managing
God’s
A
BIBLICAL
GUIDE
money
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Carol Stream, Illinois
RANDY
ALCORN
SEC T ION I
Money and
Possessions:
Bible 101
CHAPTER 1
Starting Right:
A Biblical Mind-Set
about Money
Are we faithful in how we handle money?
First, we should come to grips with reality—even when
we imagine we have little money, we have far more than
we realize. Many who say, “I have nothing to give,”
spend large amounts of discretionary income on cars,
clothes, coffee, entertainment, phones, computers, and
so on. They have nothing to give when they’re done spend-
ing, precisely because they’re never done spending. Then,
when they run out of money, they think it’s because
they didn’t have enough.
In Luke 16, Jesus suggests that all of us are continu-
ally tested in our money management: “If you are faith-
ful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But
if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest
with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrust-
worthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with
the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:10‑11).
This principle invalidates all of our “if onlys,” such
as “If only I made more money, I’d help the poor,” or
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“If only I had a million dollars, then I’d give it to my
church or missions.” If I’m dishonest or selfish in my
use of a few dollars, I would be dishonest or selfish
in my use of a million dollars. The issue is not what
I would do with a million dollars if I had it, but what
I am doing with the hundred thousand, ten thousand,
or ten dollars I do have. If we are not faithful with what
God has already entrusted to us, why should he trust
us with any more?
Don’t miss this: Jesus made a direct connection
between our present handling of earthly wealth and his
future decision to entrust to our care another kind of
wealth. “If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth,
who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?”
There is a direct connection between our faithful use
of money here and now and the “true riches” God will
put us over in his future Kingdom.
If a child can’t be trusted to return the change after
shopping with his father’s money, neither can he be
trusted to stay overnight at a friend’s house. But if he’s
faithful to clean his room and do his chores, he can be
trusted to have a bike or a dog.
God pays a great deal of attention to the “little
things.” He numbers the hairs on our heads, cares
for the lilies of the field, and is concerned with the
fall of a single sparrow (Luke 12:27‑31; Matthew
10:29‑30). As a business owner pays attention to how
an employee handles the little things, God pays atten-
tion to us. What we do with a little time, a little talent,
and a little money tells God a lot. The little things are
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a major factor as he considers whether to commend
and promote us—or reprimand and demote us—in his
Kingdom operation.
This thought raises a sobering question: What
opportunities are we missing, or will we one day miss,
because we’ve failed to use money wisely in light of
eternity?
Is money really important to God?
Thousands of verses of Scripture talk directly or indi-
rectly about money and possessions and how God’s
people should use them. The sheer enormity of the
Bible’s teaching on this subject screams for our atten-
tion. Why did Jesus say more about how we are to
view and handle money and possessions than about
any other topic—including both Heaven and Hell, and
prayer and faith? Because God wants us to recognize
the powerful relationship between our true spiritual
condition and our attitude and actions concerning
money and possessions.
Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus gives us insight
into what God thinks about money. “Zacchaeus stood
before the Lord and said, ‘I will give half my wealth to
the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their
taxes, I will give them back four times as much!’ Jesus
responded, ‘Salvation has come to this home today,
for this man has shown himself to be a true son of
Abraham’” (Luke 19:8‑9).
Jesus judged the reality of Zacchaeus’s salvation by
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his willingness—his cheerful eagerness—to part with
his money for God’s glory and the good of others.
In contrast to Zacchaeus, Matthew 19:16‑25
recounts the rich young ruler’s dilemma:
Someone came to Jesus with this question:
“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have
eternal life?” . . . “If you want to receive eternal
life, keep the commandments.” “Which
ones?” the man asked. And Jesus replied:
“You must not murder. You must not commit
adultery. You must not steal. You must not
testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.
Love your neighbor as yourself.” “I’ve obeyed
all these commandments,” the young man
replied. “What else must I do?” Jesus told him,
“If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your
possessions and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, follow me.” But when the young man
heard this, he went away sad, for he had many
possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich
person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll
say it again—it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The
disciples were astounded.
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In response to the rich young ruler, Jesus expounded
the moral perfection of keeping all God’s command-
ments. The man assured Jesus he had kept them. But
Jesus tested him on the first and last commandments:
“You must not have any other god but me” and “You
must not covet.”
After losing this potential follower, a man so sin-
cere that he was grieved to turn away, Jesus astonished
his disciples by telling them that it’s very hard for rich
people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They didn’t
understand the barrier that wealth presents to genuine
spiritual birth and growth. Apparently, neither do we.
Jesus did not call each and every disciple to liqui-
date their possessions, give away all their money, and
leave their homes. But Jesus knew that money was
the rich young man’s god. The principle is timeless: If
Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, he
is not our Lord.
Why so much biblical emphasis on money and
possessions?
In the following passage, though no one asks John the
Baptist about money and possessions, notice carefully
his answers to their questions:
When the crowds came to John for baptism,
he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned
you to flee God’s coming wrath? Prove by the
way you live that you have repented of your
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sins and turned to God. . . . Even now the ax
of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever
the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does
not produce good fruit will be chopped down
and thrown into the fire.” The crowds asked,
“What should we do?” John replied, “If you
have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you
have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
Even corrupt tax collectors came to be
baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we
do?” He replied, “Collect no more taxes than
the government requires.” “What should we
do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t
extort money or make false accusations. And
be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:7‑14)
John’s instructions all relate to money and posses-
sions: Share clothes and food with the poor, don’t take
more than what’s due you, be content with your wages,
don’t extort money or accuse falsely (this probably refers
to the practice of claiming that someone’s possessions
were stolen goods so that soldiers could confiscate and
keep them). Those things were of such high priority, so
close to the heart of following God, that John couldn’t
talk about true repentance and spiritual transformation
without addressing them.
