Sermon Cloud

American Dream
The 9/11 Terrorist attacks rocked our country. And you know that's an understatement. You probably remember all the politicians admonishing us, "do not let the terrorists win." The rhetoric (and I do see it as rhetoric, the reason for terrorist attacks go much deeper and are much more complicated) "the Terrorists hate our way of life, so do not change anything. We stand up to the terrorists by going on with everyday life. Do you remember what "going on with everyday life" looked like? It was spending money. President Bush encouraged us to go out to eat, take your family to a movie, go buy new clothes. Be a good American, spend money.
Former President Clinton lead a bi-partisan charge called "the new patriotism." This new patriotism was defined as "consumerism." Bill Clinton urged us to "get out and shop." And remember all those heartwarming commercials from GM offering us 0% interest loans in an act of service to their country? Of course, all they did was raise their prices to make up the difference.
But the thought process was this, "We're being good Americans when we're spending our money." The title "American Citizen" is synonymous with the title "Consumer." Which probably explains why 70% of our nation's GDP is linked to consumer spending.
And do we ever spend. 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year. On average (and this includes the cheapskates) Americans spend $1.22 for every dollar they earn. Am I the only one who gets really freaked out by that stat? The average American household carries $8,000 in credit card debt. Over the past decade, personal bankruptcies in America has doubled. Stats show that our American Dream is being financed by an American Nightmare.
I don't need those stats to tell me debt is a problem. All I have to do is pay attention to the lives of those I care about; friends, family members, neighbors, many of you whom I have the privilege of pastoring. We swipe a credit card, sing that car loan, home equity loan, 6 months no interest at Home Depot, link by link by link we build a chain that wraps us up, enslaves us and eventually strangles out our life.
You know what I'm talking about. You're finances are so tight that you live in dread of that next unexpected expense that's sure to be around the corner. Money Magazine predicts that with in the next 10 years 78% of people will have a major negative financial crisis. Odds aren't in our favor. Or about this time of year you realize "Christmas comes on December 25th this year" and you start worrying about how you're going to buy Christmas presents. And then you come to church and we talk about giving to God first and you want to give but that debt has you chained and it hurts your relationship with God. You read the expectation in scripture that God's people help the poor so you want to give, but you're chained. Church, that is no way to live. Surviving paycheck to paycheck. Feeling guilty because you can't give. That's no way to live, but a lot of us are living there.
A world renown theologian from Latin America named Rene Padilla talked about this way of living. It's a good quote, I'll admit it's kind of heady, I had to read it a few times.
We are captivated by the idea of having things and giving more value to things than to people. And I think that is dangerous - very, very dangerous.
What is the place of things in your life? Do you live in order to possess, or do you possess because you need to live? People buy because - you know - they feel good about buying, whether they need the things they buy or not. And, of course, a lot of people get into big debts because of this, and they become enslaved to work because of a consumer society that forces them to buy.
And that is for this country - consumption is a sort of ideology. People seem to be very much captive to this kind of ideology, often times without realizing it. They are responding to the way in which society conditions them to consume.
Also, very closely related to that is individualism. People isolate themselves, and they protect their privacy. And they fail to realize that you can never be a fulfilled human being without social relations. Social relations are so much more important than things and so much more important than having a lot of money. But if you are an individualist, you protect your privacy and also your freedom. But what kind of freedom? Freedom to do whatever you please - you know - "No one should get into my privacy. I mean, no one should prevent me from doing what I think I should be doing. I am free. I am free."
I am free to get that new pair of shoes. I deserve to go on that vacation. I need that new car. We swipe our card, sign the loan. We spend 110% of what we make. We buy now and worry about paying later. But that freedom soon becomes bondage.
We're warned about this in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 22:3,5,7
We blindly allow ourselves to become enslaved to our consumerist culture and it's killing us. Destroying our lives, our families and our relationship with God. But there is a different way.
Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2, The Message)
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, following Jesus is about living counter-culturally. And I can't think of many other areas of our life in which this counter-cultural living is more pronounced than how we manage our money.
Rene Padilla's quote ends with this:
Well, I say the response, the answer, to consumerism is the recognition that we are created in the image of God, and the value of life has to do with the kind of design that God has made for us to live a life that is very much in relation to God, to God's creation, and to other people.
