Lesson 17: Personal Issues: Money, Time, and Dress

The Principle of Accountability

► A student should read Matthew 25:14-30 for the group. What does this passage tell us about the management of money?

Money is an important resource for ministry. Leaders should manage money in a way that has the best results. We will give account to God for the resources he gives us to manage.

Remember the story of the Samaritan who helped the injured traveler (Luke 10:30-35)? The purpose of the story was to illustrate what it means to love the people you encounter. However, we can make another point by observing certain details, though this point was not necessarily intended by the writer.

The Samaritan had a donkey, and he had money to pay for the man’s care. What if he had wasted his resources before he met the injured man? He would have been less able to help him. There are many people who say they sympathize with the suffering of others and the need for evangelism, but they do not manage their resources so they can respond to needs. They are never able to help others.

Money can be spent for things that are consumed and gone, or it can be spent for things of lasting value in this world and in eternity. It is necessary for us to spend money for our needs; but as much as possible, we need to invest in the future.

Many people never invest because they think they do not have enough. But if a person would save and invest small, regular amounts, there would eventually be large results. A farmer, no matter how poor he is, realizes that he must save enough to plant again. We need to find ways to save and invest our resources.

► What are some ways to save and invest small amounts?

The Principle of Faith

The Apostle Paul gave a great promise to the church at Philippi. They had sacrificed to support the ministry. He promised them that God would supply their needs (Philippians 4:19).

Jesus told his disciples that they should not live in anxiety, but trust God to provide for them (Matthew 6:25-34). The kingdom of God was to be their priority, even before their basic needs.

Faith does not mean that we do not take responsibility to provide for ourselves and the people who depend on us. We are supposed to work to be able to provide for needs (Ephesians 4:28). If a person does not provide for his family, he is not an example of a believer (1 Timothy 5:8).

A person should never be sitting in idleness waiting for God to provide. God has designed that we profit by work and by producing something of value.

Faith means that we realize we cannot survive without God’s blessing. Our strength and opportunity to work come from God, and he also blesses with things that do not come from our work. Because we depend on God, we should pray as Jesus directed, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

We should be generous with others because

• We know that God provides for us.
• Our work does not produce all that we have.
• We do not deserve God’s blessings.
• We show God’s love by giving.

We should not be like a selfish person who takes a large amount of food though he knows that others will not get enough. God has abundance and does not need us to be greedy or secretive, as if he will never give us more.

A ministry leader manages not only his own money, but ministry resources. God will provide for a ministry that is following his will. However, his will is not always what seems obvious to us. Sometimes people are focused on maintaining an institution, and they neglect to seek clear direction from God. Sometimes people are trying to do a good thing, but they don’t do it the way God wants. We will not always have perfect discernment in these things, but a lack of finances for ministry should motivate us to seek a better understanding of God’s will.

The Principle of Honesty

The principle of faith leads to the principle of honesty. We should never do something that displeases God, because we reverence him, and we want to be blessed by him.

If you are depending on God and trusting him, you will reject opportunities to gain by doing something dishonest. When an opportunity comes, you should consider this question, “Would God provide this way?” If the opportunity is to gain something by being dishonest, we know it is not the way God would provide. A person who does something wrong for profit is not trusting God for his needs.

A person in ministry usually manages resources that are not his own. It is important for him to distinguish ministry money from his own money. In some cultures, people do not easily understand this rule. However, whether in ministry, government, or business, a person is not given a position of authority unless people think he is able to make this distinction. If a person uses the institution’s money as his own, he is violating trust (1 Corinthians 4:2).

A ministry leader should establish policies that maintain careful accountability with the institution’s money. He should not collect and manage the money alone. Several people should be involved in keeping records and spending.

The Principle of Ministry Support

God has designed that ministry should be financially supported. However, a ministry leader will often be in circumstances where his ministry is not fully supported.

For a Christian leader, money should never be the reason he accepts a leadership position or the reason he gives his best effort. The motivations for ministry are his obligation to obey God, his desire to please God, and his love for the people served (1 Peter 5:2, 1 Corinthians 9:16, John 21:15-17).

