The Scriptures encourage prudent financial planning. We are to save for the future, setting aside funds to carry us through unexpected financial difficulties or as part of a long-term retirement savings strategy. Obviously, many people do a poor job of this! However, it’s also possible to go to the other extreme and stockpile money beyond any reasonable expectation of need.
Where is the balance? Author and teacher Randy Alcorn addresses this question, reminding us that God is our ultimate source of security.
The purpose of savings is to set money aside for the future. By forgoing expenditures now, we preserve resources for later. “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Proverbs 21:20). The wise anticipate future needs while the foolish consume their resources, not considering the future.
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-8). Even ants know there will be no food in winter unless it stores during the summer. Only a short-sighted person would fail to store up provisions (money, food, or supplies) for upcoming times of predictable need.
By God’s inspiration, Joseph devised a careful savings plan in light of an upcoming famine in Egypt (Genesis 41:25-57). For seven years the Egyptians stored a large portion of the harvest. When the seven years of famine came, they drew on their stores of grain. The nation was able to care for itself — and provide for others as well.
Although we live in the most affluent society in human history, Federal Reserve data show that more than 30% of Americans reach age 60 without enough contingency savings to tide them over if they had a three-month loss of income. If the reason for this lack of savings was faith in God and a conviction that we shouldn’t hang on to resources but give them to meet others’ needs, then we’d be in the company of the poor widow of Mark 12 and the Macedonian Christians of 2 Corinthians 8. But the reason typically isn’t our trust in God. It’s usually self-indulgence, presumption, and lack of foresight and discipline. God doesn’t bless a lack of savings for those reasons.
In the event of a lost job or unexpected major expense, the average American family is three to six weeks away from bankruptcy. Yet in other countries with far lower incomes, people have learned to save enough to provide for future needs. To be shortsighted is to invite poverty. To feast now without regard to future famine is to manage our resources poorly and presume upon God or others to bail us out.
We must learn not only to weigh our expenditures in light of their immediate value but their ultimate cost. Money needlessly spent is a double loss. Not only is it gone, but its potential for earnings is also gone. Had we set it aside, it could have been multiplying on earth through savings or in heaven through giving.
It’s wise to give first, save second, and spend last. Otherwise, we will spend everything and have nothing to give or save. We’ll also set ourselves up to fall into debt when true needs arise.
Saving is a discipline that develops authority over money. Instead of letting money take us wherever our whims incline, we take control.
Reasons for saving
After I give the firstfruits to the Lord, I can take money off the top of my paycheck to save for future purposes. I might save for a family vacation or a remodeling project. I’m not saving without purpose, but for a specific cause.
Long-term savings are a way of using years of plenty to prepare for years of lack, as Joseph did. Anticipating retirement, I might set aside money to supplement an income reduction in the future. Or I might systematically save for my children’s college education, which could be 10 years away.
There are also many poor reasons for saving. Some save out of greed. Others save out of fear. They’re anxious about the future. By stockpiling money, they insulate themselves from God, no longer depending on his provision and protection.
We can’t say, “Saving money is biblical” or “Saving money is unbiblical.” It may be either, depending on the reasons and the alternatives.
The dangers of hoarding
Hoarding is saving taken to an extreme. It’s accumulating assets for no purpose other than to ward off future disaster, or to provide wealth for many years to come. The classic example of hoarding is the rich fool, who says:
"I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry’" (Luke 12:18-19).
God then says, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Jesus promises, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21).
When we read about the rich fool, our first mistake is in thinking we’re not really rich. Bill Gates, Ted Turner, and Warren Buffet are rich. We’re just lower upper class, or middle class, or lower class. Because we know so many people who are wealthier than we are, we don’t think of ourselves as being rich.
