How Much Does It Cost?

In my growing-up years I never thought of our family as being much better off or worse off than most of our neighbors and other people we knew.  I was certainly aware that some of my cousins, friends, neighbors, and classmates had more toys, better clothes, and lived in better homes than I did, and I rightly attributed it to the fact that their fathers made more money than my dad.  This was no great burden to me—it was a fact of life that I accepted.

However, over time I believe there was something that had a long-ranging effect on me, and it was the constant refrain, “How much does it cost?”  No matter what any of us in the family may have wanted or needed, the question was always the same—“How much does it cost?”  Numerous times I was embarrassed by my parents having to ask that question.  It was not that my parents had a “poor me” attitude, but most likely it was because they had been through the Great Depression and had indeed seen extremely poor times throughout much of their lives.

Along about the eighth or ninth grade I remember studying in one of my school classes about the importance of developing a budget; it was probably studied in my F. F. A. class.  One day when dad complained about the shortage of money I suggested to him that the family develop a budget, and I shall never forget his response.  He simply stated, “Our money is budgeted before we get it.”  I knew what he meant, but I still felt that developing a budget would have helped.  In fact, for two or three years I keep a daily record of every penny I earned and every penny I spent—detailed records of all my income and expenses.  This practice was helpful in learning frugality, but it further embedded in me the necessity to ask the same question that my parents always asked, “How much does it cost?”

This is an important and necessary question, but slowly and through years of experience of leading churches, I have realized that it should never be the first question asked.  If the cost of something is the first thing considered, then many good and needed projects are stopped before any appropriate discussion or consideration.  In any organization there are always the “bean counters” who consider the money first and seek to stifle any further consideration, leaving little or no room for the element of faith.

No!  The first question should not be about money!  The first consideration should be about need, about progress, about moving ahead.  When free discussion and thinking is allowed to take place, then ideas of how to finance come to the surface.  Often, people are attracted to an idea and are willing to put money into the idea, but if the idea is never discussed at length, prayed over, considered, and thought about, then the funding avenues never open.

A personal illustration is our buying our retirement home in which we currently live.  We would never have thought that we could afford to purchase a 3,800 square foot brick home only four years old sitting on ten acres of land with a 40 by 60 foot outbuilding.  Asking “How much does it cost?” at first stopped us cold in our tracks.  We never even considered it enough to look at it for ten months.  However, after some thought and considerable discussion, options began to become apparent—and here we are living in our dream home—and we can afford it!