19 Nov 2023 | Everyone – Money
David Huang
Good morning, my name is David and I’m honored to be speaking to you today.
We are currently in the Sermon Series “Everyone” which is about who we are as a community, and what kind of community God is calling us to be. Today’s topic is going to be a difficult one, because we’re going to talk about “What kind of community are we when it comes to MONEY”.
Why we don’t often speak about Money
This is a tough topic… this topic is so sensitive, I don’t recall hearing a single sermon on this topic ever since I started coming to FCC almost 7 years ago. It’s difficult for pastors to speak about it, because people tend to question their motives – after all, almost half of what our church collects goes towards staff salaries. But we do need to talk about it, because money is such a huge part of our lives, and is a major topic in the Bible. This is why I, as a board member, volunteered to preaching on this topic today.
The other reason we at FCC have avoided this topic is because it’s been so often misused in religious contexts. I am sure we all know examples of pastors both overseas and locally who have enriched themselves, with fancy cars, expensive homes, and private jets. Often, this wealth came from followers who were manipulated with promises of windfall financial returns from God – tapping into people’s innate greed, as if God is some sort of cosmic hedge fund.
This is closely related to the “prosperity gospel.” A message that God wants you to be financially blessed and physical well, and you just need more faith, positive speech, and donating more will also increase your material wealth. Needless to say, this message doesn’t accurately reflect Jesus message of “blessed are the poor”, and his own example of living a sacrificial life.
Some of you may have come from churches which used emotional manipulation, or where you felt guilted or coerced into giving, or where tithing was mandatory. Maybe these practices traumatized you or just really turned you off, and you’re already starting to feel suspicious.
I totally get it… At FCC one of our core values is “by invitation, and not coercion” therefore it’s no surprise why at FCC we’ve been hesitant to speak on this, because there are so many ways we can get this wrong.
So please pray with me: Dear God, as we get into this difficult topic, and what your Word says about it, may you protect everyone here from any feelings of guilt or feelings of coercion. Protect us from the idea we can ever “buy” your blessing. May we know you as a loving parent who loves all unconditionally. May this sermon be an invitation, to inspire each of us to trust you more, and to find the joy of the true riches you give us.
Do we feel rich?
Let’s start with a question to check how we are feeling when it comes to money. I would like to invite everyone to use menti today – it’s totally anonymous so I hope that lets you be really really honest with yourself and so that our shared answers will accurately reflect who we are as a congregation.
Menti Question 1 (Multi-choice): Considering your situation with regard to income and assets, how do you feel?
I am happy with my level of wealth
I would like to be wealthier
I believe I am too wealthy
(Wait for responses)
So how do we as a congregation compare to a study done by St James Place (SJP) Asia, which surveyed 1,000 affluent Singaporeans. Overall, only 38% of Singaporeans are happy with their level of wealth, with 42% saying they would like to be wealthier while 19% believe they are too wealthy.
In our world today, money, wealth, and status is still the primary measure of success. Even if we don’t talk about it openly, the subconscious messaging comes from all sides – news, parents, friends, and especially advertising – it’s all about selling us the idea that we don’t have enough, and we need more to be happy.
When I was young, in the 1990s, people would talk about the 5 C’s – the so-called Singapore Dream. Cash, Credit card, Car, Condominium, and Country club membership. This seems to have changed over the years.
In a recent survey commissioned by business app Tigerhall, 1,000 white-collar workers aged between 21 to 60 years old were asked to define what is important to them. They ranked (in descending order) cash, career, cultural proficiency (especially through travel), credibility (as in being trusted by people around them) and convenience (having products and services easily in reach). Condominium, credit card, and car fell to 30 -33 per cent, and Country Club Membership fell to 3%. But the one thing that remained at the top is CASH.
When wealth holds us in chains
On this topic, the Bible has a LOT to say, and it’s very relevant to us today because things have not changed that much since Jesus’ time. A major theme throughout the Bible is keeping God in the first place in our heart – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Money, and the sense of security and control that come with it, can easily take God’s rightful place in our hearts, affecting our priorities, our actions, and how we make decisions – what makes us get up in the morning and what keeps us awake at night.