But we’re wrong. Even most lower-class Americans have access to benefits and luxuries — including medical care, indoor bathrooms, running water, food, microwave ovens, radio, television, reading materials, sports equipment, and financial assistance from government, churches, and charities — that the richest people in Bible times never dreamed of. By global standards, even the poorest of all Americans are easily in the upper 20% of the world’s wealthy. By historical standards, anyone with a house, indoor plumbing, and enough to eat is certainly rich.
Our second mistake in reading about the rich fool is in assuming we’re not fools. We act as if the rich fool was terribly different than we are. In fact, he was living out the American dream, reflected in television commercials, movies, and conversations. He was storing up wealth to rely on in the future while enjoying his favorite recreational pursuits in the present. God calls this man a fool because when his life is suddenly over, his obituary shows that he’s been rich toward himself but not toward God.
What will happen to the billions of dollars in the savings accounts, real estate holdings, insurance policies, stock market portfolios, and retirement plans of western Christians? Christ suggests we should be “rich toward God” rather than “store up things” for ourselves. Why? Because by giving freely to God, we store up things in another world where they’ll matter and last. Meanwhile, we’ll also honor God and help our neighbors. If we fail to do this, we are exactly the same as the rich man — we are fools.
Is it inconsistent to say that saving for possible short-term needs can be wise, whereas saving vast sums for decades ahead can be foolish? It may appear to be, but I’m attempting to balance what Scripture says about both. We can’t ignore the verses in Proverbs that laud saving, yet we also can’t ignore Christ’s scathing appraisal of the rich fool. It may not be easy to find a balance — in fact, personally I find it very difficult — but that’s the position Scripture puts us in. The solution is not to focus on one group of Scriptures while ignoring others, but to affirm both and seek to honor both, even when we find it difficult.
Hoarders imagine themselves as wise. Jesus says they’re anything but wise. They’re fools. Hoarding is an attempt to completely cover our material bases so that God becomes unnecessary. Rather than responsibly taking steps for future provision while trusting in God’s sovereignty, we assert our own sovereignty by hoarding.
A common goal of hoarders is to achieve “financial independence.” But from whom do we wish to be independent? God? Our family? Christian brothers and sisters? I certainly favor independence from the government or parents, in the sense that I earn my own living. There’s a kind of dependence that’s terribly unhealthy. But isn’t there a kind of independence that’s equally unhealthy?
“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf” (Proverbs 11:28). When we stockpile riches for every conceivable scenario, aren’t we trusting in our riches rather than in God? The clear teaching of the New Testament is that we are to be channels of money and possessions, not storehouses. Whatever role that saving has in our lives, it should always be secondary to giving. And it must never be a substitute for trusting God.
Should we save for possible disasters?
Some Christians believe that everyone should store up years of water, food, and even ammunition for our families. One author says that believers should secure passports now in order to be prepared to flee the country during a nuclear holocaust. Certain Christian financial counselors encourage us to invest in diamonds, art, and antiques to hedge against various economic catastrophes that may be ahead. One Christian resource suggests placing assets in offshore tax havens and Swiss bank accounts. Numerous advisers emphasize gold, claiming it’s the ultimate answer to future security.
In the late 1990s, when evidence suggested that the Y2K computer-programming bug would likely create weeks of economic turbulence, it seemed reasonable to acquire extra supplies, including food and water. It turned out to be a false alarm. But it also served as a test — where were people’s hearts? How much did they store up and for whom? Would we have been willing and eager to share with neighbors and others in need?
I don’t mean that it’s faithless to lay something aside in the face of a likely shortage. It may just be good planning, especially if the money’s not wasted. Someone who had extra food stored could go ahead and eat it afterward and not have wasted money. (It certainly isn’t more spiritual to have money in the bank or stock market than canned food on a shelf.)
But there’s a difference between conscientious planning for the future and hoarding or survivalism. Does the same Christ who said we should look to the birds and the lilies and trust our heavenly father to provide for our futures, and that we are to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth, really want us to stockpile gold bullion and store up years of freeze-dried food in a bomb shelter? Does that really sound like what Jesus would call us to do?
