Inheritance

There's almost no area of stewardship for Christians that has had more influence on inheritance than the Old Testament.

Stories of leaving everything one owns to their children with the largest portion going to the oldest son are in many books of the Old Testament. God in Numbers 27:8-11 even laid out how an inheritance should be administered. If these Patriarchs of the Bible, loved by God passed their wealth on to their families, case closed! And Proverbs 13:22a says, "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children..." So it's easy to see why Christians have concluded that leaving the bulk of their assets to their children is a biblical idea. It is. However it may not be a New Testament one.

In ancient agrarian cultures the ability to provide for your family was often tied to land. Unless you were wealthy plots of land were generally fairly small and to divide land equally between children in most cases would render each plot too small to provide for each family. So, the oldest male generally inherited the largest portion and lived with their parents their entire lives and farmed, or raised animals and cared for their parents until they died and they in turn expected their oldest adult male to do the same for them. Without inheriting land children would be forced to move away into some kind of trade, or work someone else's land. In essence biblical inheritance was more like a retirement plan. The oldest son “earned” his inheritance by caring for his parents.

That's a far cry from today where most adult children no longer live with their parents, or care for them daily whose assets are mostly in savings, investments, life insurance and a home. Unless it's a family farm, modern inheritance is usually a financial windfall event to children who live miles away, or in another state and not a reward for caring faithfully for their parents.

There are a number of Old Testament practices, customs and laws which may no longer be applicable for New Testament believers. Nowhere in the New Testament is inheritance, other than spiritual inheritance taught, or encouraged. In fact Jesus begins the parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 10 after someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me. But Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me judge and executor between you? And he said to them., "Watch out. Guard yourselves against every form of greed. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (In all fairness Jesus may be warning against greed, not inheritance.)

Then we read this in Acts 4, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but shared everything they had." The New Testament does require us to provide for our families. "After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children." II Cor. 12:14 However, saving up and maybe providing what they need while you're still living, or maybe even after you die to make sure your children have what they need to be comfortable and secure is a far cry from passing on enough wealth for them to not have to work, or live with no need to be dependent on God. While it may not be wrong to leave the bulk of your assets to your family, it may not be wise for them. In any case no New Testament author, or Jesus himself ever encouraged it and it appears the early Church did not observe that practice.

The bottom line is this; If you believe “God owns everything,” and we are only stewards of everything entrusted to us as all Christians I know do then each of us have some very important decisions to make. Have you and your spouse prayed long and hard to determine if the Lord wants your kids to have what actually belongs to him and if so, how much? Are you confident your children love God and understand what it means to be good trustees if you determine to leave some of what he's entrusted to you, to them? Do you see them living below their means now and giving generously to others? If not, it's not too late for you to teach them. But please don't leave them a significant inheritance unless they really need it, or they've demonstrated they have the biblical wisdom to use it wisely and selflessly.

It’s possible you have children, grandchildren, or siblings with disabilities, or have ongoing medical expenses and the Bible is clear that if you are able you have the responsiblity to care for them. But short of that I’ve personally witnessed the negative consequences of leaving significant wealth to children on their personal work ethic and marriages.

Here’s another thought. If you truly believe you are God’s steward, if you leave most of your wealth to your children, when does he “cash out?” In the parables of the three servants who were given money to invest for the king there came a day when each of the servants had to stand before the master and give back to him the original principal plus the earnings, or intrest. If they had given most of it to their children how do you think the King would have responded? Jesus was teaching that someday each of us will stand before The King to give an account for how we lived our lives. Certainly that accounting will be about more than money- time, talent and treasure. But for sure treasure will come up.

Next weeks blog is entitled, “Where Should Christians Give?” That question isn’t simply for where should Christians give during their lifetime. But when you die how will “your” assets benefit the Kingdom of God.

My real hope for this blog is to break free of the notion that Christian parents have an obligation to leave all, or most of “their wealth” to their children. Please long and hard asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom before you make any decisions. Because some day…