Skip to content How to manage your money Aug 9 · 44 min ...more
How to manage your money
August 9, 2023 · 44 min
Should you take on debt? Should you invest? There are so many different schools of thought on how to manage your finances, but what does the Bible say? Tune in to Real Men!
Series Mark Driscoll Audio August 9, 2023 · 44 min · Mark Driscoll Audio
Should you take on debt? Should you invest? There are so many different schools of thought on how to manage your finances, but what does the Bible say? Tune in to Real Men! ...more Show the full description Show less Should you take on debt? Should you invest? There are so many different schools of thought on how to manage your finances, but what does the Bible say? Tune in to Real Men!
Series Mark Driscoll Audio
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With Pastor Mark, it’s all about Jesus! He is a spiritual leader, prolific author, and compelling speaker, but at his core, he is a family man. Mark and his
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0:01 Good Fight. That's the name of our summer real men bible study. We'll be going verse by verse through first Timothy. You and me up here in the mountains, real informal, casual. 12 weeks looking at an older0:12 man named Paul building up and investing in a younger man named Timothy, teaching him how to be a man of God and fight a good fight. And I'll tell you, in a day when the world has0:24 lost its mind and everything's going to hell, A few men need to learn how to fight. I'll see you guys online this summer as we study 1 Timothy, The Good Fight. All right, guys. Welcome back to Real Men.0:37 This is the final episode of the Good Fight series in 1 Timothy. Thanks for joining me. We've looked at Paul like a man of God who's like a spiritual0:48 father, investing in Timothy who's a younger man, helping build him up to fight the good fight of the faith, to quote the words of the text itself. And today1:00 is command number 11. Last but not least, manage money. First Timothy six:three-ten. So we're gonna talk about your money. Some of you1:11 guys, really good with your money. You're the financial guys, you're the investors, the stewards. You're good at investing, saving, tithing, multiplying. Some of you, you don't know1:23 what you're doing. You're like, I don't know, I'm not a math guy. I'm not good with a plan. I've got myself in debt. Maybe you've got yourself in trouble. I always told this to my kids,1:35 especially my sons, avoid car debt at all costs, avoid college debt at all costs, avoid credit card debt at all costs. That's like digging a1:47 hole 3 layers deep And then as you're sort of entering the workforce, if you have car debt, college debt, credit card debt, it's going to take you years of paying off what is
1:59 now exorbitant high interest rates as the Fed keeps ratcheting up kind of that prime number to the highest point in more than 20 years.
2:11 And so for us who have debt, it's a critical time. I've always tried to keep my debt low. I'm allergic to debt and drama, so I try to avoid
2:23 both at all costs. If you can stay out of debt and be good with your money, you're going to save yourself a lot of pain. The Bible says that the borrower is slave to the
2:35 lender. If you owe money, you're not free. You've got to go do whatever it takes to pay your debt. And if you have high interest debt, you're probably not even touching the principal
2:46 and you're just sort of wasting time and energy and money. Start with a little bit of a story and then we'll make this super practical. When Grace and I first got married,
2:59 we were very different. I grew up poor, no debt, no credit cards, and Grace grew up not really understanding money. And quite frankly,
3:11 she was more of a saver than me. I was more of a spender, but we had to learn how to manage our money together as a newly married couple at the age of 21.
3:23 And 1 of the things that we disagreed, debated about was giving to the Lord. She grew up as a pastor's daughter, so she's used to giving to the Lord. Well, I didn't grow up in church and I'm a brand new Christian.
3:35 I'm college broke. I'm married college broke, know, 21. We got hit with an unexpected defaulted college loan that I inherited with Grace as a
3:47 bit of a dowry. So suddenly I'm like, I'm working, she's not. We're both in college full time, we're college broke. I now have debt. I'm triggered by debt, paranoid of debt.