1 Tim 6:9-10
9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Notice the Bible never said Money is the root of all evil – this is a common misquotation. It’s the love of money that is the root of all evil, or putting it another way, can mess us up on the inside.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-13
10Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income… 12The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. 13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners.
King Solomon, around 1000 BCE, was known for having great wealth – he was the “Jeff Bezos” or “Elon Musk” of the ancient world. Yet in his book Ecclesiastes, he wrote about how more wealth can ironically lead to more discontentment, and more anxiety.
One of the early church fathers, St Cyprian of Carthage, wrote in 300 CE:
“The property of the wealthy holds them in chains . . . which shackle their courage and choke their faith and hamper their judgment and throttle their souls. They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the masters of their money but its slaves.”
Menti Question 2 (Word Cloud): What are some ways money “holds us in chains”?
(Wait for responses)
Thanks for all your answers! Here are some ways we can be entrapped by wealth:
Debt Burden: Accumulating debt, whether through loans, credit cards, or mortgages, can create a feeling of being trapped. Monthly payments and interest can restrict your choices and limit your ability to pursue other goals.
High Cost of Living: Living in an expensive area with high costs for housing, utilities, and everyday expenses can create a situation where a significant portion of your income is consumed by basic needs, leaving little room for personal enjoyment or savings.
Golden Handcuffs: Some people find themselves in well-paying jobs that they dislike or that negatively impact their work-life balance. The fear of losing the high income or the perks associated with the job can make individuals feel stuck or chained to their current employment.
Excessive Consumerism: Constantly chasing after the latest trends and consumer goods can lead to a cycle of never-ending spending, creating a sense of dependence on material possessions and a lifestyle that requires a high income to sustain.
Social Expectations: Succumbing to societal pressure to maintain a certain standard of living or to keep up with others financially can lead to overspending and financial strain, contributing to a feeling of being chained to societal expectations.
So, we have talked about how prioritizing money over God is so easy to do because we live in a society and culture that naturally emphasizes consumption, accumulation, and overwork. We have talked about how it can be unhealthy for our wellbeing and our spiritual life.
So what then should we do? How can we have a healthy relationship with our money? Let’s talk about 3 principles to put money in its rightful place.
Three principles for a healthy relationship with money
The first principle is STEWARDSHIP. A “steward” is like our modern day financial manager – they are entrusted to manage the property of another and make sure it is being invested in the best interest of the owner.
Matthew 24:45-47
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant,[c] whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
We are God’s stewards, because all of creation belongs to God.
Gen 1:28 (NRSV)
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God says to humanity: In this earth I have created, I want you as my image bearers to go now and be fruitful and multiply, subdue it, and have dominion over all things.
Let’s talk about the two words here – subdue and dominion. In the way we understand this in today’s context in English, these words have a military root to mean to control, to dominate.
But here the root word for “subdue” in Hebrew is “kabash” which means to cultivate or work to bring something to order, and the phrase to have “dominion” or “radah” in Hebrew means to responsibly manage or steward.
So God is saying here – all of creation, all the resources I have put into the earth and into humanity, you have the responsibility to cultivate and steward it in the same pattern as you have seen me.
On a global scale, this means we have a collective responsibility to look after our earth and the natural environment, and on a personal level, we are also entrusted with a portion of God’s property to manage for God. We get to enjoy what God has given us, but we need to have the mindset that it doesn’t belong to us to use and abuse for our own gain – it’s for us to use for God’s purposes.
It is so easy to believe that our wealth comes from our effort and hard work, and that we somehow deserve it because we are worthy. This is part of the illusion of “Meritocracy.” I say illusion, because Meritocracy assumes there is a level playing field – that everyone has the same opportunities, and therefore those who excelled somehow deserved it. However, this is not the case – if you just think about it a bit, it’s easy to see the “game is rigged” from the start, in that some people have advantages and privileges that others do not. The Bible reminds us that even the ability to produce wealth comes from God – so much of our abilities and qualifications developed due to circumstances beyond our control – the time and place we were born, our upbringing and family, and people in our lives who chose to invest in us.
