A Potpourri of Wealth Issues

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Introduction

Many other aspects of Proverbs teaching on finances remain, but time and space do not. So a good conclusion for us will perhaps be found in an assorted discussion of some of the more important remaining issues.

Other than a common relationship to wealth and finances, one sustained theme will not necessarily connect these topics together. Perhaps like some of your weekly purchases, these topics will be all over the map.

Don’t Be the Wrong Kind of Fastidious

Wealth is messy, and wealth generation is messy. Put another way, there needs to be sawdust all over the shop floor. It shouldn’t be the same sawdust that was there last year, but there should be sawdust there. There should always be new sawdust there.

Clutter, stress, and a reasonable mess are all part of receiving “increase” from the Lord.

A certain kind of student believes that the key to good grades is notebook reorganization, and sharpening pencils. And then, when you have all the dividers in, and clean notepaper in, and the pencils lined up in that little pouch, the best way to keep it organized that way is by doing absolutely nothing.

But better grades actually come from the strength of the ox.

In thinking about this, maintain a distinction in your mind between a “working space” and a “disheveled space.” There are shops and offices were nobody can find anything, and if you talk to someone about it, they might say something like “much increase comes from the strength of the ox.” To which you might reply that it sure looks like an ox used to live in here, but he is gone away now.

But then there is the other extreme—the fastidious extreme. This is the extreme that the proverb is actually warning us against. This person is afraid to get their hands dirty for any reason. No bueno.

Procrastination and Obligation

Some small-timers hang on to money they owe to others “just because.” They don’t like shelling out money unless they absolutely have to. But if the bill is due, and you have the money, then pay the man his money.

Deal with your responsibilities in order. For example, learn how to pay oldest bills first. This can be a real challenge for a small business when, for example, you have a bill from a supplier that you owe, and it is a sixty-day note that is a week overdue. The problem is that you have to meet payroll this Friday. If you don’t make payroll, you will have an actual situation with actual people. If you let the overdue note go a week later because, as everyone knows, next week is when magical things will happen, then pretty soon you are looking at a bill that is ninety days overdue. When this kind of thing becomes a pattern, and it is amazing how easy it is for it to become a pattern, it not long before your small enterprise is in serious trouble.

When you have the money on hand, pay the oldest bills first. When you don’t have the money on hand, and you owe it, then you have a situation where the debtor should be pursuing a conversation with the creditor, and not the other way around.

Financial Entanglements

The author of Proverbs had strong feelings about co-signing notes, or other related entanglements. And “strong feelings” is understating it a bit.

When it comes to how the book of Proverbs teaches us how to avoid losing money, if we are judging by the number of references, the admonitions about laziness would come in first. But taking the silver would be the cautions against going surety for other people’s obligations. We have four clear warnings that run along the lines of “don’t do it, man.”

The first one cautions us in two ways. First, don’t ever think about underwriting anything for a stronger. If you do, be prepared to show your welts to your wife as part of the explanation. The second part of the proverb gives us the all-round good advice of hating suretiship generally. That’s a good policy, right there.

Getting out of that kind of trap has a high priority.

If you were ever fool enough to make this kind of a deal—with either friend or stranger—you have stepped into a trap. The Scriptures then instruct you to make getting out of that trap you top level priority. Don’t do anything else until you are free of the obligation. You will not get out, the wise man says, without humbling yourself.

This one is perhaps a caution about peer pressure. You are in the presence of your friend. He did it. Are you going to be the chicken? If you let that kind of thing move you, the inspired narrative says that you are void of understanding, that is to say, a blockhead.

Some people get into more financial trouble with their friends than they do with complete strangers. But of course, doing this with strangers is not advised either.

The description of this transaction shows that you are providing collateral for someone else’s debts, and in this case it is your bed that goes away.

Many are familiar with this proverb as it applies to borrowing generally. But it also apples to becoming a “second hand” borrower through surety.

