The Value of Money

Welcome!

Work was part of God’s original design. It is not part of the Fall. God designed us to work, to subdue the Earth and have dominion over it, to farm, to build, and to cultivate (Genesis 1:28, ESV):

And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Unfortunately, that perfect, fulfilling, deeply satisfying relationship with work only lasted for two chapters before everything fell apart and mankind decided to take things into their own hands (Genesis 3:17-19, ESV):

And to Adam he said cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.

How often has this been your experience with work? Even in the most fulfilling of careers, it is unavoidable. We toil and strain for the money we earn. It always comes with sacrifice.

The following game involves 6 short scenarios. Each presents an opportunity for additional income. Consider each scenario and decide whether you would take the opportunity or skip it.

In order for the scenarios to make sense, they need to be scaled to your current income. In the box below, enter your rough current annual household income. When you are ready, click begin.

Annual Household Income

Scenario 1

Work a Side Gig

For an extra 15 hours per week, you could make an extra $20,000 per year.

Scenario 2

Holiday time

An opportunity comes up to work a normal workday on Christmas for $1,230, but you are expecting some friends over to visit.

Scenario 3

Work Travel

You are asked to travel across the country on business for 6 weeks, but will earn an extra $769 per week during that time.

Scenario 4

Time to Move

You have a job opportunity that would require moving across the country, but your income would increase to $95,000 per year

Scenario 5

VACATION Conflict

You have the opportunity to earn $10,000 by working through your family’s week-long vacation, missing the trip altogether.

Scenario 6

GRADUATION Conflict

You have the opportunity to earn $40,000 at a special work event on the day of your son or daughter’s college graduation.

Selections

Let’s try again

Mixing it up

Now let’s switch things up a bit. Let’s say you’ve decided that there is a line for how much you need for yourself and your family. For simplicity’s sake, say you’ve set your finish line to your current income, $80,000.

Going forward, you plan to continue to live on an income of $80,000, even if God provides much more for you to steward.

Any additional margin provded is free to use as God leads you: helping friends and neighbors, building up your community, and supporting those carrying the gospel abroad.

Let’s take another look at those same scenarios again. If you were planning to give away the additional income, how many of these opportunities would you take now?

Reflection

Let’s Recap

Take a minute or two and reflect on how your decisions changed (if they did at all). In a minute, we’ll discuss as a group.

Allow 1-2 minutes of silent reflection.

SCENARIO	BEFORE	AFTER
Scenario 1: Side Gig 15 hrs/wk for $20,000/yr	TAKE	SKIP
Scenario 2: Holiday $1200 on Christmas	TAKE	SKIP
Scenario 3: Travel $1,000/wk for 6 wk travel	TAKE	SKIP
Scenario 4: Move $95,000/yr to move jobs	TAKE	SKIP
Scenario 5: Graduation $10,000 to skip trip	TAKE	SKIP
Scenario 6: Graduation $100,000 to miss event	TAKE	SKIP

Reflection

Time to Discuss

Let’s take some time to share.

Discuss as a group. Did your answers change at all? How does having a definition for “enough” change your perspective on work and sacrifice?

Afterwards, discuss the following:

Discuss as a group. Would defining “enough” and choosing a finish line change any real life career decisions or opportunities that you might have right now?