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Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Christian and Money Series- Wayside Ministry: Part 10

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Introduction

Post 1 originally predicted this series would end at post 5. Instead, this post 10 will be the last in the Christians and Money Series. This journey is just short of 18,000 words has given me greater clarity to navigate the Wayside Ministry’s goal.
Due to the difficulty of forming a trusting, sincere relationship, there are many barriers between developing a Patron and Recipient relationship. Post 9 showed Patron and Recipient both have boundaries, life themes, and priorities. When they come together to form the Patron-Recipient relationship, these boundaries, life-themes, and priorities meld creates the common ground of a sincere, trusting relationship over time between them. The levels of trust and sincerity vary and change according to the unique blending outcomes.
Henceforth, the word boundaries or boundary used in this post shall mean boundaries, life themes, and priorities.

This post has the following sections to address practical issues arising from this blending.

  1. Wayside Ministry – A recap.
  2. Flexibility and Adaptability of the Wayside Ministry Models.
  3. Nature of Patron and Recipient Relationships.
  4. Patron and Recipient Boundary Concerns.
  5. Various Economic Scenarios of the Wayside Ministry.
  6. Practical Help of Wayside Ministry

Wayside Ministry- Recap

The Wayside Ministry
Table Summarizing the Wayside Ministry Traits

This Wayside Ministry was something both my wife and myself experimented with over the last 15 years. My wife started this independently without my knowledge. The neighborhood environment presented the environment for the Wayside Ministry.
The table shows the Wayside Ministry spanning a continuum across the categories of resource commitment level, duration of commitment, availability, and visibility. The table displays the flexibility of the Wayside Ministry to be able to adapt to various real-life scenarios. This adaptability is critical to accommodate the endless permutations of boundaries.

Flexibility and Adaptability

The Wayside Ministry is one of the means to experience soul salvation by fulfilling the 2nd Commandment of love, according to 1Pet1:7-9, 1:22. Remember, post 6 that presented the evidence to show the paramount importance of soul salvation?
This table shows a continuum of related traits that one can flexibly and interchangeably adopt in a single relationship.
E.g., Most Wayside relationships start as a Jesus’ model with sincere but low commitment and occasional engagement. As trust forms and sincerity reciprocated, this relationship gradually develops over time into a good neighbor relationship. If Recipient’s family social support becomes available, the innkeeper model or Jesus’ model is more relevant to allow family support to be the primary support.
The Wayside Ministry is to provide support where the traditional sources fail to materialize. It must never be the Wayside Ministry’s intention to deprive the Recipient’s family network of soul salvation opportunities.
The Wayside Ministry is not a linear model. The three models can function simultaneously within a single relationship. Where trust is present, the good neighbor model is relevant. But for areas where trust is insufficient, Jesus’ model is more appropriate. As such, the Patron needs to select the models flexibly and blend them to provide the best fit for the circumstances.

The Patron-Recipient relationship is predicated on God, presenting the opportunity to form a relationship. Without this opportunity, it will be an effort devoid of God’s purpose and will. In-other words, there is no stress to make this relationship happen. The Wayside relationship occurs organically.
The Patron also needs to recognize and expect that the Patron-Recipient relationship has an expiry date. The goal is to support the Recipient. The means is a trusting and sincere relationship (later sections will propose a framework to achieve this). Without the means, the goal is nonexistent. The ultimate GOAL is for one’s soul salvation that has eternal consequences.

Nature of Patron and Recipient Relationships

Patron and Recipient Relationships

Patron and Recipient Relationships are Either Pre-existing Relationships or New Relationships

It is also common that the Patron has an existing relationship with the Recipient. This pre-existing relationship provides a natural entry engagement for the Patron-Recipient relationship to form. I know of one Patron-Recipient relationship that developed about 6 years after they have become friends. During these 6 years, the boundaries were exchanged and engaged based on friendship. When the Recipient fell on hard times, that friendship fostered the Patron-Recipient relationship.
When a new Patron-Recipient relationship is forming, the Wayside ministry has a likelihood to take the following pathway.

  1. Ice Breaker Stage to Clarify Superficial Boundaries

Usually, the Recipient has voiced the need for support. However, the boundaries relating to this Recipient is unknown, and the nature of support also requires clarification.

At this point, the Patron and Recipient are strangers. The ice breaker stage is a superficial exchange of boundary information. To show goodwill, after the Recipient clarifies the nature of help required, the Patron offers temporary and limited support according to their boundary conditions.

  1. Post Ice Breaker Stage, Hangover.

The help received will elicit a response from the Recipient. This response can assume the following forms. When the word

    1. The Recipient acknowledges the sincerity of the Patron and reciprocates to offer more boundary information. Likewise, the Patron offers more boundary information. This exchange fosters the consolidation of a Patron-Recipient relationship that mutually respects each other’s boundaries based on trust and sincerity.
    2. The Patron and Recipient do not feel that the boundaries were respected or acceptable. In such an instance, the relationship usually ends by mutual consent amicably. The Patron may maintain an offer to help even after the Recipient has decided to terminate this relationship.
    3. A blend of “a” and “b.” This outcome is usually the case because of incomplete boundary information. In such instances, either the Patron or the Recipient may seek clarity on the response and associated concerns relating to the boundaries. After that, the outcome could be a repeat of the Ice Breaker Stage, “a” or “b.” The Wayside Ministry model is flexibly adopted here to account for the dynamic nature of the outcomes.
  1. Relationship Nurturing Stage

The objective of the nurturing stage is to support Recipient independence, not deepening dependency. Independence occurs across the domains of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social. Fostering resilience in these 5 domains takes time and intimate knowledge of the Recipient’s situation and tapping or expanding the Recipient’s resources and social network.

The Patron may want to equip themselves with financial literacy, coaching skills, and counseling skills. The social domain involves connecting the Recipient with government social aid if they qualify, entreating their family members to partner with the Wayside Ministry effort, or inviting other like-minded parties willing to help with the permission of the Recipient.

Patron and Recipient Boundary Concerns

The Patron has the following boundary concerns.

  1. The Patron support is appearing or/and acting in a way that violates the Recipient’s privacy. Even worse is the Patron seems to control the life of the Recipient.
  2. Gender boundaries Confusing compassion for sexual attraction.
  3. The Patron support has conflicts with the Recipient’s next of kin/family authority or influence.
  4. The Patron support reinforcers the carnality of the Recipient.
  5. The Patron is held hostage by the Recipient, usually in the emotional sense, demanding support as an entitlement.
  6. The Recipient takes the Patron for granted as an infinite resource.

The Recipient has the following boundary concerns.

  1. Recipient privacy boundaries are not respected, and they feel their life is controlled or manipulated by the Patron.
  2. The Recipient’s family has conflicts with the Patron.
  3. The Recipient doesn’t want the Patron to view them as leeches. This worry compromises their sense of self-worth.
  4. The Recipient is afraid his actions jeopardize the Patron’s Commitment. In this way, his actions appear to be under surveillance.

It will take the Holy Spirit’s wisdom to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves to navigate the above concerns to attain harmony between the Patron and Recipient’s boundaries.

Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves within Boundaries

The guiding principle to attain harmony draws from the 1st and 2nd Commandments.
Firstly the 3 Do NO HARMs-

  1. Do NO HARM to God’s desire to help Man avoid carnality.
  2. Do NO HARM to the Patron’s sense of self-worth.
  3. Do NO HARM to the Recipient’s sense of self-worth.

Secondly, the dealings are sincere, respectful, and done with integrity.
If this harmony is of the 3 do no harm, sincerity, respect, and integrity are unachievable simultaneously after the post ice breaker stage, this means the Patron-Recipient relationship is not viable.
In actuality, the assessment of viability is not that clear cut and subjective. The measures of self-worth, sincerity, respect, and integrity are subjective. If the Patron and Recipient boundaries are too out of sync or overly complicated, this subjectivity gap or complexity could be the main barrier to forming a viable relationship. Simply put, the Patron and Recipient need to get along with one another.

Various Economic Scenarios of the Wayside Ministry

This section covers how to apply the Wayside Ministry blended model with the following economic baseline scenarios.

