By Ben McEachenWednesday 3 May 2023Money: Faith & FinancePodcastsReading Time: 2 minutes
News headlines or personal experience have told you Christians can do terrible things with money.
From the devastation of a minister stealing church funds to a mate who spends recklessly, Christians are not better with money than anyone else.
There is a simple reason for this.
Hope Mornings’ Ben McEachen and Sydney accountant Pete Burrows diagnose the core problem in this episode of Money: Faith and Finance.
They provide positive and practical tips for improving the money matters of Christian individuals, groups and organisations as it’s possible to be better with money.
The No. 1 reason
We all should realise why Christians are not better at this whole money caper.
“Christians, like everybody else, are not perfect,” Ben said.
Such an obvious statement is not meant to excuse wrongdoing.
“Excuse is when you are trying to say it wasn’t wrong,” Pete said.
“Explaining is better because it is more grounded in facts and there is less judgment,” Pete said.
With an outlook of “explain, not excuse”, Pete and Ben also believed an attitude of humility was vital to confronting the horrible truth of Christians being bad with money.
Being aware and vigilant about the financial log in your own eye before pointing out the splinter in someone else’s (see Luke 6 for more on being less judgmental).
How to be better
Christians should not expect to be better with money than anyone else.
From the clear warning of “money is a root of all kinds of evil” to inherent issues about honesty and integrity when dealing with money, preparing for temptation (or worse) is best practice.
Pete and Ben recommend “boring but essential” measures to guard against intended or unintended misuse of money in Christian settings.
“I don’t think this has to mean that you don’t trust [people],” Ben said.
“It protects,” Pete said. “It’s best practice.”
Depending upon the situation of an individual, a church or Christian organisation, you could put in place:
- External, independent accountant or auditor
- Guidelines for governance of finances
- Transparent display of accounts
- Detailed budgets and financial plans
- Accountability partner or software
- Honest assessment of financial abilities
- Additional training in financial skills, programs or practices
- Seek the relevant wisdom, guidance, experience and abilities of others
Listen to the full Why Christians Are Not Better With Money episode in the player above and subscribe to Money: Faith and Finance via your preferred podcast platform.