Borrowing Is Slavery. December Will Not Fix You

Sermon outline

The increase comes from the Lord, not from the system, so stop looking to your employer and your debt for answers, build your life on Christ, and find a rest that is a state of mind in God rather than a month off work.

1. God gives the growth

   Paul planted and Apollos watered, but neither the skill nor the articulation brought the growth; God did. We are God's fellow workers, His field and His building, and we are not our own. Wealth in God's sense flows from the anointing and from gratitude, not from our ability.

   “It wasn't the ability, nor was it the skill level, nor was it his articulation, but it was the Lord that brought the growth.”

   • 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
   • Deuteronomy 8:18

2. The wisdom of this world is folly to God

   Paul was born into privilege, educated under the leading teacher of his day, a Jew's Jew, and a persecutor of the church, yet after meeting Jesus he counted everything he had learnt as dung. The system has taught us how to get a degree and a job but never how to live. Abraham did not go to university or work a system, yet the Lord increased him. The deception is believing we are what we studied, and that money from the bank through bonds, hire purchase and credit cards is anything but a form of slavery.

   “The system has taught us how to work, but the system has never taught us how to be everything that God has called us to be.”

   • 1 Corinthians 3:18-20
   • Acts 9:3-6
   • Philippians 3:8

3. The Jones Plantation: still slaves under the guise of freedom

   He retells the story from a book called The Jones Plantation, in which the slaves are declared free men working for the common good, yet the owner still runs the farm and the slaves end up whipping their own. The workplace often works the same way: you sacrifice family time, do two people's jobs on one salary and are told it is for the common good. If you are a son of the system you will always look to the system for the answer, and there will always be someone earning more, doing less, holding your career in his hand.

   Illustration: Ten years in, the boss says, you're such a good worker, don't worry, when the time comes we'll look after you. Fifteen years in, nothing has happened. The same applies to looking to a change of government to fix things: it is the same plantation on a different day.

   “If we're looking for the answer in the system there will always be some Bobby who will earn more money, who will do less, who will slave drive you, and will hold your career in his hand.”

4. Work should not control your life

   Everyone should work, but the disciples did not keep careers while preaching the gospel; Scripture calls it tentmaking, doing what is necessary while fulfilling the call. If you end up in hospital with stress, the company does not stop, and at your funeral they send flowers and carry on. If the time you give God and the time you give your career do not match, it shows in burnout, high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety and more, and you cannot train your children in the way of the Lord while you are still a slave to the system.

   Illustration: Come December everyone says they need a break: up two hours before the office, paperwork until the cows come home, a report, a presentation.

   “It's not that we don't have time, we don't prioritise correctly.”

   • Matthew 26:52
   • Acts 18:3
   • Proverbs 22:6

5. Take care how you build: the fire will test it

   The only foundation is Christ, and everyone builds on it with gold, silver and precious stones or with wood, hay and straw. Everyone will go through fire, which is a test and not a sign that you are less of God's child. What was selfish or built away from the Lord will burn, and what the Lord was in will still stand. We are stewards with ownership responsibility, including over our children, who are the Lord's.

   Illustration: Even a business you own was built on faith: there was nothing, you trusted the Lord, and it became something. Christ has to stay its foundation.

   “The fact that I'm standing here today, it means I went through the fire and I came out on the other side.”

   • 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

6. Rest is a state of mind in God

   The holiday is for family and recuperation, not for going out on Friday and coming home on Sunday morning. But the anxiety and pressure end when we come to rest in the Lord, not when the work is done. People told to take time for themselves often drop church but keep working; me time should include God time. You are God's temple, and He will restore what was stolen and deal with those who held your career down.

   Illustration: Early in a job, two colleagues put him down at every turn until he was close to being fired. He told the Lord he would trust Him whatever happened. Then the police arrived, the two men were arrested, and the same people who had sided with them had to trust him, and he turned the business around.

   “Me time is not away from God time. Me time is inclusive in God time.”

   • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

7. Driving into the fog: the Spirit and the word

   Life by faith is like driving the road to Johannesburg in fog: God's calling, anointing and Spirit are the headlights, and the word is the lane lines that keep you on the road. Let the word dwell in you richly this December. Memorise the scriptures for what you are facing so they change the words you speak and the behaviour of your heart, and stand on the promise that God will never leave you nor forsake you.

   Illustration: Sometimes the road is clear and sometimes you see only the two lines on either side, but you keep driving, trusting the Lord and not the boss.

   “Get those scriptures memorised that are necessary for what you're dealing with.”

   • Colossians 3:16
   • Psalm 45:1
   • Deuteronomy 31:6
   • John 10:10

In this message