>> Rich” width=”957″ height=”677″> Life Scenarios Poor >>> Rich

The Poor Single Income Scenario

This scenario has a single breadwinner income of $3,000.00, which is less than the median of $4,000.00 with 2 children and 2 dependents, aged parents with 6 persons in the household. Household expenses are about $500.00 per person below the $650.00, which partially meets the condition to qualify for social aid.
The family under this scenario cannot afford to help others but needs financial and social support. In this instance, the breadwinner’s primary soul salvation goal is to support the self and the family’s needs. The Wayside Ministry in this scenario is self and family.

The Single Income Slightly Above Median Scenario

This scenario has a single breadwinner income of $6,000.00 is above the median of $4,000.00, with 2 children and 2 dependents, aged parents with 6 persons in the household. Household expenses are about $1000.00 per person.
The family with this scenario is similar to the low single income scenario. There is no excess between income and expenses. The Wayside Ministry in this scenario is self and family.

The Double Income Slightly Above Median Scenario with Dependents

This scenario has a double breadwinner income of $10,000.00 with 2 children and 2 dependents, aged parents with 6 persons in the household. Household expenses are about $1500.00 per person.
The family with this scenario is similar to the low single income scenario, albeit with some excess. The income exceeds the expenses by $1,000.00 a month. The Wayside Ministry in this scenario is self and family.
The 3 scenarios above are evidence of why apostle Paul encourages those who are single to remain single (1Co7:8) in-order that they may be able to serve the Lord without the encumbrances of family relationships. Nevertheless, apostle Paul recognized that not all are called to be single as he was (1Co7:7, 7:9).
I know of a family that has also experienced all the above 3 scenarios over their lives. The wife helped her neighborhood friends in need during this period, sometimes in the small sums of money to tie over a difficult period. However, due to her financial constraints, she usually offers nonfinancial help. For example, she would accompany them for medical appointments paying for the transport costs and representing them before the doctors due to language barriers. Another avenue of help was applying for government social aid on their behalf by completing the paperwork and passing the means test interview with the social worker.
Sometimes the help took the form of cleaning up their house that desperately needed upkeep due to their poor physical condition. The wife and her friend would partner with one another in this Wayside Ministry. The above examples show that the Wayside Ministry is still possible without being well off.

The Double Income Slightly Above Median Scenario without Dependents

This scenario has a double breadwinner income of $10,000.00 with 2 children and no dependents, aged parents with 6 persons in the household. Household expenses are about $1500.00 per person.
In such a scenario, the excess per month is $4,000.00. Setting aside 1/3 from this amount to support the Wayside Ministry amounts to about $1,300.00 a month.

Properties and Children’s Education

From my wealth stewardship journey, minimizing debt is a must, and settling one’s debts should be prioritized ahead of the wayside ministry. It is prudent and necessary not to burden oneself with untenable mortgages. Personally, my property had a multiplier of about 3 times the typical household median income (2 working adults = $8,000.00), and the loan was cleared by age 40.
Setting aside sufficient for the children’s education is the responsibility of the parents. The parental Wayside Ministry duties are the family before focusing outside the family.
The question is, how much is too much to allocate for property and education expenses? While the figures cited below are arbitrary, the quantum measured from the median baseline (see post 8) speaks for themselves to convey the excessiveness that Col3:5 calls idolatry (see Post 3 for more on Col3:5).
My convictions that buying properties (the home to stay, which is different from investment, see Conclusion section) and incurring educational expenses that exceed the following would be jeopardizing the potential of one’s soul salvation.

Property should cost the lower of the two

  1. Properties price should not cost more than three times one’s annual household income for those with a household income below the median.
  1. For household incomes above the median, properties should not cost more than 5-6 times (arbitrary number) the median annual household income. The median monthly income in post 8 was about SGD 4,000.00. If inclusive of employer’s contribution, 1-month yearly bonus, and dual-income household, the median monthly household income is about SGD 10,000.00 or SGD 120,000.00 on an annual basis. This guideline places the property prices between SGD$600,000.00 to SGD$ 720,000.00.


Education should cost no more than twice the cost of local university education.
Singapore local university education cost about $30,000,00 to $40,000.00 (excluding medical) for a 3 to 4-year undergraduate degree. See link – https://blog.moneysmart.sg/education/singapore-university-education-cost/
Factoring about SGD$15,000.00 per year for living expenses over 4 years, the total to fund a 4-year undergraduate education in Singapore is about SGD$100,000.00.

For example, if one is considering an overseas education, an Australian education cost about SGD30,000 a year, with the cost of living about SGD$20,000.00 a year. For a 4 year undergraduate course, the total is about SGD$200,000.00.

The Retiree Scenario at No. 6 Wealth Stage (see Post 8 that explains how this wealth stage is determined)

Assume this retiree couple has saved $1,200,000.00, which is about 2.2 times the minimum amount to qualify for stage 6 of the balanced wealth stage mentioned in post 7. Their monthly expenses are $3,000.00 a month.
This scenario assumes the home mortgage is paid off, fully funded children’s education needs, and accumulated 1.2 million in liquid assets. This scenario offers the retiree an adequate foundation to experience the Wayside Ministry. Conservatively, the allocated amount for the Wayside Ministry ranges between $1,000 to $2,000.00 per month to prevent prematurely exhausting the funds.

Practical Help of Wayside Ministry

Physical Help

  1. Offer regular logistical help to meet up doctor appointments, similar to the neighbor or innkeeper model.
  2. Clean the house on occasions, similar to the innkeeper model.
  3. Help them settle administrative matters with the authorities, banking, etc.
  4. Buy food and groceries on their behalf, similar to the innkeeper model.

Financial Help

  1. Start in small amounts such as paying for the meal or pay for the transport cost—low commitment, similar to Jesus’ model.
  2. Provide monthly financial assistance up to a maximum of $500.00 per person. Notably, $500.00 is an arbitrary number close to an individual’s median cost mentioned in Post 7. This number may need upward adjustment according to account for inflation effects and Recipient circumstances. This high commitment is similar to the neighbor model.

Because the financial help comes with NO strings attached, it is needful that the money does not fund their addiction to carnal habits.

Emotional and Mental Support

  1. Be available to Recipient as a friend on equal terms—both able to share details of one’s life vulnerably within the boundary limits.
  2. Offer alternative perspectives while being compassionate with the Recipient’s situation.

Conclusion

Wayside Ministry in the Wealth Stewardship Ecosystem

The Wayside Ministry is a sober-minded approach to wealth stewardship. It prioritizes healthy self-love, family, and dependents. Before one can be a Patron that serves beyond self and family, the Patron must provide for themselves and not neglect family needs. The Wayside Ministry can also assume nonfinancial forms that are valued by the Recipient.
Boundaries of both Patron and Recipient are respected. It is essential to realize that the economic realities, life choices, the worry of the future, and inheritance affect both the Patron and the Recipient alike, as presented in the above visual.
Investment, which can include property purchases, may take priority over the Wayside Ministry. These investments may displace the Wayside Ministry. The individual may gain more control, prestige, and wealth due to these investments at the expense of SOUL salvation and lose out in their eternal life. Jesus mentioned in Mat6:1-6, where Man receives their praise and reward on earth, they risk forfeiting the recognition and reward from God the Father.

Does it mean investing is bad? Of course not. Investment is an integral part of wealth Stewardship. What’s important is the motivation behind the investment and balancing the investment needs with the Recipient’s needs. Each person will receive different divine mandates concerning this balance. Live life with the right reasons to fulfill the 1st and 2nd Commandments, and all will work out for our good who LOVE Him (1st and 2nd Commandment) and called after His purpose (Rom8:28).
These Christian and Wealth Series have attempted to offer guidelines that shine on these “right reasons” to support a more objective self-examination. While it is good to be materially rich in this mortal life, it is wiser that one is rich in the life to come.

Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Christian and Money Series- Boundaries & Priorities: Part 9

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Introduction

Posts 7 and 8 of the Christians and Money Series discussed the hard factors (tangible) of economic realities, the shared economic baselines, and the 2 impediments of the sacred cows of social giving and inheritance. These tangible factors form the natural application’s structural framework to fulfill the RELATIONSHIPS’ goal of soul salvation mentioned in posts 5 and 6.

Post 9 deals with the soft factors (intangible) of relationship dynamics.
The illustration below shows that how the hard and soft factors form the wealth stewardship ecosystem. God’s alternative and Man’s ways have very different goals and means, although both appear to do “good” on the appearance.