Are there any exceptions? Is there ever a time when it would be appropriate to co-sign a note? I think so, but only if the people are in a position to make the pledge a gift. I am thinking of parents backing up the kids as they get into their first house, something like that. But what they are risking should be already given away in their hearts. It is tantamount to a gift. If you can loan to enemies this way (Luke 6:34-35), then of course you can do it with the kids.

Swift Cash

We have a phrase that refers to this particular sort of financial folly. We call them “get rich quick” schemes. They can come as the result of scheming, or they may be a windfall, as in this first proverb.

In short, easy come, easy go. Someone who does not understand how it came in so fast is not going to be in a good position to understand how it went away so fast.

If it comes by inheritance, it may be money that is honestly gained, but it still will be difficult to honestly retain.

Speed also tends to put a dent in honesty, and dishonesty is a loser.

Scrambling for wealth is counterproductive. Slow and steady wins the race.

Another “fast track” to wealth comes through the foolishness of others, but the Lord is not pleased when the quick-witted take advantage of the disadvantaged. This is often done by means of credit cards with exorbitant interest, payday loans, title loans, and so on. But the shrewd one is actually gathering up this wealth for the person who is kind to the poor.

Never forget. If it is too good to be true, it is probably too good to be true.

For just one example, our family has the policy of never purchasing anything over the phone unless we placed the call. It is also important to ignore the pleas of the Nigerian prince stranded in the Manila airport. The elderly are often preyed upon in this way, and the crooks who run these scams are really quite brazen. It is easiest to just do nothing. “Sorry, we never transact anything over the phone.” One time when Nancy and I were staying with my father, who was chair-bound and in his nineties, he got a phone call from someone pretending to be his grandson. He had apparently been arrested for drunk driving, and needed money to make bail. Nope.

Shepherd Your Stuff

When it comes to material things, the Scriptures can throw us real curves sometimes.

When we think of someone paying close attention to his flocks and herds, we begin to suspect a little materialism, hey? But what reason does Scripture give us for behaving this way? Be diligent with your inventory, the Bible says, and why? Because riches are not forever. Huh.

Watch your herds, your crops, your ledgers, your shelves, your tools. Know how they are doing. Know where they are. Beware of optical illusions. Make math your friend.

Another part of the duty of stewardship includes doing first-rate work. Don’t mess around. Whatever it is you do—write, repair, sing, manufacture, preach—give yourself over to learning how to do it well.

Another part of all this is learning how to pay your dues. Put the hard work at the front, and enjoy the benefits at the end. And it is often the case that the hard work is the work that is going to bear the actual fruit.

Do not rush to enjoy the fruit of having done the “outside work” before you have done it. Distinguish work which makes money, and work which spends it. Buy the plow before you buy the curtains.

The Duty of Savings

Scripture teaches that a good and godly man saves up an inheritance for his grandchildren. The sinner’s wealth dissipates, and the good man’s wealth accumulates.

The bumper sticker that proclaims how the inhabitants of the motor home ahead of you are “spending their children’s inheritance” is awful. At the same time, children, particularly indolent children, must not be presumptuous.

Sometimes boomers cruise around the country thinking only of themselves. Sometimes their descendants sit at home whining about it, thinking only of themselves.

The Judgments of God

Never forget that the Lord is the one who gives wealth.

On the day of judgment, all the gold you got into your pockets is going to melt and run down your leg. Righteousness is the only deliverance in that day, and Christ’s righteousness is the only righteousness that will suffice.

A wicked man may have goods, but they lie under a curse. The house of the just, which would include closets, pantries, and garage, rests under the blessing of Jehovah.

The contrast between two sorts of wealth is startling. One kind of treasury is filled with balloon juice, and the other is filled with life-saving equipment.

Good understanding drives us toward good outcomes. Good understanding brings favor down upon your head. But the person who wants to cut corners is actually cutting himself off.

The way of transgressors is hard, as it ought to be.