My personal retirement accounts — which are quite small by American standards but large by nearly every other measure — contain a combination of mutual funds, precious metals, and other investments. I don’t believe these are inherently wrong. But they can become dangerous. When we amass wealth to protect ourselves against imminent doom, where is our faith? Yes, extremely difficult times may be ahead. (With much of the world already experiencing such things, why would we think it couldn’t happen to us?) Prudent foresight can be wise. Realism and good planning should characterize God’s children. Panic and hoarding should not.
I remember the reactions of people during past shortages of gasoline, sugar, and other supplies. One man, storing drums of gasoline in his garage, said, “I have to get as much as I can before the hoarders get it!”
If economic catastrophe does come, will it be a time that draws Christians together to share every resource we have, or will it drive us apart to hide in our own basements or mountain retreats, guarding at gunpoint our private stores from others? If we faithfully use our assets for his kingdom now, rather than hoarding them, can’t we trust our faithful God to provide for us then?
Here’s what James says to the wealthy stockpilers in the church of his day:
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted; ...your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.... You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence (James 5:1-5).
James doesn’t suggest that these people could avoid future tribulation by hoarding their wealth. On the contrary, it was their hoarding and self-indulgence that assured them of God’s coming judgment. Far from being the solution, hoarding is part of the problem!
God will provide for his obedient, responsible, and wise children who seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Any savings, retirement, insurance, or survival plan that diverts our attention from God also undermines our dependence on him.
Distinguishing saving from hoarding
Saving is a means of not presuming upon God. Hoarding is a means of replacing God. Saving can avoid presuming upon others to assume responsibility for our future needs. Hoarding is a self-absorbed commitment to independence from others who could help us if we’re in need, just as we can and should help others.
When I save, I lay something aside for a future need. If I sense God’s leading, I will give it away to meet greater needs. When I hoard, I’m unwilling to part with what I’ve saved to meet others’ needs, because my possible future needs outweigh their actual present needs. Hence, I fail to love my neighbor as myself.
The difference between saving and hoarding isn’t simply the amount but the attitude. Nonetheless, there’s a vast difference between saving five hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars for a “rainy day” and saving a quarter of a million dollars that could last a rainy decade. Some lay up enough to survive a stormy century! In seeking to provide for our future needs, we should not neglect those who are currently needy. Our plenty will supply what they need (2 Corinthians 8:14).
Saving for retirement
Most people must pay Social Security taxes and thereby save for retirement. Many have pensions and retirement plans through their employer. Financial counselors speak of the three-legged stool of retirement — Social Security, employee retirement programs, and individual savings (often through Individual Retirement Accounts and other investments).
We must ask the same question about our retirement savings as all savings. Is this reasonable planning, exercising foresight as Proverbs commends? Or is it an alternative to trusting God, a backup in case God doesn’t come through? How is maintaining a generous retirement plan fundamentally different from the rich fool storing up for his later years to live out his life in comfort and security? We know what Jesus thought of that man’s retirement plans (Luke 12:16-21). Why should we assume he thinks differently about ours? We should study this passage and compare our attitudes, behavior (including giving), and plans for the future to that man’s, and ask how different we are from him. If there’s no difference, obviously we need to change something.
How much is reasonable to save for retirement? At what point does responsible saving cross the line and become greedy hoarding? What would happen if I took part, most, or all of the funds I would otherwise put into retirement and invested them in God’s kingdom? Financial counselors would tell me that I would be “jeopardizing my retirement years.” Might God say I would be “enhancing my eternal years”? If I waste the money, spend it, or am just a poor planner, that’s one thing. But will God really fail me if I invest these funds in his kingdom in an honest effort to obey his words in Matthew 6:19-21 and many other passages?
