Why Does the Bible Talk About Money So Much? What Christian Estate Planning Conversations Are Really About
What Christian Estate Design Conversations Are Really About
People who have spent a lifetime building something — a business, a portfolio, a family — often arrive at estate planning conversations with more than they expected. There is the practical dimension: the structures, the vehicles, the questions about who receives what and when. But underneath the practical conversation is almost always a deeper one.
What does it all mean? What are these things actually for?
Those are not financial questions. They are the kind that can sit unanswered for years while the financial planning moves forward around them. They deserve real space, real conversation, and a guide who is not in a hurry to hand you a form. For some people, those questions surface quietly in the middle of a meeting with an attorney. For others, they have been present for years, waiting for the right moment and the right person to ask them.
We have been in a lot of those rooms at Cru Foundation. And over time, we have noticed something about the people who navigate them most freely.
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What the Most Generous Donors Understand About Biblical Stewardship
The ministry partners who move through gift planning and estate conversations with the most clarity are not necessarily the ones who understand the financial structures best. They are the ones who have, somewhere along the way, arrived at a settled answer to a foundational question: who does this belong to?
Donors who have settled that question handle money and possessions differently. They plan differently. They give differently. They are not indifferent to financial wisdom or family provision — in fact, they tend to think about those things more carefully, not less. But the weight they carry into these conversations is different. There is an openness rather than anxiety, a generosity of imagination rather than a guardedness about what they might be asked to give up.
This heart work happens between a person and God. But we have learned that creating space for that question to surface, gently and without pressure or predetermined direction, tends to change what becomes possible in a conversation about legacy.
What Jesus Noticed About the Rich Young Ruler
There is a passage in Matthew that is easy to read as a warning about works righteousness. A young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus reviews the commandments. The young man says he has kept them all. And then Jesus says: go, sell what you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me. The young man walks away sad.
What is easy to miss is the detail Matthew includes right before he leaves. Jesus looks at him and loves him.
This is not a story about rich people being evil. It is a story about Jesus seeing something in this particular person — the way his possessions had quietly become the thing organizing his sense of security and identity — and offering him a way out. Not as judgment but as an invitation. The young man didnot receive it. But the invitation was genuine and it came from love.
That invisible weight is not unique to the first century. For many donors who have accumulated significant resources, there is a quiet burden that comes with managing, protecting, and making decisions about what they have built. It can look like security from the outside while feeling like pressure from the inside. Jesus keeps returning to money because he is interested in our freedom. He sees what attachment does to us, and he offers a different way of relating to our stuff.
Where Treasure Goes, Heart Follows: The Formation of Biblical Giving
Most people encounter Luke 12:34 as motivational language: get your heart right, and your giving will follow. But Jesus points out that the relationship between heart and treasure is bi-directional.
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus is describing inner formation. Where you put your treasure shapes who you become. Biblical giving is an expression of what you already believe and it forms what you believe.
Decisions about who will receive your wealth are critical. Those choices are more powerful formative acts than routine decisions about your income. Your highest values are embedded in those bigger decisions. They shape your heirs, your community, and are a reflection of your relationship with God.
We have seen this play out in real conversations. There is a clarity and a lightness that comes from aligning wealth with deepest convictions. People describe it differently — some say it feels like relief, others like peace.
The Posture That Changes Christian Estate Design
At its best, biblical estate planning is not primarily about tax efficiency or asset protection — though both of those things matter and deserve careful attention. It is about the question underneath: given who I am and what I steward, what does faithfulness look like?
When that question is genuinely engaged, the practical conversation tends to be more generous, more creative, and less anxious than conversations that begin with the technical. Tools like donor-advised funds, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts become fulfilling expressions of love and wisdom, rather than transactional products.
A Cru Foundation specialist can help you understand which tools fit your circumstances once the spiritual foundation has been laid.
What Donor Conversations Have Taught Us to Ask
The questions that open the most meaningful dialogue are rarely about tools and techniques. Better questions might be “What story do you want to write with your resources? What would it feel like to know your estate plan was fully aligned with God’s desires for you? What would you want future generations to understand about the Lord and His love for your children and grandchildren?”
These are not leading questions with predetermined answers. They are meant to open the heart and engage the imagination with a trusted guide who supports you.
We consistently find that when people honestly engage these questions, the resulting decisions bring real peace. This peace is rooted in the confidence that the plan is pleasing to the Lord whatever the size of the numbers.
FAQ
Why do Christian estate planning conversations feel heavier than other financial conversations?
Because they are not primarily financial. Estate planning forces questions about what you believe, what you want to leave behind, and what your resources are actually for. Until those deeper questions have some space, the conversation about structures tends to feel burdensome. Starting with the heart dimension tends to make everything else move more freely.
