Part 3: Biblical wealth is multi-generational
In part 1 of this series, we observed the fact that the Bible says in many places that following God will lead to prosperity. In part 2, we considered God’s unequivocal heart to favor His children.
So, if you’re following this series, you know that I have this crazy idea that following God’s ways, absent of sinful interference, produces wealth. And I do mean wealth of all kids, but I’m landing on financial wealth for our purposes because, well, it’s not called Abraham’s Bookshelf, for starters, but also because that’s an area for which many of us simply don’t believe God intends prosperity.
But if it IS true that God wants to prosper you in all things (which, again, is what THE BIBLE SAYS… not to mention it being consistent with His character as a good Father), and if He does tell us the ways to walk in so that we experience that prosperity (which is one way of looking at the whole point of the Bible), then we should give considerable energy to uncovering which of His Ways we’re currently ignoring, thus doing harm to ourselves and everybody around us. You with me?
Okay, here’s today’s premise: Biblically, family building and wealth are inseparable. You can’t have one without the other—in God’s plan, anyhow. He desires for fathers to be (multi-generational) family builders, and He desires for families to multiply in every way (yes, including their assets). Let’s get three definitions down real quick:
- FATHER: a family leader. Americans think of a father as a guy who has produced children. (Bonus points if he directly parents whatever kids he and his wife have responsibility for.) The Bible doesn’t describe a father this way. A father takes responsibility for an entire family and, to that end, casts and enacts a vision for them all. This extends to as many generations as his leadership affects, even after he dies.
- MULTI-GENERATIONAL FAMILY: One in which “our family” is broader than a mom and a dad and kids. A multigenerational family sees ancestors as part of the story that impacts their every day, and see themselves as part of something that will reach grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond. A MGF asks much bigger financial questions than “Will I have enough for a comfortable retirement?” and “Will my kids be able to earn a suitable living?” MGFs think in terms of the entire family story (not just their own gifts and lives), heritage, and legacy. Every family decision is seen in that context.
- WEALTH: Having more money that you need to survive. In an Abrahamic family model (aka, the MGF), assets are gathered not in order to have larger TVs and plusher La-Z-Boys, but so that our children and grandchildren will be increasing blessings to the Kingdom at large, expanding it with increasing wisdom and resource.
The scriptures give us a pretty simple recipe for wealth. I’m gonna radically oversimplify it here. Ready?
- Work for a living
- Owe $ to no man (this means, among other things, live within your means)
- Save for the future
- Be a giver, particularly to the family of faith and to the poor
- Build wealth little by little (this means year by year and generation by generation) and pass it down
And that’s it. You follow those five steps and your family will end up wealthy. I don’t care if you’re a welder or an accountant or a pipefitter or a cook. You follow those rules for a couple of generations and (minus sinful interference) any family will end up wealthy.
Just for kicks, let’s do a little math problem: Psalm 127 teaches us that having a “quiver full” of kiddos is a blessing. Now a quiver, so I’m told, holds 24 arrows. This is, um, DIFFICULT for a woman to accomplish in one lifetime… (but again, God doesn’t think of fathers nor families with as small a lens as we do…) I could be mistaken, but I’m assuming that this is a scriptural picture of a Multi-Generational Family, and that 24 arrows includes children and grandchildren (that’s 5 kids having 5 kids each… historically, not much of a stretch… but for our purposes, since we modern weenies tend to get squeamish about the idea of big families, what the heck… let’s cut it in half for the sake of this exercise).
So imagine 12 people in a 50-year span (I’m thinking of those two generations; just a group of siblings and their children) all living without debt, not having to buy new land (because there’s plenty of family-owned land onto which they simply add houses and extensions), living within their means, and giving generously, just like their Father (which comes with its own set of blessings, don’t forget). And all these people, this young family (just 2 generations), when they have gains by their regular income, entrepreneurial efforts, or side hustles (remember, they have a family culture of confidence, trying new things and not despairing if they crash, but going full force when they blossom… they’ve got entrepreneurism in their blood!), they throw it into the family pot. You tell me how that doesn’t end up being a massive pile of dough. Impossible. You could even say it was INEVITABLE! (And I’m just talking 50 years, here, starting from zero. God thinks in terms of hundreds of generations, with only the patriarch at the very beginning starting at zero. Seriously?!) We’re talking about a Harvard endowment-sized cash mountain, are we not? Somebody correct me, here. How do we not all see this?
Now, IF this theory were true… IF following God’s statues ends in financial blessing (as well as spiritual and relational and physical and intellectual blessing)… IF it all works out like I’m suggesting… shouldn’t there be a test group? Wouldn’t there be at least ONE family who has lived out God’s dictums and seen financial (and other) blessings for it? Guess what!? There is! There IS a family who has fastidiously applied and tested God’s laws and promises, following them “religiously” if you will.
It’s Abraham’s family.
The Jewish people know this secret that, generationally speaking, wealth is inevitable. It’s how they think of family (and no coincidence that they, the most persecuted, hated, and discriminated against people group in the history of mankind, eventually prosper wherever they go) and they build it into their kids. [For more on this, read Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. I’m going to review this book for you at some point. It’s the cat’s whiskers.]
So if you want to know how to make a pile of money so you can get rich, retire early, luxuriate, and buy a vacation home… go somewhere else.
If you want to buy a boat with a bumper sticker (do boats have bumper stickers?) that says, “I’m spending my children’s inheritance”… go somewhere else.
If you want wealth that begins and ends with you… go somewhere else.
If, however, you want to explore the fullness of God’s plan for prosperity in all areas, both for you and for everyone who follows you… stay with us! It’s a great adventure God has us all on, and we’re all going to keep learning together!
