CONVERTERLATING YOUR TREASURE
Part 10:
A few years ago, my wife and I drove through the entrance of our condominium complex
at night, and I complained to her about how the street lamps were shining in different
colors unevenly. I said, "The lighting here makes the neighborhood look terrible. At the
next board meeting of the condo association, I am going to complain about it and tell
them to fix up the lighting."
A few weeks later, I did exactly that. I stood up in the board meeting in a room full of
people to inform them the lighting should be changed. I told them they needed to get
evenly lighted bulbs of the same color for all of the lampposts. I remember thinking it
was odd that I was receiving a number of perplexed looks from both the board members
and the members of the condo association who were in attendance.
Not long after giving my dissertation at that meeting on how the condominium lighting
needed to be changed, I had cataract surgery and the doctor implanted new lenses in my
eyes. Well, you can guess what happened! The new lenses gave me 20/20 vision on both
intermediate and long-distance vision along with a sharpness that I had never before
experienced in my life!
A few days later we drove into the condominium complex in the evening and I said to my
wife, "Wow! The condominium board sure moved quickly. They changed the lighting. It
is really bright, almost too bright. But they didn't change to the amber color I suggested."Bless her heart, Ruth Ann started to laugh. She said, "They haven't changed any of the
lighting. It is the same as it was before!" I started to laugh, too. My vision was changed!
No wonder everyone at the meeting had looked at me in a funny way. Then I wondered
whether I should go back to the board and apologize for my mistaken view of things!
I share this experience to illustrate how a relationship with Christ changes our perspective
on all things, including how we use our treasure. We have a distorted view of the world
because of sin. Jesus comes into our lives and we
see things in a different way. Before Christ came
into my life, I had one view of money–it was meant
to be used for my own personal pleasure. My
perception was as if I were seeing my earthly
treasure through a pair of eyes before my cataract
operation. My view was distorted. Everything I
thought was important was diametrically opposed to the things of God. I needed the
perspective of eternity. In what ways has your relationship with Jesus Christ transformed
the way you use your earthly treasure?
Changed Perspective Leads to Converterlating
In my first book, I shared how I went through a conversion process. My relationship with
Jesus Christ set me on the road to becoming a Converterlator. This is a journey for each
one of us and God teaches us and leads us in many different ways. However, the one
thing I do know is that each one of us is called to converterlate our time, talent and
treasure. Now that my life is directed by God, I have a different view of all of my earthly
treasure including my money and I use it in a different way than I did before I met Christ.
My goal is to be investing in eternity.
I love the story of Zacchaeus in the New Testament. In Luke 19 we read, "And when
Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down,
for I must stay at your house today.' So [Zacchaeus] hurried and came down and received
him joyfully" (Luke 19:5-6, ESV).
Zacchaeus was a "money guy" who was hated by his own people because he was a tax
collector for the notorious Roman government. He was a self-starter, and he really did not
care what other people thought of him. But here we find him wanting to see Jesus! He
found a tree that would put him above the crowd and he waited. When Jesus called him,
he responded immediately.
In verse 8 we read the rest of the story: "And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord,
'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of
anything, I restore it fourfold'" (ESV).
The life of Zacchaeus was changed! His
encounter with Jesus transformed the
view he had of his wealth and of his
fellow man. The Spirit enlightened his
heart and moved him to follow through
with his new insight. By giving away a
large portion of his personal wealth he
became a strategic kingdom investor. He
finally understood that his money was to
be used for the advancement of God's
kingdom, not his own, and he
responded! When his perspective changed, so did his behavior. Are you using your
material blessings to bless other people?
A Strategic Kingdom Investor
Over the years I have learned to be a strategic kingdom investor. This means that I am
increasingly careful where I invest funds for the expansion of the kingdom. I strategically
plan and choose where my kingdom treasure is to be invested.
On a practical level, in the investment world, it has been my observation that many
intelligent investors make it a practice to invest in things that have "intrinsic" value. This
means converting dollars, and other paper currencies, into material things like gold,silver, and to a lesser extent into companies that pay dividends. They like to invest in
companies that have "hard assets" or facilities that are hard to duplicate. These things do
not lose their value over the years. Wise investors work to find assets that will be an
adequate store of lasting value.
I believe "hard assets" for a Christ-follower are found in what will last for eternity.