 

 

Wealth Stewardship Ecosystem

 

These soft factors involve

  1. Discover the personal boundaries of oneself and the party in-need.
  2. Develop a hierarchy of priorities that’s clear yet adaptable to serve the goals.
  3. Be flexible with the Wayside ministry to suit various life circumstances. (Elaborated in Post 10).

Christians need the harmonized mindset of wise as serpents and harmless as doves to be effective stewards of God.

Boundaries

 

THE NEW TESTAMENT LOVE FRAMEWORK

Self-Love

Jesus said in Mat7:1-5
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but does not notice the log that is in your own eye?
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

In Mat7:1-5, Jesus drew attention to the undesirable nature of actions that attempt to change others’ circumstances while one’s affairs are no better or in worse condition.
While this was in-context of judgment, this principle where one settles their affairs before advising or imposing on others is valid in the area of love.

The 1st and 2nd Love Commandments in Mat22 impose an expectation on Man to love God and their neighbor. This outcome motivates Man to set requirements among themselves. The emphasis is to love God and love their kind, which this series of posts have identified as the RELATIONSHIPS issue that is why Man loves money rather than loving God and their kind.
However, this love demand has biased the reading of Mat22:39, which reads as follows: “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The part glossed over is loving “yourself,” which is self-love. Self-love is settling one’s love affair before loving God and loving others.

 

Jesus recognized Man’s significantly inferior self-love experience and the need to be loved by another before loving others. For this reason, He gave a new commandment in John13:34 where Jesus offered love to humankind as both God and as a man. Jesus showed this love to restore the broken sense of self-love by offering loving acceptance in-place of abandonment. In this way, humanity finds the strength to love themselves, knowing that God as Man loves them to the point of death.

 

It is imperative to anchor in this healthy self-love according to God’s will as a pre-requisite to be free of the enslavement of money, which this post and the past eight posts in this series are attempting to foster.
For a deeper reflection on self-love, the reader can refer to the Self-love Series found in the blog “Relationship” section. I will include the links here once the series is complete.

 

Define Your Boundaries

 

To define one’s boundaries is to gain clarity on what one needs for healthy self-love. One’s boundaries are unique, taking the form of personal and environmental circumstantial factors.

 

Circumstantial Factors – Personal

Personal circumstantial factors are realities that occur leading to birth and early childhood (up to age 6, Berk, 2014). These factors comprise the person’s genetic make-up, temperament, and early childhood attachment. The person has no or very little control over these factors. In scripture language, they are part of the purpose of God. Purpose in the Greek describes the mandatory plan of God.
Circumstantial factors are essential regardless of which wealth stewardship model is adopted. The verse that lends weight to this claim comes from John5:19.

 

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the son also does in like manner.

 

The key phrases that support this observation are bolded. The word “unless” indicates a condition for action. That action “what the father is doing” fulfills the 1st and 2nd Commandment, which embodies God’s purpose and will. Thus the decision to love one’s neighbor and the manner to show this love is contingent on “unless one sees what the Father is doing.”

 

What does it means “unless one sees what the Father is doing?” It is notable that both the “see” and “doing” are verbs in the present tense. In other words, the wisdom concerning current circumstances determines the impetus for action. The following could be one possible framework for this wisdom

 

It raises the need to observe one’s current life circumstances for patterns or trends, especially in the following areas.

    1. Personality and temperament traits. Introvert or extrovert, meek or prideful, sober-minded or given to impulsivity, coping styles.
    2. The following events that shaped one’s life decisions or life trajectory
      • Learning or developmental disabilities
      • Major illness or death of loved ones
      • The quality of early childhood attachment or lack of that thereof.
      • Gifts and skills.

 

Observe for Patterns that Create Arching Themes

 

The pattern emerging over time and space usually forms themes within one’s lot in life. Commonly multiple themes coexist, but they manifest as primary or secondary and manifested or suppressed.

  1. A sad theme.
  2. A happy go lucky theme.
  3. A lonely theme.
  4. A social theme.
  5. A materially poor theme.
  6. A materially rich theme.

Whatever the life circumstances and themes may be, they are what the Father has DONE and STILL doing in each person’s life. To see these patterns and themes in one’s life is necessary before embarking on seeing what the Father is doing in others’ lives.

Patterns and themes form the boundaries of one’s life, and another’s life. Boundaries will feature later as key to be wise when doing good (remember the Christian character’s duality in post 7.

 

Circumstantial Factors – Environmental

Circumstantial environmental factors are events that occur from middle childhood up to the point of death. In these life stages, these events are increasingly within the person’s control. It is subjective to include middle childhood and late adulthood as circumstantial environmental factors. Middle childhood and late adulthood could also be part of the personal circumstantial factors due to the low levels of individual control over their events.

 

Central to what constitutes circumstantial environmental factors is the element of choice and the free will to make those choices. Such factors would fall under the will of God. The Greek meaning of will (Thelema) describes the desirable optional plans of God.

The following are examples of circumstantial environmental factors:

  1. The characteristics of one’s adult family relationships constitute circumstantial environmental factors. These relationships include parents, siblings, spouses, and children.
  2. Other nonfamily relationships that constitute environmental factors are business partners, significant peers.
  3. Major illness or death of loved ones
  4. Educational opportunities.
  5. Loss of employment.

These circumstantial environmental factors contribute to the reshaping of the individual’s circumstantial personal factors.

 

The significant difference between the Recipient’s (person in need of help) and the offeror is the scarcity of available information on the Recipient’s part. It takes time and mutual trust to construct the story of their life circumstances. The Recipient’s life circumstances likewise will produce emerging patterns and themes.

Commonly, such information is obtained indirectly by inferring observed clues and cues over time. Consequently, they are incomplete, an approximation of the facts, and subject to change.

 

The Holy Spirit is the believer’s helper in this instance. The Holy Spirit grants the believer access to God’s mind (1Co2:16). Because the Holy Spirit is the wisdom of God (2Co2:13), She helps Man to search out what God has concealed (Pro25:2). Life is one long continuous unveiling of God’s life parables for each individual. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and what She reveals are indispensable for Man to search out what God has purposed and willed for the Recipient.

Discovering the Recipient boundaries is a time-consuming iterative process, the test of patience that requires perseverance, and most importantly, the wisdom of a serpent and dove to navigate the mutual boundaries.

 

Combining the Personal and Environmental Circumstantial Factors (To be Wise as Serpents)

 

Wise as Serpent

 

How does this testing meld with the boundaries mentioned earlier? In the course of stewardship, one needs to look for alignment between the following.

  1. Understand your boundaries and emerging themes.
  2. Understand your neighbor’s boundaries and emerging themes.
  3. Test God’s will in the various life context presented.
  4. Review the result of the testing.
  5. Observe the kind of patterns emerging from several testings.

This alignment is to explore the following in the course of the Wayside ministry.

  1. Identify areas of harmony and conflict where the boundaries interface and overlap concerning the 1st and 2nd Commandments.
  2. This harmony and conflict management is similar to what God has done concerning balancing His Love and Justice needs (see Post 6).
    1. Does it support loving God?
    2. Does it support loving self?
    3. Does it support loving the neighbor?
  3. In the context of the testing results, observe for patterns; they are God’s hidden message.
  4. Prayerfully; Seek scripture for guidance, seek the rest in your soul to confirm, and seek counsel from like-minded Christians in this order of priority. These 3 seekings support the focus and clarity of realizing God’s will observing how the harmony and conflict of boundaries resonate with God’s hidden message.

 

God and Man are Balancing Love and Justice

 

Ultimately, God’s balances His love and justice and His free will with Man’s free will. He decides the appropriate proportion of love, justice, free will for Himself, for you, and the neighbor in this balance. It is also needful to point out that the balance is not necessarily static with time and is often a moving target. The Wayside Ministry in post 10 will offer examples of how this balance of boundaries may look like in practice in the Boundary Concerns section.

Only God is qualified to oversee this unimaginably complex endeavor that occurs over time and space across countless lives, like interlinked webs, each of which is invaluable to God. Furthermore, God is not operating randomly; His 2 Commandments bind Him, and He has an overarching purpose-goal for His Kingdom and each individual.

 

In summary, the advice by Jesus to be “wise as serpents” and Paul to be “wise in what is good “is a partnership with the Holy Spirit in the process narrated above.