3:59 Debt to me is like kryptonite to Superman. I'm not a big fan. And Grace is like, No, we need to give first and best to the Lord. It's called first fruits. I was like, The Lord's doing fine, babe. We
4:11 are flat broke. We are college broke. We're renting a basement apartment from a couple at their house. I'm chopping wood to heat it. Our rent was 2 50 dollars a month and we barely made
4:23 it. And Grace is like, no, we need to give to the Lord. I was like, okay, okay. So I'll never forget, the plate was coming by and we put 100 dollar bill in, which
4:34 100 dollar bill to us may have had 6 more zeros at the end. And I thought, that's it. We're ruined. We're bankrupt. We're homeless. My wife doesn't like camping, but that's now going to be our lifestyle, is
4:46 living in a tent in some park. And lo and behold, that week, my pastor came up, our pastor came up and he's like, I was praying for you guys and God told me to give this to you. He pulled out of his wallet. I
4:58 kid you not, 100 dollar bill. I brought it back to Grace. She was like, yes, see, that's what the Lord does. You can trust the Lord. It's faith he'll provide. I said, no, no, no, honey. No, no, no. I was an idiot. I gave
5:10 100 bucks and God gave it back to me. I've learned my lesson. Never give your money again. Grace is like, no, no, no. We gotta give to the Lord. Was like, dang it. So then we gave another hundred bucks.
5:22 I don't know if it was a month or 2 months. I don't know when it was. And I kid you not. I told Grace, I said, that's it. We're bankrupt. We're homeless. You know, we're gonna be like, you know, just out foraging,
5:34 you know, at the park eating whatever. Can scrounge. We're just dead. And she's like, No, the Lord will provide. She's got this high gift of faith. And I kid you not, it was crazy. It was like, shortly
5:45 thereafter, we lived up on a hill, middle of nowhere, somebody's house down around the back, a little apartment. Somebody slipped under our door. I don't even know how anybody got back
5:57 there. I kid you not, 100 dollar bill. And I showed Grace and she's like, see, the Lord will take care of us. I was like, okay, I've learned my lesson. And so, you know, some of us
6:09 really stress about money, some of us don't. Some of us really plan, some of us don't. Some of us are savers, some of us are spenders. And so really money is part of your worship. And if you look
6:21 at, say an American bill, it says, In God we trust. And it should say, In this God we trust. And Jesus says, you can't worship God and money. So in this section, we're going to talk briefly
6:32 about money. And I do want to dig into it in just a moment. But I wrote this down here, kind of verbal processing a bit. When it comes to
6:44 money, wealth, possessions, we're talking about your stocks, your retirement, your cash, your equity, your debt, all of that. There are 3 ways to view finances, wealth, and possessions.
6:56 Number 1 is selfish. What's mine is mine. You don't share, you're not generous, you don't tithe, you don't give. This leads to hoarding, stingy mindset, being miserly. What's mine is
7:08 mine. It also can lead to entitlement, which is an entire generation of tragically young men who are more socialistic in their mindset, thinking that other people should go to work and if they make a lot
7:20 of money, I am owed a percentage of it, which is simply not true. Stealing is what's yours is mine. These are people that are trying to take advantage, cook the books, scheme
7:32 a deal. These are people who are disingenuous in their business dealings. These are people that flip cars that they know are lemons. These are people who sell homes without disclosing, you know, work
7:44 that needs to be done. These are people who bill for hours that they don't work, they're stealing. And the Bible talks about that as a sin in the 10 commandments. The third is stewarding. So,
7:55 selfish, what's mine is mine. Stealing, what's yours is mine. Stewarding, what's mine is his. It belongs to the Lord. It's entrusted to me to manage and steward his
8:07 resources. Therefore, it's like, Lord, how do you want me to spend your money? Where do you want me to invest your money? Where do you want me to give and tithe your money? We're not
8:18 owners. God is the owner. We are the manager of what belongs to the Lord. There are about 800 scriptures that talk about our wealth. About 25 percent of Jesus teaching
8:30 talks about wealth and finances. And people often ask, should I tithe 10 percent? Well, in the old Testament, the tithe was 10 percent. Tithe means 10 percent. So you can't tithe
8:42 4 percent because tithe literally means 10 percent. Of your gross, not your net, it's first fruits to the Lord, which means first and best. Some would say, well, the new covenant, we're not held to it. Well,
8:54 I would say the new covenant exceeds the old covenant. So Jesus says, not only don't murder, don't murder with your heart or your words. The old covenant says, don't commit adultery. Jesus says,
9:06 don't commit adultery in your heart. And so if anything, the new covenant by grace expects more than the old covenant of the law. If that's the case, then 10 percent would be a good floor and not necessarily a
9:17 ceiling. All that to say, let's jump into finances. And I don't know how much you make, and I don't really care how much you make. I think it's how you invest and spend and save what you make.
