“As new believers come to follow Christ, we need to prepare ourselves to disciple them in finances.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Christians are called by God to be a “Good News” people. Bringing hope to a languishing world, they must stand as a counterculture in a world of darkness. This mandate has sweeping implications that believers embrace, socially and personally. Yet in one of society’s major challenges the Church struggles to differentiate herself.

“The Church doesn’t have a very loud voice around how to manage money differently than the world or what to do with debt,” says Dave van Noppen, co-founder of More Than Enough Financial Fitness.

While the Bank of Canada tries to wean Canadians off cheap debt, TD Bank economists announced household borrowing continued increasing in the last quarter of 2018, even while household wealth declined.

“It is as troublesome in the Church as outside.”

“If it was an education problem, we should have a better handle on it than any other generation. There is so much information out there. Although we do need some education, it is really about the discipleship piece. We need someone to walk beside us and that’s the discipleship model. The Church has such an incredible position to be able to influence people.”

High debt in the world should concern every believer, says Rebecca van Noppen, Dave’s wife and associate at More Than Enough.

“As new believers come to follow Christ, we, as the Church, need to prepare ourselves to disciple people in finances,” she says.

But Rebecca also highlights a problem Christians have to deal with first.

“It’s looking at your heart and asking if your spending habits reflect your relationship with God.”

“What I have discovered on this journey is that money is a heart issue. It is as troublesome in the Church as outside. The problem is we don’t want to surrender what we want for what He wants. If we could just be honest about this and admit our struggle to serve God alone, we could start a brand new conversation in our communities without judgement or shame.”

That shame, Dave says, is amplified when a believer struggles with debt. When Christians come into his office they see their debt as a moral failing.

“A lot of the work we do is speaking to that. Debt is not a sin, but it is a burden. Christ came to set us free. He gave us the rules to live by around money that will keep us from debt.”

Yet, in a culture bombarded with marketing and normalized debt, walking out biblical principles, from generosity to debt-free living, is hard. That is why he and Rebecca say discipleship is key.

“Discipleship is where the transformation happens. It’s looking at your heart and asking if your spending habits reflect your relationship with God. Discipleship is about learning to live in a transformed way, because we are a transformed people.”

Dave says he would love to see older Christians connecting with younger believers to help model and coach godly stewardship.

“This is a great place where the younger generation can humble themselves and honour the older generation. The older generation has a lot to say about money, how to manage it, and living in a godly way to do that.”