The verse that impresses me the most concerning being harmless as doves come from Phil4:8.
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

See the series on self-love for the reflection of this verse. The author’s opinion is that being harmless as a dove is more demanding than being as wise as a serpent. And the most demanding is harmonizing the serpent and dove needs. See the Boundary Concerns in the Wayside Ministry Section for guidelines on harmonizing the serpent and dove needs.

 

Priorities

The recurring theme of this series of posts is RELATIONSHIPS.
RELATIONSHIPS are not only the focus but also the priority of God that drives His purpose and will. God is omnipotent and omniscient, sees the need for focus and priority; He does not spare Man this need. This section explores Man’s priorities in light of the RELATIONSHIPS.

 

 

 

Setting Priorities

This post has adapted (with modifications in non italics) the list of priorities from Elizabeth George’s book, A Woman After God’s Heart. My wife subscribes to this book’s many insights, which has blessed our marriage with harmony and effective partnership. The list shows the priorities in order of importance.

  1. Prioritizing God (1st Commandment and New Commandment) by focusing on internal soul growth (Post 6 shows that soul salvation best represents the 1st Commandment) to form a relational attachment with God. For attachment measures the quality of love with God. See the self-love blog series for the narrative of how self-love contributes to attachment with God.
  2. Prioritizing your soul salvation by prioritizing
    1. Your husband/wife
    2. Your children
    3. Your dependents
    4. Your home
    5. Your Wayside Ministry narrated in post 10 that engages with the various life scenarios.
    6. Prioritizing your other activities, including work, hobbies, socializing.

All the above priorities are expressions of the 1st and 2nd Commandments. God in the New Covenant has the relationship focus. God introduced Himself as Father (Mat5:16 ), Jesus as Elder Brother (Mat28:10), Jesus a friend (John15:15), Jesus as the bridegroom (Mat9:15), and the Church as the bride of Christ (Eph5:25-27). All these relationship facets are to fulfill the 1st and 2nd Commandments of love.

God naturally occupies the 1st spot in the priority list. After that, direct family members, wife, and children come next on this priority list. 1Timothy5:8 condemns family breadwinners who fail to provide for their household as having denied their faith in Christ and behaving worse than a non-believer. This judgment ranks among the most extreme ever passed by apostle Paul. Even the man in Corinthian Church who fornicated with his stepmother in 1Co5 did not receive such an indictment. Apostle Paul’s response in 1Tim5:8 is indicative of the importance God places on the husband in the context of that day, to fulfill his responsibilities to provide food and shelter for their family.

The Wayside Ministry comes at 6th position in the priority list. This list’s exception occurs when one does not marry and dedicate their lives to Christ, such as apostle Paul. In such cases, the simplified priority list looks something like this.

  1. Prioritizing God (1st Commandment).
  2. Prioritizing your wayside ministry.
  3. Prioritizing your home. This priority is about self upkeep, feeding oneself. E.g., Apostle Paul was a tentmaker (Act18:1-4), earning his keep while performing his duties as an apostle.
  4. Prioritizing your other activities.

 

Conclusion

This post has proposed that boundaries and priorities are the ways of the serpent sanctioned by God. They are circuit breakers or checkpoints of sober-mindedness that reminds both Patron and Recipient that it is the best effort and no one is forcing another in this relationship.

Post 10 will expand on how these boundaries and priorities feature in the Wayside Ministry Model.

 

Reference

1. Berk, L. E. (2014). Development through the lifespan (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River :NJ; Pearson Education, Inc.

Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Christians and Money Series- Natural Applications 2 (Sacred Cows): Part 8

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Introduction

Post 7 of the Christians and Money Series framed Man’s economic realities and shared economic baselines. These natural realities and baselines frame money stewardship. Post 8 aims to slaughter two sacred cows used as excuses and reasons to sustain wealth stewardship’s current status quo, which is self-serving.

The Sacred Cows of Social Giving and Inheritance

The Mina parable exposes the 1st sacred cow of social giving as the least favorable of positive outcomes.

The second sacred cow is the holy cow of inheritance.

These 2 sacred cows have a long history and deep backing from society. The evidence of the lofty positions occupied by these 2 sacred cows shows Man’s failure to reciprocate to God’s appeals (see Post 4) to value RELATIONSHIPS (see Post 5 and 6).

 

The Parable of the Minas

Minas Parable (Uploaded from http://www.lambsongs.co.nz.)

The parable of the Minas in Luke 19:12-27 involves 10 servants, one Master who goes on a long journey, and the third servant was the unfaithful servant. The 4th to 10th servants were not involved in this parable.

Notably, Matthew’s parable of the Talents (Mat25:14-30) parallels the Minas with similarities and significant differences. The comparative study of these two parables yields many diverse and sometimes nonagreeing views. This post has interpreted the Talent’s parable as relevant to the Jews while the Minas applies to the Gentiles. This distinction is partially due to the traditional view that Matthew has a distinct Jewish slant(see link – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/matthew.html) vs. Luke takes a more gentile flavor (see link- https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/luke.html).

The second reason is the nature of punishment present in Matthew is more aligned with the old covenant terms corresponding to the Jews. In contrast, punishment for the unfaithful servant is absent in Luke’s account of the Minas due to the new covenants “grace” nature.

 

 

 

Luke Minas’ parable offers relevant insights as follows.

 

  1. The parable has the context of a master going on a journey and returning.

The Master is Jesus (Scott, pp. 220,1990), who has on a journey (ascended) to a far country (heaven), gave instructions to do business till He returns and returning to hold His servants accountable in His 2nd coming (Mat25:19).

 

  1. The parable focus on the faithfulness of the first, two servants

All the servants were given one Mina each and instructed to do business.

 

The master rewards corresponded to the servants’ business profit. The Master rewarded the one who earned 10 minas with 10 cities and rewarded the servant who earned 5 minas with 5 cities. One Mina is equivalent to 3 months’ wages. (http://www.orthodoxyork.org/the-parable-of-the-talents.html)

 

  1. The parable focused on the unfaithfulness of the third servant and the Master’s bottom line.

The unfaithful servant had a negative image of the Master as exacting and harsh but spoke His mind, either foolishly or hypocritically, to make this negative image known to his Master. If this image was correct and this 3rd servant believed it, he would not have neglected his stewardship by placing his Mina in a handkerchief, a picture of neglect and uncaring attitude that did not value the Mina entrusted to him.

The Master forfeited the 3rd servants’ Mina by giving it to the 1st servant, but his punishment went no further. The Master also rebuked the 3rd servant that he could have at the very least placed the money in the bank (a 3rd party) to earn interest rather than keeping it “hidden” in a handkerchief (Luk19:23).

 

The above supports the following lessons on money stewardship.

  1. Jesus left instructions for His believers to do business during the period He has ascended to heaven. This business involves

 

a. Jesus gave each person a mina. In this parable, Mina is 3 months’ wages. For this post’s natural application, this Mina represents a person’s lot in life. This lot consists of a person’s life history gifts, handicaps, opportunities, and threats presented in life circumstances. It is more than just money or wealth.

 

b. Jesus has expectations that each person acts in faith to use the Mina to do business with the world. This faith is one that expects Jesus’ return that requires accountability on the individual’s part. This faith also requires one to engage actively with the world to multiply that one mina into many minas.

 

  1. The reward far exceeds the effort of doing business. 10 minas, which is equivalent to 30 months of wages, is far inferior in value than the reward of 10 cities.
God’s Bottom-Line
Photo by Hild Nordal on Stockvault

3. Jesus presented God’s bottom line with regards to stewardship

                                                                         

a. Doing nothing (in this case, hiding the Mina in a handkerchief) is not acceptable. The punishment is a rebuke and confiscation of the Mina earlier given. Jesus gave no further penalty. Note the servant was not mentioned together with the slaying of the city’s enemies (Luke19:27).

 

b. The next best thing to doing nothing, deemed neglecting ones’ stewardship duties, is giving the Mina to a 3rd party to do business on their behalf to earn interest on the Mina. This post interprets this 3rd party as the institutions mentioned earlier- charitable organizations, Churches are the most commonly recognized. These institutions are 3rd parties because the end-user (person in need) most likely remains a stranger to the individual who has given that Mina. The mina owner has not exercised direct love-based Faith in God (1st Commandment) using the Mina to connect relationally (2nd Commandment) with the end-user with sincere love.