9:29 He says, chapter 6, verses 3 through 5, first Timothy, If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up
9:41 with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicion, and constant friction among people
9:53 who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. And here's what he's saying. He's saying that you need to make sure that you love God
10:05 and use money, that you don't love money and use God. That's the big idea. You either love God and use money, or you love money and you use God. And what he says is that 1 of the
10:17 greatest temptations, tests, trials of your spiritual maturity as a man of God is how you handle your wealth. And what he says is that if you want to believe
10:29 something that is unbiblical, ungodly, you can always find somebody who is going to put together a well cogent, reasoned argument to
10:40 justify your greed, your covetousness, your poor behavior, your stealing, your lack of generosity, your miserly attitude, your self indulgence, your massive
10:52 debt spending, whatever the case may be. However you would air in mismanagement and bad stewardship, what he's saying is there's always somebody out there who's willing to say, you know, let me
11:04 put together some verses out of context and maybe quote a few Greek or Latin phrases so that I sound like an academic and like someone who has authority. Let me just say this, if you wanna be a socialist or
11:16 a communist and the difference is degree and not kind, you can find Christians who are going to tell you that you are owed by the government and that justice would be them stealing from those who
11:28 have to give to you in spite of your lack of work ethic or good stewardship. If you want to justify massive debt for yourself, you can find people who will justify that.
11:40 If you want to stop giving to the local church and to the Lord, you can find people who will justify that. If you want to be a deadbeat, you know, ex husband and loser dad who
11:51 doesn't pay his child custody, support payments, and look after his family, you can find people who will give you cogent logical reasons why you are justified in being a miser
12:03 and a loser. All of that to say, 1 of the greatest tests for a man in our heart is how we view and manage and steward our wealth and our possessions.
12:15 And it is a test. It's a test of where our loyalty lies and where our Lord truly lives. Is he in heaven ruling and reigning? Or is in our wallet spending and
12:26 saving? That being said, he says that some people think that, you know, they can just weaponize and use God for profit and gain. These are people who will pretend to be Christians to earn
12:38 favor and trust in business dealings and then gut people. These are people who will want a down payment for a contract, let's say on a home improvement project. Hey brother, I got you, praise the Lord, here's the
12:50 fish on my card. They have no intention of ever finishing the work or doing it well. And what he's saying is, you either worship God with your wealth or you worship your wealth
13:02 as your God. Jesus says this way, you can't love God and money. You've got to pick 1. So here's what he says to And this is And see what happens is when we talk about money, because the world
13:14 we live in, thinking about the rich and the government and what I'm owed and entitlement. And we've got this stupid, nonsensical buffoonery like basic universal income. Well,
13:26 so everybody who's breathing gets an income. Well, who's going to go to work and pay for that? Well, we can't afford it. What are we going do? We're going to take out more debt. Okay. So who's going to pay that off?
13:35 Well, our kids and our grandkids. Well, that's okay. Cause we're going to get vasectomies or be, you know, gender mutilated or be transgender or abort our children. So then our children won't have to pay for it in
13:47 the future. We'll just rack up debt now. And then those heterosexual stupid people who go to work, their kids and grandkids can pay it in the future. It's a big Ponzi scheme and it's an offense.
