This might sound a little strange to you, but I hate money. I know, the fact that I do makes me kind of weird. When I say things like that to people they look at me kind of strange. The reality is though, that money to me is nothing but trouble.
It is the one thing that you can have too little of, but never have enough. It seems that money is the center of our life. We go to work to make money, the things that we do in life are dictated my the financial restrictions we have based on our income, and we allow money to play such an important role in our existence that it can sometimes ruin our lives. The reality is, that our reliance on money is not determined on a personal level, but society as a whole has made it virtually impossible to do anything without it. The biggest reason I dislike money so much, is because it has gotten in the way of the Church.
Remember high school? When I was a junior in high school I can remember being asked what career I wanted to work towards when I went to college. My friends and I would talk to each other about our goals and ambitions for our lives. We would discuss what colleges we wanted to go to because of the different programs they were best known for. Okay you caught me! Maybe I wasn’t talking about that stuff, but most of you were. Think back to those days, why did you choose what you did as a career choice. I am willing to bet that the main reason for doing so was because it was a well-paying job. Unfortunately the reason we choose to do certain jobs is because of the pay we can receive for doing it, no matter how much we hate it. Even when you ask little children what they want to do, they will answer things like Doctor, or lawyer, because we as parents dream these things for our children because of the financial security.
Our manner of living is widely determined by the condition of or bank accounts. If we have a lot of money we vacation in remote and exotic places. If we are on the lower end of the pay scale, we may never even get to go away for vacation (if we get one at all). The house we live in; the car we drive; the activities our children participate in; the schools our children go to; even the supermarkets we shop at are determined by the amount of money we have. Who our friends are has a lot to do with our tax bracket.
As if that wasn’t enough, we allow money to affect our lives to the point where people all around the world are ending their own lives because of the stress and life change that comes with it. Some have none, and because of that feel that they have no value and end their lives. Some end up with too much and feel lonely no matter how much “stuff” they have. I’ll bet you all know that money is one of the top reasons (if not the top) for problems among couples often leading to divorce.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, money has found a way to cripple the Church. You don’t think so? Well, let me convince you. I have seen congregations of believers waste money on things like; fellowship halls, or sanctuaries that are the size of stadiums. At the same time I have seen congregations with small attendance do no ministry because of their lack of money. This makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t figure out why the church feels that they need money to “do ministry”. You hear things like “we can’t start a program for this cause if we don’t have room in the budget.”, or “we need a new stove so we can cook meals for the homeless.” What?! Does the average home not have a stove in it?
Bottom line is this. Since when did it cost money to love someone? Since when did it cost money to proclaim the Gospel? Jesus sent out His disciples without an extra tunic, or money sack. He sent them out with nothing, and still they went. In Matthew chapter 10 Jesus sends out His disciples and these were His instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.“
Do you see where Jesus tells them how important it is to put money in a benevolence fund? Of course not! Jesus has made it very clear that all we need to do effective ministry is what we have been by the grace of God been freely given. You say nothing is free in this world. I will agree to that, and to be honest you’re a little right. What we got wasn’t free. The price was paid though with something far more valuable than money. The Church has been given the Holy Spirit, to empower and supply with the tools necessary to do great kingdom work, and all of the money in the world couldn’t buy it (Acts 8:18-24). It was paid for with the one thing that holds real value in this world, and that is the Blood of Christ.
It is not money that we should use to identify our lives with, but He who is above all others. It is not money that should dictate our lives and the things we do, it is Christ and the desires of the Father. It is not money that can determine the outcome of our lives, but the blood of Christ that has given it meaning and value above all else.
The reason I hate money, is because even in the Church it has become more popular than my King.
I was listening to the epistles on the way to work this morning and came across this very subject:
1 Timothy 6 (KJV)
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
So often we see the church adopting the same value system as the world when it comes to judging success. Money was the main reason I left my last church because it seemed to become the focus, above the Gospel, and I couldn’t stomach that.
We need money to live, but it has to be kept in its proper place.
This is absolutely excellent and so true. Our church – the first church we’ve ever belonged to – has not stooped to this level, but when and if it does, we are outta there fast. We have a very humble and grace-filled Pastor and co-Pastor and they remain humble. Praise God for that. But again, this changes, we’re gone.
Taking from your blog and observations, this is also why we need to pray for our church and our church leadership. I’ve seen “good” churches go down in ashes. By “good” I mean Bible believing, Spirit-filled growing churches balloon, the minister who once was meek and Christ-like becomes full of their own abilities because of church-growth and then everything goes south.
The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. We should never forget this and the message of your blog as we attend our local churches. You bring out some excellent and valid points with regard to over-bloated churches as well as churches lacking funds. Very insightful observations! Well done!
lol, in so many ways I agree – though I’m not so much of a “money monk” as this post sounds.
Personally I think that money – like all power – is merely a magnifying tool. It can magnify both strengths and flaws. Too often it is used as an excuse or scapegoat. When a man lacks the faith to trust in God, they rely on the world and themselves through the medium of money. Likewise, in a marriage, pride is the downfall. Communication shuts down and resentments build. I still hold to the idea that as long as communication is healthy and people are willing to negotiate/compromise, then all things are able to be worked out. If communication falls apart, anything can break it. Money is simply a very daily and emotional struggle that magnifies other problems/flaws. It has no power except for the trust that we people put in it.
The love of anything over God is death.
