How Should I Think about Money?

Crucial Questions #23

by R.C. Sproul

Jesus taught more often on money than He did on love or on heaven and hell combined. Why? It’s because money is one of the chief competitors for our affections. He warned, “You cannot serve God and money.” How, then, should we view an>d use money? How should we understand and participate in the economy? In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul offers much-needed biblical answers to these questions, and in so doing, he provides clarity as to how being good stewards of our money honors God. The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Money, Finance, Economics

74 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2019

About the author

Dr. R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization located near Orlando, Fla. He was founding pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Ligonier Ministries began in 1971 as the Ligonier Valley Study Center in Ligonier, Pa. In an effort to respond more effectively to the growing demand for Dr. Sproul’s teachings and the ministry’s other educational resources, the general offices were moved to Orlando in 1984, and the ministry was renamed.

Dr. Sproul’s radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and can also be heard online. Dr. Sproul produced hundreds of lecture series and recorded numerous video series on subjects such as the history of philosophy, theology, Bible study, apologetics, and Christian living.

He contributed dozens of articles to national evangelical publications, spoke at conferences, churches, and academic institutions around the world, and wrote more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and Everyone’s a Theologian. He signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and wrote a commentary on that document. He also served as general editor of the Reformation Study Bible, previously known as the New Geneva Study Bible.

Dr. Sproul had a distinguished academic teaching career at various colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and Jackson, Miss. He was ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. This short book would make for a great teaching resource to students and adults (e.g., a Sunday School format) alike.

Christians should be productive:

"Jesus calls His people to be fruitful not only in the multiplication of the species through propagation, but for the kingdom’s sake. This is an expansion of the creation ordinance that His people are to be productive."

We should take care of our homes:

"Working and keeping one’s home means preventing it from falling apart, keeping it orderly, maintaining it, preserving it, and making it beautiful." About time I fix that sagging front walkway at our home...

On being wealthy:

"Abraham, for example, was the father of the faithful and also enormously wealthy. Likewise, Job was both godly and wealthy. Yet, Jesus also warns that it’s hard for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God (Luke 18:25), principally because people who have an abundance of wealth can tend toward self-sufficiency and thus fail to rely upon God and His providence for meeting their daily needs."

More on being productive:

"God is intensely concerned about productivity. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals constant references to the bearing of fruit, not just in the spiritual realm of discipleship, but in being productive, increasing one’s talents and supply, and meeting more of the needs of people."

He rightly condemns the curse of the inflation embedded in fiat currency (USD, Euro, etc).

Sproul is clearly pro-free markets, pro-investing to grow your wealth, and pro-business ownership.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really anything profound in this small book. However, it may be a helpful resource those trying to figure out finances as a young Christian as Sproul does provide some helpful definitions on economics and gives practical Christian advice on not worshipping money.

[Leya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on the title, the contents are not what i expected. The book looked at some basic principals of stewardship and economics. Talked about investments, delayed gratification and participating in ownership if even in a small way.
I really enjoyed this book.

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

How should I Think About Money is yet another solid offering from R.C. Sproul. The author examines basic principles of economics and stewardship and includes excellent discussion on the subject of delayed gratification, investments, compounding, and the importance of investing in the kingdom of God.

[Elizabeth Prata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Sproul really does make you think about money, but goes beyond just money. Investing time and means, and energy too. Recommended

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one because I needed something to read while on break at work. (I had sadly forgot to bring The Scarlet Pimpernel with me.)

Very nice, concise overview of money, it's history and usage. Not quite what I was expecting but it fit right in with the finance class I'm taking.