14:00 And all national debt is, it is stealing from your children and grandchildren. And all personal debt is, it's stealing from your children and grandchildren. The Bible says in Proverbs that a wise man leaves
14:12 an inheritance for his children's children. He doesn't leave a debt to his children's children. He doesn't leave a bankruptcy to his children's children. And he doesn't leave nothing to his children's children. And so I
14:23 don't know what kind of home or family you came from, but if you're a man, you've got to start to think in terms of generational wealth and legacy. And if you receive something, great. How do you invest that, multiply
14:34 that, and then hand that off? If you have nothing, how do you start so that your children can stand on your shoulders and their children can stand on their shoulders and at some point
14:46 generationally, your family makes some financial progress. Here's what he says, But godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness and contentment. And a lot of people think, I need more money.
14:58 What you need is more godliness. That's how you manage your life and money. The average American today, I mean, you look at it eating out and you look at all the vices, vaping,
15:11 you know, legalized marijuana, decriminalized hard drugs, alcohol addiction. Most people frankly eat too much and are obese, buying brand new cars, taking out high
15:23 interest loans for college debt, credit card debt, car debt, highly self indulgent, don't even know how to cook a meal, just expecting somebody to deliver it pre cooked to their house, not putting
15:34 together a budget, not living within their means, impulse buying and spending, it's ungodly. It's very ungodly. And more money doesn't fix your problems. I grew up in a poor
15:46 neighborhood. Next door, a couple doors down, there was a family. I won't name names. I think there was, somebody died, left them a big inheritance. They went out and blew
15:58 it. Lot of dinners, cruises, trips, new cars, everything. They didn't invest it. People, if you don't give them wisdom and you give them money, they just
16:10 do what fools do with money and they lose it very quickly. So what he says is, if you have a money problem, don't start with the money, start with godliness and contentment. Godliness is character and
16:22 contentment is saying, how can I make do with what I have? If I can't afford more, I can't spend more. And contentment is this, it's living within your means.
16:34 And the truth is the average American lives like an ancient king. If your toilet is indoors, you're a king. If water comes out of a tap and you don't haul it with a bucket, you're a king. If you
16:46 have central heating and or air conditioning, you are a king. If you drive your own car and you don't walk everywhere or jump on a bus, you are a king.
16:58 If you have extra food in the pantry and you've got weeks of food to eat in the freezer, you are a king. Let's just be honest, most of
17:10 us in the Western world, our struggle is diabetes, not starvation. Our struggle is we have junk in our closets and in our
17:21 garages, and we keep dumping stuff at the thrift stores because we have more stuff than we can even use. And I'm not saying that it's a sin to have, but I'm saying if you
17:33 can't afford it, it's a sin to get it. Because at the end of the day, God gives you for your need. He doesn't give you for your greed. Hear me again in this. He gives you for your need, not for your
17:45 greed. And if you're a single guy, here's the 3 things you need to do. Pay off your debt and save and save some more. That's what you need to do. Because once you get married and you start a
17:57 family, you're gonna have a lot of expenses. But what we have now, and I'll get into it in a moment, is a generational crisis. He goes on to say, For we brought nothing into the world, which is true.