However, I do believe that because of that magnification quality, learning to manage and wisely govern money is a powerful tool of self-discovery and growth. That is if we view it as the tool it is and not an ultimate one at that.
You make some good points, but I think your argument is flawed.
Money itself is not an evil. The love of money is the root of many evils, but money itself is not. The Bible lists the names of wealthy women who attended Christ and the disciples in their ministry for the specific purpose of financing their needs (Luke 8:1-3), so I would disagree with your premise that money is not necessary to accomplish the work of the Kingdom. If Christ did not show disdain for it, neither should we. It should certainly not be held up as an idol, or an end in itself, but money is a gift from God to be used wisely for His Kingdom. Paul praises the Philippians for their financial generosity. He doesn’t condemn them as pagans for using money to further God’s work in the world. Also, II Corinthians 8 speaks entirely to the financial status of Christians, and not once does Paul condemn money. Furthermore, look at Solomon. God lavished wealth upon him—and notice that God never complained about the insanely expensive Temple Solomon built for Him… something he could not have done if he had not possessed hoards and hoards of money.
There is nothing wrong with money, provided it is a servant in the Kingdom, and not a master.
I also take issue with your statement that nearly everyone chooses their careers based on the allure of financial gain. That is a hasty generalization. There may be some who choose their careers because of the money involved, but many choose their careers because they love the work they will do.
I appreciate your comments. I would like to say first of all that I didn’t know I was making an argument. I was just stating the reasons why I have problems with money. I also thought that the thing I was alluding to was the love and dependency on money itself. No, money is not needed to do ministry, and the problem is that we start to think that we need money to minister to people. As for Solomon, how did he end up? I would never nor have I ever thought that no one in the world makes a choice on their career based on the financial benefits of such career, but if you argue that the majority of the world, or at least the Western World isn’t concerned primarily with money, my friend I encourage you to look closer. I understand your points, and don’t expect you to agree with or take on my attitude towards money, but as for flawed I would have to disagree. Different maybe, but biblical just the same. Thank you for reading and commenting on my post.
Grace and peace to you
Money is a tool that amplifies our desires. No more, no less.
The challenge with money is that it is the one thing that is a universal point of agreement. Telling a salesman that you have no money is the one thing you can do to get them to go away. It is something that people understand the implications of without having to think to hard.
The problem that really impedes the church is not money itself, but litigation. And the root of litigation, is the idea that people can use money to create an artificial reality. The reason that you can’t serve the homeless in an organized fashion, is that using the stove in someone’s home, would mean that that person’s home would have to meet FDA and local government guidelines for food handling safety etc. But no one would come around questioning the cleanliness of your kitchen, if it weren’t for the lines of homeless people invading on their artificial reality. The root problem that you are seeing is that our society dismisses God from our schools, and places of work, the old drivers of common sense and moral integrity must give way to government regulation. There are entire courses on how to use economics to calculate how much you should charge the perpetrator of a crime in order to have the best probability of preventing the crime.
Essentially what you are referring to as a problem with money is a problem with Trusting in money. In short, rather than relying on God for support, protection, etc people have come to rely on the power of money. Why? Because we humans are fundamentally insecure… and we hate that insecurity… we hate the idea that something can happen to us over which we have no control. So a lot of people try to use money to get a sense of control.
The second part of the problem is a problem of disconnection from the law of the harvest. Most people alive today have never grown a carrot….. they wouldn’t dream of plucking a chicken themselves…. and harvesting wheat by hand would bring most people to tears. Again, we as a society have created an artificial reality.
Some countries have tried to resolve the problems you addressed above by implementing communism. This has always failed, because unless you use physical threats to motivate people to action, having your fare share guaranteed of everything produced is a sure fire way to produce a society of people who consume more than they produce. And the equation of 1 input to 2 consumption is not sustainable.
So we use money to motivate people to action. We hold it up as an amplifier for the desires of the heart…. an amplifier that is incidentally completely unbiased. The challenge with relying on God to receive your wants, is that your wants have to be in line with his will for you… and for many people the thought of having to justify their wants to God is enough to get them to abandon most wants. (This is due to a misunderstanding of the fact that God actually intends that we have joy).
So until you can teach all people to live ethically and morally… (ie when you make a mistake and get e-coli in the food, repent and make restoration without having to have it forced upon you by a government organization)… people will continue to rely on the arm of flesh and use money to create a protected virtual reality.
So the real problem is not a problem of money…. it is a problem of motivation and desires. When work, trusting in God for security, and the concept of providing more value than you consume are re-enthroned as intrinsic principles, we can begin the progress towards a society of abundance. If you can trust everyone to work, and to always produce value for the good it does… then the society will produce more than they consume, and be sustainable. In this abundant society, everyone contributes by doing the work they love, and in so doing produces higher quality goods, and the entire society advances.
Until then, we live in scarcity, and money is necessary as a form of motivation. So if you really want to help get past the evils of dependence on money… learn to persuade people to do good for the righteousness of doing good. To get out of bed in the morning, to go to bed on time, to work hard, to love and serve, and always do their best for the glory of God.
A couple of thoughts to get you started: How do you make getting out of bed early relevant to children if nothing bad happens if they don’t, and you don’t reward them when they do?
How do you persuade children to go to bed at a reasonable time if nothing bad happens if they don’t, and you don’t reward them when they do?
When you can do that, you are well on your way to a society that doesn’t need money.
If you can’t persuade children, how do you persuade adults?
[...] The All-Mighty Dollar [...]