[Cory Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to be a book on stewardship…I was wrong. This was more so a book that taught financial literacy. It was enjoyable and good for the purpose it had in mind, just not completely what I was hoping for when I grabbed it. Worthy of reading if you’ve never seriously thought about money, super accessible for teenagers too. Great foundational resource

[lizchoii · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely had different expectations before reading this book and learned a lot on the economics of money which i was not expecting, but still learned a lot abt where i should be placing my value in money and how investing in the church and in God is the best long-term investment there is bc it is eternal significance and eternal value(won’t depreciate), overall very educational💸

[Amber Lemus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very Scriptural and balanced approach to the topic of finances.

[India · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I like those little booklets! Sproul always finds the best examples to support his ideas. I especially enjoyed the fourth chapter on the theory of value.

[Parker James Lipetska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Educational

[Benjamin Ravatsås Solberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic and useful insights on how Christians should view money and steward the goods they've been dealt.

[Non · Rating 3 out of 5]

SCORE
3 Star = I feel neutral about this book. It wasn’t bad but also wasn’t great.

I got this book for free off of Logos Bible Software.

SUMMARY

Some quotes of overall idea:
"The second command given to Adam and Eve was to have dominion over the earth. God installed Adam and Eve as His vice-regents, those who were to rule in His stead over all of creation. It’s not that God granted independent ownership of the planet to humankind. It remains His possession. But God called Adam and Eve to exercise authority over the animals, plants, seas, rivers, sky, and the environment. They were not to exercise authority like a reckless tyrant who has carte blanche to do anything he wants, for God didn’t make Adam and Eve owners of the earth. He made them stewards of the earth, who were to act in His name and for His glory... This involves far more than religious enterprises or the church. It has to do with how we engage in scientific endeavors, how we do business, how we treat each other, how we treat animals, and how we treat the environment. That dominion over the earth is not a license to exploit, pillage, consume, or destroy the earth; it is a responsibility to exercise stewardship over our home by working and keeping it" (pgs 5-6).

“He said, ‘For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?’ (Mark 8:36; cf. Matt. 16:26; Luke 9:25). Jesus was saying that a person may have a material profit but the bottom line is in red ink—it is a loss—because he’s exchanged something that is more valuable for something that is less valuable. We have to be careful about how we understand profit, being sure to look at it from the vantage point of the Scriptures. God is intensely concerned about productivity. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals constant references to the bearing of fruit, not just in the spiritual realm of discipleship, but in being productive, increasing one’s talents and supply, and meeting more of the needs of people” (pg 25).

“The basic theme of stewardship is that we are responsible before God for how we use the goods, services, and resources that are at our disposal. That means that a Christian steward is to be careful not to be wasteful with them. We need to measure the value of things we buy.
We make value judgments all the time, because every dollar we spend in one place is a dollar we can’t spend somewhere else. So, though values are subjective in terms of our personal preferences, God has an ultimate value system of things that are much more weighty and much more important from the eternal perspective—and we must finally determine our values in light of His” (pg 35).

“Money, in terms of its current currency value, has almost no intrinsic value. How is it possible that we, as a nation, will exchange beautiful paintings, homes, clothing, food, televisions, or automobiles for paper? Because we haven’t really understood that there’s no intrinsic value in the paper—and as long as everybody’s doing it, it tends to work. But the lessons of history also indicate that currency that is not backed up by something of real value eventually collapses, and the wise steward takes non-valuable paper and converts it as quickly and as wisely as he can into items of real value” (pg 43-44).

“Perhaps one of our greatest problems is wasting money. Jesus addresses this issue in the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30). Some people think He’s talking about gifts or abilities, but really He meant money, because a talent was a unit of currency. Jesus talks about how one person wasted his money while the other one doubled it. How we use our resources—in this case, our money—is a matter of concern to God, because we are to be good stewards with what He has entrusted to us. There are some basic principles of stewardship that Scripture gives us, not the least of which is a common-sense one: we are called, as responsible stewards of the kingdom of God and of whatever abundance God has been pleased to give to us, to live within our means. Not everyone makes the same amount of money, but we all have the responsibility to live according to whatever that amount happens to be. Unfortunately, our culture has a chronic tendency to live at a deficit. This is a problem for the government, but perhaps even more dangerously in our own households. Surveys say that more than half of Americans live beyond their means; that is, they spend more money than they take in. Most often, that’s done through credit, borrowing and indebting oneself to others” (pg 52-53).