18:08 You were all born buck naked. None of you came with designer diapers on. I just met my firstborn grandson. He's beautiful. He's wonderful. He came into the world buck naked and flat broke. That's where
18:20 we all start. And we take nothing out of the world. That's true. When you die, your soul goes to be with the Lord, your body goes into the grave and your stuff goes to the garage
18:32 sale. That's what happens. And so, you know, at the end of the day, you think of all of the tremendous money that we spend for things that at the end of the day, we don't even oftentimes get to
18:44 enjoy. Like I know guys that have made it. Let me just I'm just gonna give you the dad rant. There's a big difference between income and lifestyle. Just because you make more money doesn't mean you live a better
18:56 life. I'll give you an example. I know guys that have vacation homes and they can't ever get to them because they're working too much to get a day off because they have so much debt that they can't afford to to the
19:06 vacation home that they're working to pay off. I know guys that have, you know, side by sides and fishing boats and, you know, water ski boats and golf clubs and country club
19:18 memberships that they never get to enjoy because they're too busy working. I know guys that have worked their whole life to make a mountain of money and they have neglected and ignored their wife. And so she ran off with
19:30 another guy and got an attorney and gutted him for half of everything he ever worked for. And it would have been better if he spent that money on date nights instead of divorce attorneys and making memories with his wife
19:41 rather than paying for attorneys for his wife. And so just because you make more doesn't mean you live better. And at the end of the day, I mean, if God is your father,
19:53 your identity is not established by whose name is on your underwear, how many square feet you have, what zip code you live in, or what lifestyle you have. I mean, if you can afford something,
20:05 pay for it. I don't care. But if you can afford it, don't spend money you don't have to impress people you don't even know. Okay? That's the big idea. Don't spend money you don't have
20:17 to buy stuff you don't need to impress people you don't know. And so he goes on, but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. I don't know about you, but he says food and
20:29 clothing. He doesn't even throw housing in there, let alone high speed internet. Food and clothing, in most of the world, that's an issue. I mean, most people don't have, you
20:41 know, a massive wardrobe. I mean, most of us have got a closet and some of us have got a closet that's big enough for our own zip code and it just houses all of our clothes. Mean, and some of us,
20:53 I mean, we're living a bougie life and we're working so much, we don't even get to enjoy it. I mean, I wonder if an alien showed up to our house, if they would wonder if our cat or our dog actually was
21:05 the owner of the manor and we were the slave off at work all day, just trying to provide an incredible lavish palatial lifestyle for our pets because they're the only ones that are really
21:17 enjoying everything that we're working for. And he goes, we will be content, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation. Now, there's no problem in being rich. We looked at it before. There's
21:29 righteous rich, unrighteous rich, or godly rich, ungodly rich, godly poor, ungodly poor. There's nothing wrong with being rich. There are godly people in the Bible that are rich. There are ungodly people that are rich.
21:40 It doesn't matter. But the desire to be rich. What he's talking about here is the heart posture. And this is where I am never satisfied. Once I get a house, I want a bigger house. Once I get a bigger house, I
21:52 wanna renovate the bigger house. Once I get to the bigger house and I renovate the bigger house, then I wanna upgrade it to a bigger house. Once I get the car, I want another car. And then I need a backup. And it's just
22:02 like, at what point is that greed going to lead to your demise? Alright, guys. Pastor Mark here, letting you know about the latest book, New Days Old Demons.
22:15 It's a prophetic word against pathetic wokeness. You guys understand exactly what I'm talking about. Hopefully, it is on sale. If not, it's coming out very, very soon. Would appreciate your prayers
22:26 as we punch a lot of people and things in the mouth. And if it's a help, get a copy. And what he's talking about is this desire to get rich. And it comes to mind, I just comes
22:38 to mind, there's something called conspicuous consumption that sociologists will talk about. And that is that in a consumer marketplace, we don't buy things because of their
22:50 utility, but because of their identity. What I mean is this. You may be wearing Fruit of the Looms or some high name, I don't know, maybe you're a
23:02 Kardashian fan. So, you know, I don't know if some of you dudes wear skims. I mean, anymore, we don't really have our binary gender categories, but Kim Kardashian's got the SKIMS line. That's probably, I'll be
23:14 honest, I've not bought any SKIMS. I haven't tried any SKIMS, and I don't intend to. But let's say that you want to get really expensive designer underwear. Why is
23:25 that? Because they're better? Well, no. Designer underwear does the same thing that Fruit of the Looms does or the Tidy Whities from Costco, and they cover the parts that need to be covered,
23:37 and that's what they do. The difference is a name brand says something about your status as an individual. I'm wearing a Levi's shirt I got at 1
23:50 of those factory outlet places where you get stuff for cheap. Okay. You can get a high end name brand. Like I was looking at another manufacturer
24:02 that makes Western shirts. They were 1200 American dollars. And you would think for that, that they would come to your house and put it on you personally while they rubbed your neck and bored a pig
24:13 and treated you like a god. What's the difference between the 2 shirts? About 11 65 dollars Either way, they basically do the same thing.
