Scripture is replete with admonitions to seek the Lord in all that we do. Believers have a
responsibility to follow the will of God. While this is, no doubt, challenging at times to do, much
of the revealed will of God has been made plain to us in His Word. That’s not to say there aren’t
any, what we might call, “grey areas” in Scripture. God never meant for us to fumble around in
the dark, in search of His will. Nor did he intend for us to follow him in isolation. He has
designed His people to live in community and all Scripture can bear this out. The commands
themselves are community-oriented, from dietary laws to what Jesus called the greatest
commandment. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind and … love your neighbor as yourself”. Jesus states this as the summation of all of
God’s word. It should come as no surprise, then, that considering the importance God places on
communal living, that there would be an equal emphasis on seeking wise counsel. The Proverbs,
Psalms, and elsewhere teach us that seeking counsel from others is the wise thing to do. Proverbs
12:15 puts it succinctly, “fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advise” (NRSV,
2019). An episode in the history of Israel provides us with good anecdotal evidence to the
veracity of this axiom. 1 Kings 12:1-19 details the account of King Rehoboam’s need for advice.
Rehoboam is the son of King Solomon, the wisest man in the Bible, and is confronted by
Jeroboam about the oppressive taxation and forced labor that has been placed upon the Israelites.
Jeroboam tells the king that if he would lighten this yoke, the Israelites would serve him. At this,
Rehoboam wisely conscripts the counsel of the elders of the kingdom. These elders advise the
king to concede to the requests of the people and ease their burden. This is where it appears the
wisdom of the king runs dry. He apparently does not like this recommendation and instead seeks
the counsel of his younger aides, whom he grew up with. These aides advise the king to lord it
over the citizens and add to their yoke. King Rehoboam regrettably follows suit and does exactly
that. The people respond by rebelling against the king, forcing him to flee to Jerusalem and
“Israel has been in rebellion to this day” (1 Kings 12:19, NRSV). This is a startling example of
when we choose to ignore godly counsel in our lives and follow the folly of our own hearts.
Believers, who have been indwelt with the Spirit, who is the Counselor, would do well to
surround themselves with, and seek the regular advice of one another.
How Religious Beliefs Influence Financial Decision-Making In this article, Jillian
Alderman discusses how Christian’s have developed certain financial attitudes based on biblical
principles. She finds that, generally, religious households are more likely than non-religious
households to save a portion of their incomes. The article goes on to make a correlation to
certain banking and business practices and their possible influence from the biblical tradition in
our country’s history. Citing the Bible’s prohibition on usury as possible inspiration, the U.S.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently “proposed rules to limit modern-day versions of
usury… describ[ing] the high annual percentage interest rates of up to 390 percent but justifies
the proposed rules as a means of preventing debt traps for financially vulnerable consumers
rather than raising any religious concerns” (Alderman, 2018). Alderman goes on to cite various
aspects of modern society that have likely been affected or influenced by traditional Christian
practice.
A Biblical Model for Teaching Personal Finance Howard and Deborah Newell, in an article
for the Christian Business Academy Review, developed a model to “teach personal finance
based on a Christian worldview” (Newell, 2012). This model is based of biblical principles
relating to the
proper stewardship of earning income and spending it. Taking it back to Creation, the author
demonstrates how believers have been entrusted with the responsibility to rightly manage that
which has been given to us. With this mandate in mind, personal finances are certainly not off
the table. Ultimately, the model shows the dichotomy of “Stewardship of Earning” and
“Stewardship of Spending”. The primary condition in regard to earning is an admonition to
beware of falling in love with earning, as stated in Matthew 6:24, or to exploit or oppress others
in order to earn income. Concerning the Stewardship of Spending, Newell breaks it down into
four other categories; giving, paying taxes, saving or the future, and living joyfully (2012). The
article concludes with a series of statements that contrast the way believers should understand the
principles set forth, with the worldly perspective. It comes as no shock that the way that God
calls us to manage our personal finances is vastly different from how the world has come to view
finances.
References
1 Kings. (2019). In Holy Bible: NRSV. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Alderman, J. (2018, July 12). How Religious Beliefs Influence Financial Decision-Making.
Graziadio Business Review. https://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2017/12/religious-
beliefs- influence-financial-decision-making/
Newell, H. (2012). A Biblical Model for Teaching Personal Finance | Christian Business
Academy Review. Christian Business Academy Review. https://cbfa-
cbar.org/index.php/cbar/article/view/54
Proverbs 12:15. (2019). In Holy Bible: NRSV. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
