When it comes to money and wealth, American Christians daily face two diametrically opposed narratives.  

The first narrative comes from our materialist culture.  It calls us to seek our security from our savings accounts and our identity from our wealth.  It teaches us that we must own the latest computer and cell phone.  It teaches that we must wear new clothes and eat expensive foods.  It teaches that money should never limit our freedom to do what we want or go where we please. It teaches that being poor is the greatest evil and failing to participate in the materialism of our culture is strange if not heresy.  According to this narrative, my wife and I are considered poor--although nearly every American is rich compared to the developing world.  I am a full time seminary student and therefore not able to work a full time job; my wife and I both attended an art school for our undergraduate degrees, and the old saying "starving artist" often holds true; my wife works many part-time jobs, and we budget before getting our teeth cleaned and before buying new clothes.  We buy food in bulk, shop at thrift stores, and frequent discounted grocery stores rather than Whole Foods in order to make ends meet.

The second narrative comes from the Bible which confronts our materialistic culture on many fronts.  It says not to fear the future.  As Jesus says, "I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matt. 6:25).  The biblical narrative says that our security does not come from the balance in our checking account but from our eternal inheritance in Christ.  Therefore, Jesus says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matt. 6:19-20).  The Bible is full of shocking statements about poverty such as Matthew 19:21: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."  James--the brother of Jesus--says, "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?" (James 2:5).  While the Bible does not oppose wealth altogether, it does teach that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs" (1 Tim. 6:10). 

A recent event in my own life challenged me to choose which of these narratives I would follow.  Grace and I drive a 15 year- old Honda Accord, which is an old but great car overall.  As we prepared for the next school year, we unconsciously based a lot our security on our limited material wealth.  We had enough for tuition between scholarships and church assistance; we had savings to draw from for a while longer as I finished school.  We felt great until our transmission went out on the car, and we faced two expensive choices.  We could either drain our savings in order to fix an old car, or we could buy a new car.  Every option seemed risky and unpleasant.  While I intellectually realized that facing expensive car trouble is not as bad as death or sickness, I still did not trust God's providence or timing as I took a non-thankful posture.  I followed the culture's narrative and began to question the worldly wisdom of being in seminary in order to pursue a call to vocational ministry and theological study.

Thankfully, God did not leave me in the world's narrative very long, and He turned my heart back to the biblical narrative.  He did this in three ways.  First, while I rode the bus from the auto shop back to our apartment, God reminded me of the blessings He has bestowed, and he convicted me of the sinfulness of my own ungrateful heart.  I have the ability to study theology and learn more about the Bible in the original languages, which is amazing.  I have a wonderful wife, and both my mother and father (and my in-laws!) are amazing Christians who love the Lord and me.  I have a supportive church family at Faith Presbyterian and Christian friends at Westminster Theological Seminary.  Second, God reminded me that He is faithful and will provide what we need in hardship.  He even demonstrated this faithfulness through the outpouring of assistance we received from friends at church and family members.  Third, God reminded me that all believers should expect small and great suffering in this life as we proclaim the gospel in a broken world.  I had failed to remember these words of Scripture: "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood" (Hebrews 12:3-4).

What narrative will you follow?  I pray that Faith Presbyterian can live according to the narrative of the Bible and not according the narrative of the world as we all face relational, financial, health, and spiritual suffering and hardships in the coming months and years.  May Faith Church "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:1-2).