1 Cor 4:7
7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Deut 8:17-18
17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
We need to remember that all we have, including our abilities, ultimately comes from God, and is also FOR God, not just for us. We should be asking God – “what can I do with all you have given me”?
(Story) When I first graduated from college in America, after working for a year or so I was able to save up enough to buy a used car – it was an old Nissan Altima, and broke down often. Sometimes in the winter it wouldn’t start. But for me it was a wonderful thing. I remember at the time saying to myself this is God’s car, not my car, so I used to give people rides to church, to the airport, or when they were moving house. Some of these rides turned out to be wonderful opportunities for deep conversation, and even though the car is long gone, the memories and friendships remain to this day.
This is all part of the Decentering that Pastor Miak preached on 2 weeks ago – about centering our priorities on Jesus, and moving the focus away from ourselves. What I’ve found over the years is that when we are generous with our time, our talents, our possessions, God can work with these things to do way more than we imagine, and there is a real and lasting joy that comes from being a part of what God is doing in someone else’s life.
The second principle is CONTENTMENT.
1 Tim 6
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Contentedness, as Paul says, is great gain. The opposite mindset of contentedness is enshrined in Singapore’s national persona – being “Kiasu”, literally meaning “afraid to lose”. It stems from being overly conscious of scarcity and risk, and of keeping up or exceeding others. We laugh about it but there’s a lot of truth in it, and it does not lead us to be content. Contentedness comes from a mindset of abundance, and gratitude, which Pastor Pauline preached on at the beginning of this series. We need to spend more of our time being grateful for what we do have, instead of feeling frustrated about what we don’t have.
More recently, our culture has been moving away from acquiring of possessions to building of experiences (YOLO and FOMO). But this too does not lead to contentment. FOMO especially drives us to spend money to keep up with friends and make impulse purchases. Ultimately it is not building of experiences that will enrich us but building of relationships. At the end of our lives, it is not where we have been, what we have done that matters most – but who we loved and who loved us. We have to stop comparing ourselves with others who are ahead of us financially – this is a recipe for discontentment.
Being content is trusting God to provide for our daily needs, being grateful for all that God has given to us, and trusting that God will continue to provide for us.
Matthew 6
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The third principle is to be RICH TOWARDS GOD.
Luke 12
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself…
“You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
So what does it mean to be “Rich toward God”? Jesus is contrasting two opposite positions – the rich man, who “stores up things for himself”, and the opposite, which is to give what we have towards God’s kin-dom and God values – contributing towards Shalom, the restoration of people, relationships, our society, and our world. The rich man is called a “fool” – he is actually quite sensible from a common sense point of view – he invested in his own comfort and future. But in God’s economy, this was revealed to be spiritual meaningless.
Let’s look at another verse from Paul’s letter to Timothy.
1 Tim 6:17-19
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Paul is saying here that being rich is not a sin. Yes, being rich is not a sin. It is a liability, as Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” but also a responsibility and an opportunity.
Jesus said “For to whom much is given, much shall be required. And to whom much has been committed, much more will be requested.”
Paul calls those who have means to be “rich in good deeds, to be generous, and willing to share.” The word “firm foundation” implies that what they are building now has the strength and stability to last for eternity. Pastor Pauline preached last week about acting in ways that are life giving, for yourself, and for others. In the same way, generosity, trusting in God, contributing towards God’s work that is life giving, enables us to “take hold of the life that is truly life.”
So let’s recap. We talked about Stewardship – the idea that all we have belongs to God and is for God, we talked about contentment – less kiasu-ness and FOMO, more gratitude and recognizing God provides for us abundantly, and we talked about being rich towards God – to invest in God’s kin-dom and towards God’s priorities.
What are practical tips for us?