Personally, I like to invest in ministries focusing on the fulfillment of the Great
Commission. I evaluate each ministry
like I do many of my secular
investments. I look for high-impact
ministries with exponential factors
causing them to multiply. Ministries that
meet the physical, material, and spiritual
needs of people in the name of Christ
are of great interest to me and my
family. Normally, we only invest with
those with whom we have had long-term
relationships because we know how they use and administer their funding for the greatest
possible kingdom returns.
Here are a few general questions to ask as you consider investing your money or other
material resources in a ministry or organization:
1. Does this organization exalt Jesus Christ above all else?
2. Does this ministry have a record of spiritual fruitfulness?
3. Does this organization seek to use perishable means to accomplish imperishable results?
4. Does this ministry exhibit documented financial accountability and transparency?
5. Do you trust the people involved in this ministry to conscientiously use the resources you
are entrusting to them?
As you consider the above questions, ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment so that
you are able to make wise decisions when you are investing your earthly treasure.
I have found that when we strategically invest time, talent, and treasure in other people,
sometimes mutually beneficial relationships can be established that will last a long time.
Here's one example from my own life. I remember God leading me to make a small
investment in a company that was of particular interest to a very successful businessman
in the early days of my business career. Little did I realize at the time what that would
mean for me personally.
Shortly after making that investment, I started receiving phone calls from this man, and
we established a friendly business relationship. Soon, he made it clear to me he was
going to open several doors of opportunity to me. For some reason, he took an interest in
me, and he became my business mentor. In time he mentioned to others in my presence
that I was a protégé of his. He advised me throughout most of my business career. This
happened simply because I showed an interest in what he was interested in by converting
some of my time and money into an interest of his. God often blesses us in surprising
ways when we strategically use our treasure to honor him.
Weaving a Pattern of Giving into Your Living
Each person has a different financial situation. In many parts of the world people have
very little in the way of financial resources. It is important for all of us to remember that
God loves the cheerful giver. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 we read, "Each one must give as he has
decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver"
(ESV). God is more interested in the attitude we have about our giving than in the
amount we give. All that we have has been given to us by God. Are we joyfully allowing
him to use it to bless those around us? Are people welcome in your home? Do you share
what you do have without being self-conscious that others may have more or less than
you do? Are you willing to share what you have without being concerned about receiving
a "thank you" in return? Do you consider the eternal ramifications of your giving?
My goal is to be a grace giver, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Grace-giving is the result
of a God-given and God-driven desire to give following three basic principles: he who
sows bountifully will reap bountifully, what is reasonable to give to a particular project
considering your current life circumstances, and how much can be given to this project
cheerfully? The Bible tells us that when we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (2
Corinthians 9:6). God gives us the choice of sowing sparingly or bountifully. In Luke
21:1–4 (and in Mark 12:41–44) we read about the poor widow who "out of her poverty
put in all she had to live on" as a freewill offering into the temple treasury, which
amounted to two small copper coins. This was all that she had and yet she sowed it
bountifully. Hers was a gift of sacrifice; nevertheless, she gave it generously and
sacrificially. This was low-profile giving at its best! The value of what we give to God's
work is not determined by its amount, but by the spirit in which we give it. God will
surely bless whatever we give to him with a heart of gratitude, generosity, and
expectancy that he will use it to further his kingdom. When it comes to giving I often use
the acronym GIVE to remind me of the important principles that need to guide my
giving:
G Grace-giving is the result of my God-given, God-driven desire to give.
I I desire to give because my giving is a major gateway for God to work in
my life.
V Victory over self; my desire to invest in the imperishable trumps my desire
to invest in the perishable.
E Eyes are fixed on the unseen and eternal rewards.
Before my one-hundred-year-old aunt died, she shared with me a saying she had learned
in the in the first grade: "A habit is like a cable. We
weave it one strand each day until it becomes so strong,
it cannot be broken."
I told her I really liked that saying, and that I would
change the word "habit" to the word "faith" making thesaying, "Faith is like a cable. We weave it one strand each day until it becomes so strong,
it cannot be broken."
However, I think this saying can also have the word "habit" replaced by the word
"giving," making it, "Giving is like a cable. We weave it one strand each day until it
becomes so strong, it cannot be broken." We need to weave our giving into the fabric of
our lives to the point that our practice of giving cannot be broken. Truly, this is one of the
secrets of the kingdom I continue to learn about. Giving is the major gateway by which
God gets involved in the life of the believer. We will increasingly see "the finger of God"
at work in our circumstances and otherwise when we practice giving our treasure to the
interests of the kingdom.