January 3, 2009


For the sake of discussion, let’s say there are three kinds of people in the world:

a) Savers
b) Consumers
c) Producers

Laws of the Universe:

1. Consumers consume more value in the world than they produce.
2. Producers produce more value than they’re consuming.

This is a continuum. You can never be the ultimate Consumer, and you can always be a better Producer. To be a Producer is to be all that you can be in your life's calling.

As it refers to one's spiritual walk, someone who simply comes to a church on Sunday morning in order to take in a good show, and then goes home and really has no relationship with God, no growth, and is not serving others in any capacity, is a Consumer.

Someone who is constantly in communion with the Holy Spirit, who is seeking Him and growing, and who is constantly giving of themselves in service in the area where God calls them…this person is a Producer!

Financially speaking: a Consumer is someone who makes big purchases like flat-screen televisions on credit cards with money they don’t have and paying high interest rates.

Someone who is producing a lot of value in the world through their enterprise is a producer. A Producer might, and usually will, consume more than most Consumers, but this is beside the point because they are producing so much value that this is just a natural component of their production. They are making the world a better place by working in the area of their unique calling. Anyone who has a job or business is doing this to some degree or another, but the people that are really doing it at a high level are compensated richly for it because the dollars follow the value that they’ve created.

Now let’s introduce a third person. The Saver has been taught by financial institutions to save and hoard money rather than consume. The Saver rightly sees that the Consumer is not being wise and so he saves more money than he spends every month. This is good and has moved him down the continuum. On the other hand, when the Saver looks at the Producer, he doesn't understand what the Producer is doing. The Saver only sees risk. The Saver thinks the Producer is the Consumer and would never take these same “risks.”

The Saver has no idea what to do with his own assets except to send them on to the financial institutions to manage their money for them. These institutions spend billions of dollars every year telling us what we should do with our money. Do you think they give us the advice that most profits us, or that brings the most profit to the institutions and those that run them? If you've been reading this blog for any time, you likely know the answer to that question.

Give someone the gift of spiritual and financial strength this new year. Pass on this blog.