Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Feb 19th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Book: The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving
Author: Randy Alcorn
"You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead."
- Randy Alcorn, p. 18
What would you do if you were presented with a situation in which doing the right thing would cost you your professional career and ability to provide for your family? Would you do the right thing? We all would like to think that we would, but Randy Alcorn has already shown us his answer.
At the height of his career as a pastor and author, his involvement in a peaceful protest against an abortion clinic landed him in court and liable for a fine of more than $8 million (that was in 1990 currency). If he paid the money, he knew that it would go directly to funding abortions. If he didn’t pay the money, his church could be liable and jail might have been a possibility (not to mention the loss of his home, his savings, and his royalties from writing).
Because he treasured God, his family, his church, and life above any financial stability or gain, he didn’t hesitate or waver to refuse to pay. He resigned from the pastorate to protect his church, his wife took ownership of all assets to guard against losing their house, and he guaranteed nothing more than minimum wage for the rest of his life (garnishment of wages could not be taken from minimum wage earnings). He wouldn’t trade security and financial stability for integrity and God-ordained morality.
I wanted to share this account from Randy’s life, which can be found in this book, because we need to see the mettle of the man behind the words. He is not just an author who has enjoyed a privileged life and has enjoyed the luxury of saying hard things from a comfortable office. He has skin in the game, more than we have probably invested.
The chief point of The Treasure Principle is that our money is a temporary tool that God puts in our hands to produce eternal results. In other words, money is not something we own, but something that we use to show that we belong to God. The sooner we understand this perspective with money, the sooner we begin to flee its grip and pursue God’s agenda during our short lifetimes. Money then becomes just another means to proclaim the message of Jesus.
Randy’s own life and words serve as an important reminder that generosity and biblical stewardship of money must take place no matter how much or how little we may earn. I know that when I was in college (and made $35 a week), I thought that giving was something for people who made more than me. Somehow, I let the idea that I was a poor college student serve as an excuse for spending it all on my own interests instead of participating in the wonder that is giving for God’s agenda. Fortunately, God used some firm discipline to teach me the error of my ways, and I think that Randy’s book could do that for you before you have to endure the kind of discipline that I faced in the years after college!
Last week, I recommended Dave Ramsey’s book Financial Peace Revisited because he gives us a practical guide in how to avoid wasting money and start building wealth. Randy’s book should complement (or perhaps precede) Dave’s resource because he gives us a more philosophical and theological picture of what money is and how it is to be viewed within the kingdom of God.
Therefore, I heartily endorse this book and think that it will stir your thinking. No book, save the Bible, is inerrant, so don’t take this as an uncritical endorsement. What I am saying is that you will be forced to confront some biblical ideas about money and generosity by reading this book, and you can trust that the author has put his money where his mouth is this time.