 

This post coined the terms passive stewardship (passing the Mina to a 3rd party to do business with) vs. negligent stewardship (hiding the Mina in a handkerchief)

 

Social Giving

Passive stewardship is a type of social giving that is impersonal to the end-user and profit-seeking. The profit gained is the appearance of having done business but devoid (similar to the caution in 2Tim3:5) of the risk, uncertainties, and effort arising from the complexities of active relational love with God and Man. That is the self-benefit of placing one’s Mina with the charitable organization or with the organized Church (be it in the form of tithes or offering). Social giving is akin to subcontracting out the 2nd Commandment.

 

This norm of social giving has gained such momentum that it has become the gold standard to demonstrate love and faithfulness to God and Man. This outcome has effectively supplanted the pure form and substance of the 1st and 2nd Commandments. Love and faith have been socialized and industrialized.

 

This Christian and Money Series focuses on prioritizing direct giving with the elements of mutual relational faith and sincere love engagement with the person or persons receiving help. However, it does not mean an anti-social giving position is adopted. What it means, a larger proportion needs to be in direct giving as the primary focus, and a relatively smaller balance is in social giving as the secondary focus. The slaughtering of the sacred cow is by prioritizing this focus.

 

Post 9 will explore guidelines to formulate this proportion according to one’s boundaries and God’s will.

 

The Sacred Cow of Inheritance

Slaughtering the Sacred Cow of Inheritance

After 7 cycles of 7 years per cycle, where each cycle at the 7th year is a Sabbath year, the 50th year is very significant. This 50th year is called the year of Jubilee. Jubilee marks the land’s return to the original landowners and freedom for any Israelite sold as servants/slaves (Lev25:8-13). God’s resetting land ownership and servant/slave ownership. Although Israel has abandoned this practice since 600BC  (see link – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)#:~:text=The%20biblical%20rules%20concerning%20Sabbatical,been%20observed%20for%20many%20centuries.&text=Thus%2C%20with%20the%20exile%20of,Jubilee%20has%20not%20been%20applicable.), God has the intention to disrupt the unimpeded accumulation of wealth in the hands of the powerful minority. Doesn’t this intention resonate with the natural application of post 7?

 

Since Man has a limited life span, earthly wealth accumulation is designated to maximize the inheritance quantum. The desire for inheritance is original with God and also encouraged (Pro13:22). However, this similarity breakdowns beyond this desire. God’s methods to realize this inheritance and what makes this inheritance valuable are at odds with Man’s.

The Christian, thru Jesus Christ, is God’s inheritance (Eph1:18). This inheritance is the relationship of being a son (Rom8:15) to God the Father. Unsurprisingly, this son-Father relationship repurposes the 1st Commandment, taking it from an impersonal level to familial status. For Jesus has fulfilled this Commandment’s demand on man’s behalf, reconciling man with God as Son and Father (2Co5:18).

 

God the father paid a tremendous personal cost for this reconciliation. This aspect is the first point to raise, which contrasts against man’s means to accumulate earthly inheritance. Man’s inheritance usually exacts the higher cost from others to build their estate. The second point is God values Man directly as His inheritance. Whereas, Man values their relationships using material possessions to express this value.

 

Considering Jubilee’s year and how God realizes and values His inheritance, the current inheritance goal to maximize quantum is NOT God’s will. This post asserts that inheritance maximization is the will of Mammon.

 

The New Wealth Redistribution Model

To fulfill the 2nd Commandment, loving oneself as one’s neighbor, setting aside an equal portion of as inheritance, and use setting aside a similar amount for the self would stand the scrutiny of equitableness. The above illustrates this redistribution of one’s wealth to align with the 2nd Commandment.

Post 9 will explore the difficulties arising from this simplistic division of one’s wealth.

 

Conclusion

 

The Stowaway Passengers of The Sacred Cows of Social Giving and Inheritance

Two stowaway cows detract Man from the wealth stewardship that God desires. These two cows have long gained residential rights and some level of authority over this stewardship. Taking stock of them is a crucial step to keep their jurisdiction at levels that make sense to the stewardship that God desires. Social giving and matters of inheritance are means for Man to realize the love RELATIONSHIPS and not for Man to serve them as Masters.

 

The clouds in the above visual are beyond Man’s control and experienced as an uncontrolled event.

The anchors are within Man’s sphere of control as they represent his life choices.

The following, based on the above visual, is in-partial control.

  1. The Shark of worry
  2. The Mermaid of the temptations of wealth.
  3. The Cows of social giving and inheritance.

 

This control is Man’s prerogative to exercise some measure of choice.

 

 

Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Christians and Money Series- Natural Applications 1 (Economics): Part 7

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Introduction

This post 7 of the Christians and Money Series aims to explore economic aspects of natural applications to deal with wealth in-light of the realizations that have emerged over the last 6 posts. The flow of this post will be as follows

  1. The basic assumption section lays the foundation that underpins natural applications. These assumptions draw from the previous posts.
  1. The reality check section attempts to define the shared economic baseline from which self-examination can take place. This self-examination provides clarity regarding one’s financial reality and aspirations. (Item 1 and 2 in Post 7)
  1. The Minas’s parable (mentioned in post 6) reveals wealth stewardship and the shortcomings between social giving and active faith
  1. This section sacrifices the sacred cow of “Inheritance” by comparing it to RELATIONSHIPS’ focus and value. (Item 3 and 4 in Post 8)
  1. This section discusses the practical Issues of wealth stewardship and adopting the blend of the Wayside Ministry. (Item 5 in Post 9)
Economics of Wealth Stewardship Photo by Evangeline Shaw on Unsplash

As this post focuses on natural applications, the following sections would appear to offer financial advice, property purchase advice, and wealth management advice. This appearance is unfortunate and difficult to avoid. The natural application draws approaches from the secular domain to identify the metrics to quantify personal wealth situation and economic pursuits relative to the median baseline.

This post 7 is NOT offering any expert advice. Post 7 natural applications are similar to the post 6 goals, creating awareness and supporting new valued-perspectives while laying to rest old ones.

Natural Applications will be divided into 3 parts to promote readability by limiting the post word limit to around 2500 words or less. Post 7, Natural Application 1 will narrate items 1 and 2. Items 3 and 4 will be in post 8, Natural Application 2, while item 5 will be in post 9, Natural Application 3.

Basic Assumption

The natural applications of money could appear naïve to the casual reader. Therefore it is necessary to clarify the underlying assumption with the hope the reader can share this assumption.

Is Christian LOVE Laughable and Naïve? (Photo by Lidya Nada on Unsplash)

The assumption is to focus on and value God’s 7 appeals in post 4, summarized in one word, RELATIONSHIPS. Posts 5 and 6 expanded the meaning and significance of these RELATIONSHIPS. If the casual reader cannot assimilate these appeals, meaning, and importance as values, the reader will find the ideas floated in this post 7 as laughable and naïve.

The reason being is that these ideas make one vulnerable to be taken advantage of. This truth and fact are unavoidable. Jesus’ allowed Himself to be taken advantage of by humanity when He submitted to His Father’s will to die at the cross. Moreover, God the Father’s offer of Jesus has been rejected and scorned by many.

The world ridicules such naivety, which contradicts Peter in 1Pet2:19-23, who said suffering wrongfully while doing good is commendable before God because God the Father and Jesus have set Themselves an example for the believer to emulate. Notwithstanding this, God realizes the associated risks. There are two safeguards against these risks.

  1. Internally, believers need to entrust themselves to the hands of the faithful Creator, Father God, (1Pet4:19), the Shepherd (The Lord Jesus), and overseer of the soul, the Holy Spirit (1Pet2:25). This entrusting involves the triune God, shows the severity of the matter.

Entrusting requires the believers to be clear and convicted (Faith) of the hope of heaven as a goal-purpose (1Pet1:3, 1Co15) while pursuing a meaningful and significant relationship with God and Man as Family while on earth.

In such matters, God is the believer’s vengeance seeker (Rom12:19), defender and strength (Psa28:7), and source of honor (Rom10:11).

The Duality of Christian Conduct
  1. Externally, Jesus urged believers to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Mat10:16). Rom16:19 offers Paul’s interpretation, “to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.” The Wayside Ministry section of Boundary Concerns will explore the understanding and clarity of what constitutes good to mediate the harm of being taken advantage of.

In summary, believers need to be ready to be taken advantage of and suffer wrongfully. Therefore, It requires one to trust God where faith, hope, and love are operating. Knowing about this “good” that one is doing is wisdom to navigate the treacherous terrain of the 2nd Commandment of loving one’s neighbor as yourself.