So you might be thinking ok I’ve heard all that before, and maybe I agree with it, but what can we do? How do we actually do this, and really live out our values?
I am not a professional financial planner but I’d like to share some tips that I and my family try to live by. Please take these tips as guidance that you can think about or discuss with people you trust.
Firstly, intentionally live at the lower end of your socio-economic class (SES, or “friends and co-workers who are similar to you in income”). There are Christians in every SES and this is a good thing since we have opportunity to be God’s light and salt in the world in every arena. Being in an SES comes with certain expectations in how you dress, how you socialize, and so on. It’s really depends on your profession or social circle – you may need expensive clothes to look presentable at work. However, we can also let our lives be an example of simple living. This is not so that we can hoard more savings for ourselves, but so that we have more leeway to share. A quote from Gandhi – Live simply, so that others may simply live. By the way, he didn’t say live simply so you can retire at 40!
Secondly, be conscious of “lifestyle inflation” – this is what happens when as your income increases, you also increase spending on living expenses and non-essential expenses. Former luxuries become the new necessities. It isn’t wrong to want to improve your standard of living, but the key is to balance spending with saving, and giving, and not allow all increased income to go into more personal spending. You might even think about increased income as an opportunity to give more, to bless others more.
Thirdly, we may be asking ourselves: What do I give to God? What do I use to save for the future? What is enough?
This is where this sermon is going to get a bit unusual, because I would like us to do a math activity together as a church.
The first thing I’d like us to do is to calculate your “monthly household income per person”. To do this, we need to consider two things: monthly household income, and household size… monthly income here means your gross pay, so it includes the 20% you contribute to CPF, but not the 17% your employer contributes to CPF. For household size, don’t include housemates and helpers, but do include children and elderly parents who have no income and are dependent on you for financial support.
Here are 4 examples:
In the first example, let’s say you are living alone, so you just count you own income. Same thing if you’re living with other people like parents or housemates but you’re fully responsible for your own expenses.
The second example is if you’re living with a partner and both of you are working. Add your income together and divide by 2.
The third case is if you’re single but taking care of someone else (like an elderly parent), then take your income and divide by 2.
The last case is if you have a partner who is working and 2 children, then add your combined income and divide by 4.
If you have no income at all, like if you’re a student, then just consider your income as zero. For everyone else, no need to be super exact – just a rough number will do. Ok, has everyone got the number in their head?
MENTI QUESTION 3
Now, please select which ranges your number falls within and put this into menti. This part is completely anonymous so I hope everyone will join in so we can get the best data possible, and find out who we are as a congregation. I am actually genuinely curious.
The numbers may seem strange to you but actually each category represents exactly 10% of households in Singapore. So for example, if you chose 3,200-3,800, this means your household has more income per person than 50% of households in Singapore. If you chose 5,600-7,500, your household is in the top 20% of households in Singapore.
I hope this gives us a sense of how we as a church compare to Singaporean households in general. This is food for thought, as we think about what’s enough to live on, and what others live on.
So with all this in mind, I’d like to offer you this formula, which I first heard in a sermon in Boston back in 2015, and I found quite helpful. Again, this is not financial planning advice, but it is an approximate guideline. What I’d like to suggest is a line of income, a little above median income after deducting your 20% CPF contribution. For a single person, that comes to 5,000 gross income or 4,000 take home pay. For a family of four, that’s around 15,000 combined gross income or 12,000 take home pay. For those making this much, aim to give 10%, save 20%, and use the remaining 70% to meet your needs. Try to keep essential needs like food, rent, utilities, clothing, medical, and transportation to 50%, with 20% for wants, like vacations, entertainment, and eating out.
So an example here is a single person who makes 4,000 take home pay, and is able to budget a giving of $400 a month or $100 a week.
If you’re making a lot less than this, then giving 10% may be too difficult. In which case I’d like to recommend aiming for 5%.
As your income increases, consider trying to restrain lifestyle inflation, and allow yourself to give more and save more. Try dividing your income into 3 – give, save and spend.