“Credit cards issuers routinely charge 18 percent interest, and sometimes 26 percent or more, if you don’t pay off the balance each month. That’s why so many of us are in debt. It’s so easy and tempting to purchase with plastic. Enjoy the goods now; worry about paying for them later. But if you can’t pay for it at the end of month, now you have to carry a balance on which you will be charged interest. I can’t afford to do that, and I don’t think many of us can. If you’re struggling with your finances, perhaps the best thing you could do today is take your credit cards and throw them in the trash. That way, you’ll stop buying your way into debt” (pg 58).


PROS & CONS
Although it wasn’t too bad the only thing is when he was talking about material welfare and said:
“Farmers aren’t always happy when there’s a bumper crop because it drives the cost per unit down, but it also means that more people have the opportunity to buy food. So the single most important element for meeting the physical needs of human beings is the production of goods and services” (pg 21-22).
I may be biased because my family is starting a farm and I had other family members who were farmers that you could say were poor due to oppression (read chapter 2). I wonder if instead of just coming into a community, doing our own thing to try & help them, and only looking to their physical needs… We work with the community and local farmers (especially Christians who live there & understand the needs there) to help people be self-sufficient and spiritually resilient in times of distress. For example I’ve seen food drives who receive donations from the local stores and farmers to aid in the community and use the time they have a meal with the poor people to preach the Good News. I do think, however, the spiritual aspect was purposely omitted because he was talking about material welfare.

CONCLUSION
I felt neutral about this little book. It mostly feels like I’m reading more about economics with bits of references to the Bible added in. Karl Marx makes some random appearances here and there. This book is written from the assumption that you have a smaller government where you live though, but there are some insightful things you can still pull from it.

[Cassie Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Money is an issue that seems to be viewed through a couple of extreme lenses in the church today. Either money is the best thing in the world, or it is something so sinful that you don’t want to have any extra. But is that really a biblical way of thinking about money? In this edition of the Crucial Questions Series, R.C. Sproul looks at the topic of money, how it relates to Christians, and how it should be viewed in light of eternity. This book is great for those who don’t know what the Christian should think about money. There are great lessons in here that showcase the great blessing that the stewardship God has granted mankind can truly be of we only take it seriously.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not saying that this book is not good, but it's clearly not up to par with the rest of this book series. It really felt more like an economics lesson, albeit a good one, rather than a book deeply steeped in what the Bible says about money. Yes, it does address that, but not as deeply and fully as the others books in this book series do.

[Barbier Jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un excellent ouvrage qui expose clairement certains principes élémentaires concernant l'intendance et l'économie.

[Asa Bondeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the author of the book, I definitely assumed it would be more theological in nature. I was surprised to discover that it’s actually more of an economic book than a theological one. Sproul emphasizes that all Christians are called to steward their money. When God commands humanity to steward the earth, that stewardship includes how we handle money. Therefore, how we earn and spend money should be a significant concern for every Christian.
From a biblical perspective, Sproul identifies three primary reasons why someone might be poor:

Poverty due to exploitation
Poverty due to laziness
Poverty for righteousness’ sake

