How much is enough?

Stop and think about that for a second. 

How much is enough? 

“Enough of what?” you may wonder. Good question. Of course it depends on what you need and don’t have (see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). Or perhaps, think you need. But for the purpose of this blog we are mostly considering the question of money. “How much money is enough?” 

In the early 1900’s, John D Rockefeller, owner of Standard Oil Company and America’s first billionaire was asked that exact question, “How much money is enough?” He is said to have replied, “Just a little bit more.” He was the richest man in the world who had the estimated equivalent of $400 billion dollars in today’s currency. Yet, his ‘enough’ was always “just a little bit more.” How tragic to view satisfaction and security as always over the next hill only to arrive there and find it has run on ahead of you yet again. 

He is certainly not alone in chasing the elusiveness of satisfaction through wealth. In the course of researching poverty I came across this meme. 

“Poverty exists not because we can’t feed the poor, but because we can’t satisfy the rich.” I found this anonymous quote and image so compelling that I printed it and put it up on my wall right behind my computer screen. I can glance up at it even as I am typing this. I imagine Rockefeller to be much like the rich white man portrayed in the picture. Unable to find enough despite gorging himself on money. 

On further reflection though, I see myself in this picture too. Not just because I am a white man, but because a combination of privilege and individual choices has led me to a place which is rich by comparison to the majority of the world’s population, wildly rich in comparison to some. I am afraid that in more ways than I realize I am thinking enough is “just a little bit more.” My dissatisfaction is happening at the same time there are dramatic needs for spiritual deliverance and physical provision in the world today. This helps bring clarity to the real tragedy in Rockefeller’s, in my own situation, and perhaps yours too. You see, the real tragedy with Rockefeller was not his lack of fulfillment at being rich. No, it was the host of people who did not have their basic needs met all the while he was extravagantly rich. This is an idea drawn out very well in Ron Sider’s book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and one we should wrestle with today as Christians. 

We need to wrestle with that message because the world is constantly telling us an opposing one. The world keeps telling us we need X to be happy, hundreds of times a day! It tells us we deserve it! Why wouldn’t you want to buy Y, you are worth it! Therefore it is easy to fall into thinking “a little bit more” will get us to “enough.” Perhaps you too have been striving for more with the false promise of satisfaction along with it? Maybe it is time to consider how our inability or unwillingness to stop and ask, “how much is enough?” has contributed not only to our own dissatisfaction but to the poverty others experience on a daily basis. This is something I have been reflecting on and I’ll share a little more here.

I was a lot more generous when I was making good money as a single officer in the United States Marine Corps. But as the years passed by, I moved to Boston (obviously not a cheap place). Also, I got married and had two kids which made being generous more difficult for me. I had other people besides myself to provide for and worry about. A growing family changed how I viewed the question, “How much is enough?” Previously, it had basically functioned as “How much is enough, for me?” How much should I save for my emergency fund? How much for my retirement? My earlier decisions centered on myself. Over time it became “How much is enough for my family?” This is a different and more complicated question. It also happens to be largely ignored by an American Christianity who rightly raises up the importance of family but wrongly overlooks balancing family with other priorities. 

“How much is enough for my family?” is an incomplete question. What is left out is my responsibility to those outside of my family. So to rephrase the question, it would be “How much is enough for me/my family versus my neighbor?” Or “How much is enough for my family balanced with my allegiance first and foremost to King Jesus?” By considering these questions we better balance God’s desire for us to provide for the members of our household but also the household of God and our neighbors. These commands to love God and neighbor cannot be lived out if they don’t have a home in our wallets. Yet simply giving money isn’t the ultimate destination. God asks us to give of our time and talents not just our treasure because God wants all of us to be like Him. Becoming like God involves our money being used for more than our personal or family’s fulfillment. This is a very countercultural message.

Our culture is full of people who will battle tooth and nail to do what is “best” for their families. This isn’t a bad thing in itself but it absolutely matters how you define “best.” Does what is “best” for my family mean excluding others from enjoying the same education system through zoning laws and lack of resources? Is it buying your family the latest gadgets, devices, and clothes? How has what is “best” for our children as Christians become too synonymous with what is the “coolest” or “in” item? Being that my girls are both less than 5, I haven’t had to deal with that head on as of yet. But I’m sure it will be coming. In the midst of this pull for more, I want to be able to open their eyes to how children live elsewhere in the world. Even if they don’t get the newest IPhone (when they are much older!), they still have a lot to be grateful for and have something they could share with others. I hope to make comparing our lives here with how others live a regular activity (like the pictures below). I see gaining perspective as inviting them into the conversation of “enough” as they get older and not imposing my agenda on them with an iron fist. 

 

 

 

 

These pictures came from the book Where Children Sleep by James Mollison. It captures pictures of children and their bedrooms around the world. Do you see any differences between this 8 year old boy in Cambodia (top) vs. the 8 year old boy in the USA? You can check out these and more pictures here. 

I drifted a bit to family but I think it is important. Circling back to my own desires and decisions in the present, I want to explore how to achieve a wise balance of giving to others. Ron Sider advocates for “a balance between supporting emergency relief, development, and broad structural change.” He also says to “Give approximately as much to support evangelism as you do for social justice activities.” These words provide a valuable starting point or rules of thumb for us to consider our giving. It is difficult for someone to find faith if they are dead or their brain has not developed properly because of lack of nutrition as a child. It is helpful but lacking to dig a well for the poor but never provide living water to those who are spiritually parched. We want to give to those who have suffered a disaster but if we run from putting out one fire to the next and never stop to improve fire safety then something is clearly missing. All these speak to a balanced approach to giving that we need to achieve with prayer and discussion with others. Yes, we can really benefit from talk about money as Christians with other Christians! Figuring how much and to whom to give isn’t a simple or prescriptive process. I don’t have recommended percentages as I think it is different for all of us. There are a lot of good organizations out there and a lot of bad ones too! BJFN’s website offers some suggestions for giving here and for vetting here. Maybe start there and explore. See where God is leading your heart. 

These aren’t just nice ideas but Biblical ideas we are trying to put into practice. Psalm 146:7-9 says:

7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

These verses and many others highlight how God so often, identifies with the poor and warns the rich. Lazarus and the rich man is another great example of this (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man is not said to have oppressed Lazarus directly but he certainly ignored his plight and faced judgment because of it. There are many more examples as these are but a brief sampling. Please crack open your bible or For They Shall Be Fed by Ron Sider to dig deeper if you are unconvinced. 

As I wrap up I want to revisit the important questions woven throughout this blog. “How much is enough?” “How much is enough for me, for my family?” “How much is enough for me/my family versus my neighbor?” Or “How much is enough for my family balanced with my allegiance first and foremost to King Jesus?” I encourage you to reflect on these questions and to take action depending on the position you are in. 

If you are in a position of abundance, then please prayerfully consider where God is leading you to give and use Ron Sider’s rules of thumb to guide you. Consider what else besides money you can use to benefit others and not just through transactional relationships. Please don’t feel condemned but convinced of God’s desire to give generously to the poor. 

If you are in a position of difficulty due to inflation, life circumstances, injury, or any other number of causes, consider what you can give to others besides money – time, talent, interest, engagement, advocacy, etc. Also, may God help you and give you wisdom to remain faithful and navigate the stormy waters to a better position. Then when, Lord willing, things do improve and you have more, don’t forget to revisit your “enough.” 

PS: “How much is enough?” is a question highlighted in BFJN’s Generous Living Foundations which you can access here.