[1]When Jesus sent his disciples to minister, he said, “You received without paying; give without pay” (Matthew 10:8). It is wrong to put a price on ministry. One of the strongest rebukes in the Bible was given to a man who offered to pay for a spiritual power so that he could make a profit from it (Acts 8:18-23).

Ministry does not produce money like other kinds of work, because it does not provide a product or service to be sold. Ministry is supported only when people who have other occupations decide that it should be supported.

A ministry leader can encourage people to support by communicating the value of the ministry and his commitment to it. Usually he cannot wait for support before beginning the ministry. Reports of his ministry should be regular, realistic, and completely honest.

People most often become supporters because they see the value of the ministry, not because the minister needs support. The ministry leader should not try to raise support by talking about his needs, but by producing ministry results and explaining his ministry vision. It is also important to build relationships with the people he serves so that they see his commitment and appreciate his service to them.

Some people may want to support the leader personally instead of giving to the organization. The leader must be careful not to build his own support instead of building the organization. His job is to build the organization.

The leader should avoid debt. To borrow money is to spend money from the future. Debt takes away freedom to make decisions in the future. Debt means that you are making decisions about the future before you are there. Debt is spending the resources of the future while the needs of the future are still unknown.

The leader should avoid personal debt because it will limit his ministry decisions in the future. The leader should avoid leading the organization into debt. Use only the money God has provided. Don’t borrow, thinking that God will provide the means of paying the debt. If God wants to provide for a specific need, he can do it before you borrow, instead of afterward. Borrowing takes away one of the ways of discerning the will of God, because it means that you do not wait to see what God will provide.

Reflection

► How do you expect to change your goals or actions because of the principles about money?

The Biblical Value of Time

► A student should read Psalm 90:9-12 for the group. Name some principles about life from this passage.

The Bible tells us that time is valuable because life is measured in terms of time. This passage tells us that we should put value on our days because life passes quickly. Time is valuable because life is valuable.

The Bible speaks of time as a limited resource. Jesus said that he worked without wasting time because time for working is limited (John 9:4).

Jesus compared ministry to the work of harvesting (Matthew 9:37-38). Harvesting is always done with a sense of urgency because it must be done before the harvest is lost. A shortage of workers causes a crisis because there is limited time. Jesus made the point that ministry is urgent, and it is even more urgent because of the shortage of workers.

A farming family would be ashamed of a son who wasted time during the harvest (Proverbs 10:5). Even more, a believer should be ashamed to waste time instead of doing all that he can to accomplish the mission of the church before time is gone.

The Bible tells us that we should be making the best use of our time (Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5). Most opportunities have time limits. A lazy person lets opportunities pass because he will not work hard.

► A student should read Proverbs 6:6-11 for the group. What does this passage say about time and opportunity?

The Apostle Paul taught that ministry should be supported financially (1 Corinthians 9:4-14, 1 Timothy 5:17-18). However, he often worked to support himself because he wanted to be able to preach the gospel without asking for anything (1 Corinthians 9:18). In one place, he worked day and night (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Sometimes he supported himself and the rest of the missionary team (Acts 20:33-34).

Even though Paul’s ministry deserved support, he did not wait for support before committing to ministry. He was willing to manage his time so that he could do everything that was necessary.

The Purposeful Use of Time

Some people have no long-term goals. They simply do today’s tasks without thinking much of the future. After they have finished the necessary tasks for each day, they let the rest of the day pass without doing anything significant.

A person with goals does not waste time, because he is looking to the future. He knows what he wants to accomplish over a period of years. He is not simply doing what has to be done today but is doing things that help achieve the long-term goal. He always has more work to do than he has time for. Whenever he has some extra time after finishing his necessary work, he chooses to spend the remaining time in a way that produces value.

A person who wants to work at a high, professional level of quality does not waste time because he continually improves himself. He finds ways to do his work better. He takes time to learn from other people. He reads and studies. He always has something to do.

A developing leader should not waste time sitting and waiting for orders from someone else. He does not assume there is nothing to do when he has not been told to do something. He knows there are things he can be doing to advance the work; there is someone to talk to or something to organize, observe, or inspect. He does not waste time just because he has met his job requirements.

