The life experience of abundance vs. hoarding

The goal is using wealth for enjoyment. This first requires converting wealth into abundance. Why? Because feeling scarcity prevents wealth enjoyment. If we must clutch every dollar tightly, we can never enjoy using it.

In 387 A.D., John Chrysostom explained this. He wrote of 1 Timothy 6:17,

“The hoarder is a keeper, not a master, of wealth; a slave, not a Lord. For he would sooner give anyone part of his own flesh, than his buried gold. It’s as though he were ordered and compelled of someone to touch nothing of these hidden treasures. So with all earnestness he watches and keeps them, abstaining from them, as if it were another’s. And certainly, they are not his own … How can he be a real owner of those things, of which he has neither free use, nor enjoyment?”66

Hoarding is a painful, difficult way to live. It does not make for an enjoyable life experience.

Biblical wealth enjoyment has the opposite outcome. Paul explains that it leads us to

“take hold of that which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19b)

This is also translated as “real life” or “life indeed.”

We can hold wealth differently. We don’t have to hold it anxiously, with a tightly closed fist. Instead, we can hold it open-handedly. We can live in abundance. This leads to a joyful wealth experience. It leads to a joyful life experience. It leads to a life experience of “real life” or “life indeed.”

What prevents abundance?

The first step toward enjoying wealth changes part of the wealth into “extra” wealth. It converts that wealth into abundance. This step isn’t always easy.

Consider this example. Suppose a person has accumulated wealth. In fact, they have more than enough to cover normal lifetime living expenses beyond expected income. On a spreadsheet, they’ve got extra. But in their heart, they can still feel scarcity. They can feel like they must tightly grasp every dollar.

Why? What causes that feeling? Usually, it’s for one of two reasons:

  1. Because “you never know.”

Or,

  1. Because getting “rich” is the determined goal.

These lead to hoarding. They create scarcity. They prevent wealth enjoyment. Scripture attacks them both.

“You never know” never stops

The future is uncertain. We probably won’t ever use that buried wealth. But “you never know.” Something might happen. Things could change. We might need it someday.

No amount of wealth makes this feeling go away. Eddie Thompson runs a national estate planning firm. He shared a story from working with a billionaire client. This man’s estate plan included some charitable causes. During the planning, the man’s son suggested making some of the gifts today. He asked his father,

“Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to see the impact while you’re still alive?”

The father responded,

“Well, you never know. I might need it.”

This fear never fades – even with over a billion dollars.

This is not an unusual case. One study looked at those with an ultra-high net worth (minimum of $50 million). Only one in five reported feeling “extremely financially secure.”67

When we place our trust in wealth, there is no such thing as enough. No amount of accumulation makes this feeling of uncertainty go away. Not a thousand, not a million, not fifty million, and no, not even a billion dollars. Placing our trust in wealth will always result in a life of anxious hoarding.

This comes from the nature of wealth itself. 1 Timothy 6:17 explains that wealth is “uncertain.” This Greek word references

“the quality … (of disappearing), indefiniteness, uncertainty”68

What if the market collapses? What if we get sued? What if there’s a war or revolution? What if inflation makes money worthless? What if the government taxes or takes our stuff? What if a thief breaks in and steals? What if moths and rust destroy?

How much would you have to accumulate to address every future scenario? There is no such amount. The nature of wealth makes that impossible. When we place our trust in wealth, “you never know” never ends.

“You never know” isn’t true

People often anxiously hoard wealth because “you never know.” 1 Timothy 6:7 begins the wealth discussion by contradicting this. It explains that we do know. We know with absolutely guaranteed certainty. We know that we’re going to lose it. All of it. Every dime.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either.” (1 Timothy 6:7)

It might be ours for a moment, but it’s not ours for long. This might sound negative. Yet, this realization creates freedom. It allows us to hold wealth differently. We can hold it lightly. We can live in a different way. We can live like

“those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:30b-31 NIV)

We still hold wealth, but we hold it differently. We hold it open handedly. Why? Because our wealth-holding is about to end. That is certain. It’s guaranteed. Our only choice is how – not if – we’re going to lose the wealth.

Tightly grasping every disappearing dollar makes no sense. It’s like anxiously hoarding Confederate money during wartime. It will soon be worthless to us.

“You never know” but He does

The real question is this: Where have we placed our trust? Putting our trust in hidden wealth doesn’t work. In the world’s view, having buried wealth means we’ve “got it made.” But now we’ve got so much more to lose. We’ve got to protect it. We’ve got to guard it from countless risks and dangers.

But wealth itself is uncertain. It’s not reliable. It can disappear in a moment. Buried wealth doesn’t drive out anxiety. It creates anxiety.

Where do we ultimately place our trust? 1 Timothy 6:17 presents only two alternatives:

But the verse goes even further. It explains that we’ve already made this choice. Paul uses a perfect tense verb. This describes a past action with continuing effects on the present.