What questions open the most meaningful donor legacy conversations?
The questions that open the most genuine dialogue tend to go deeper than surface planning questions. They sound more like: what do you want the story of your resources to say about what you believed? What would it mean for your estate plan to be fully aligned with your deepest convictions? These are genuine invitations to reflect, not leading questions with a predetermined destination.
What is a donor-advised fund and how does it fit into legacy planning?
A donor-advised fund allows you to contribute assets, receive a tax deduction in the year you give, and then direct grants to charitable organizations over time. In the context of planning for the future, your estate plan can flow into a donor advised fund. Your fund can then distribute in the way you have pre-determined. May donors like this because if there are any changes in where or how much you want to give charitably from your estate, you can simply update your donor-advised fund rather than paying an attorney to change your will or trust.
Does Cru Foundation offer estate planning services?
We offer an estate design service, which prepares you for estate planning. Whether you’re just embarking on the journey of estate planning and feeling uncertain about where to begin, or you already have a will or trust in place, Cru Foundation’s purpose is to provide personalized guidance, confidential feedback, invaluable insights, and charitable resources at no cost to you.
Cru Foundation staff will help you develop a personal “blueprint” to visualize your long-term financial and stewardship goals. The Gift and Estate Design process coordinates the skills of your professional service advisors with our unique expertise in charitable law, tax-advantaged giving strategies, and kingdom-minded charitable planning solutions.
What does biblical stewardship look like when it comes to estate planning?
It looks different for everyone. Ultimately, a biblical estate plan flows from the unique instructions each steward receives from the Owner. What remains consistent, however, is that faithful estate planning grows out of honest engagement with those deeper questions. The result is a plan that brings not only financial clarity but a genuine sense of peace.
How is a conversation with Cru Foundation different from working with a financial planner?
Our specialists come without a predetermined direction for your resources. We are not working on billable hours or earning commissions. We are free to help you discern how God is uniquely leading you. Once you are confident in God’s direction, we connect you with practical tools and structures that you understand and help you stay in control of the outcome.
Your Story Deserves a Thoughtful Listener
Perhaps you have lingering questions about whether your plans will accomplish God’s best for your heirs and the ministries you hold dear. If so, we would like to offer a personalized process designed to close those gaps.
We listen to you carefully to understand your heart, clarify the Lord’s leading, and empower you to carry out God’s plan for you. We have no agenda and will never tell you where to give or how much to give. Our goal is to guide you through the practical decisions that you, as God’s steward, must make. We serve you without expectation or obligation, and we would be honored to be part of your journey.
If you are thinking about your legacy, your estate, or how your resources can best serve what you care about most, we would love to hear where you are. Reach out to a Cru Foundation specialist whenever you are ready — no obligation, just a conversation.
The content on this page is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Please consult with qualified professional advisors regarding your specific situation before making any giving or planning decisions. AI tools were used as assistance in the creation of this content.
Why Does the Bible Talk So Much About Money?
Katie Brubaker: Welcome to the Smarter Generosity podcast. Today, we’re starting with a question that I think a lot of Christians quietly wrestle with: Why does the Bible talk about money so much?
It can feel surprising, and maybe even uncomfortable, how much Scripture addresses wealth, possessions, and giving.
I want to start simply. When people ask why money and wealth are addressed so often in the Bible, what do you think they’re actually wrestling with?
Eric Fleshood: I think it has something to do with our unspoken notions about who God is and what His intentions are toward us. How you answer that question is going to frame what kind of heart you think God has, what kind of heart Jesus has, and what He’s after by talking about money so much.
For example, I think our tendency is to assume that God or Jesus is after some kind of rule-based ethical system, that He’s trying to teach us how to follow certain rules when it comes to what we do with our money and possessions.
If that’s what you think God’s intention is, then right away you’re framing God as a certain kind of person. You’re framing Jesus as a certain kind of person. And that can make people uncomfortable. Some people might even find that unattractive or offensive.
Katie: Offensive. I would say offensive.
That’s actually where I was going with my next question. Why do you think this topic feels so personal, sometimes even borderline offensive, to people?
I know that in a lot of churches, giving isn’t addressed very often. You don’t typically see an entire sermon series on generosity. Why do you think we shy away from it so much?
Eric: I don’t envy pastors at all, because they’re right to sense that there are some landmines around this subject.
But it is a topic we can talk about, and that’s what we’re going to do here on this podcast.
I think the reason there are so many landmines is that the human heart has some embedded landmines of its own. Money and possessions can be a tripwire for those places in our hearts.
Katie: The first thing that comes to mind when you say that is the idea that wealth accumulation equals security. Is that what you were thinking when you mentioned those landmines?
Eric: Well, I wasn’t specifically thinking of that, but it’s a great example.
