Biblical Stewardship – The Lowedown

May 17, 2026

A Warning to the Wealthy

Proverbs 19

¹It is better to be poor and honest than to be a fool and dishonest.

²Zeal without knowledge is not good; a person who moves too quickly may go the wrong way.

³People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

⁴Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them away.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

⁶Many beg favors from a prince; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts! (Proverbs 19:1-6, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Some time ago, I heard a person call into the Dave Ramsey show asking for advice on when and how to tell their kids that they were rich.

Apparently, the caller had pooled some money with some co-workers for their states’ PowerBall lottery and, as luck would have it, they won. BIG. His share of the winnings was significant and made his family extremely wealthy. Yet, even though they now had a windfall of money, they hadn’t told anyone. Not their kids. Not their friends. And not their parents or other relatives.

The caller was asking for advice on when and how to tell their kids who were now getting older and moving into adulthood. He wondered when his kids might be mature enough to hear this information without blabbing it to the world.

One might ask why someone who is wealthy would not want others to know about it. Why not advertise it to the world? After all, isn’t it a sign of success and achievement? Wouldn’t it garner the respect and admiration of others? Isn’t half the fun of winning the lottery letting people know that you “beat” the system?

The reality is that extreme wealth has a parasitic effect, and Solomon, who, according to the Scriptures, was the wisest man to ever live, speaks about that in this section of his Proverbs.

Verse four, in particular, says that:

wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them away.

You’ll notice that in the NLT, the word “friends” is in quotes. It’s not in quotes in the original language or in most other translations. The quotes have been placed there by the translator to convey the meaning of the verse, which is that wealth brings many so-called “friends” but they’re not really your friends. They’re only your friends because you have money. If, and when the money disappears (poverty) so does their friendship. Obviously, that’s not REAL friendship.

Verse 6 expounds on this idea. It’s amazing how many friends and distant relatives you’ll learn you have as soon as the word gets around that you now have money. People you haven’t seen in years, and even people you’ve never met will suddenly show up on your doorstep, acting friendly toward you and pretending to care about you, while in reality they just want to help you spend your money.

The Bible is clear that wealth is not evil (though greed is) and it’s not sinful or immoral to be wealthy.

At the same time, the Bible warns about the dangers of extreme wealth. Besides the fact that wealth can, and often does turn into greed, wealth can also bring unwanted people into your life. People who are not particularly interested in you as a person will seek to wriggle their way into your life in order to ingratiate themselves to your good nature, hoping that you will reward them with a handout.

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Reflection

When have you experienced so-called “friends” only being nice to you because they wanted something from you?

Have you ever had a rich relative or friend? What was your attitude toward them? Did you find yourself acting differently in hopes of being “taken care of”?

What do you think are some ways you can safeguard yourself from falling into the trap of greed and wanting money? How can you avoid treating others differently because of their money or lack of money?

How can you cultivate contentment in your life?

Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash

May 5, 2023

The Challenges of Ministering to Young Adults

Not long ago, I was on a Zoom call with Edgar (not his real name), a Young adult I’ve had interactions with for the last couple of years.

Edgar was frustrated as things weren’t going the way he had planned. Already in his late 20’s, Edgar was still trying to figure out what his ultimate career would be. One option he was contemplating was grad school, the idea being that it would potentially set him up for a specific job/career he was interested in. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend more money on education given how much he had spent on his undergraduate degree and how little he had to show for it.

Many Young Adults are frustrated and disillusioned. Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash

Edgar was disillusioned. He told me that he felt like he had been sold a bill of goods. Education was supposed to be the avenue to success and happiness and yet, with mounting school loans and no solid, long-term career prospects, Edgar realized that his degree was not the golden ticket he had been promised.

Edgar is not alone. Today’s Young Adults are disillusioned about a lot of things. They are disillusioned about the economy and the “American Dream”. Especially here in California, many of the Young Adults we encounter have no expectation of ever being able to own a home.

They’re disillusioned with the world. They see inequity and injustice and they struggle to make sense of it all.

And many Young Adults are disillusioned with the Church, failing to see its relevance to modern culture.

Our culture is drifting further from its historic Christian roots and each new generation is experiencing less and less influence from traditional Christian teachings and morals.

Young Adults today have grown up in a post-Christian culture, meaning they know very little about who Jesus is or what Christianity is about. Spiritually, they are a blank slate.

Young Adults are increasingly irreligious in their views. Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash

About 1/3 of Young adults identify as atheist, agnostic or none. They’re not necessarily hostile to Christianity or religion, but they simply have no religious beliefs – it’s simply not important to them.

About 2/3 of Young adults identify as Christian but only 4% have a Christian ethic. Simply put, they consider themselves Christians but their lives don’t necessarily follow traditional Christian moral values.

This is not surprising since only about 6 out of every 10 Young adults believe the Bible is true.

Our culture has been heavily impacted and influenced by postmodernism, which is a philosophy that emphasizes a person’s personal experience as the supreme factor in determining truth. The end result is people who may identify with the Christian faith in a general sense but when it comes to moral values, their own experiences and preferences take priority over any biblical standards, which may be regarded as archaic and outdated.

How do we minister to people who are disillusioned and feeling hopeless when faced with the realities of life?

