Saving Money

I was raised under the idea that it was wise to save money.  There are a variety of practical reasons to do this, to prepare for large purchases, like a car or house, in anticipation of retirement, and because you just never know what is going to happen next.  I was always taught that it was irresponsible not to save for the unexpected future, motivated by an underlying philosophy of independence.  Both of my parents are very fiscally conservative people, and I was rarely presented with any other view on money.  That runs pretty far up the tree on both sides of the family.  No relative that I am aware of owns a BMW or a nice boat, but they nearly all own their own homes.  It would probably be fair to say that I come from a fairly risk adverse background.

I of course observed other people's approaches to money, but dismissed them as irresponsible.  And people who took big risks with their money were perceived as impulsive and careless.  Debt was not portrayed as evil, but it was to be avoided unless used in a controlled way, like a mortgage for example.

So based on those principles, I set about life avoiding unnecessary expenses, and saving for the future.  Being a hard worker, talented at what I do, in a fairly lucrative field, I have no shortage of income.  My only extravagant "expenses" were my three month breaks during the summer to work at camp.  Camp has always been more of an opportunity sacrifice than a direct financial sacrifice, but I have no doubt that it was well worth it.  Even taking a quarter of the year off, I had no trouble covering my expenses, with quite a bit to spare.  So without really thinking about it, I amassed a reasonable amount of money at my disposal.

It wasn't until relatively recently that I began to understand that the concepts of fiscal responsibility and good stewardship were not interchangeable, but actually very different ideas.  Fiscal responsibility is about never depending on someone else to cover your expenses (being "responsible" for your own debts) while stewardship centers around the idea that the resources you are "responsible" for, don't actually belong to you.  In a secular context, this usually applies to someone who is a trustee, responsible for managing the resources belonging to someone without the capacity to manage them by them self.  In a Christian context, stewardship is used with the presupposition that God owns everything, and just gives us authority over parts of his creation.

So having a savings account big enough to cover any possible contingency may be fiscally responsible, but it may not be good stewardship, if those resources could be better used to accomplish God's purposes.  I have discussed tithing on here before, and I have been doing that, but that principle is based in income as opposed to assets.  Beyond that, in my current position, I leverage the resources God has blessed me with to make my time available for his use.  There is a balance to be had between giving money and time, but in my experience, giving of time is much more conducive to growth.  I don't feel guilty about "getting something" back from my giving, if it is something I know God wants me to seek out. (Spiritual maturity and wisdom)

I have been reading a book about Christian stewardship, and while I don't necessarily agree with many of the ideas presented, (for example not tithing should probably not be construed as "robbing" God) it offers some interesting insights into financial perspectives that differ from my own.  I am still not convinced of the terrible consequences of saving money, but it is something to think about.