24:25 They go on my body and they cover the parts that no 1 wants to see. And so you start to think about why do we need to have certain things, not because of their function or utility, but because of their
24:37 identity. If you show up in a Kia, everybody's like, If you show up in a Maserati, wow. Lamborghini, wow. What is it? Bugatti Veyron, wow. Show up in a Honda, they're like,
24:49 but who cares? They do the same thing. You start 1 place, you drive to another place, and then you get out. If your identity is secure in the fact that you are a son of God
25:02 and you have an eternal inheritance in a bougie kingdom with streets lined with gold. It really doesn't matter what your lifestyle is. Be grateful, be content. You
25:14 can't take it with you. Enjoy your life. Enjoy your wife, your kids, your memories, your friends, your health, your free time. And, you know, I'm glad. I love my life. I'm
25:25 blessed. I'm thankful. I'll tell you what I did just before this. I'm up in the mountains. I went for about a 5 or 6 mile hike. And you know what it cost me? Free 99. And it was beautiful. I saw the
25:37 deer running, baby deer born. I saw fish jumping. I saw a bald eagle flying in the sky. And I just prayer walked for hours and talked to the Lord Jesus. It didn't cost me anything
25:49 and it was beautiful because your income and your lifestyle are not necessarily the same. That's why some of the most successful, rich and affluent people kill themselves.
26:01 They have a lot of money, but they don't have a full life. Just because your house is full, just because your closet is full, just because your bank account is full, doesn't mean that your soul is full.
26:13 And so make sure to make those investments. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation into a snare into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
26:25 Who's the 1 guy on Judas' team that really was discontented with money? Judas. He didn't think he had enough, so he kept stealing. And he kept stealing until he sold Jesus and, you know, put a bounty on
26:37 his head and murdered him. And what Jesus said and what is being said here by Paul is, money is not a problem, but the love of money is a problem. And there's a scripture there that a lot of people
26:49 misquote. They'll say, money's the root of all kinds of evil. No, it's not. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Love God, love people, use money to love God and people. It's the love of money. It's the
27:00 lust of money. And for some of you guys, you get so competitive. It's like, you don't need any more money, but it almost becomes like a sporting event in business where you're just going to rack up the score
27:12 by racking up your income. For the love of money, he says, is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with
27:23 many pangs. Well, Jesus says, you can't love God and money. And so I would just say this, guys. I will close with this. Let me just read a little
27:35 bit. There's a new report that came out and check my notes here too. You know, I probably should have prepared for this, but you get what you pay for. And this is always free.
27:48 And so, if you want to learn more about how to manage money, there are ministries. 1 is called Crown Financial Ministries. It's good. Bible based, practical. In addition, there's a dude
28:00 named Dave Ramsey. I had my kids listen to Dave Ramsey growing up and kind of helped them think about money. Dave was super helpful. And so
28:12 he will help you think through paying off your debt, getting an emergency saving fund, investing in the future, making sure you tithe to the Lord. He'll help you with the percentages
28:24 of what should go in what category. And, his ministry also has, tools, apps, and different things to help you track your spending. So, if
28:35 you're not good with money, number 1, just start learning. Go to Crown Financial or Dave Ramsey. Start learning. Find people, guys who are good with their money and just ask them a lot of questions.
28:47 Could you help me learn? But here's where we're at. And I say this is a generational crisis. I'm reading from a recent report and the headline is young adults are taking
28:59 longer to reach key life milestone impacting finances later analysis shows. So, here's what it says. Young adults in the US are taking longer to reach key life milestones that
29:11 impact finances compared to 4 decades ago according to a Pew Research Center analysis. In 20 21, adults who were 21 were less likely to have a full time job, be financially
29:22 independent, living on their own or married, or have children than their predecessors from 19 80. It goes on to say, Today's young adults are closer to full time employment and
29:34 financial independence by age 25. The analysis of Census Bureau data shows financial independence is defined as having a single income of
29:46 at least 150 percent of the poverty level. In 20 21, some 39 percent of 21 year olds were working full time compared to nearly 2 thirds in 19 80.