Sproul argues that Scripture contains examples of all three. Some individuals are poor because they’ve been taken advantage of by local or national systems, leaving them without resources. It’s often this group that critics of capitalism point to, arguing that the system enables exploitation. Many in polite society assume that most of the poor fall into this category—perhaps because it casts the poor in the most sympathetic light and shifts the question of responsibility away from the individual.
However, Sproul points out the obvious but often uncomfortable truth: many people are poor due to laziness. Proverbs repeatedly warns that laziness leads to poverty. Common sense also tells us that when people are incentivized to live off the generosity of others, some will choose to do so. This is one of the main arguments against socialism—if people can survive without working hard, many will take that route.
The third group Sproul identifies are those who choose poverty for righteousness’ sake. Though they are a minority, they are noteworthy. These individuals recognize the spiritual dangers of wealth and intentionally give away much of what they have, seeking to avoid idolatry and live simply.
Sproul also argues that money is only good insofar as it serves the needs of others. The best way to meet those needs, he says, is by increasing the means of production. He uses Henry Ford as an example: by automating car manufacturing, Ford reduced costs and made cars accessible to millions. This innovation not only benefited society but also made Ford extremely wealthy—not because he exploited people, but because he served them. While this isn’t always the case, Sproul contends that profit is generally the strongest incentive for innovation and increased production.
Finally, Sproul asserts that biblical stewardship involves seeking the best value for our money—saving where we can and giving generously. He also affirms that investing is a wise and biblical use of money. In essence, he argues that Christians should aim to earn as much as possible, provided that their pursuit of wealth does not hinder their walk with Christ.

[Bill Pence · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this booklet in his helpful Crucial Questions series, the late Dr. R.C. Sproul states that how we use our resources is the subject of economics, and in a biblical sense it is the chief concern of stewardship. He tells us that the concern for stewardship is rooted in creation. Stewardship is about exercising our God-given dominion over His creation, reflecting the image of our creator God in His care, responsibility, maintenance, protection, and beautification of His creation.
He writes that the basic theme of stewardship is that we are responsible before God for how we use the goods, services, and resources that are at our disposal. This means that a Christian steward is to be careful not to be wasteful with them.
He writes that while money itself is neutral, our attitude toward it can be good or evil. He writes of misunderstandings that have been perpetuated in the Christian community. One myth is that being wealthy is inherently sinful. Another myth is that there is some kind of inherent righteousness connected with being poor.
He tells us that one of the most important things to consider is how we allocate the resources that God has given to us. It’s important that we that we make wise decisions about how we’re going to spend our money.
He tells us that perhaps one of our greatest problems is wasting money. How we use our money is a matter of concern to God, because we are to be good stewards with what He has entrusted to us.
It is our duty as Christians to provide for our families, and that provision involves a wise use of whatever resources we have at our disposal. He encourages us, that as much as is humanly possible, we should make every expenditure an investment. And, the most important investment we can ever make is in the kingdom of God.

[Jason Bray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh,

There's nothing unique about this book you couldn't get from reading "The Richest Man in Babylon" or any number of other more useful books. It's outdated in terms of his specific advice, it has very little scripture, and it repeats a lot of the kind of "theoretical advice" that was in vogue in the 90s.

For example, the illustration about how you can invest 1000 dollars when you're 20, 1500 when you're 21 etc, at 10% interest and you'll have a quarter million dollars by the time you're forty!

Yeah, good luck getting that sort of return on a consistent basis, not to mention the difficulty of getting your hands on an extra thousand dollars when you're 20. Sure, if you can do it, great! Feel free! But it just doesn't seem realistic in a day and age when savings accounts pay 0.01% interest.

Though in fairness, the last 12 years have been very good for investors. You could probably have done way better than that in an index fund. Hindsight and all. Just hope you didn't hit your quarter million right before the crash of 2008-2009.

Anyway, not terribly practical, very little scripture, outdated and what is useful is better put in other books.

[Daniely · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction was right, it wasn't too long or too short. I learnt the importance of the church in the role of helping poor people; knowing the differences between four groups, and my role in it because I'm part of it. He spends a lot of time explaining what is money and its history, something that I think is necessary but not that long.

It was becoming interesting to learn how interests work, and the importance of investing and having savings. He talks about the importance of tithing, so I think this book is pretty complete. I liked it.