One of our strategies and priorities is to help Young Adults see that God is ultimately our only source of hope and His Word provides guidelines for successfully navigating life.

One of the ways we’re accomplishing this is by providing premarital mentoring to young Adult couples who are preparing for marriage.

With so much brokenness in families and marriage today, we’ve found Young Adults are eager to hear how biblical principles can help them change the trajectory of their relationships and family history by providing guidance and direction for fulfilling and life-long marriages.

Dave led a group of Young adults through a 9 month curriculum on Biblical Stewardship and Money Management

Another avenue for helping Young Adults see the value of God’s Word in their daily lives is by helping them adopt biblical principles for stewardship and money management. Unfortunately, our consumer and debt-oriented culture doesn’t teach Young adults how to handle money responsibly and many Young adults cite finances as a major source of stress and anxiety in their lives.

Young adults are looking for alternative solutions to experience financial security and experience prosperity. Many are surprised yet excited to learn that the Bible provides incredibly sound advice and wisdom on how to handle money and honor God through our finances and by applying biblical principles to our financial situations, we can experience financial peace.

Ministering to a generation that has become further removed from any biblical foundation is certainly challenging. But the Lord continues to move, directing us to Young Adults who are eager to know God and follow Him.

Thank you for your partnership that allows us to help Young adults begin to experience real spiritual life as they learn to apply God’s word to their lives.

April 4, 2021May 14, 2026

Does God Exact a Higher Standard for Rich People to Enter Heaven?

Matthew 19

¹⁶Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good things must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷“Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “Only God is good. But to answer your question, you can receive eternal life if you keep the commandments.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “‘Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. ¹⁹Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁰“I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”

²¹Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²²But when the young man heard this, he went sadly away because he had many possessions.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. ²⁴I say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁵The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

²⁶Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

²⁷Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?”

²⁸And Jesus replied, “I assure you that when I, the Son of Man, sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life. ³⁰But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then. (Matthew 19:16-30, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In this famous story, a rich young man comes to Jesus and wants to know what good deeds he has to perform to inherit eternal life. It seems that many Jews of that time period believed that there were certain righteous acts that could guarantee salvation. This man wanted to know what the magic deeds were that would assure heavenly admittance.

Jesus responds by telling him to keep the commandments and when the young man asks which ones, Jesus repeats several of the 10 commandments.

The young man is puzzled because in his mind, he’s kept all of the commandments, so he asks Jesus, “what else must I do?”

Jesus seizes on this opportunity to show the person that he really hasn’t kept all the commandments. If it were possible for anyone to fully keep all the commandments, it would have been unnecessary for Jesus to come and redeem mankind in the first place.

So Jesus tells the young man that if he really wants to be perfect, or complete in his devotion to the law, then go and sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor.

The text says that the man walked away from Jesus sad because he was a person who owned many possessions.

In debriefing this encounter with his disciples, Jesus says that it’s very hard for a rich person to get into heaven. In fact, Jesus makes the claim that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. That sounds impossible!

So who can be saved?

This is exactly the question the disciples asked and it may be the question you’re asking as well.

What exactly is Jesus teaching? Does he really mean to communicate that it’s more difficult for rich people to enter heaven than others?

At first glance, this seems unfair and unjust, as if rich people have a higher standard they must meet in order to gain entrance into an eternity with God.

Jesus is not saying that rich people cannot go to Heaven; instead He’s making a statement about need and priority. Coming to Jesus and following Jesus is a matter of recognizing your need for Jesus and then forsaking everything else and making Him the priority in your life.

People who have a lot of possessions often have a harder time recognizing their need, since their material needs are already satisfied. In addition, if you own a lot of material possessions, you can become very attached to them. Hence, people who own a lot of things often have a harder time forsaking those things and making Jesus the center. For this reason, it’s harder for them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Look at what Peter says in verse 27:

“we’ve given up everything to follow you.”

This is the sentiment of following Jesus – giving up EVERYTHING!

It doesn’t matter how rich or how poor you are materially. What matters is being poor in spirit, which simply means that you recognize that you need a savior. If all of your needs are met and you’re feeling pretty content with life, you may have a harder time realizing that you’re a sinner who is in desperate need of help.

If you recognize your need for a savior then the next criteria is a willingness to make Jesus the priority. Jesus never makes selling all your possessions a prerequisite to being saved. He only made this comment to this person in order to bring about an awareness that didn’t exist before, namely, that this young man thought of himself as a person who was not a sinner, but someone who had always upheld every aspect of the Law.

The requirements and standards for getting into heaven are the same for everyone. But some people, who may see themselves as self-sufficient may have a harder time admitting a need for a savior. For people who are wealthy and self-sufficient, recognizing need and brokenness may prove to be harder than for people who are poor and more desperate.

Reflection

How are you doing with Jesus in terms of recognizing your need for a savior and your willingness to make Him a priority in your life?

What are the things that you hold most dear….those things that if Jesus were to ask you to forsake them, you might be tempted to walk away just as the rich young man did? What is it about those things that make them so important and elevated in your life?

Peter asks a question in verse 27 – “what will we get out of it?” What do you think most people are expecting to get out of this thing called Christianity?

What do you think you are going to get out of Christianity?

Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash