“For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).
I read the story of a meeting between a Jewish rabbi and an old, miserable, rich man whose obsession with money and material things had all but ruined his life. The old man visited the rabbi in a last, ditched effort to get help. The Jewish rabbi took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. “Look out there,” he said. The rich man looked into the street. “What do you see?” asked the rabbi. “I see men, women and children,” answered the rich man. Again, the rabbi took him by the hand and, this time, led him to a mirror. “Now what do you see?” “Now I see myself,” the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, “Behold, in the window, there is very little silver. But, as soon as the silver is added in abundance, you cease to see others, and you see only yourself” (https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illtrations/102348/love-of-money-by-david-swanger).
Such is the love of money. The Jewish rabbi, with great incite, used the silver on the back of a mirror that completely changes the use of a piece of glass from a window through which you see others to a mirror through which you see only yourself to the love of money and material possessions that completely changes us from big-hearted givers to stingy-hearted takers, from people who love others as God commands us to self-absorbed misers who, deep down, really only love ourselves.
Did you know that “16 out of 38 of Jesus’ parables deal with money? More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and Hell combined. Five times more is said about money than prayer. While there are more than 500 verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions. Why did God talk so much about money in the Bible? Because He knew we would have a such a problem keeping it in the right perspective and in the right place in our lives!” (https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/101815/money-in-the-bible-by-dr-larry-petton).
Please note that the Bible does not, in any way, condemn money. It, rather, condemns the obsession with money. The Bible is full of people who were both wealthy and faithful. Such were Job, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon. Even Jesus' brotherhood of apostles had to make arrangements to care responsibly for the money they received to fund their ministry. Money is wonderful and necessary tool that enables us to live and thrive in our God-given talents and abilities and accomplish our God-given purpose. However, it is just that, a tool. When we allow money to possess us to the point of obsessing over it, money becomes an idol. Hence, Jesus commanded us in Luke 16:13: "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
The rich young ruler approached Jesus and asked how he might obtain eternal life. When Jesus told him to dispose of all of his wealth, it rocked his world. According to Matthew 19:22, “When the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. He chose his wealth over eternal life in Heaven. Consequently, our goal must be to place our money and material possessions under the Lordship of Jesus in the same way we do our lives. Remember the admonition of Paul that the obsession with money is a root that leads us into all kinds of evil, introduces grief into our lives, and very well could cause us to desert Jesus. A root is what carries nutrients and give life to a plant. However, we cannot see a plant’s root, because it is buried underground. Similarly, a person’s love of money is hidden inside his mind and heart. What we can see, though, is what his obsession with money leads to. We can see his greed, lust, and covetousness on display in his actions and deeds. History reveals a common thread in every civilization: the wealthier people become, the greater their tendency to stray from spiritual and biblical values.
Thus, the writer of Hebrews, in chapter thirteen, verse five, issues a clarion call to “keep your lives free from the love of money.” He said free from the love of money, not money itself. The beloved preacher, Billy Graham, once said, “Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else” (https://billygrahamlibrary.org/blog-10-quotes-from-billy-graham-on-money/). Unfortunately, we cannot live excommunicated from money. We all know that we should prioritize building a life over making money; however, we also know that there is no way to build a life without making money. Housing, transportation, food, clothing, education, and maintaining employment cost money.
On a similar note, God has given each of us talents and abilities that we should use to their uttermost. Anything less is shameful dereliction of responsibility. Furthermore, time and talents have marketable value, so we should seek to be compensated at a level that is commensurate with our talents and ability. Thankfully, doing so does not require us to be obsessed with money and wealth. We can, with our minds, hearts, and lives, centered in Christ, make money, use it wisely, and build wealth responsibly without being obsessed with it. How? By resolving that every aspect of our being—including our time, talents, and treasure—will serve Christ and His cause on earth.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church and denomination, in a sermon he preached in 1789 entitled “The Use of Money,” deposited a wise axiom that we should adopt today. The main points of his sermon were: earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. Wesley made the observation that the primary reason for the ineffectiveness of the Methodist movement was due to their failure to give all they could, a fact that has limited the gospel outreach of many churches, regardless of denomination, through time (https://www.eaforchristians.org/blog/john-wesley-the-use-of-money-12).
Friends, we have to deal with money, because money matters. There is no denying the fact. However, one day soon, life will be over. At the end of life their only two options: Heaven and Hell. The blessings of Heaven are too grand and the terrors of Hell are too repulsive for us to let obsession with money and material things squeeze out faithfulness to Jesus in our lives and in the lives of others. The challenge we must face and overcome is making sure that money does not matter so much that Jesus, His will for our lives, and our witness of Jesus to others matter too little.