Many people spend much time doing nothing because they think there is nothing to do. A person who has much time to sit in idleness is not a person with long-term goals, a person who wants to work at a high professional level, or a purposefully developing leader.

Imagine that someone made you a special offer. For 30 days, you will receive $1,000 per day. You can spend it for whatever you want. At the end of each day, you can keep what you bought, but you have to give back any money that remains.

► How would you spend that money?

If you are wise, you would try to buy things that would be valuable for you when the 30 days ended. You would not spend most of it on entertainment or expensive food. You certainly would make sure that you did not end each day with much money to give back.

Time is like that. You can spend your time for things that will be nothing later, or you can invest it in things that will be valuable. At the end of each day, whatever time was not used is lost. You cannot keep it for later.

You can also apply this illustration to life and eternity. During your life you can invest in eternity. At the end of your life, whatever was not invested in eternity is lost.

[1]Investment of Time

In the lesson about priorities (Lesson 7) a diagram showed us how activities range from important to unimportant and from urgent to not urgent. An activity may not be urgent yet be very important for the future. For example, personal study and training of others is usually important but not urgent.

Don’t spend time only on what is necessary now. Invest time for the future. Try to invest time daily in things that will have value many years in the future.

Be like a man who plants trees. He knows that a tree is worth nothing until it has grown for years. He does not do it because of what he needs now. He does it for the future.

Interruptions and Delays

We must remember that God is sovereign over our plans (James 4:13-16). Sometimes circumstances change so that our plan is delayed.

Sometimes God interrupts our plan to accomplish a different purpose. We must be willing to leave our plan and respond to urgent situations and needs of others. We should not feel like we are wasting time because God knows best and is in control.

Sometimes our work is delayed because we have to wait for someone else to finish something. Don’t waste hours or days waiting; find something valuable to work on while you are waiting.

In most countries, much time is spent in travel or waiting in lines. Plan to use that time. You should always have material for reading and writing so that time is not wasted. Most people say they do not study because they lack time, yet they spend many hours on buses or in waiting rooms and do nothing while they sit there.

A boy named Abraham had to work very hard to help his family. He built fences from trees that he cut with an axe. He spent long days plowing the ground. He sometimes held a book on the plow handles and read. Sometimes late at night he would read by the light of the fire. When he became an adult, he studied and became a lawyer. He eventually was elected to government positions and finally became president of the United States. (This was Abraham Lincoln.)

Relationships

Relationships require time, and relationships are important to a Christian. His relationship with God requires time—not only time spent in working for God, but also time spent alone in prayer. Everyone has relationships with family and friends and should take time, not only to meet obligations, but to show value to people.

We should invest time not only in producing measurable results, but also in relationships. We gain help and resources from relationships, but the relationships are valuable because people are valuable.

► What about hours that are spent in conversation with friends? How can you decide when the time was invested well and when it was wasted?

Time spent in conversation can be valuable in many ways: It may shape opinions and values; it may inform; it may show love; it may encourage or comfort; or it may refresh and build a person spiritually. However, many people let hours go by that do not accomplish any purpose.

Reflection

► How do you expect to change your goals or actions because of the principles about time?

Clothing is obviously a significant aspect of human life. Every person makes choices about his dress if he has options beyond the basic necessities.

Dress is a person’s first presentation of himself. Therefore, a person’s dress shows what he thinks about himself and what he wants others to think about him. Dress is not unrelated to a person’s character; it is a purposeful presentation of character.

Biblical Considerations

The Bible gives several implications about the dress of a Christian.

1 Timothy 5:2 tells us that leaders should interact with the opposite gender in complete purity. Part of pure behavior for a leader, male or female, is to dress in a way that does not purposely cause wrong physical desires.

1 Peter 5:5 tells us to be dressed in humility. The apostle is not referring specifically to physical clothing but is telling us figuratively that humility should be our clothing. However, this also implies that we should not wear something that is contrary to humility.

