Entries Tagged 'Bible' ↓

Some of my friends have asked me things along the lines of, “aren’t Christian women supposed to be stay at home moms?” I have never really been taught this idea in the churches I have gone to, but I know some Christian groups do  support the idea that Christian women should not work for a living and the man of the house should be the one bring home the bacon. So is it wrong for Christian women to earn money outside of the home? Well, ultimately I think the Bible should answer everyone’s questions on this issue.

The book of Proverbs ends with an acrostic poem describing a virtuous wife. This is actually a very long section focused on one single topic, and that’s pretty different from the rest of the book where various short phrases of wisdom are written in sequence. It begins with, “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels(rubies).” Prov 31:10. Then it goes on to describe the various things a good wife does, and interestingly enough a lot of things she does are related to business and finance. Here is what I read:

She invests in real estate - “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard” Prov 31:16

She sells the goods she produces – First she produces: “She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.” Prov 31:13 Also later in the passage she sells the goods: “She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.” Prov 31:18 “She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.” Prov 31:24

She is generous in giving – “She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.” Prov 31:20

She is prepared – “She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.” Prov 31:21 “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Prov 31:25 I think both of these verses show that she is prepared for the things to come, and I think that being prepared for snow implies that the good wife is financially prepared for a non-fruitful season.

She is watchful – “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. ” Prov 31:27 I think this verse conveys the message that a good wife is not lazy, and she is very aware of what’s going on in her family. Finances is a big part of family affairs, and a wife that knows what’s going on with a household’s money would be much better prepared for disasters.

She diligently provides for her family - “She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.” Prov 31:14-15

She fears the lord – This is the final point of the passage. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Prov 31:30

So from this book, I think it is fairly clear that a Christian woman is never required to be a stay at home mom and in a way the Bible actually encourages a wife to earn income and provide for her family. In my church there are all types of families. There are dual income families, and there are stay at home moms, and there is a pretty cool stay at home dad, too. Everyone knows that the guy is a stay at home dad and he was given a rose for Mother’s day. I think all of these family structures are totally acceptable as long as both people in the marriage agree with it and they trust each other and God enough to make it work.

I hope this post clarified the position of the Bible on women and working for income. I think that all women should be independently enough so that their husbands would not have have to worry about them very much. Finally, I believe that Christianity is a religion that gives women a lot of freedom compared to many other religions. We can choose to be a stay at home wife, or work outside the home. We do not have to hide ourselves and we can honor God in our own way. That is liberating.

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Today a couple of our friends shared their testimonies for Easter, and it was quite moving. They are a very young couple that moved here to San Mateo from Alberquerque because they felt called to be here. They said that they did not really think much about the cost of living here, even though the husband read an article about the Silicon Valley that described a couple making over $100,000 a year living in a homeless shelter. Even so, they said that God provided for them every step of the way, and I have really seen how their living situation has improved in the past few years. Their testimony really made me think about what the phrase “God provides” really means, and here are my thoughts.

If you have seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, the little boy in there tells a pretty funny joke about a man and God’s grace. It went something like this:

A man was drowning in the middle of the river and a boat passes by and asked him if he needed help. The man said, “No thank you. God will save me.” So the boat passes him by. Then a larger boat comes by and asks him if he needed help. The man once again said, “No thank you. God will save me”. Once again another boat comes by and asked him if he needed help, and once again the man said that God will save him. Finally the man drowns and goes to heaven. In heaven he asks God, “God, why didn’t you save me?” God then replies, “you idiot! I sent you three big boats! “

I think the joke aptly illustrates that in many instances we don’t recognize what God is providing us and we don’t take the opportunity. God brings relationships and events into our lives that could change our lives completely, but it is up to us to be obedient and work on what God initiates. My friends that shared their life stories today didn’t just sit on their butts once they moved here and waited for God to drop a sack of money in their laps. They worked on what they were given and continued to improve their situation and they are leaps and bounds from where they were before.

I think another reason why we do not recognize God’s work is that we tend to think that a miracle should be a grand gesture as big as winning the lottery. In fact God provides us opportunities everyday that seem completely normal and even insignificant. It is up to us to be discerning enough to develop the leads that are meant for us, and be appreciative of the results.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

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You would think that people with less income are less inclined to give away their money, but according to a recent article on Yahoo Finance that is not the case:

The 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey shows that households with incomes below $20,000 gave a higher percentage of their earnings to charity than did any other income group: 4.6 percent, on average. As income increased, the percentage given away declined: Households earning between $50,000 and $100,000 donated 2.5 percent or less. Only at high income levels did the percentage begin to rise again: For households with incomes over $100,000, the number was 3.1 percent.