I agree with the late Larry Burkett’s assessment of the saving-for-retirement obsession:
Retirement planning so dominates the thinking of Christians who have sizable incomes that they overkill in this area enormously. The fear of doing without in the future causes many Christians to rob God’s work of the very funds He has provided. These monies are tucked away in retirement accounts for 20 to 40 years.
God’s Word does not prohibit but rather encourages saving for the future, including retirement (Proverbs 6:6-11; 21:20), but the example of the rich fool, given by the Lord in Luke 12:16-20, should be a clear direction that God’s balance is “when in doubt — give; don’t hoard.” [From Using Your Money Wisely (Moody Press, 1990), p. 32.]
I realize this is a troubling and threatening topic. Believe me, it bothers me to raise it. Although my retirement savings account may be small by American standards, it’s still enough to keep many people alive and reach many people with the gospel. My wife and I decided a while back to take out some retirement funds and give them to God’s kingdom. But we still had a significant amount left. Some day more may be given away, or none of it, or all of it. I don’t know. But I do know we must ask God, because it belongs to him, not us.
The rich fool never had the opportunity to use the money and possessions he stockpiled for himself. Will our own excess funds hoarded for the future one day become as filled with worms as Israel’s hoarded manna? We don’t know whether Christ will return in our lifetime. But he certainly will return in the lifetime of some Christians.
We also know this: All money stored in retirement funds, savings, insurance policies, houses, real estate, and personal possessions will become eternally useless the moment Christ returns. If the countless billions of dollars now invested in earthly accounts were freed up and poured into helping the needy and fulfilling the great commission, what eternal impact might result?
Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how much we should have given rather than kept. But then it will be too late. Why not spend the rest of our lives closing the gap between what we’ll know we should have given then and what we are giving now?
Can any resource remain “untouchable”?
The goal of much retirement planning is to provide a regular monthly interest income sufficient to meet all our needs without ever touching the principal that generates the interest. This way it’s impossible to outlive our money.
I met with a man who inherited a million dollars and wanted to invest it in God’s kingdom. A Christian financial counselor told him, “Whatever you do, just give away the interest earnings, but never the principal. Remember, the principal is always untouchable.”
I told him I couldn’t know exactly how God would lead him, but I was certain about one thing: He dare not tell God that the principal was untouchable. Who are we to declare any resource off-limits to the One who provided it and owns it? The principal is God’s as much as the interest. Furthermore, he knows how to make an eternal impact with the principal as well as the interest. And he also knows how to take care of our needs without a million dollars in the bank!
If we have a large amount of money, God may desire for us to give it away all at once. Or perhaps he will lead us to give more gradually from the principal, so it steadily decreases over the years. But when it comes to money above and beyond our needs — and especially when it’s more than we would reasonably need in the future — the assumption should surely be that we ought to give it now rather than later. The window of opportunity to give may close in 10 years, six months, or next week.
How much is enough?
Using that three-legged stool as a symbol of retirement planning, I don’t feel right asking God to hold up the stool if I haven’t made an effort to put on a leg or two. Yet I also don’t feel right taking everything into my own hands, leaving no material needs for God to provide and no need for me to trust him or pray for his provision in the future. How can we meaningfully pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” when we own the bakery?
Many financial counselors would tell me I’m not laying up nearly enough for retirement. But when I read Scripture, I wonder if I’m laying up too much. I live in this tension and I suppose it will never be resolved. But I also know that whatever posture I take with financial planning, I must leave room — a great deal of room — for God. It’s him, not a retirement fund, in whom I should trust.
I don’t want to be a poor fool by not planning for the future. But I also don’t want to be a rich fool by overplanning for it.
How much is too much? I can’t answer the question for you. I have a hard enough time trying to figure it out for myself. But I do know that each of us should ask ourselves the question. We should also shut out the distracting noises of the world, tune our ear to God’s Word, and quietly listen for his answer. And we should listen to the voices that bring a balance of biblical principles, not to those who blindly follow the lead of popular culture rather than taking a serious look at what the Bible teaches.