Others have pointed out that it usually boils down to three things in the human heart: comfort, power, and pleasure. Those are the big three that money tends to get at in our hearts.
Katie: That makes me think of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Remember, He had been fasting for 40 days, and Satan came to tempt Him.
I’ve heard it explained that those temptations were centered around those same things: comfort, power, and pleasure.
It’s interesting that you brought those up, because money can tempt us to look to it to fulfill those very things that Jesus overcame in the wilderness.
Eric: Yes, you’re putting your finger on something really important.
These are universal themes about what it means to be human, particularly what it means to be human in a fallen world. There are some grand archetypes, if you want to call them that, that we see throughout the storyline of Scripture from beginning to end.
And all of us, as human beings living in a fallen world, are right in the middle of those struggles. None of us is immune to them.
Katie: I’ve heard this come up in conversations with people who are wrestling with generosity.
On the surface, they’re asking, “How much should we give?” But I think underneath that is another question: “How much is enough?”
There’s this tension between wanting to be generous and do what the Lord is calling us to do, while also being fearful of all the what-ifs in the future.
How much should we have saved? How much should we keep just in case? I’ve received those questions several times.
How do you approach that when somebody asks?
Eric: That’s a very common question, and it’s one I wrestle with as well, as a steward before the Lord.
The thing is, there’s not a formula for that. But I think we often assume there is.
We think Jesus talks about money so much because He’s trying to help us understand a formula, some rules-based approach to stewardship or generosity.
That brings us back to the question of the Lord’s intentions.
Is He asking these questions because there’s something He wants to take away from you? I think that’s the fear a lot of people have. They think, “He’s going to ask me to give up something I really need. He’s going to ask me to go without, to live in poverty, or to make some great sacrifice.”
When you don’t understand the intentions of the Lord, you can misunderstand what He’s asking of you.
Katie: What do you think about the rich young ruler?
I’ve heard that story explained a few different ways, and I’m wondering what insight you have into what’s happening there.
Eric: Let me ask you this. What are some of the common ways you’ve heard that passage interpreted?
Katie: When I was younger, I remember hearing it explained as, “This means we should sell everything and give it all away.”
It’s that question of whether we’re reading a passage as prescriptive or descriptive. Is the story giving us a universal command that we all need to give everything away, no matter what?
As I’ve grown in my own faith and spiritual maturity, I’ve come to see that it wasn’t simply about his possessions or his wealth. Wealth itself isn’t bad.
Jesus knew what this particular man needed. He knew how to get to his heart, and that the pull of his possessions was so strong that without separating himself from those things, he was going to have a hard time seeing Jesus and seeing God.
Eric: Right. It would be easy to pull that passage out as a proof text and say, “See, I told you God was trying to get me to live in poverty.”
It becomes a proof text for some of those fears we have about God’s intentions toward us.
But the story tells us that Jesus looked at the rich young ruler with compassion.
Why would Jesus have compassion for him?
If this were simply a transaction, where Jesus was concerned about whether this man was giving Him what He was supposed to give, I have a hard time understanding where the compassion comes in.
But if we understand that Jesus has compassion because He’s genuinely concerned about this man’s soul, then the conversation looks very different.
Jesus sees the danger this man is in because of his relationship with his possessions.
Think about the man’s response. He’s approaching Jesus from a rules-based perspective: “I’ve obeyed all these commands. I’ve done all this from my youth. I’ve checked all the boxes, so I should be in good shape.”
I think Jesus is raising a deeper question: Are you missing the heart of God in how you’re approaching Him?
Katie: You mentioned that rules-based approach, and I think that’s something we all struggle with.
Isn’t it just like us to want the rules? We want to know what to check off so we can be confident we’re in God’s good graces.
That’s something I have to fight every day. I’m a bit of a performance-oriented person, so I have to be careful that I’m not just checking boxes to feel like I’ve accomplished what I’m supposed to do.
That part of the conversation definitely speaks to me.
Eric: It really is our tendency.
What’s interesting is that if you look at the grand narrative of Scripture, you see over and over again that before God gives rules, He creates a place of grace and acceptance.
Take Abraham, for example. Before God gave him circumcision as the sign of the covenant, He made promises about how He was going to bless him.
The promises and blessings came first. The covenantal sign came afterward.
You see a similar pattern in Paul’s letters. He often begins by explaining who we are in Christ, that if we’re in Christ, we’re dearly loved and accepted.
That becomes the foundation for how we live.
Then Paul helps us understand what it looks like to express our love for Christ and for other people.
Katie: That makes me think of something I was reading in Scripture just this morning.
I’ve been spending time in Luke 12 and 13, and I actually grabbed my Bible in case this came up.
Luke 12:34 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
That’s always been interesting to me because it’s not the reverse. It doesn’t say, “Where your heart is, your treasure will be.”