Luke, the writer of Acts, offers dramatic accounts of
believers whose faith had a significant impact on their
pocketbooks: “Many who became believers confessed
their sinful practices. A number of them who had been
R ANDY A LC OR N | | 9
practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and
burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books
was several million dollars. So the message about the
Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect” (Acts
19:18‑201).
Nobody burns sorcery books worth millions of dol-
lars unless they’re convinced God is telling them to. It
was no more natural for those first-century Christians
to cheerfully liquidate and disburse assets they’d spent
their lives accumulating than it would be for us. That’s
the whole point. Conversion and the filling of the Holy
Spirit are supernatural experiences that produce super-
natural responses—whether in the first century or the
twenty-first.
Suppose Luke or John the Baptist were to visit us
today and gauge our spiritual condition by our attitudes
and actions regarding money and possessions. What
conclusions would they draw?
Isn’t what we do with our money our own
business?
In Mark 12:41‑44, we see that our Lord notices—
and cares—what people do with their money. “Jesus
sat down near the collection box in the Temple and
watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many
rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow
came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his
disciples to him and said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor
1 Italics in Scripture are mine throughout the book.
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widow has given more than all the others who are mak-
ing contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their
surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything
she had to live on.’”
Notice the passage doesn’t say, “Jesus happened to
see. . . .” No, Jesus deliberately watched what people
were giving. Jesus was close enough to see two tiny
coins in a shriveled old hand, and he was interested
enough in what people were giving to make an object
lesson for his disciples. God makes no apology for
paying attention to what we do with the money he’s
entrusted to us—or for challenging us to raise the bar
of our own giving by taking to heart the example of
others’ generosity.
A striking parable of Jesus further demonstrates that
God sees what we do with our money and judges us
accordingly:
A rich man had a fertile farm that produced
fine crops. He said to himself, “What should
I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.” Then
he said, “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and
build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough
to store all my wheat and other goods. And
I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you
have enough stored away for years to come.
Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
But God said to him, “You fool! You will die
this very night. Then who will get everything
you worked for?” Yes, a person is a fool to
R A NDY A LC OR N | | 11
store up earthly wealth but not have a rich
relationship with God. Then, turning to his
disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not
to worry about everyday life—whether you
have enough food to eat or enough clothes to
wear.” (Luke 12:16‑22)
The rich fool of Luke 12 stands in stark contrast
to the poor widow of Mark 12. He may have attended
synagogue weekly, visited the Temple three times a year,
tithed, and prayed, as most Jews did. Now, like any
good businessman, he wanted to expand by building
bigger barns. His purpose was to accumulate enough
wealth to retire early and have a good time. Sounds just
like the American dream, doesn’t it?
Take careful notice: The God who knows hearts and
sees from the vantage point of eternity regards the poor
woman as eternally wise and the rich man as eternally
foolish. Why? Because one was rich toward God and the
other wasn’t. Yet who do most Western Christians think
and live more like—the poor widow or the rich fool?
Let’s be honest—if asked, wouldn’t many of us
congratulate the rich fool for his entrepreneurial enter-
prise and warn the poor woman to hold on to what
little money she had? Our beliefs about money are
often diametrically opposed to God’s. This is why we
should thoughtfully and prayerfully meditate on what
Scripture tells us.
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What questions will we one day have to answer?
Studying Zacchaeus, the rich young ruler, the poor
widow, and other Bible characters reveals that how we
handle money is an accurate index of our spiritual lives.
This is true of all people in all ages. But it’s particularly
true for most readers of this book, since we live in a
place and time when what our government calls the
“poverty level” far exceeds the average standard of liv-
ing of nearly every other society in human history, past
and present.
According to Romans 14:12, “Each of us will give a
personal account to God.” One day we will all have to
answer these and other questions: What did I do with
all that wealth? What has my handling of money and
possessions accomplished for eternity?
OTHER BOOKS BY RANDY ALCORN
FICTION
Deadline
Dominion
Deception
Edge of Eternity
Lord Foulgrin’s Letters
The Ishbane Conspiracy
Safely Home
NONFICTION
Heaven
Touchpoints: Heaven
50 Days of Heaven
In Light of Eternity
Money, Possessions, and Eternity
The Law of Rewards
ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments
Sexual Temptation booklet
The Goodness of God
The Grace and Truth Paradox
The Purity Principle
The Treasure Principle
Why ProLife?
If God Is Good
The Promise of Heaven
KIDS
Heaven for Kids
Wait Until Then
Tell Me About Heaven
cp0143
eternal perspective ministries
with author Randy Alcorn
Learn more about Managing
God’s Money
Randy Alcorn breaks down exactly
what the Bible has to say about how
we are to handle our money and
possessions in a simple, easy-to-
follow format.
Purchase this book
About Randy Alcorn
Randy is the founder and director
of Eternal Perspective Ministries
and the best-selling author of
over 50 books (over nine million
in print) including Heaven, The
Treasure Principle, and the Gold
Medallion winner Safely Home.
About Eternal Perspective
Ministries
Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) is a nonprofit
ministry dedicated to teaching principles of God’s
Word and assisting the church in ministering to
the unreached, unfed, unborn, uneducated, and
unsupported people around the world. You can
order all of Randy’s books and products through
EPM’s online store at [Link].
