No servant 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.
Luke 16:13
Covetousness. Idolatry. Love of money.
All of these come up repeatedly in Scripture. There are more verses than I can
cover in a blog post on them. I know many people that would never think that
loving things is idolatry, nor would they consider it to be loving money. They
might admit that it’s loving the world. Or they might not. Most people don’t
see it. They can’t see it. In our westernized culture where life revolves around
stuff, stuff, and more stuff, very little thought is given to what exactly we’re
doing when we buy that something we just have to have even though we have no
real need for it. We’re all guilty of this sin. We look at things and for some
reason we need something, even people that live by what has been termed the
minimalist lifestyle. If we only own 50 items we qualify as a minimalist by the
worlds standards. But that doesn’t stop us from needing a newer phone, the
latest laptop, or a new pair of shoes because the one pair we own is getting a
bit worn. We simply need it. Or do
we?
The Lord says otherwise.
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do
to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why
do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit
adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your
father and mother.’” And
he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One
thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these
things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had
become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who
have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be
saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have
left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly,
I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[a] or parents or children, for the sake of the
kingdom of God, who will
not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life. ”When
Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you
have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow me.” Luke 18-30 esv
In Luke 9:2 He tells the disciples…
And He
sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take
nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not
have two tunics.
In Luke 10:4 He once again gives instructions
to those He’s sending out…
Carry
no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Prior to those verses when the disciples
followed Him Scripture says ‘they left everything and followed him’(Luke 5:11),
‘And leaving everything, he rose and followed him’ (Luke 5:28).
These are only a handful of verses where Jesus
either tells people to give up all they have or they do it willingly. In Mark
8:34-36:
And calling the crowd to him with his
disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save
it. For
what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
All of these verses and
more have stood out to me over the last week as I’ve read Scripture. It seems
like each one jumps off the page when I come to it. I’ll admit that I fall into…maybe
not a love of things, because my emotions are pretty distant from my
belongings, but I do enjoy them, at least some of them. I recently bought not
one but two different packages of pens with different colored inks, not because
I needed them but because I wanted them. You see I enjoy writing and when I do
it with a pen I like a higher quality pen and much prefer a selection of colors
to write with. When I sit down with my Bible I usually have two different pens,
with two different colors of ink, and a highlighter. When I write a letter to
friends or family I prefer to do it with a pen I enjoy using and in a color of
ink that brightens up the letter. I just like colored pens. Do I covet them? Once
in a while. I can and do write with those cheap dollar a pack pens but they
aren’t my preference. I have a few other weaknesses where I have to watch
myself when it comes to the love of things. I know this and I try to keep a
tight rein on it.
Luke 12:15 speaks to that
very issue:
And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all
covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions.”
These are only a handful of verses where Jesus
either tells people to give up all they have or they do it willingly. In Mark
8:34-36 He says:
I have noticed in my own life, as I’ve
drawn closer to Christ, I’ve become more emotionally detached from my
possessions. I still have those favorite items- some I use regular, some I never
touch, things that I hang onto because they bring back memories- usually of my
children’s baby days, and a handful of things-like my pens- that just bring me
pleasure when I use them. I hope that none of those put me into covetousness or
idolatry. As I look back on my life, the way I used to be, the changes I went
through on this journey to Christ, I can see myself the way I used to be, the
love I used to have for many of my possessions, the times I coveted things
simply because I wanted them. Now I’ve learned not only to be content with what
I have but rarely do I find myself truly wanting something.
There’s
no denying that in the world today there are simply some things that truly are
needed. Getting to and from work or the grocery store becomes difficult,
impossible in some locations, without a vehicle. Going without shoes because we
don’t see the need for them will get us barred from most businesses. Some things
are needed but where is the line between what we have to have for survival and
loving money, or things, to the point that it becomes covetous? An internet
search for ‘Bible verses about love of money’ returned numerous pages. I opened
the first one which gave me a list of 100 verses. That was way more verses than
I could work through in this post. With that list I think I could have written
a book. Instead I’m going to let you look those verses up yourself if you have
any interest in them and I’m going to leave you with one last set of Scripture:
If anyone teaches a
different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he
is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving
for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension,
slander, evil suspicions,
and constant friction among people who
are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a
means of gain. But godliness
with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
But if we have food and clothing, with
these we will be content. 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. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold
of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good
confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge
you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who
in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
to keep the commandment unstained and
free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 