It says that where your treasure is, your heart will follow.
I’ve always found that interesting, especially when we think about human nature and how generosity affects us.
Eric: I think that brings us back to the question you asked at the beginning: Why does the Bible talk about money so much?
There’s something else the Bible talks about quite a bit: agriculture, horticulture, and farming.
We could ask, “Why is Jesus trying to turn us all into farmers?”
Is He taking a topical approach to living? Does He need to cover farming, and then money, and then something else?
No. These are simply the common settings in which people live. They’re the everyday things we touch and experience that are nearly universal.
So it’s not so much that money is a topic in the mind of God. It’s that Scripture reflects the setting in which we live.
And in the grand picture of Scripture, how we use money and possessions is one of the ways we exercise dominion over the world.
If you’re going to teach future rulers of God’s kingdom how to rule and govern properly, you’re naturally going to talk about how they’re using what they’ve been given.
What does the way you use your possessions say about the kind of ruler you’re becoming in God’s kingdom?
Katie: So going back to generosity, do you think the issue is how much we give, or is it more about what we believe concerning what we have?
Essentially, is it a stewardship question?
Eric: I certainly think that framing the whole conversation around how much we give can miss something important.
We can get caught up in questions about the tithe. Is it 10 percent? Is it before taxes or after taxes? All of those questions.
There’s some value in taking stock of those things, but Jesus brought in a kingdom that was so much more radical than a simple percentage.
His concern goes beyond the 10 percent. He’s after the whole person.
The gospel opens up the opportunity to talk about something much bigger than the tithe as a standard.
We can begin with the understanding that God owns it all, and that I want to worship and love Him with everything I am and everything I have.
What does that look like?
The gospel shifts the entire conversation from a rules-based approach to a question of what’s happening in our hearts.
Katie: So how does that idea of stewardship change the way we think about what’s ours?
Eric: Scripture says we’ve been bought with a price. Jesus gave His whole life for us.
We’ve been purchased, and Paul even calls himself a slave. A slave doesn’t have rights or own anything, and yet Paul gladly embraced that identity.
Scripture gives us some pretty strong indications that when we start focusing on what we own, we’re actually settling for something less.
Think about Adam and Eve in the garden.
At the beginning, they owned nothing, yet they had the use of everything.
And they traded that.
They traded their relationship with God, who had given them access to everything, for ownership.
They essentially said, “That’s not good enough. We want to own, so we’re going to take from the tree. We’re going to make it ours.”
They bought into the ownership narrative, and that changed everything.
Katie: That might actually answer my next question, but let me reframe it a little.
If you could identify one shift in perspective that could change how somebody approaches generosity, what would it be?
Maybe your answer is going to be that shift away from an ownership mentality.
Eric: I think about what happens when you’re sitting in church on a Sunday morning and your pastor starts talking about giving.
Maybe you’re opening up a passage about money and possessions, and you start feeling uncomfortable.
Why?
Because you think there’s going to be pressure to part with your stuff. Maybe the church needs money or they’re short on budget, and you expect a guilt trip to convince you to give more.
Now, if we transfer that same assumption to the heart of God, when we open Scripture and see Jesus talking about money, we might be tempted to think the same way about Him.
We might think Jesus is here to take something from us.
On a fundamental level, we might even think He’s here to rob us.
But that can’t be right, can it?
And it isn’t.
Jesus is here to help us.
He’s here to free us into a way of living and relating to things that brings freedom. It’s like fresh air or living water compared to the idolatry that can come with an ownership mindset.
Katie: Eric, we’ve covered a lot of ground here.
If someone could take only one thing away from this conversation, what would you want it to be?
Eric: When we ask why the Bible talks so much about money and possessions, I think the answer is that Jesus cares about the state of our hearts and the state of our souls.
One of the primary ways we’ve gone astray, and one of the ways our enemy keeps our hearts in a state of slavery, is by binding them inappropriately to money and possessions.
Jesus came to rearrange that relationship and help wake us up to those realities.
That’s why He’s talking about money and possessions.
It’s not because He’s trying to get us to follow some rule and then test us on how well we’ve followed it.
He’s concerned about our hearts.
Katie: Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
It feels like this is a conversation that could continue for a long time.
If somebody wants to keep exploring this particular topic, where would you point them next?
Eric: I think the parables in the New Testament are a great place to start.
So many of the parables Jesus taught speak directly to these themes, and I’m a big fan of studying them.
Katie: Thank you. Thanks for your time today, Eric.
Eric: Great talking to you, Katie. We’ll see you next time.
Katie: All right. Bye.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and readability. Verbal fillers, repetitions, recording interruptions, and unrelated production discussion have been removed.
This content is provided for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal or tax advice. Please consult your professional advisor regarding your specific situation.