29:58 And only 1 quarter were financially independent of their parents versus more than 40 percent in 19 80, the analysis found. So here's what we are seeing.
30:11 We are seeing an entire generation of young men who are trying to extend breastfeeding into their thirties. That's what we're seeing. They're trying to have
30:23 mom continue to feed them until they find a girlfriend with a good job to pick up where mom has left off. The average guy today is not working like
30:35 he should. We talked about it earlier. There is a labor report out, NILF, not in labor force. The highest percentage, I think, of 25 to 55 year old men in the history of the United States of America who
30:46 are able to work, but not in the workforce or seeking work. Why? They're not wanting to work. What happened during the nonsense of COVID, we shut the world down, everybody go home, stop your plans, don't get
30:58 married, don't start your business, you know, don't start your family, go move in with your mother, the government will just send you money, sit on the couch with a mask on, vape, order DoorDash, download
31:10 porn and play video games, rinse and repeat for the next decade until you go 2 guys back on the evolutionary chart and you're barely a functional adult. That's what we did. You guys need
31:22 to know that what happened in the past few years, it gutted you, it demoralized you, it racked up debt for your future and it created dependence on your mother and your government.
31:34 That's what it did. And so where we find ourselves now, there are men who are not working, they're not looking for work. For those who are working, they're working dead end Joe jobs.
31:46 They're just, you know, driving Uber until they get enough money for the day and then they're done for the day. They're not looking at a career. They're not trying to get a trade. They're not trying to build a business.
31:56 They're not trying to build a portfolio, they're not trying to build a credit score, they're not trying to acquire real estate, and they've always got a freaking excuse. At first it was, Oh, we have a pandemic. Oh, the
32:07 government's sending me money. Oh, my mom likes it when she gets to take the crust off my sandwich. And so I live in her basement. Oh, now we have high interest rates. Oh, I
32:19 mean, there's always going to be an excuse, always. Until Jesus comes back, everything's gonna suck, and you're gonna have to just put your chin down, your hands up, and you're gonna fight through it. You're a freaking
32:29 man. And the difference between a boy and a man is this. Boys take, men give. That's the difference. Boys take, men give. If all you're doing is taking from your mother, your government,
32:41 you're not a man, you're a boy who can shave, you're not a man until you take care of yourself, you give to the Lord and your wife and family. Men give, boys take.
32:53 Men give, boys take. We have an entire generation of boys who are taking, and we don't have enough men who are working. And I don't just believe in Jesus, I also believe in math, the numbers
33:04 don't work. If you have more men who are boys and taking, then you have men who are men that are giving, then you have a crisis. That's exactly where we are. And that's exactly where we are
33:16 headed. And so now guys are following the asinine pattern of the government, and that is just rack up debt, kick it down the road, and then eventually somebody or somehow it will be taken care of, which is not
33:28 the case. That being said, what we're seeing now is young men are waiting longer to launch. And this is part of the problem of rite of passage. When do you become a man? Is it when
33:40 it's 16 when you can drive? 18 when you can vote? 21 when you can buy a beer? Is it when you leave your mother's home? Nobody knows. So we keep pushing the age from boy to man, and we've created
33:52 this intermediate season called adolescence. Adolescence is where you have the freedom of a man, but you have the maturity of a boy. This is now from your late teens into your early thirties, and it just keeps getting
34:03 extended. And during this time, you're not looking for a wife. You're not looking for a job. You're not looking for a career. You're not looking for a home. You become very selfish. You become very self indulgent,
34:16 and it's disgusting. These are the guys, when you go to the store, they've got bed head at 2 30 in the afternoon and they're still in their pajamas because apparently getting up by the crack of launch is too much to
34:28 bear. And the thought of taking off 1 set of pants that are made for bed and putting on another set of pants that are made for outside of the home is just far too much for that guy. He just
34:40 can't take that much responsibility during the course of the day. These are the guys that you can tell they're still walking around in the store in their pajama shirt covered with their slobber
34:52 and the dust from their Cheetos and Doritos that they were up gaming and munching on all night. Guys, I'm not making this up. It's freaking disaster. It is a crisis. It is an embarrassment.
