Book Club Questions for The Treasure Principle

1.Alcorn opens by describing a dramatic shift in his own relationship with money and possessions. What circumstances forced that shift, and what does he say he discovered on the other side of it? Had you heard his story before reading this book?

2.The book's premise is that most Christians in wealthy Western cultures have absorbed the world's view of money almost without noticing. Do you think that's a fair diagnosis? What evidence for it do you see in your own life or in your church?

3.Jesus talked about money more than almost any other topic in the Gospels. Why do you think that is? What does the sheer volume of Jesus' teaching on wealth tell us about its spiritual danger — or its spiritual potential?

1.Alcorn states the Treasure Principle plainly: 'You can't take it with you — but you can send it on ahead.' In your own words, what does it mean to 'send it on ahead'? What mechanisms does Alcorn say make that possible?

2.The parable of the hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44) shows a man who sells everything he has — joyfully — to buy a field containing treasure. Alcorn says this parable reframes the sacrifice as no sacrifice at all. Do you find that logic compelling? Why or why not?

3.Alcorn argues that giving is not merely a duty or a discipline — it is a pleasure, because it is an act of investment in something that will last forever. How does thinking of giving as 'investment' rather than 'loss' change the emotional texture of the act for you?

1.Alcorn uses the image of a traveler or an expatriate — someone living in a foreign country, not accumulating property there because they know they're going home. How does that image land for you? In what ways do you actually live like an expatriate? In what ways do you clearly not?

2.He argues that many Christians live as if this world is their home, building and accumulating as if the permanent destination is here. What cultural forces or practical pressures make that so easy to do, even for people who intellectually believe in heaven?

3.Hebrews 11 describes the Old Testament heroes as people who 'admitted that they were foreigners and strangers on earth' and who were 'longing for a better country.' Does that language describe your interior life? What would it look like if it did?

1.Alcorn introduces the idea that giving earns heavenly 'dividends' — returns that compound over eternity. He's deliberately using financial language. Do you find this motivating or slightly uncomfortable? What does your reaction reveal about your theology of rewards?

2.He refers to Luke 16:9, where Jesus says to 'use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.' This is one of Jesus' most puzzling financial statements. How does Alcorn interpret it? Do you find his interpretation convincing?

3.Paul tells the Corinthians that 'whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously' (2 Corinthians 9:6). Alcorn applies this to both spiritual and, in some sense, material dimensions of life. Where have you seen the principle of sowing and reaping play out — either in your own generosity or in the stories of others?

1.Alcorn's first key is: 'God owns everything. I'm His money manager.' How does thinking of yourself as a steward (manager) rather than an owner change the way you feel about spending, saving, and giving? Is this genuinely freeing or does it feel like a constraint?

2.The second key is: 'My heart always goes where I put God's money.' Alcorn argues this is a practical tool — that you can actually redirect your affections by redirecting your giving. Have you ever experienced this? What happened to your heart when you invested in a particular ministry, person, or cause?

3.Key three: 'Heaven, not earth, is my home.' We covered this theme in Chapter 2, but here Alcorn applies it as a daily, practical filter. What decisions — large or small — would change if you applied this key consistently this week?

1.Alcorn contrasts Zacchaeus (Luke 19) and the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10) as two people who encountered Jesus and responded very differently to the call to give. What made the difference? What do their contrasting stories reveal about the relationship between wealth and salvation?

2.He discusses the tithe as a 'training wheels' starting point — a floor, not a ceiling. Where are you currently relative to the tithe? What is your honest emotional reaction to the suggestion that the tithe is a beginning rather than the finish line?

3.Alcorn advocates for setting a 'giving goal' — a specific percentage or amount — and then systematically raising it over time. What psychological or practical obstacles make that kind of intentionality difficult for you?

1.Alcorn devotes significant attention to the Judgment Seat of Christ (the Bema Seat) in 1 Corinthians 3, where believers' works are evaluated — not for condemnation, but for reward. Had you thought seriously about this before? How does it change the way you think about giving?

2.He uses the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) to argue that God expects His servants to invest His resources strategically and boldly, not conservatively or fearfully. The servant who buried his talent was condemned — not for wickedness, but for caution. How does that challenge your default posture toward giving?

3.Alcorn quotes the missionary C.T. Studd: 'Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last.' How does that brevity — the shortness of the dot — function as a motivator in your own heart? Is the nearness of eternity a frequent thought for you or a rare one?

1.The word translated 'cheerful' in 2 Corinthians 9:7 is the Greek word hilaros — from which we get 'hilarious.' Alcorn builds his closing chapter around that word. What does 'hilarious giving' look like in practice? Have you ever met someone whose generosity looked hilarious — almost absurd — to outside observers?

2.Alcorn argues that the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of generosity are not competing goals — they are the same goal. Generous people, he says, are simply happier. Does your own experience confirm or complicate this claim?

3.He describes giving as a 'grace' — something God works in us, not merely something we work up in ourselves (2 Corinthians 8:7). What is the difference between trying harder to be generous and asking God to grow generosity as a grace? Which has been more characteristic of your approach?

1.Looking back across the whole book: which chapter, key, or illustration had the most impact on you? What was it about that moment that got through your defenses?

2.In Week 1, you named one assumption about money you hoped the book would challenge or confirm. Return to that now. What actually happened? Was it challenged, confirmed, or complicated in ways you didn't expect?

3.Alcorn's six keys are: (1) God owns everything; (2) my heart follows my treasure; (3) heaven is my home; (4) live for the line, not the dot; (5) giving is the antidote to materialism; (6) God prospers me to raise my standard of giving. Which of these has taken the deepest root in you over the course of the study? Which is still just an idea rather than a lived reality?