Some phrases that I liked:

"Why don’t more of us invest like this? The biggest problem we have is the temptation for quick gratification. We want to enjoy the fruit of our labor now, whereas a tolerance for delayed gratification is necessary for this kind of investment."

"But the most important investment we can ever make is in the kingdom of God."

"Tithing is not a net loss. I have never missed a single penny that I have given to the work of God."

4/5
🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Vianny D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You cannot serve both God and money", the words of Jesus resound in our ears. "But we do need money to survive", pleads the common Christian. Its very essential to solve this conundrum, and Sproul does a wonderful job in doing so, in this little book. Your attitude towards money will decide how good/bad a steward of it you end up being. The earlier you get it right, the better it is. A short book, which a moderately paced reader would be able to finish in a week, its nevertheless power packed with useful lessons for life. Hence this is a must read for every young or middle aged person, who is eager to explore the Bible's perspective on one of the most important elements in our lives: money.

[Haley Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing earth shattering.

This wasn't quite what I had expected based off the title. It was more of an economics lesson. Although, I appreciated the reminder to steward my resources, live within my means, and to generally not be stupid with money.

I did appreciate the framework for the categories of poverty
1. voluntary poverty (monks, missionaries) 2. Providential/situational poverty 3. Oppressive poverty (injustice, exploitation) 4. Lazy poverty (Scripture warns against idleness (2 Thess. 3:10: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”).

Sproul ends that the Christian is to be generous and kingdom minded with their resources drawing on passages from Matthew and 2 Corinthians.

[Lauren Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Pretty straight forward book & there are some insightful themes. Thought there was going to be more biblical references. The book did a broad overview of biblical stewardship of money but wanted a deeper dive.

“Fundamentally, stewardship is about exercising our God-given dominion over His creation, reflecting the image of our creator God in His care, responsibility, maintenance, protection, and beautification of His creation. As we continue to examine what Scripture says about managing money and resources, this concept of stewardship will serve as a foundation.”

[Emmanuel Danso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read!

This book sheds light of Christian stewardship in the matter of using resources such as money. R C Sproul insightful highlights how being responsible, delaying gratification, wise investment and endeavoring to be owner of business - however small it may be - is critical to creating wealth. I like this book because it's author did well in making his thoughts simple and clear in writing.

[Tonia Tong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sproul uses the biblical basis of humans being created for good works from the first chapter of Genesis to explain the right way to understand money. This is a short book but explains the history, utility, and stewardship of money as well as the fundamentals of inflation and interest. Why should Christians care about saving up money? Why should Christians invest? Why is the statement "being rich is sinful" wrong? Sproul answers all of these with clarity.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a thorough exploration of everything the Bible teaches about money, this isn't it. This is an introduction to the basics of economic topics like building wealth, the theory of value, inflation, interest, etc. He touches on stewardship as well, but it is not the primary focus.

This wasn't super helpful to me since it was so basic, but it might be good for someone who isn't familiar with economics. It's very short and to the point.

[apl.jn.pstr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not what I expected when I saw the title of this book, I thought that it would focus on tithing and giving to the Lord, but no.

I am glad that I was able to read this short book but big in learnings, it focused on importance of stewardship with a short course on economics, history and present day money system.

Thank you Dr. R.C 🙌

[Christopher Derrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, and Brief

I was surprised by Dr. Sproul references to economic principles like Monetary Policy and causes if inflation. It's a good short challenge to your thinking book about principles of handling money wisely, investment and understanding that money is a tool. Would recommend

[Daniel Tan]

Decently Succinct, but Great Guide!

Love how RC simplified concepts especially about the management of money.
Appreciated that he organised the information into a "storyline" that helps build up the next chapter each time.
Money is a resource given by God and should also be thoughtfully used.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the majority of the short books in this series, Sproul hits the major points and gives you enough information to read under an hour. This one on the the subject of money is pretty good, and because he and his son (and now grandson) were all really interested in economics, look for some technical work here beyond the moral averments.