving to Excel, we promise to be resourceful and invest wisely.
Keep leading
Who is going to spot, send and support high-level leaders? If not us, who? If not now, when?
Keep trusting
God has plenty of loaves and fishes to meet the needs He has called us to embrace.
Keep going!
I’ll end with one more Bible passage:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength… And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. --Philippians 4:12-13, 19 (NIV)