Christian Lifestyle Part 6

Money and Possessions

 

We live in a very wealthy and money-focussed society. A person’s value is often seen as determined to some extent at least by the worth of their possessions. A positive lifestyle means, for most people, the things that you can do with your money.

 

The Bible does not condemn money as such. It does warn that our attitudes to money can become skewed, destroying our personality, undermining relationships, and even threatening our eternal salvation.

 

The Love of Money

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:9-10

 

This is often misquoted as “Money is the root of all evil.” Paul does not say that money is the sole root of evil, but that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

 

This verse plays out in all kinds of ways every day. People become greedy and rob or defraud others. We have all heard of whole companies being destroyed by a rogue employee or even businesses being started on a bogus product. Corporations can destroy lives and environments through irresponsible exploitation. People become addicted to gambling in an effort to pay off debts, and end up being worse off.

 

Like fire, money is a good servant but a terrible master.

 

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Love of money can become a substitute for trusting the Lord.

 

Mammon

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says “No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.” In the original Greek, the word for money is “Mammon” which is a personification of money, that is, a description of the power that wealth can have over the human heart. Mammon can even be thought of as a god challenging our devotion to the true God.

 

We can see how this works. Money opens up opportunity for every fleshly pleasure that we might seek. It opens the door to material possessions. It gives us status in the eyes of other people. Mammon promises to deliver everything that any religion might offer. If you have enough, you can even have your body frozen, promising a form of eternal life.

 

Christians must choose to serve the Lord only, trusting Him for the things that we need. That doesn’t mean that we have to take a vow of poverty. Far from it! If we are trusting God in everything we find that He provides in ways we cannot imagine.

 

I have a thousand testimonies of how the Lord has done that for me and our church over the years, but let this one suffice. At one stage of our life, every time we had a new baby we took a 50% pay cut. Yet, God blessed us with as much quality of life as if we had never had the pay cuts!

Jesus wants us against a divided loyalty. I have heard many people say something like “I want to serve God, but…” or “I know God wants me to go into ministry but…” The but part of these statements is something like, “I can’t afford it” or “I have to look after my family.” The implication is that we can trust Mammon, but we are not so sure about Jesus.

 

Contentment

In Philippians 4:11 Paul says, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” When you think of Paul’s life, he went through some very tough times including being beaten, thrown into prison, attempted murder and much more. He had times of relative wealth and times of great deprivation, but through it all he learned to trust in Christ and be content with his situation.

 

Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20). Think of that: the divine Son of God who created all things lived in relative poverty. The man who fed over 5000 people with some fish and bread chose to live an ordinary life rather than the wealth and power He could have generated from Himself.

 

Jesus calls us to imitate Him. Therefore we need to allow ourselves to be content and to seek first the Kingdom of God, trusting that our Father will supply everything we need.

 

Generosity

Christians are called to live generous lifestyles. That is, we recognise that everything we have is a gift from God and therefore we can afford to share it all with other people.

 

This was shown in the early church. Several times in the book of Acts we are told that there was no need among the people because they shared their possessions. (Acts 2:44-45).

 

Paul tells us  “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7). There is no compulsion to give to others, to the church or to worthy causes, but we can do so with a happy heart, knowing that God will bless our giving.

Conclusion

In a society that practically worships money and possessions, christians must follow Jesus in all things. We must ensure that we do not fall into the trap of allowing our possessions to become a rival to obedience to the Lord.