Faith vs. Fear
“Have the faith to be happy, healthy and in control of your
life.” - AARP Advertisement
“The fundamental fact of existence is that
this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that
makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith
is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.” Hebrews 11:1-2
The Message
I
was on a website and came across this statement from AARP in an
advertisement. No, they are not paying
me to advertise for them. But they can
just take this as a freebee from me. But
I found it interesting in light of a conversation I had with a friend earlier
today about faith vs. fear. Fear is the
opposite of faith. And the majority of
us, let’s face it, function from a place of fear, not faith. Even when it is disguised as being “responsible”.
It’s really just our attempt to control the outcomes of our lives. And the more things we put in place to
control the outcomes of our lives, the less we are demonstrating faith in this
area.
Of
course, I find this most evident in working with money and people. There is so
much uncertainty when it comes to financial planning. Yet, it makes people feel
more in control of their lives when they have a plan. Even though, that plan can be interrupted at
any point in time by God’s plan, we feel better about our lives when we are
taking steps to “take control” of our lives in some way. And admittedly, I wrestle with this. Especially when the title on my business card
is “Senior Financial Planner”. How
ironic. I should change it to “Senior
Financial Guesser” because I have no idea if this stuff is going to go according
to plan. I’m not God. And sometimes, we
have to take steps that seem a little outrageous and irresponsible in demonstration
of where our true faith lies. Not
recklessly. But faithfully. And I know that is a fine line. Some people say they are living in faith,
when actually they are just lazy and irresponsible. God only knows the
difference.
Is
it faith to purchase insurance? Is it
faith to project out a retirement plan?
Is it faith to have an emergency fund?
Is it faith to prepare a will? I
guess it depends. We have to start from
a place of truth in order to plan anything in order for our plans to be created
in faith. Because planning can also be
faith. But only if it is not conceived
in fear. I also know that fear is a
great sales strategy. If I make you
fearful of something happening, I might have exactly the right product to sell
you to ease your fear. Then I have put
you in position to make your purchase out of fear of the unknown. It’s exploitive. And I have done it. Forgive me.
I was young.
So
what is true? How do we create financial
plans from truth and faith instead of lies and fear? Well, lets start with at least one
truth: You are going to die. Your life is limited on this planet. There is nothing you can do about it. Not admitting it, won’t make it less
true. Steven Covey (R.I.P.) said that
one of the habits of highly effective people is to begin with the end in
mind. On this planet (I’m not talking
about eternity because you won’t need money there), your end is death. Let’s start there and work backwards. What would you have a desire to accomplish before
you die? What is in your heart to
do? You are closer to finding the truth
of how to manage your money faithfully if you begin recognizing that you do not
know how much time you have to live. Are
you working in a job that represents your faith or your fear? Are you spending your time with people based
on your faith or your fear? Are you
hoarding your money based on faith or fear? What legacy do you want to leave?
How many passages
of scripture actually deal with this issue of faith and fear? I can think of a few off the top of my head
in the New Testament alone (Matthew 25, Hebrews 11, Romans 8). Have I ever even
talked to God about this in my prayer time?
The bible also says that, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”
Hebrews 11:6. So you have to start with
faith to even get on God’s good side, so to speak. Without faith, the implications
of this scripture is that God is not pleased.
Because if we don’t have faith, we don’t know God. It takes faith to even be in relationship with
God. To be able to trust and believe in what
you cannot see takes faith. But it could
also be fear. Maybe I am just afraid
that there is a God, so I just say I believe, when I don’t. Or maybe, I just
need a get-out-of-hell free card, so I do just enough to look like I am
demonstrating faith, but it’s really fear. Only God knows. But God does know.
I
know that my way of engaging clients has changed in the last few years, as God
has forced me to come face to faith* with this truth. I had a lot of plans, but most of them were
fear based and disguised as responsibility. Faith has more to do with what you
are willing to let go of, not what you hold on to in your life. Maybe if we stop trying to control our lives,
we will somehow start living. Wait, I
think that’s a scripture, right? “Whoever tries
to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”,
said Jesus in Luke 17:33. Maybe he was onto
something.
So
I get why AARP would have an ad like that.
They are going after the church crowd. Specifically the African-American
church crown, who historically has not been great at things like financial
planning and insurance protection. But I
think they need to take out the control piece of the ad. Trying to gain control of your life is
truthfully the opposite of faith. Here’s
how I would re-write the ad: “Have the
faith to trust God for all things. And
buy insurance from us.” That’s probably
closer to the truth in my most humble opinion.
·
BTW- That was originally typo, but I thought it
was more appropriate to leave it.