What is more interesting is that those who say they cannot afford donations are those who are mostly upper middle income. I wonder why this is the case. Are we in the upper middle class just more in love with our money? In the article they mention that religion is a big influence on the poor and it did remind me of the story in Mark where Jesus observed the donations of people in the temple.

“And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’” (Mark 12:41-44)

I really love that story because it shows that the amount of money donated doesn’t matter, but it’s the heart that matters. If you feel that you can give, it wouldn’t hurt you to give. Some may say that it is foolishness for the lower income families to try to help others when they don’t have enough for themselves, but I think that a lower income doesn’t mean that these people have less sense in money management. Actually when you are poor you are forced to be frugal, and I have lived through that. You learn to get the most out of every dollar when you are smack in the middle of that environment. Just because someone has a lower income it doesn’t mean they have less of a surplus than those who make a lot more than them.

Another thing they teach in Christian churches is that God will provide and all money belongs to God, so giving away money isn’t a painful thing. I definitely believe that God has provided for my family so much more than I can ever give away. After all, money can’t be taken with me when I die anyway. I am really not surprised that the poor give away more money than the rich if most of them are taught the tenets of the Bible. I think generally the more money you have the more you become attached to it, and you manage and nurture it so much that you are afraid you would lose it. However, if you are poor, you are not afraid of losing your nonexistent fortunes. Additionally, when you are too blessed with wealth God gets kicked to the curbside so His teachings become less important. Money makes you feel powerful in a very human and worldly way and it is not always good.

Donating was hard for me at first because I come from a family that doesn’t donate very much. Since going to my current church I started to donate a little bit of money at first, and then a bit more, and then I sought out places to donate money to. I found that once you are willing to donate you can do it without feeling squeamish about handing out money. My parents say that my husband and I donate way too much money but really I don’t miss the money we give away at all. Since I don’t miss it I know it would benefit others more than it would benefit me.

Anyway, those are my random thoughts of the day. Have a great weekend!

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Charities receive a large percentage of their donations during the holiday season and today I would like to highlight a few worthy causes.

1. Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo — This is a charity that’s rated fairly high on Charity Navigator because they’re very efficient in using their funds. They’re still short on food and they are taking any donations at their website or at donation bins at Whole Foods, Safeway, Nob Hill, and FedEx Kinkos in San Mateo and Santa Clara.

2. Bay Area Rescue Mission — I just heard on the radio that this year the Bay Area Rescue Missions’s donations dropped 40% and they’re severely short on food and funds to accommodate hundreds of homeless for Thanksgiving. This is a large homeless shelter in Richmond where my high school youth group used to volunteer. They have an online giving form if any of you Bay Area folks (especially East Bayers) would like to help those in need in your neighborhood. If you’re within driving distance they’re also taking donated turkeys and any kind of food. They believe that this year there is a sharp drop in donations because a lot of aid went to San Diego wild fire relief.

3. One Laptop Per Child — my friend just told me about this buy one give one event at laptop.org and he bought one. This allows you to get the specially designed laptop for $399 and another laptop will be sent to a child in need somewhere in the world. $200 of the $399 you give would be a tax-deductible donation. To bloggers out there, I have confirmed that you can blog on these laptops and T-mobile is offering 1 year of wireless HotSpot service for free so you can take these cute little gadgets to Starbucks and blog. Additionally you may be helping a child somewhere learn about the world. This event ends November 26th.

As always, I still donate to Habitat for Humanity because they make having homes possible for families in need. As I write this I am reminded of Acts 1.8 which says “you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” This is because I have listed the charities in order of their relative distance to me. Since I do believe that my money is from God I hope that the little I give would go from here to the end of the earth. Even if you don’t believe in God I still encourage you to help those closest to you first this holiday season. By helping those in your neighborhood you will improve the part of the world that is most important to you, and it is a win-win situation.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

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Ecclesiastes is probably my favorite book in the Bible because it is a little bit cynical, and at the same time full of hope and faith. It’s a book that matches my personality very well and it has quite a few acute observations about human nature and wealth. Whenever I feel discontent about my career or wealth I read this book and it really puts things in perspective. Here I will highlight some timeless verses from the book, with my comments on how they relate to me.

Chapter 1:

What does a man gain from all his labor which he toils under the sun? Ecc 1:3

 

This is the main topic of Ecclesiastes. What do we gain from working and living? In other words, why are we here? What do we get for working for most of our lives? I think everyone asks this question once or twice.

“Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.” Ecc 1:10-11

This verse can be interpreted to mean that history repeats itself and we only think that something is new because we no longer remember that it happened or existed before. For me, it means that there is no point for me to participate in fads and fashions and purchase the most popular and flashy thing. This verse is especially true for technology products, because people are trying to reinvent the wheel all the time, and many companies and products are very quickly forgotten.

Chapter 2:

The entire second chapter of Ecclesiastes is great reading because it shows that rich people aren’t necessarily happy. The author (who is usually believed to be King Solomon) set out to accumulate great wealth and he successfully gathered a fortune that was above all who were before him in Jerusalem. (Ecc 2:9) Yet he says “so I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind. I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.“ Ecc 2:17-19 In these verses the author realizes that he can’t take his wealth with him when he dies, and he has collected so much just to give it to others. This is true of anyone with too much wealth. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are great examples. They’ve worked their entire lives just to give their enormous wealth to others. Additionally when people make too much money they also pay large amounts of taxes, which is also distributed to others. I don’t think leaving your wealth to others is necessarily a bad thing, but what really struck a chord with me is verse 19 when the author questions whether the receiver of his hard earned fortune is a “wise man or a fool”. At this very moment my tax dollars are being spent on mortgage bailouts, the war in Iraq, and probably ten thousand other issues that I consider foolish, but what can I do about it? Some hope and answers are offered in chapter 3.

Chapter 3:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time to be born,and a time to die;
a time to plant,and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. – Ecc 3:1-11

These chapter offers encouragement that God has a plan for everything, but God is eternal and timeless so that we don’t know what he has already done for us. It also encourages me to have patience, because eventually I will experience God’s work.

Chapter 3 also has this verse, which is a good verse for those who hate their jobs:

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecc: 3:13

Chapters 4 & 5.

These chapters are mostly about all the people that are not satisfied with what they have. It’s a little comical in some parts.

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself. Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind. Ecc 4:4-6

Verse 4 sums up what we call today “keeping up with the Joneses”, and basically says that labor driven by envy is pretty pointless. Verse 5 is sometimes also translated as “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh”, which means that some people are so lazy that they don’t work at all and end up eating themselves. I thought that was funny because my mom told me of a story once of an extremely lazy child who died from starvation even when his mom put a giant pie on his head. This verse reminded me of that story. The opposite of these fools are people are those who work for a lot more than they need, and they’re the ones who have “two handfuls” in verse 6. This brings to mind of those people who bought “McMansions” only to work two jobs to keep their homes. So it is best to be at the middle ground which is work and earn the “handful” I need and be happy with it.

Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. Ecc 4:7-9

I have met people like this who really have way more money they can spend, but still isn’t satisfied. A good example is my company’s CEO whose networth is probably a few hundred million, but he is single and still works to 2am sometimes. I can’t say if he finds it miserable, but I probably would find it fairly depressing if all I had in my life was work. For me, two are definitely better than one, and I wouldn’t trade my hubby for a few hundred million dollars.

He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep. There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm. Ecc 5:10-13

I think these verses give the answer to why people are always pursuing more money. When I first read this I also thought that he meant those who have more to eat got fatter (increased), and that’s harmful to the wealthy. Then again, not all rich people are fat. I think mostly it means that when you have more money it also becomes harder to manage and there is a fear of losing that wealth. Thus the “abundance” sometimes makes the rich lose sleep. Instead of sleeping they could be working to get more money, or managing their money. So wealth produces more work and stress. I have felt that in my life when I am really afraid that the stock market will tank or maybe someone will just steal everything I own, but what I should really be doing is to enjoy what I have been given. So I am still working on this, so that what I have been given does not become harmful to me.

Chapter 6:

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. Ecc 6:1-2

The author speaks of a common affliction of the wealthy. There are many who are blessed with all the riches they desire, but are still depressed and conflicted. Just walk into a supermarket and you’ll see tabloids plastered with pictures of celebrities who could buy everything but happiness. Basically, wealth without the power to enjoy it is worthless, and “an alien” would enjoy it instead. I think the alien here means someone you’re unfamiliar with. For example, there are often stories of people who win lotteries and then suddenly random relatives pop out of the woodworks to befriend them. Money sometimes attracts people who aren’t really your friends, and they may enjoy your wealth more than you. If that happens then there is no point to having all that money.

There are a lot more great verses in this book, and I feel grounded when I read it. Ultimately the book says that God gives people all that they have, and if we enjoy what we’re given it is a gift from God. Also, without some sort of afterlife or eternity every bit of wealth we collect here on earth is meaningless and empty.

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