Is there a difference in planning when you take a biblical worldview versus a temporal worldview? This is a question I was challenged with many years ago as I was growing in my faith. The gentleman who challenged me asked me if the faith that I was living on Sunday matched the way that I was running my business Monday through Friday. It was a great challenge and prompted me to dig more into God’s word and what it said about managing finances.
I found that there are over 2,000 scriptures in the Bible about how we should handle our money, and Jesus spent at least one-third of his parables teaching on money and how it relates in our lives. In scripture, God has a great deal to say about how we handle our money. My plan is to use the next few months of emails to highlight some key differences I discovered as I embraced planning done with a biblical worldview.
When running business with a temporal worldview, the fallback manner of planning says, “We made it, so it’s all ours.” Therefore, if there are decisions to be made on how to save or how to invest then we do whatever “feels” best. It also leads to finding self worth in how the world measures wealth. When thinking with this worldview, my balance sheet determines my worth and the best way to see how I am doing is to compare myself to my neighbors and my colleagues. For men, this is often the most common way we relate. When we are with other men, the first question we often ask is, “What do you do?” In actuality, men are trying to see where we belong as individuals and how others relate to the way I value myself.
In Psalms 24:1, the psalmist says “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and all who live in it.” As I reflected upon that scripture, it dawned on me that I do not own anything. My worth comes from my Creator and the value He places in me. Therefore, if He truly owns everything, then I need to strive to find out what He wants me to do with what He’s entrusted to me.
Many believers understand this concept as the definition of stewardship. However, as I moved to live this out, I discovered a real dilemma. It is one thing to acknowledge that I do not own anything, but in my long term nature, I often still act as if I am the decision maker. My default position is often, “What do I want to do with God’s stuff?” However, from a biblical worldview the only proper posture is to humbly ask God, “What do You want me to do with Your stuff?”
This is the greatest joy we possess in partnering with families through E Six-Thirteen. We are blessed to help families get in tune with God and how he’s calling them to manage what He has given them. What has enhanced our experience is that we often find that when we get in touch with God, the outcomes of what can be accomplished often exceed what we could come up with when planning from a traditional viewpoint. God’s economy is better than man’s economy and ultimately planning from a biblical worldview beats planning from a temporal worldview.
I think it’s said best in Proverbs 19:21: “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Let us make sure we go forward to make plans that connect to our Creator and follow His desires.
If there is any way we can serve you or your family, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.