35:04 It is horrifying. Most young men, literally, 2 things you need, a mirror and a scale. What do I weigh and how do I look and how did I get here and how do I get out? And let me say
35:16 this, if you're a young guy and you're taking your responsibility seriously, what a once in a lifetime opportunity. Right now, employers
35:28 can't find employees. And if they find employees, they can't find ones who can pass a drug test and will show up to work, you know, more than 3 days in a row. If you are a young man, hear
35:40 me in this. This is what I tell my sons. I got 3 sons. Number 2 is about number 1, just had his first kid, married. Number 2, getting married at 21 as well. Number
35:52 3, is working on a construction crew all summer and working on cars and he's going to be a senior in high school. Here's what I tell my boys. First, get up. In the morning,
36:04 get up. Number 2, put pants on. Dress like an adult. Number 3, try. Just get up and freaking try. Go find a job. Go find another job.
36:16 Go find a side hustle. Go figure out a career. Go get a degree. Go marry a woman. Figure out how to buy a house. And there are men who can help you figure out how to do all these things. Let me just say this. If you show
36:28 up to a church and there are godly older men there and you're a young man, you're like, hey, I don't want to be like the rest of the idiots in my generation. I don't want to sit on my mom's couch for 10 years voting for
36:39 Biden so that I can get free crap. I want to take responsibility, grow up and be a man. There is going to be a parade of men at your church who are going to say, awesome. Okay. Here's how you read your Bible.
36:52 How much debt do you got? Here's how you pay it off. Let me help you find a job. Once you find a job, find a chick who's not crazy. Get to know her. Marry Here's how you buy a house. Here's how you raise a
37:03 kid. Let me say this, the earlier you start, it's like a complete, incredible head start. This is what I've told my boys. Man, if you can get married
37:15 and own a house in your early twenties, you are 10, 10, 10 years ahead. Look at it like a NASCAR race. Imagine if everybody was in the pits for 10 years, except for 1 guy who
37:27 was going around the track. Even if that guy didn't drive fast and he wasn't a particularly good driver, he's really got a good head start and nobody's gonna catch him. The inanity, the
37:39 insanity of our day means that there is this open lane for God's men to read the word of God and to try and to care. And a lot of this is financial. Don't let people lie to you.
37:50 There's always a way to make money if you're willing to work hard, invest smart, tithe generously, and live within your means with godliness and contentment. In closing, as you're thinking about your
38:02 finances, here's just a couple of things that Dave Ramsey shares. First, you got to pay your tithe. Pay to the Lord. I believe that 90
38:14 percent of your income blessed with God's favor will be better than 100 percent without his blessing and favor. In addition, I don't think you should steal from
38:26 God. I just don't think it's a good idea. In addition, you've got to pay your taxes. And there's always people that are like, oh, I read this thing on the internet. I was doing research and you don't have to pay your
38:37 taxes. Literally the last 3 guys that told me that are in prison. So if you're watching this, I told you so. Pay your taxes. Get a good tax advisor if you need to,
38:49 you know, reduce your tax deficit, but pay your taxes. Jesus paid his taxes. Jesus is God. He came to the earth and the government taxed him. If they tax Jesus, they're going to tax you.
39:01 Then your housing is your number 1 expense. So tithe, tax, house, about 25 percent of your income, roughly toward your living. The sooner you can own, the better. Don't pay
39:13 somebody else's mortgage, pay your own. Many of you young guys probably don't know, but there are first time home buyer loans that are custom designed to help people buy their first home. It's a once in aShow more
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Mark Driscoll
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