God has a life for us that is so much deeper than the constant pursuit of stuff. He longs for us to live with a freedom that soars above a bondage to creditors. Where we're set free from the dread of paycheck to paycheck. Unlike what you'd hear from some well known prosperity preachers (one of which was on Larry King last week explaining why God wants all Christians to be rich) we live above the paycheck to paycheck survival state not by making more money but by faithfully managing the money we have. We can live in freedom, live above debt, without getting a pay raise. I'll show you what it looks like.
1) Get right with God I'm not giving the quick fix answer of "just pray and God will work everything out." But I do believe that our problem with debt is ultimately a spiritual problem.
Why do we spend too much money and get into debt? Envy (I want what she's got), impatience (I want it now), lack of contentment (this will make me happy), selfish ambition (I want to look important) and a lack of self-control (I'm not sure where all my money is going). If we're honest, we'll admit that out of control spending habits come from one of these reason.
Well, hear what the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5: Galatians 5:16-23
Getting right with God is turning away from our sinful nature and letting the Holy Spirit guide our lives. When we're submitting ourselves to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we'll be living the way God created us to live; full of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.
Out of control debt, out of control spending and the failure to give away our money is a sin. We need to confess our sin, turn away from that lifestyle and get right with God. The closer we get to God, the less likely we'll be to blow our money on dumb stuff and the more likely we become to manage our money wisely. If you're struggling with money management and debt, then know that God's love for you means he has something so much better for you. Get your heart right with God and watch your money problems will work themselves out.
2) Get control Right now, today, get control. Stop borrowing money. Decide you're not borrowing another penny. And begin spending less. The key to financial freedom and financial health is to spend less than you make and to do that for a long time. It's so simple, but so difficult. We get control right now, today. "I am done with this credit card. I am done blowing my money. I take control right now."
3) Get on a spending plan This is telling your money where it's going to go rather than wondering where it went. At the beginning of the month you write down every dollar you'll bring in that month and then list all the ways you'll use that income during the month. You make a plan for every single dollar: tithe, saving, retirement, mortgage, Christmas fund, dates, groceries. And then you keep track of how much you spend in each area.
Underneath every one of your chairs is a "quickie budget" from Dave Ramsey's website. This will help you get started.
I know of you are starting to sweat and chafe at the very hint of a budget. That sounds so confining and straining. Folks, not having enough money left at the end of the month and not knowing where it all went - that ought to make you sweat.
When Erin and I started doing this, it helped our marriage so much. We don't argue in the middle of the month about what we're going to buy or not buy, it's already been decided. There may be some animated conversations at the first of the month deciding where the money will go but the emotion of "how are we going to pay for that" or "where did all the money go" is gone. Once we set the plan, we're free to live within that plan. We set the plan together and then live that plan together.
Freedom comes only when become intentional about your money. Take the quickie budget form. I don't want to find a bunch of these after church.
4) Get a debt snowball This also comes from Dave Ramsey. This is how you get the snowball rolling. You make a list of all your debts, every single thing you owe to every single person. Put them in order from the smallest to the largest. You pay the minimum on everything else and devote every extra dollar you can to paying off that smallest debt. When you pay of that first debt, you throw a little party and then move onto the next one. As you stick with it, experiencing one little win after another, celebrating along the way, you'll be building emotional momentum and your little wins will become huge amounts of paid off debt.
5) Get help Folks, we can't do this on our own, we need each other. Especially when we're constantly hearing the siren call of our "buy now, pay later" culture. The church exists to inspire each other toward God's best in our lives. We confront the sin we see in each other, we inspire each other toward spiritual growth and we celebrate each other's victories.
Which is exactly why we're kicking off a Financial Peace University Class in January. We're going to watch a video that explains FPU.
FPU Video - Marriage and Money Stress - 3 minutes
Get debt total during video
You're going to be hearing a lot more about this over the next two months. We're going to have a preview class on Monday night, January 7th. And the class will begin the next Monday.
The total non-house debt for those that are here this morning is ¬¬¬_______.
Yeah, that may be normal for our culture. But imagine if we were living beyond normal. If we were living counter-cultural lives for Jesus? The freedom, the generosity.
Jesus talks a bit about counter-cultural living in the Matthew's gospel. Matthew 7:13-14
Going with the flow of our culture is easy for awhile, but it will lead to destruction. Going against the flow of culture is going to be difficult at first, but it's the pathway to real life.
It's a paradox. We do what feels good, we spend freely; we charge it, we trade up, we take out that loan, we worry about it later, we find ourselves in bondage. We slow down, control our spending, give, follow a plan that's when we're financially free.
We spend freely, we lose our freedom. We spend carefully, we become financially free.

Blessing
Hebrews 12:1 - on screen

Let's control our spending. Let's honor God. And let's avoid this pothole of debt.