When I was a kid, I remember playing a game with my parents and my sister. It wasn’t an official game, and it centered around one question… “What would you do if you had a million dollars?”. Our family took turns stating how we would spend the million bucks. There were answers like; paying off the house, donating to charitable organizations, donating to various medical organizations, and the conversations would continue…
I remember thinking as a boy, if our family was willing to do such “good” things with the million dollars, why didn’t God just give us the money?
Turning to the Bible, in some contexts, especially in the Old Testament, money is portrayed very positively. Abraham is described as “very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold” (Gen. 13:2). Job was a man of great wealth, and Solomon was granted riches and honor unparalleled among the kings of his day (1 Ki. 3:13). Proverbs tell us that “the blessing of the Lord brings wealth” (10:22), and describes a simple work ethic… “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (10:4).
Of course, the Old Testament is not without its warnings about wealth. We must not forget the source of our wealth: “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deut. 8:18). We must not put ultimate trust in them. The Psalmist says that God will bring to ultimate destruction “the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth” (Ps. 52:7). Further, the possession of wealth comes with the obligation to care for the needy… “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord” (Prov. 19:17). The Old Testament institutions of the tithe, the Sabbath, and the Jubilee served in part to remind the Israelites that their wealth was ultimately the Lord’s and that they were to use it to his glory.
The picture of money changes slightly in the New Testament, which emphasizes the breakthrough of the kingdom of God in the coming of Jesus Christ. Here the negative side of money receives greater emphasis. Jesus spoke often about money. In the parable of the rich fool (Lk. 12:19) he showed the folly of being materially rich but poor with God. There is the scripture… “No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Lk.16:13). Jesus reminds us that money is God’s creation and is not to take God’s role of ruler of our lives; we must seek first the kingdom of God, and material things will be provided for us (Lk. 12:31). The possession of wealth too easily tempts us to a devotion for the things of this world, and away from Christ and his kingdom. Riches can choke the word and render it unfruitful in the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:22). For this reason, it is difficult for the rich to come to faith (Matt. 19:2324). The poor have an advantage, not simply because they are poor, but because they are unable to rely on their own resources and thus are more prepared to submit to Christ’s Lordship. For this reason, Jesus blessed the poor (Matt. 5:3).
During the Reformation, there were anabaptist voices saying that the poor were not being adequately cared for and the church needed to have a larger responsibility ion caring for those needs.
This week we will be look at the phantom passage of… “money is the root of all evil”. And while there is a passage in 1 Timothy that is close to this phrase, the few missing words make a difference…
1 Timothy 6:6-10 Common English Bible
The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
The Bible has lots to say about money.
Money has a way of touching a nerve in our lives.
Join us this week as we discuss this phantom scripture and what the Bible says about money, contentment, and following Jesus.
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