Reality Check

This section is somewhat technical. I encourage you to go thru this exercise as an attempt at honest self-examination. This exercise is more rigorous than the reality check of post 1.

SHARED ECONOMIC REALITY Photo by MAX LIBERTINE on Unsplash

This section clarifies the economic reality to create a shared economic baseline for the reader. Man’s economic reality is a by-product of man’s will (choice) and their environment (life circumstances of time and chance). The assumptions of the previous section anchor the reader as they progress along with this post. The following economic realities form the basis to develop the shared economic baseline.

  1. The median take-home income.
  2. The median cost of living.
  3. The poverty threshold to qualify for social aid.
  4. Affordable housing to accommodate a 4-6 person family size.

I am taking Singapore (location specific), where I reside, as an example to determine the 4 economic realities.

Four Measures of Economic Realities

The median take-home income

The individual median take-home income (2019) is $4,000.00. See link for data source- https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Singapore-Yearbook-Of-Manpower-Statistics-2020-Income-Earnings-and-Wages.aspx.

The median cost of living

Cost of Living Figures (2018)

The individual median cost of living, excluding rental and housing loans, is $1,200.00. The 4th quintile number is adopted to represent the average cost better. Notably, the 20th quintile is $50 less than the value of $650.00, below which one can qualify for social aid.

The cost of living was computed from the following link. https://www.moneyowl.com.sg/articles/how-much-do-i-need-to-retire-in-singapore-and-how-do-i-build-my-retirement-income-stream/.

The Poverty Threshold to Qualify for Social Aid

Social Aid

Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development means-testing to qualify for social aid is not more than $650.00 per person and below $1,900.00 per household. See link- https://www.msf.gov.sg/Comcare/Pages/Public-Assistance.aspx

Affordable housing to accommodate a 4-6 person family size

Wiki developed the above data. See link –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_multiple. It shows how to gauge whether housing cost is affordable or not.

HDB Flat Type and Average Price

About 80% of Singaporeans live in government-built flats call HDB flats. Private properties cost more than 5 times on a per square feet basis than HDB flats. See the link for the 80% statistics (https://data.gov.sg/dataset/estimated-resident-population-living-in-hdb-flats?resource_id=a7d9516f-b193-4f9b-8bbf-9c85a4c9b61b). The above data shows HDB flats cost is as per the link – https://blog.seedly.sg/what-type-of-hdb-flat-can-i-afford/

Four Economic Metrics to Form the Economic Baseline

Shared Economic Metrics

Based on the above data, one can develop the following 4 metrics to frame the property aspirations, wealth stage, and standard of living against the median baselines
Determine your living expenses multiplier per persona as a multiple of the median $1200.00 a month per person (average retiree living standard).

Note the $1,200 denominator excludes rental, mortgage, insurance, car loan/maintenance, and education. This value is for the retirement stage of life.

My multiplier W= 1.3 as it includes insurance. This measure quantifies how much beyond or below is one’s living standard relative to the median living standard of a retiree in Singapore. This value of 1.3 means I am living by 30% above the median living standard.

Determine your minimum living expenses multiplier per persona as a multiple of the minimum $650.00 a month per person (below which qualifies for social aid)

Note the $650 denominator excludes rental, mortgage, insurance, car loan/maintenance, and education. This number is the amount below which one qualifies for social aid.

My multiplier X= 2.4 as it includes insurance. This measure quantifies how much beyond or below is one’s living standard relative t the median living standard of a retiree in Singapore. This value of 2.4 means I am living by 140% above the minimum living standard.

Determine your selected house cost as a multiplier of the cheaper housing cost that can accommodate the same number of residents

The median household income of 2 persons, which gives a value of $8,000.00, is the denominator. Therefore, my Z=2.92. This Z value placed the property purchase within the affordable range of 3.0 and under.

Determine the Wealth Stage

Moats Approach

Wealth Stage, Z1 comprises of two values

  1. The 1st value, Z1-1, is the stage of wealth that ranges from 1 to 10.
  2. The 2nd value is the multiplier of, Z1-2

Determine your stage of wealth using the metric suggested by Investment Moats, reproduced above. See web-link. (https://investmentmoats.com/financial-independence/level-of-wealth-financial-freedom/)

Notes to the Table Above

  1. The 1st column from the left of the table above reveals the wealth stage.
  2. This post created the other 2 columns by applying the median standard of living baseline of between $1,200.00 to $1,500.00 per person per month. This table adopted a higher baseline for retirees due to higher health care costs.
  3. The computation of the wealth assets and cashflow is conservative as it does not account for income from government and insurance annuities.


Balanced Wealth Stage Approach

The balanced approach below adopts a total drawdown to exhaust the accumulated wealth within 30 years to contrast this relentless pursuit of wealth accumulation. To determine this drawdown rate, use the calculator from this link – https://www.noelwhittaker.com.au/resources/calculators/retirement-drawdown-calculator/.

Notes on Table:

  1. $550,000.00 as the retirement kitty is a very achievable target if employment income occurs at a median of $4,000.00 a month and both couples work till age 55-60 even after factoring education needs for the children assuming local university education.
  2. The median cost of living (3rd column) is used to derive the wealth stage median value (2nd column).

Z2 comprises of two values

  1. The 1st value, Z2-1, is the stage of wealth that ranges from 1 to 7.
  2. The 2nd value is the multiplier of Z2, Balanced Wealth Stage Multiplier, Z2-2

Z2-2 gives the excess or deficit of one’s Wealth Status baselined against the Balanced Wealth Approach as the median.

For example, if the net worth is $1,000,000.00 in investable wealth occurring at the stage of wealth, Z2-1=7, the multiplier, Z2-2= 1.8 times the 7th stage median value.

These numbers relate to individuals with the median or above earning capacity. The Wayside Ministry section will address this reality in-context of money stewardship for individuals with earning capabilities less than these numbers.

It is also timely to recall that previous posts established wealth addiction afflicts both the wealthy and the poor alike. It is not the amount of wealth or poverty, but at the heart of this addiction is the unresolved RELATIONSHIPS issues. It is Man’s heart condition.

Conclusion

Rich and Poor Shared Economic Realities and Economic Baselines

Economic realities are environmental forces that confront both the rich and the poor. However, personal decisions determine each person’s economic baselines. The picture above used anchors to represent economic baselines, and the boat represents each person’s life. These anchors offer stability, but it also prevents a person from moving on. These anchors can also weigh down the boat and contribute to the boat sinking in the most extreme circumstances of oversized anchor weight. The anchors are necessary, but Man needs the wisdom to determine the suitable anchor weight and number of anchors

Post 9 will offer perspectives to consider suitable anchor sizes and the number of anchors used in different life circumstances to illustrate natural application in action.

Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Christians and Money Series- God’s Appeal to the World: Part 4

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Introduction

This post is part 4 of the Christian and Money Series. Cultural, racial, religious, and social factors create a bias that stereotype people to explain their wealth or poverty statuses.

 

Editorial credit: StockPhotosArt / Shutterstock.com

 

In Jesus’ times (Scott, 1990), two such biases stem from cultural, social, and religious factors. Poverty was viewed as “divine chastisement“ due to sin, while the “ambiguity of wealth” was a sign of divine blessings. When Jesus shared the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, it offended the rich of His day. The conclusion of the parable ran counter to the two biases. The poor beggar, Lazarus, had a reversal of eternal fortunes after his death while the rich man suffered in Hades.

These biases have held captive Man’s heart till today. I have heard accusations on specific groups of people that they deserved their poverty because of their cultural, racial, religious, and social disposition. They are poor for these reasons and deserve their lot.

Most people do not publically promote these private thoughts that dwell in their hearts. However, telltale signs betray these secrets found in Man’s social behavior. Post 5 will elaborate on the details of this social behavior. Suffice to mention, and for now, they are underpinned by hypocrisy’s coping mechanism in condescension forms, making light of the suffering poor. Conversely, the poor reciprocates by the coping mechanism of self-victimization mentality.

This 4th post in the series has two objectives. The first objective is to build the narrative to clarify man’s position and beliefs, using wealth as the context. This narrative is expansionary and inclusive of non- Christian’s beliefs and values. The second objective is to glean the new testament scriptures identifying God’s appeal to man concerning wealth.

