I was listening to 774 ABC radio on the way back up to Melbourne last night (6^th September between 10PM - 11PM). On air was Tony Delroy's talk radio show Nightlife exploring young adult's dysfunctional attitudes towards money with guests Arun Abey and Dr. Lisa O'Brien. While I don't agree with everything said on the show (and indeed am very sceptical of ABC in general) there was a lot of advice worth heeding for young adults. Both guests are members of The Smith Family an NGO seeking to "break the cycle of disadvantage by supporting kids' education". Now I have limited knowledge about what this organisation actually does so I will not endorse it but I was challenged about what they had to say about financial matters in regards to the young adult.

 

Part of the conversation spoke about the dangers of plastic cards and electronic money. This encourages a conception that financial planning is not important and leads to over expenditure. Now, to some extent, this has been dampened by the global financial crisis which has forced people to re-evaluate their financial decisions and potentially more money-savvy. However, there are a lot of young adults (and I put my hand up as well) who have no history of financial planning and upon receiving their first full-time job they abuse the money they have earned on things they, frankly, don't need.

 

Mr Abey and Dr. O'Brien stated that material consumption does not bring happiness, that people gather meaning from things other than finances, or cars etc. This is completely true, of course. Many young adults place large value on a high-paying job and getting their ducks all in a row, basically. Even Christian young adults are bought in by this concept of prospering. Yet we know, through scripture, that our prosperity should be in God and God alone. In his first letter to Timothy Paul writes this:

 

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

1 Timothy 6:17

 

However, this must be balanced with the concept of stewardship. This idea can be partly attributed to Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25. While Jesus is obviously referring to things above and beyond wealth there is no getting past the fact that we are also called to be good stewards of our finances. In James 2 we are told in no uncertain terms that faith without works is dead.

 

We are to be good stewards of what we are given. And in our western world we are given a lot. This does not mean that I am encouraging any sort of self-obsession. Indeed, this is the very thing I am encouraging you to avoid. What we have belongs to the Lord. Therefore, we should think twice about using it for personal, selfish reasons. Now we know this, yet we are obsessed with buying new toys. Things beginning with "i", new televisions, new cars and, yes, new cameras. I challenge you to reconsider your financial planning and see whether or not you are being a good steward of the money God has given you. Because as Arun Abey alludes to in his book How Much Is Enough? if we don't check ourselves we will never be satisfied.