The love of money

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,