As Christians, we’ve already chosen. Where have we placed our trust? Not in the uncertainty of hidden riches. Instead, we’ve placed our trust in a richly providing God.

Understanding our security

We see it on every U.S. coin. “In God we trust.” But why should we? This verse explains why. It describes who God is. It describes God’s identity. It describes Him as “the One” – the only one – who

That’s what the Greek phrase means.69 This isn’t just what God does. This is who God is. He is Jehovah-Jireh.70 He is God the provider.71 It’s His identity. This identity is why He provided in the past. It’s why He provides now. It’s why He will provide in the future.

God has, is, and will richly provide for us in a specifically personal way. Consider the implications of this truth. Suppose God, in His infinite wisdom and love for you, knew that for your eternal wellbeing, you needed to go through a season of having only enough for food, clothing, and shelter. Would you be okay with that? Would you trust His judgment? Saying yes reduces the anxious hoarding of wealth. Placing our trust in God makes it easier to hold wealth lightly.

God has, and is, and will continuously provide us with what we, personally, need. This provision will be different for different people. It will be different for different times in our lives. Circumstances can fluctuate. But God is in control. He’s in charge. And He knows exactly what we need.

Placing our trust in this richly providing God creates rest. We don’t have to stress. Jesus explained,

“Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

This doesn’t mean that we don’t sow or reap. It doesn’t mean we don’t gather crops into barns. It means we do these things, but we don’t stress about them. We might have an accumulation in the barn, but we don’t put our trust there. God is in charge of our future. He is our provider. Placing hidden wealth in God’s role doesn’t work. It’s not reliable. He is.

Yes, we buy stuff. Yes, we use stuff. But we know that stuff is temporary and passing away. 1 Corinthians 7:31 explains that

Yes, we hold wealth. But we hold it as an abundance. We don’t stress about it. We don’t expect more from it than it can provide. We know that it’s all temporary and passing away. We hold it lightly. We hold it in readiness for a chance to use it. We stay ready to put it to work to accomplish real good.

The heart issue: “Because I was afraid”

Wealth management is a stewardship issue. We know this. But we often miss what this means. Stewardship is not about recognizing that “God owns it all.” That’s true, but it’s not the point. Every steward knows the property isn’t theirs. Good stewards know this. So do bad stewards.

In the New Testament there are two kinds of bad stewards. There are bingeing bad stewards and burying bad stewards. They’re not bad stewards because they don’t know the property isn’t theirs. They’re bad stewards because of what they do with the property.

A few churches will teach financial stewardship. But they focus only on not being the bingeing bad steward. (For example: Don’t spend more than you make. Be careful with debt and credit cards.) This teaching is good, but it misses something major. Jesus actually told more stories about burying bad stewards.76

In the Parable of the Talents, the bad steward was given a huge chunk of gold. (In ancient measurements, a “talent” of gold was 125 pounds or 59 kilograms. It’s worth about $3-4 million today.) And what did he do? He just buried it in the ground. In the Parable of the Minas, the bad steward was given money. And he just hid it away in a folded cloth.

But why? Why did they do this? When called on to explain, their answers were the same.

“And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground.” (Matthew 25:25a)

“Here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid” (Luke 19:20b-21a).

When people bury what they never use, it’s almost always for the same reason. They do so because,

“I was afraid.” (Matthew 25:25b; Luke 19:21b)

Moving from wealth to abundance: Driving out fear

The motivation for the burying bad steward is always the same: “I was afraid.” Fear leads to anxious hoarding. When we are afraid, we can never have extra. We can never have an abundance.

Moving from wealth to abundance means driving out fear. How? The more we trust our richly providing God, the more of our wealth becomes “extra” wealth. But sometimes financial planning can also help.

If our financial fears are limited, we can quantify them. We can define exactly what is causing our specific financial fear. And we can work to address it.

What about you? What specific financial fear is preventing your wealth from being “extra” wealth? What fear is preventing your wealth from being an abundance? What fear would cause you to bury the wealth God has provided to you? What would cause you to report to Him that you did so because “I was afraid?”

What if an injury happens and you can’t earn income as expected? You can plan for this. You could buy disability insurance. Anything beyond this is an abundance. But you can still be afraid.

What if you need it in old age? You can plan for this. You could buy a deferred income annuity. Anything beyond this is an abundance. But you can still be afraid.

What if your family needs it? You can plan for this. You can estimate the difference between their expected income and their needs for regular living. You could cover this with life insurance that pays out as an annuity. Anything beyond this is an abundance. But you can still be afraid.

If any specific fear is preventing our wealth from being “extra” wealth we can plan for it. This can help convert our wealth into abundance.