Some people choose to wear things that will make them seem superior to other people. Things like watches, ornaments, or various items of clothing can be designed to be obviously expensive. Some people want to advertise to others that they are at a high level of success. They want to seem superior to other people. This is not the attitude of a servant. The desire to seem superior to others is a worldly desire that a Christian should reject.

A leader or pastor may dress more formally than the people he leads. That is not to make himself seem superior, but to honor the people he serves. He is dressing well to show that he wants to serve well. For example, in an expensive restaurant, the waiters may be dressed better than the customers. That is not to make them seem superior to the customers, but to honor the customers with their service. A person who refuses to dress well at an event where he should be dressed well shows disrespect to the other people involved.

What would you think of a person who came to a wedding dressed in dirty work clothes? Likewise, what would you think of a leader who led an important activity without preparing his appearance? His appearance would show disrespect.

► How do you distinguish between things that are designed to make a person look superior, and dress that shows commitment to service? What things might be worn for either purpose, depending on the person’s motive?

Romans 12:10 tells us that we are to honor others rather than trying to put ourselves above others. The verse is not speaking of dress specifically, but it implies that we should not try to make ourselves seem superior to other people with our dress.

A Christian’s dress should demonstrate that he has the character that God wants him to have. The inner nature of a person is more important than his outward appearance, but his appearance should be a demonstration of his character.

Social and Practical Considerations

A leader should be neat and clean in his appearance. He should never have an appearance that would embarrass his friends and the people he leads.

► What are some details of personal cleanliness and neat dress?

A leader should dress in a way that is appropriate to the activity he is involved in. For example, while helping with a construction project, he does not need to dress the same as he would at church.

Professional Considerations

Certain occupations have distinctive dress. Some workers, such as soldiers and policemen, wear uniforms. When a policeman is in uniform, he gets cooperation much more quickly because he is immediately recognized as a policeman. If a policeman were not in uniform, his job would be more difficult because he would constantly have to prove his authority before doing his job.

A doctor wears distinctive clothing while working in a hospital. He wants to be easily recognized as a doctor.

Imagine that you go to a hospital. The staff put you in a room to wait for examination. A man walks in wearing a t-shirt that has a picture of a music group printed on it and pants that are dirty and ragged. His hair is long and tangled, and he has a tattoo on his neck. At first, you might think that the staff had sent another patient to the room. Then the man speaks and says, “Hello, I’m the doctor.” How would you react?

► In the story above, why would the patient doubt that the man was really the doctor?

People have expectations about the dress of a professional. If a person is dressed differently from what they expect, it will be harder for him to gain their confidence. This applies to many positions, including those of pastor and teacher. A pastor or businessman who speaks to a group should be dressed as well as the other influential people in the group if possible. If he dresses carelessly, it seems that the meeting is not important to him and that he did not prepare.

Dress is a way to show that you are serious about what you are doing. If you dress for leadership with the same clothes that you wear for playing sports, relaxing at home, or doing physical labor, people may assume that you do not consider your leadership to be important.

Leadership is influence. If a person doubts your ability because of your appearance, your influence is lessened. It is a very simple principle: A person should look like what he is. You are meeting some people for the first time every day. Many of them decide quickly whether they want to be influenced by you. Because your dress is the first thing they see, you should not dress in a way that reduces your influence.

Reflection

► How do you expect to change your goals or actions because of the principles about dress?

In this course you learned:

• Effective principles of leadership
• Biblical qualifications for leadership
• How to set goals and develop an action plan
• To be responsible and accountable to the people you lead
• How to get your team involved
• How to develop other leaders
• That the leader serves by leading others for their benefit
• Why the character of the leader is so important

You may feel that you have learned everything about leadership, but this is just the beginning. You have learned the most important principles, but there is much to learn about how to apply them. You should plan to be a lifelong student, learning and adapting in a changing world.

Your greatest need is for God to transform your character. No one naturally has the heart of a leader. Instead, we are born with a nature that is self-centered. Each of us is called to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). This means that we must completely surrender ourselves to him. When we do, he changes our character and causes us to become what we ought to be. Make this complete surrender, and God will make your leadership a great benefit to others.