SA
Hey Anna (brother). Can you describe your spirit today, using 5 words?
P
Great and interesting question! Centred, gracious, positive, thoughtful and saved!
SA
Grace is something we all need a lot of right now, for ourselves and each other. Paige, your wife, was driving me home a few weeks ago and mentioned that you have started leading a Young Professionals night with the young adults you fellowship with. I’ve been exasperated, searching for answers when it comes to business and economic models… Amma has worked in a bank for the past 20ish years, so we have always been kind of exposed to the (for me abstract) concepts of personal wealth, mortgages, debt and saving etc. As you reflect now, what does financial healing mean to you?
P
I think you’re spot on – grace for those working from home, frontline workers who are on the ground, in the thick of it and those who have really been struggling to find work through this crazy 12 months. When it comes to our own financial healing, I believe grace plays an integral part. We need to learn how to forgive ourselves, lower the expectations we place on ourselves and show ourselves grace in situations that are potentially quite complex and generational. Many migrant families, like you said, grew up seeing parents work hard, in jobs that potentially weren’t where they were necessarily hoping they would end up in. Yet to provide and survive, we saw our parents get into debt early, take on high-interest mortgages due to lack of sound advice and fail to understand the importance of financial health. Experiencing these struggles can unfortunately create wounds within us that manifest as trauma as we start dealing with finances. I believe that in regards to this trauma, healing should start within us before it can affect our finances. So I started a Young Professionals group after I really felt God revealed to me that maybe finances were the product of a life lived with purpose, intentionality and creativity. When I’ve shifted my focus from my finances to purposeful work, I’ve noticed that I positioned myself for healing financial trauma that may have been inflicted on me by myself or others. In a nutshell, financial healing to me, as a follower of Jesus, means recognising that my finances aren’t the answer, nor are they mine – but they are given to me to steward well, love others with and build the Earth to look more like heaven! Once I realised this, I was able to address the trauma with an empowered mindset.
SA
I totally agree that it is a journey that begins inwardly, and happens holistically. For me, at least, looking at how I navigated my financial situation was a piece of the puzzle in understanding where the void came from. I do believe that centering passion and service in a ‘career’ is helpful in shifting that mindset. However, I also believe that the structures that exist in this modern world, let’s speak specifically to Australia, systems exist to keep some communities back in the ways that they exploit them etc. Which is why, for example, many Indigenous Australians do not have accumulated wealth – because the Australian Government set up a scheme to save the income of Indigenous people, known as ‘stolen wages’, and then ended up using it to fund infrastructure… which is a whole other conversation, but all that to say – for many, financial healing cannot happen because of the conditions of the material world… so, what are some ways that you began to heal that for yourself as an individual?
P
Yeah, wow – that is actually really sad. To be totally honest, I did not know that information about ‘stolen wages’ and will definitely be reading into that to try and understand the struggle. I think for me, wealth doesn’t necessarily start or stop at money. It’s a sad concept that financial status (often addressed as “wealth”) is often envied or despised depending on where the person sits within the continuum however I believe that financial status is a product of a broken system where capitalism overshadows individualism and creativity. Wealth to me looks like my family, my community and living a life that leaves a legacy. I say this to suggest that personally, my healing came from knowing who I truly was and discovering my own self-worth, void of status, materials or influence. When I knew that who I was enough as I was, I was able to come to a place where I could focus my energy on my own race, not the rat race. I’m not able to speak to those who are held back by the system, because if I’m truly honest I don’t feel as though this has been my experience but what I do believe is that healing comes without materialism. We don’t need tangible products, we need a transformed spirit.
SA
Thanks for being so open and honest. Healing cannot be bought or sold!! For those of us who are well resourced mentally, emotionally, spiritually – the hope is to be awakened to having the power and the right to do it. It comes with the peeling back of layers of conditioning, wounding, trauma, but… it is possible.
Ok so I wanna ask you about the prosperity gospel… Lol! How do you feel about it, as a church goer? Do you think it’s manipulative to preach that blessings will be bestowed if you can commit to supporting a physical structure? Do you think this breeds a culture of toxic positivity..
P
Love it! The prosperity gospel HAS to make an appearance when speaking about finances in the Church but I think that’s an interesting dynamic right? Unfortunately, there’s a bad taste that’s been left by the Church, in the mouths of many churched and unchurched people because of the often controversial conversation around finances and I for one, want to apologise on behalf of the Church to anyone who has felt that pressure to give with the promise of false prosperity. Do I believe in prosperity and blessing? 1000%. Is it a reaction from God in relation to our financial giving? I don’t think so. My belief of finances, in and to the church, is that everything I have belongs to God, and has been given to me to steward well. When I give to the church – I am simply giving back to God, through the church, what has been given to me with the mindset that my finance will bless others through the increased exposure and footprint the church has in the world. More often than not, my money can go further than I can. Now, I believe that God blesses those who are a blessing but I don’t believe that the idea of prosperity is pragmatic and one should never ever look at financing the church as a return on investment. Paige and I have been faithful with our own giving and, simultaneously, have been blessed incredibly but I wouldn’t say this is because of our faithfulness, but because of God’s faithfulness. I believe that if He so willed it, He would choose to bless us regardless of our giving, if it meant that we could be a blessing to others. I think the prosperity gospel definitely breeds toxic positivity and one thing that I’m SO passionate about in the Australian Church is re-learning the art of lament, what to do when you’re disappointed or angry at God and learning how to sit in the discomfort of many situations.
SA
Right, showing up in a way that is unconditional and based on love instead of profit and consumption and security. That switch from scarcity to abundance is so crucial to have a faith that is free flowing and not fear and anxiety based. Which is basically what the prosperity gospel teaches. I really like ‘the art of lament’. That’s a really important, difficult yes, but important emotion to grasp. As we near the end of our time, can you talk to me about three of your favourite grounding practices that you turn to daily?
P
I love my daily morning time spent reading my Bible. I make it a non-negotiable to spend at least 5 minutes (it’s hard when you have a near-one year old child rearing to go) soaking it in and helping me centre on the vision for my life. I also love meditation and prayer – for me this is taking some time to focus on what I read, what it means to me and how it can shape me so that I can shape my world. Through my day, I always find time to recentre where I am, simply by having a conversation with God. I also love journaling – often I find it hard to articulate my thoughts, feelings and plans however since I’ve started journaling, I have found an ability to reach a higher state of understanding as I download my thoughts every morning. It helps me “self-audit” where I really am emotionally, spiritually and psychologically and I can often tangibly read this to reflect and identify any areas I potentially may need to refuel!
is the Young Adults Pastor at Elevation Church Hills. He is a trained exercise physiologist and is dedicated to uplifting the emerging generation through the mission of Christ.