But financial fears are not always limited. There can always be another reason to fear. There is always another reason to bury wealth because “you never know.” There is always another reason to bury even more in the ground because “I was afraid.”

Ultimately, having abundance is a heart issue. It’s an issue of where we place our trust. Wealth itself is unreliable. It’s subject to disappearing at any moment. If we place our trust in hidden wealth, we will never be without fear.

So, what is the ultimate solution? What is the secret to converting wealth into abundance? It’s actually the single most repeated command in all of Scripture: Fear not. Do not be afraid.

Placing our trust in a richly providing God drives out these fears. Ironically, so does fearing God. God has richly blessed us. We will have to report what we did with this rich provision. Reporting that we only buried it in the ground ends poorly. So does reporting that we just hid it away in a folded cloth (or in the folded paper envelope with our brokerage statement). The results from doing this are as bad as it gets. These stewards are called “worthless.” They’re thrown into outer darkness.

The future is not uncertain. We know we will lose our wealth, one way or the other. We know we will report to God. We’ll report how we used what He richly supplied to us. Fearing God drives out worldly fears.

We don’t have to anxiously hoard wealth. We can hold it open-handedly. We can hold it in readiness. We can stay ready for opportunities to make a personally meaningful impact for good.

Getting to wealth enjoyment by holding it lightly

Wealth enjoyment starts by holding wealth lightly. It starts by holding it open-handedly. How do we get to this feeling? Scripture provides many ways.

Why can we hold it lightly? First, because we’re going to lose it anyway. We can’t choose not to lose wealth. We can only choose how to lose wealth.

Our wealth-holding will end. It will disappear. It will disappear because we will disappear. Often it will vanish much earlier. Scripture says that wealth is uncertain and can disappear easily (1 Timothy 6:17; Proverbs 23:5). Focusing our hearts on disappearing wealth guarantees grief and loss. Trying to hold wealth tightly is futile. Sooner or later, wealth-holding will fail.

Facing this reality might feel negative. But it can help us to hold wealth lightly. We know it’s all temporary. If we have wealth, we have it only for a moment.

We can also hold wealth lightly because God richly supplies. (1 Timothy 6:17). He blesses us with abounding gifts. (2 Corinthians 9:8). If our wealth bucket empties, we’ll be fine. We’re still standing in a stream of God’s rich provision. We’ll still be richly provided by God.

We can also hold wealth lightly because we can be content in various circumstances. Even if it were to vanish, we could still be content. Why? Because we don’t need that much for contentment. Paul explains,

“If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (1 Timothy 6:8)

This contentment helps us hold wealth lightly.

We can also hold wealth lightly because just hoarding it up “to get rich” is a trap. We can never get there. We’ll just redefine what “rich” means. That goal leads to pain, grief, and destruction (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

We can also hold wealth lightly because just hoarding it up also leads to bad results after this life ends. We see this with the burying bad stewards in Jesus’ parables of the Talents, the Minas, and the Rich Fool. The hoarders are judged harshly.

Even the inheritors are often left worse off. Buried wealth can lead to angry, divided families (Luke 12:13). It can lead to self-destructive bingeing (Luke 15:12-14; 1 Timothy 5:6).

For all of these reasons, we can hold wealth lightly. We can change wealth into “extra” wealth. We can change wealth into abundance. This is the first step to wealth enjoyment. It gets us ready to take the next step.

The science of satisfaction and generosity

Modern research supports this ancient approach. Life satisfaction does not come from having a lot of money. Industrialized societies have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled their median real income over the years. The net effect on life satisfaction is always the same. Zero. No change.77 Everyone becomes financially better off, but happiness doesn’t change.

If a person’s income goes up, satisfaction might rise for a moment. But they quickly adapt.78 They get used to it. They start comparing themselves with a higher-income group. Their satisfaction quickly returns to baseline.

That’s how satisfaction works. When we compare with those who have more than we do, it leads to dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction spurs toil and effort to catch up.

When we compare with those who have less than we do, it leads to satisfaction. Helping others by giving and volunteering changes our comparison points. It increases life satisfaction. Even in secular research, giving leads to contentment.79

Similarly, contentment causes giving. In a national study, the strongest predictor of giving wasn’t income or wealth. It was satisfaction with one’s wealth.80

The two attitudes most detrimental to giving were “inadequacy” and “retention.” “Inadequacy” was worrying about money and believing your friends had more. “Retention” was preferring not to spend money on anything (i.e., hoarding). These attitudes prevented charitable giving,

“regardless of the actual financial resources held by a donor.”81

In secular research, sharing with others leads to life satisfaction. But this won’t happen just because we have wealth. It happens only when we’re satisfied with our wealth. It happens only when we feel that we have an abundance.

For more on this topic, see Chapter 7 in

Joyful Wealth Management: A Bible Study Discussion Guide82