 

Man and Money

Man has a conscience that is part of the soul. This conscience is man’s innate sense of right and wrong without formal instruction. Man’s conscience spans across the world’s belief systems. See link – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscience

Environmental factors such as cultural, social, and religious factors contribute to determining its unique expression forms, but the underlying elements are common. For example, man values loyalty, community spirit, self-sacrifice. Likewise, Man condemns betrayal, discord, and self-seeking behaviors.

 

Wealth Gap

 

See the following link for the above illustration – https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/#:~:text=The%20wealth%20gap%20between%20upper,has%20grown%20wider%20this%20century.&text=From%201983%20to%202016%2C%20the,from%2032%25%20to%2017%25.

Why then does man’s treatment of wealth or money seem to violate the conscience’s rules to accept such objectionable outcomes? One may ask, where is the evidence of this claim in this question? Part 2 of the post shared proof of the glaring wealth gap between the rich and poor. This wealth gap is only growing wider. The above illustration takes the USA data are emblematic of the rest of the world. In Jan 2020, the Guardian reports that 70% of the world’s population experiences this growing wealth gap. See link – https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/22/wealth-gap-widening-for-more-than-70-per-cent-of-global-population-researchers-find

This post posits that other factors have overridden Man’s conscience in the area of wealth. These factors are

  1. Worry about the future, and the need to control that worry through wealth accumulation.
  2. The lure of wealth is innately addictive. Remember the hedonic race in part 2? Wealth brings pleasures, such as enhanced social status, power, influence, physical enjoyments, and control over others.

 

Both the Poor and Rich are Terrified of the Future and Addicted to Wealth Alike

 

The irony is that both the rich and the poor have embraced these factors as shared aspirations. For this reason, the world does not descend into a brutal war between the poor and the rich, culminating into one global French revolution, or witnessing a global embrace of Marxism.

Both Christians and non-Christians, barring a minority in both groups, are mostly helpless to avoid violating their conscience to address this reality. The following posts will explore the application aspects of this minority group. For the majority, unless there is a shift of the motivating factors away from focusing on earthy goals to cope with fears of the uncertain future and to wean off the wealth addiction, money reigns as Master over Man in the constant battle against God’s supremacy.

The following section of this post shares the Christian God’s offer of these alternative motivating factors.

 

God’s Alternative Offer to Wealth

God has two main goals in mind when He offers solutions to Man’s slavery to money. God seeks to fulfill His two commandments: the source of His purpose and will (the Law and the Prophets, Mat22:40). Both commandments are concerning RELATIONSHIPS. This relationship focus is a clear indication that God values relationships above all else in His economy.

 

The Love Commandments

 

The first commandment is the relationship between God and Man. In comparison, the second commandment is a relationship between man and man (Mat22:37-40). The commandments bear the following intentions.

  1. God is appealing and demanding from Man their believing loyalty towards Him. (1st commandment)
  2. God expects Man to show love to their neighbor as oneself in contrast to indifference to their neighbors’ plight. (2nd commandment).

Believing loyalty is also known as loving-kindness, “checed” in Hebrew, which also renders faithfulness a more familiar term in the new testament vernacular. See the link for the word meaning of checed- https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H2617&t=NASB

The scriptures relating to wealth, especially the parables, are shared to support Man’s understanding of God’s salvation offered as a means to realize the 1st commandment. E.g., is the Good Samaritan (Luke15:11-32), the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price (Mat13:44-45), the prodigal son (Luke15:11-32).

The scriptures also reveal God’s expectation to love one’s neighbor, the 2nd commandment, in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke10:30-37 and the unforgiving servant’s story in Mat18:21-35.

God does not leave man without resources and guidelines to motivate Man to choose the love relationship as their new focus and abandon their old focus of worry and addiction to money. God’s motivating factors address both the worry of the future and the issue of the lure of money.

 

God Supplies His Motivating Factors

 

1st Motivating Factor – Solution for Worry

 

The Worry of Needs and Wants

 

Both Christians and non-Christians worry about the future. God recognized valid worries, categorized as needs. In this day and age, the needs of Man has grown to include wants. The final post will address this aspect. Nevertheless, God recognized man’s worry to meet his needs when Jesus identified this as the reason for Man’s shifting loyalties between serving God and Mammon in Mat6:24.

God promises that He will supply all Man’s future needs when he focuses on His will for Him and his identity in Him (Mat6:32). God designs His will into the life circumstances presented to that person. It includes the opportunities, the challenges, the waiting, the people in your life, the victories, the setbacks, the miracles, and the tragedies. God promises to supply what Man needs, even as he experiences His will. Man is to reciprocate in an active faith relationship with Him.

The other less recognized reason and solution offered by God in Mat6:34 is that the present has sufficient troubles on their own that demands attention. God wants to partner Man to address present challenges and appeals to him not to be distracted by worrying about the future. The experience of partnering with God in this active faith in the present is not straightforward and exceeds this post’s scope to explain.

At this juncture, the imagination of what God supplies can run pretty wild. The Bible does offer some guidelines to understand what God supplies. The following post or posts will cover this in more detail. Suffice to say. God supplies wisdom, “time and chance” that relieve the pressure that would have exceeded the breaking point, His divine power, and circumstances to support His will for Man.

 

Personal Testimony

The Fool Who Became King

 

Mind-blindness (autism) handicapped my social and emotional perception until age 49. God had shown and proven His loyal faithfulness as Father over my life since my dad passed away when I was 11 years old.

These handicaps lead to situational unawareness. I grossly underestimated the environment’s harshness and overestimated my capacity and capabilities. I recklessly resigned from full-time employment and was self-employed twice, at age 29-30 and 32-50. Due to personal reasons and adequate resources,  undeservingly, I have decided to retire at age 50, 2020. God has protected me from the hostile business environment and my foolish unawareness for the past 25 years as a working adult.

My lack of awareness blinded me to future worries. Given a temperament that is resilient and determined, I do not complain and worry about my future.  The “success” did not come by fervent prayers, never fasted, and was never diligent in reading the Bible (this only started in 2019). In-fact until 2019, I have never read a complete book in the Bible.

God’s mercies have protected me from an unreasonable environment and marauding competitors. The material success came because I blindly did whatever was presented to me and did the best of my abilities every time without worrying and complaining. Unknowingly just by attending faithfully to my lot in life, I did God’s will.

 

2nd Motivating Factor – Shift in Values

In today’s materialistic culture, the motivating factors offered by God has lost much of its luster. It is not the fault of God, for Man has chosen to deify themselves by proxy. Elements that supported man’s deification are mainly due to their sense of mastery over their destiny. The following fostered Man’s sense of mastery over their future and shifted Man’s values away from God’s values.-

  1. Man has more than doubled the life expectancy from the late 30s in the late 1800s to beyond 70s by the early 2000s. Singapore’s life expectancy is in the 80s. See link – https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/SGP/singapore/life-expectancy#:~:text=The%20current%20life%20expectancy%20for,a%200.26%25%20increase%20from%202017.
  2. Man has mastered their physical environment (notwithstanding the irreparable damage done to nature) and a pseudo mastery over their biology. Genetic engineering is one of the new frontiers for humanity.
  3. Man’s sense of personal agency has shot through the roof, bolstered by the relentless rise of individual liberties.
God’s Appeal to the Alternative, Reimar/Shutterstock.com

 

Tragically, This pandemic of self-deification affects both Christians and non-Christians alike.

God beckons Man with seven appeals to support Man’s shift from the additive lure of money-wealth to fulfill the two commandments, to restore the RELATIONSHIPS-

  1. God is appealing to Man’s senses to value His Fatherly love, offered to save humanity in the form of the death and resurrection of His only Son, the Lord Jesus. (John3:16, Rom10:9). The Father’s heart is appealing for His children to return to His bosom, the prodigal son narrative offered on an epic scale.

 

  1. God appeals to Man’s senses to value the true incorruptible treasures more than the temporal earthly pleasures, relationships, and possessions. The true treasures are the relationship with Him, His eternal rewards, the gloried incorruptible body, the eternal glory, and reunion with Him and all the loved ones that have embraced the family of God. Valuing the true treasures is the crucial battleground of the soul. For where the treasures are, there, the soul will take residence (Mat6:21).

