Steward Investors Throughout History… John Wesley: Die Broke
“Where are we going to put all the stuff?” I just love my wife! She had a great point. Just before Christmas we were discussing how we did not want to promote materialism through the holidays. We wanted Christmas to be about Christ; not all the extras. Don’t get me wrong, we love giving our children gifts just as our Heavenly Father delights to shower us with good things. But It is painfully obvious that we have more than enough “stuff” and our children’s rooms and toy boxes would confirm that claim. It doesn’t help that you and I live in a culture that is alway pushing the agenda of more. More toys, more gizmos, more money, more things… so we buy in and get the things and then find ourselves asking the question “where are we going to put it?” – Maybe we need bigger barns?
In Luke 12 it is recorded that Jesus was once told: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me”. Wow, that was bold! This guys just walked up and insisted that Christ tell his brother to split the family wealth or whatever else was hoarded away during his parents lifetime. He probably thought he was pretty smart calling out his brother in public, but remember, the wisdom of this world is folly to a God who “catches the wise in their craftiness”. (1 Cor. 3:19)
Jesus’ reply was like a counter punch right to the heart. The Teacher took aim at this man’s love of money:
“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
The Teacher, not missing the opportunity to point the crowd towards the Kingdom He was ushering in, told them all this parable:
“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
My family has farmed in Georgia for several generations. We know what it’s like to work hard in a field and pray for an abundant crop, and believe me, a “plentiful” harvest is a good thing! Barns are a necessity of the trade. So if it’s not the abundant crop, if it’s not the barns, what is it that Jesus is criticizing here?.. Clearly it’s the farmer’s self-centered pride! The farmer pridefully thinks his prosperity is for his own comfort and self indulgence.
I just love that Jesus doesn’t shy away from calling people out. In the parable, Jesus called this rich farmer a “fool” for his self centered lifestyle.The farmer amassed a small fortune, and it was probably not without a great deal of sweat equity with long hours spent in those fields. Then he pridefully says to himself “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
It’s troubling to consider how we live in a culture that would not only affirm this farmer but probably glorify him for his success! I’m sure the farmer would probably amass a large following on youtube explaining how you all can achieve similar success if you follow this proven method of reaching financial independence so you can retire early. I don’t have to convince you that we live in a society where we are bombarded with messages of how we should accumulate and acquire more. There is a lie being told that we should consume and covet while prioritizing our own comfort over anyone else’s, and we’ve bought that lie hook line and sinker. We’ve been hoodwinked into believing that we should hoard up resources in our “barns” (or in our retirement accounts) so we can say to ourselves, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!” We celebrate those who achieve that outcome and waste our days chasing after our own version of it. — To you who boast tomorrow’s gain, tell me what is your life?
But take heart:
Thankfully our Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love! (Psalm 103:8)
He gives grace to the humble while also opposing the proud (James 4:6).
Our Holy God also reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:12)
It is comforting to know that we are not the first followers of Jesus to wrestle with the application of these passages to our everyday lives. Last year I sat down with my kids to read through the biography of John Wesley, and I found his account to be a true inspiration.
Donald Simmons’ wrote about Wesley in his book “The Steward Investor”:
“Most of us know that John Wesley started the Methodist church in eighteenth-Century England and that he was a great preacher and hymn writer, penning such hymns as ‘And Can it Be That I Should Gain?’ And ‘Christ the Lord Is Risen Today’. Few of us are aware that Wesley had an enormous income from teaching at Oxford and from the sale of his writings. He became one of England’s wealthiest men with an annual income that reached fourteen hundred pounds in an age when thirty pounds per year could provide a single man with a comfortable living. Wesley’s annual income would be similar to a two-million dollar annual income today.”
Wesley, a disciplined and devout man, wrestled with the correct application of God’s word in regard to the use of money. It’s worth noting that he even sought counsel from Count Nikolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, the faithful steward who funded the Moravian mission movement.
This pursuit of a right application of God’s word to wealth led to Wesley preaching Sermon 50 in 1872, “Use Of Money” where he instructed followers of Jesus to not be like the unfaithful steward in Luke 16, nor to be like the foolish farmer in Luke 12. He said, “Brethren, can we be either wise or faithful stewards unless we thus manage our Lord’s goods?… Our Kingdom, our wisdom is not of this world: Heathen custom is nothing to us. We follow no men any farther than they are followers of Christ. Hear ye Him. Yea, to-day, while it is called to-day, hear and obey His voice! At this hour, and from this hour, do His will: Fulfill His word, in this and in all things! I entreat you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, act up to the dignity of your calling! No more sloth! Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might! No more waste! Cut off every expense which fashion, caprice, or flesh and blood demand! No more covetousness! But employ whatever God has entrusted you with, in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree to the household of faith, to all men! This is no small part of the wisdom of the just. Give all ye have, as well as all ye are, a spiritual sacrifice to Him who withheld not from you his Son, his only Son: So laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may attain eternal life!”
Now, you may say… sure it was easy for Wesley to preach on the stewardship of wealth and generous giving because he was so well off. But what inspires me about Wesley’s life is that he practiced what he preached, and in a counter cultural fashion, he committed to “Die Broke”.
“He once declared, “[When I die,] if I leave behind me ten pounds… you and all mankind bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber.” Faithful to those words he wrote nearly fifty years before his death in 1791, the only money left when his will was read were the miscellaneous coins in his pockets and dresser drawers. He had given away the thirty thousand pounds he had earned during his lifetime.”
So was Wesley a faithful steward or a fool? Remember In Luke 12, Jesus says the one who “lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” is the fool. Maybe, John realized this truth as he read Luke 12 and considered its application. In light of the Word of God and his convictions, he chose to live radically. His counter cultural stewardship strategy was focused not on asset retention, but on deployment.
John Wesley chose to intentionally “Die Broke” and maybe you and I should too!
I know, it is radical to consider! But maybe we need to be a bit more radical! In a world where building bigger barns like the rich farmer is expected, what do you think it would take for us to look more like the Kingdom of God and less like the world? I asked Don Simmons about this recently during a MasterClass discussion of his book, “The Steward Investor”. Don replied: “I don’t know if I will be able to ‘Die Broke’ like John Wesley, but I do desire to deploy 100% of the resources the Lord has entrusted to me to manage in this life into Faith-Driven funds and companies that are about His purposes.”
Jesus, forgive us when we blindly follow the pattern of this world laying up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Help us to victoriously resist the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life. Because through you, Jesus, we have victory over sin. Stir in us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. And Jesus, we desire to love you with all our hearts and not to be lovers of money. Grant us wisdom to be found faithful in the stewardship of all you have entrusted to us to manage, we pray. Amen.
For further study see Chapter 15 and 16 of The Steward Investor.
The works included in this post are in the public domain in the United States because they were published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.
