Frugal Extravagance

Frugal Extravagance

I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Philippians 4:18

IN WORD Ben Franklin had it half right. A penny saved is a penny earned. But that’s not the whole story for us believers in Jesus and worshipers of our Provider. There’s a follow-through left out of that sequence: A penny saved is a penny earned, and a penny earned is a penny available for the Kingdom. God is all for our saving, but there’s a purpose to it. We’re to save so we can give.

Think about what our expenditures tell us about ourselves. Whether we mean it or not, our use of money says a lot about what we think of God. Is His agenda important to us? Our ledgers will reflect it. Do we have His sacrificial love? Our checkbooks will tell the truth.

God has always done amazing things with people whose financial priorities were all about His work. Hudson Taylor was exceedingly frugal, and God used him to found one of history’s most effective mission agencies. George Müller and his wife sold everything they had in order to minister to others, and God poured millions of dollars through their hands as they ran orphanages in nineteenth-century England. Millions have given their 10 percent and found God’s blessing. A smaller number have given their all and found God’s more abundant blessing. Their faithfulness in finances honored their Provider. He poured out honor in return.

IN DEED What does God want from His people who live in a consumer society? Perhaps He wants a generation of frugal Christians who earn pennies by saving them, and by earning, give. Maybe He wants to establish a visible community of people whose sacrificial giving honors Him and furthers His work. A community that society can observe but can’t explain. A community that demonstrates the most curious economic phenomenon: The more they give, the more they have.

Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.

—JOHN WESLEY