 

  1. God appeals to Man’s senses to recognize that their body is temporal, suffer aging, physical death, and eternal death. What will it profit to Man to accumulate and hold tightly to things that lose all value in the afterlife? (Mark8:36)

 

  1. God is appealing to Man’s senses to recognize an afterlife where judgment and sentence await (Mat25:46). This appeal to many seems like a threat. God’s hands are bound in this regard and helpless to circumvent His sense of justice. God’s justice demand this outcome (Rom2:12-16,1Pet1:17).

 

  1. God is appealing to Man’s sense to choose forgiveness apart from the works pathway in Christ (Eph2:8-9), where the favored judgment is merciful, and the verdict at worst is forfeting the eternal rewards and the soul’s eternal glory (1Co5:5, 1Co3:15, 2Co4:16-18).

 

  1. God appeals to Man’s sense to avoid the impartial judgment pathway, where the sentence is likely an eternal staycation in Hell.

 

  1. God appeals to Man to choose His Son. By doing so, He frees Man of worry of the future on earth, as Man finds rest for their soul on earth in the work of His Son (Mat11:28-30, Heb4:11).

 

Conclusion

The world operates by the power paradigm. The powerful determines the Laws of the land and wields the power of life and death over others. Humanity recognizes this Law and obeys the rules set by the powerful. Democracy veils the ordinary senses to this Law, enchanting the human sense of agency with an illusion that the power lies with the individual because they vote the powerful into power.

Such naïve notions are put to naught when the next crisis hits. The covid19 pandemic is but an appetizer of the Law in operation. War seems a distant memory since the last World War in 1942. It seems to escape notice, but the elements that catalyzed such atrocities are the same; humanity is the source of these atrocities.

 

Daring and Taunting God Does Not Seem to be a Sound Strategy

 

It seems inconceivable while Man can recognize and subject themselves to human authorities, Man dares to taunt God by spurning His appeal and invitation.

Christians deem the Christian God as the most powerful entity across all time and space. But this God is dismissed as the King of charlatans by other religious beliefs and non-existent by an atheist or a choice, among other valid alternatives.

It may turn out that these reasons to ignore God are correct. Still, the stakes appear unacceptably high for a reasonable person to place a wager against God, who has offered such favorable terms to achieve divinity. The only cost on Man’s part is the belief in Jesus and after that best effort at obedience until death. This free lunch for Man exacted an unspeakable price from God the Father who paid dearly for this offer.

This post ends on this note. The next post will explore further how Man’s attempts to solve this wealth gap have failed, why it has failed, and the root cause behind these failures. Post 5 will also examine God’s alternative to address this failure.

 

References

  1. Scott, B. (1990). Hear then the parable (1st ed.). Fortress Press.
Purpose and Meaning, Wealth

Currency of Heaven is Glory of the Soul

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Introduction

 

Heaven vs. Earth Currency

 

God values glory. Jesus describes His crucifixion experience as glorified (John12:23) and glorifying God the Father (John17:1). Glory is innate to God before creation (John17:5). God’s glory is a demonstration and measure of the value of His reputation, His name (John12:28). God shares His glory with His children. Which part of the tripartite man, Spirit-Soul-Body (1The5:23), does God share His glory?

 

This reflection is titled Glory- The Currency of Heaven explores the evidence to support this claim, which requires answering the question posed above and understanding why and how.

 

 

Soul and God’s Glory

 

The Soul and God’s Glory

2Co4:16-17 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward (esō ) man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

 

The book “The Release the Spirit” by Watchman Nee interpreted the inward man as the born again spirit. For the following reasons, the inward man refers to man’s soul and not the spirit of man.

  1. The blue letter bible shows that the word inward (esō) based on Strong’s translation renders as soul or conscience. See link – https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2080&t=NASB

 

  1. The word inward (G2080) occurs six times in the New Testament, out of which three times it is associated with the word “man,” see the snapshot below.

 

Blue Letter Bible – Inner Man

 

In Rom7:22, Paul was referring to his inward man that joyfully concurs with the law of God. Arguably this reference can be made to refer to either soul or spirit. However, it is also reasonable to claim that Paul is referring to his soul rejoicing with the law of God. For Paul, resolved to embrace death as gain and live is for Christ (Phi1:21), this claim that his soul rejoices with God’s law is within reason.

 

2Co4:16 and Eph3:16 mentioned that the inward man is renewed and receives strength. This inward man is referring to the soul and not to the born again spirit. Since the born again spirit is a perfect and complete divine product of God, the Holy Spirit (John3:6). It makes little sense for this finished divine product to require renewal and strengthening, which implies that the born-again spirit experiences decline and need renewal and strengthening.

 

For the above reasons, the inward man is the soul of man and not the man’s spirit.

 

Paul used the words “light afflictions” in 2Co4:16-17, relatively as he compares them to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Phil3:8-10), to describe hardships that he cites in 2Co11:23-29 which are by any human measure far from light or ordinary.

Paraphrasing 2Co4:16-17, “the soul of man is producing glory that has eternal weight as the result of the experiences of the temporal suffering even unto death.”

 

The following clarifies how the man is partaking glory with God.  It also explores how the man realizes this glory.

 

  1. The soul of man is partaking glory with God.

 

  1. How does the soul realize glory?

 

Glory realized glory by suffering for goodness sake (1Pet3:17), for Christ’s sake (1Pet4:14-16), and righteousness’ sake (1Pet3:14).

 

This post references Peter because of the context where Christians demonstrate their faith in sincere brotherly love and experience soul purification-salvation (1Pet1:9, 22). This reflection takes the position that the soul purification-salvation and the soul producing the eternal weight of glory in 2Co4:16-17 are the same.

 

 

Why is the Soul Glory Important to God and Man?

 

Glory is essential to man because it is the currency of heaven that the soul earns on earth.

The soul is unique to each person. The soul is the sum of the individual life lived uniquely. The purpose and will of God have designed this life uniquely. The glory currency is, therefore, a unique outcome for each person.

Jesus, as the Son of Man (For Jesus as Son of God had glory before He took on human form, John17:5) has the most glory among all the sons of God. One can say, if glory equals currency, Jesus is the wealthiest man representative in heaven. Jesus glory has two parts

  1. The glory He gained by this life, death, and resurrection.
  2. The glory produced by Christian’s souls collectively is accrued to Christ (1Pet4:14, John17:10).

 

Glory, the soul, produces is essential to man because it is the only actual eternal possession that man can truly claim as their own, which God also desires and accrued to Jesus.

 

What is the use of this currency?

The use of this currency is speculative, but this reflection posits that the amount of soul salvation one possesses will determine the ruling and judgment stature of the risen believer who will rule (2Tim2:12) and judge (1Co6:1-3) the world with Christ.

 

But what of the born again spirit and the resurrected body? Why are they excluded from this glory?

Man’s born again spirit is begat of the Holy Spirit (John3:6), where Christ supplied the blood to forgive man of His state of sin (1John1:7). God, the Father’s power who raised Jesus (Rom8:11) from the dead, supplied the spiritual body preserved in heaven (1Co15:44, 1Pet1:3-5). God performs both works that are perfect and complete with no effort required or desired from man.

Stated, the born-again spirit and resurrected body are both saved once the person confesses, according to Rom10:9. The only difference is the timing between the two—the Holy Spirit begets the born again spirit immediately (John3:6). In comparison, God preserves the resurrected body for us in heaven (1Pet1:3-5). The Holy Spirit is the believer’s pledge to guarantee that God the Father will honor His promise (2Co5:5) to give the resurrected body.

 

Glory is essential to God because the more glory the soul possesses, the soul is more Christ-like. God the Father, God the Son as the man Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit have perfect communion of oneness among themselves. This triune relationship is a complete and perfect union.

God desires a similar relationship with a man but cannot force this outcome. Man has their free will in their soul to determine the degree of this oneness in man’s relationship with God. The more glory the soul has, the closer the soul will experience oneness with God and their spirit and body perfected by God.

Jesus’ soul suffered in weakness and perfected as He submitted to God’s will in weakness (2Co13:4, Heb5:2, 5:7-9). It is within reason to claim that only Jesus as Son of Man, only His soul is perfect before God.

 

Conclusion

Glory is essential to God because the more glory the soul possesses, the soul is more Christ-like. God the Father, God the Son as Man Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit have perfect communion of oneness among themselves. Their relationship is the ideal relationship.

God desires a similar relationship with man through the shared glory of the soul.