Overall I found this guideline personally helpful, because it provides balance.
Some of us are more inclined to save, and we even feel guilty over small purchases because we’ve been brought up to be frugal or maybe we’re afraid of being in need in future. If that’s you, remember that it’s ok to enjoy what God has provided.
Some of us are more inclined to spend impulsively, and don’t think about the future enough. If that’s you, then do consider the call to live simply.
Whichever you are, this guideline is also a reminder to give regularly and faithfully – we tend to underestimate the joy that comes from giving.
So where do you give? Well, that’s up to you, and in fact I would encourage you to spread your giving among various causes and organisations that you support. Think about your personal mission, What do you think God is calling you to do with your life — and how does this connect to God’s work of shalom in the world?
But I also need to be very upfront. FCC does need your help.
This is FCC’s budget in 2023. The main thing this chart shows is that almost 44% of all our expenses are going towards staff salary. If you’re thinking we are doing financially well, and our pastors are being well paid, it is actually not the case. We continue to struggle to collect what we need each month – in fact we are almost always behind, and have to constantly ask for everyone to give more every month, just so we can pay our bills, and some years we didn’t really collect what we budgeted. The truth is, FCC is very much reliant on a few major regular donors – which is very wonderful, but the problem is that this is Singapore and people do come and go. Some leave Singapore for jobs overseas or return to their home countries, and when a large donor leaves this leaves a disproportionate hole in the budget.
This chart shows our pastoral salaries compared against median income. FCC has always tried to pay our pastors fairly, however what this chart shows is that we have generally paid about 600 above median income and at this point we are only 400 above median income. Maybe to put this in perspective, when adjusting for people of 40-50s age range with a degree, then the median income is actually more in the 8000-9000 range. The fact is, Pastor Miak and Pauline have made financial sacrifices to pastor us, and this is not something we mention much. I feel like we can and should do everything we can to pay our pastors fairly – it’s the least we can considering the way they have poured their lives into our community, and given up better paying opportunities to be our shepherds. It’s the least we can do especially since our congregation tends towards the higher income brackets.
In 2024, we will be forming a committee to review the Pastor’s salaries and benchmark them against other comparable religious institutions. However, even if we discover an increase is warranted, we certainly can’t do so without everyone’s help.
FCC fulfils a vital role in Christianity in Singapore.
A safe place for LGBTQ Christians to worship without needing to suppress or hide their orientation or gender identity
A place for progressive Christians to be able to explore different kinds of theologies and questions in a non-judgmental environment.
A prophetic religious voice at a national level to show that not all Christians think the same, to call out social injustice and marginalisation
A place of deeper understanding, learning from, and working together with other faiths
Ministry to those largely ignored by society – T Shelter, People living with HIV, Mentally ill
If we had the means to increase our budget, we can even expand our ministries further – more frequent live worship, repairing broken equipment, making our space more accessible, or even being able to do more outreach to people outside FCC, or outside Singapore. We can only do all this with your help.
I really hope that since you’re here, our churches mission aligns with your personal mission, and you will consider investing your gifts, time and money into it – so many of you already do… and I hope you know just how much impact you’re making. We can serve God beyond the church as well, but at the same time we are called together as members of this body to care for it and resource it so FCC can live our her mission and be a witness to not just who God is, but how we live out our values.
I hope in this new year, this would inspire you to pray about your current giving, and if at all possible, do consider giving more to FCC to 5% or even 10% if you have the means. If all FCC members were to aim to give a minimum of 400 a month, we would exceed our budget by 65%!
Please don’t take this as a mandate, or coercion. You’re always welcome here no matter what you give financially, and so many of you give of your time and skills too – all these are valuable and appreciated. I am taking the risk to share this today because I believe in FCC’s mission, and I hope you do too. If you have any questions on this, please come talk to me after, and we don’t have time for a menti response but I definitely would love to have your feedback at fcc.li/feedback.
I hope we can all be inspired to support FCC even more so we can be God’s light to the world. Amen!
