Christianity and money

EXODUS 4:10, KJV “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” Much like Moses, I have never been an elegant speaker. I can ever remember the right words to say. To the point someone said to me, “use your words.” Hey, this helped! I say things better in written form than I do verbally. 

I know we have had many sermons and Monday School lessons about wealth. 

Close friends of mine, we had a conversation about money over the weekend. It left me with questions. And honestly, not feeling really good about the topic. In today’s society, money is a necessary part of living. The world doesn’t run off love. It runs on money. A world where people like Pablo Escobar are idolized. If you’re not sure who he was, “Escobar was arguably the world’s most powerful drug trafficker in the 1980s and early ’90s. Soon after his birth, Escobar’s family—his father was a farmer and his mother a schoolteacher—moved to Envigado, Colombia, a suburb of Medellín. While still a teenager, he began a life of crime.” 1

Some key questions for me; is being wealthy a sin?

Can you be a good person and be rich?

What constitutes wealth?

What constitutes hoarding money?

And finally, what is your attitude toward money?

Is being wealthy a sin?

When we talk about wealth and money, most Christians refer to Mark 10:25, KJV

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Or, Matthew 19:16-30, is the story of the rich, young man Jesus told to sell all he had and follow me. These 2 examples; from the same parable, (are the ones I’ve heard most) to condemn the wealthy. 

No, being wealthy is not a sin. “A Christian’s life purpose is to seek after, love, and honor God. All he does is for the glory of God. Whether a Christian is wealthy or not is irrelevant when everything he has is committed to God. He’s a manager of whatever resources God deems necessary for his life and purpose, whether many or few.” 2

As with the stories and letters in the Bible, they get thrown around to suit the needs of the thrower. Much like the young man in Matthew, Jesus knew his heart. Jesus knew the answer to the question before he asked it. This man wasn’t willing to part with his station in life. The lifestyle money afforded him. It was about his attitude toward money. 

King Solomon may have been the richest person in the Bible. God didn’t punish him because of his wealth. He had asked God for wisdom which he used (a gift from God) to help amass said wealth. He let his wives lead him from God. That’s what got him in trouble . I Kings 11:  “3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.”

Lesson question: is all you have devoted to the Lord?

Can you be a good person and be wealthy?

Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Talk about smacking you in the face. Just when you thought, ‘sure, I’m a good person.’ Hmm, no you’re not. The better answer is perhaps, ‘are you a Godly person’? If we follow this line of thinking, rich or poor, you are not a good person. 

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.” 

Lesson question, are you using your life to honor God?

What constitutes wealth?

From the Old Testament to the New Testament, we see a shift in wealth. The same shift we read about throughout history. Abraham had lots of animals and the people to care for said animals. Gen. 13 “2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.” Historians say that because livestock is mentioned first, it was the most important part of wealth. Much like if you and I listed our assets, we would list the most valued first. 

Let’s look at wealth. “The same study also reveals that Americans feel that being wealthy in the U.S. means having an average of $2.5 million, an increase on $2.2 million from 2023 and 2022.” 3 Holy Jack Mackerel! By this standard, I will never be wealthy. Let’s look at this in a different way; do you have a roof over your head? Clothes on your back? A car to drive? Maybe you own a pet. Have a hobby? Or live your life to travel? If you have something someone else doesn’t have, you are wealthy in the eyes of someone else. How about getting killed for your shoes? 4

Are you healthy? In a lot of ways your health constitutes wealth. You can afford to go to the doctor. You can afford medicine. You can afford the proper food. If you get sick tonight, are you in a position to miss up to a weeks worth of work? 

Wealth is so much more than the watch you wear. The car you drive. Or the numbers on your bank statement. 

Lesson question, in the eyes of a stranger, are you wealthy?

Are you hoarding money?

I don’t know about you, but I’m not swimming in a pool of money. At the same time, I’m putting money away for retirement. And an emergency fund. Is this hoarding as we know it? Or is this smart planning?

The Bible has lots to say about hoarding wealth. None of it good. Matthew 6; 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[e] destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” 

Perhaps the best example for planning in the Bible is Joseph filling the store houses with grain preparing for the famine. The Lord told him it was coming. He did what the Lord told him to do and millions of lives were saved. 

Proverbs 16; “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.[a] 3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. 4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. 5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. 6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.

7 When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. 9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

So, is having a retirement plan a sin or does it constitute hoarding wealth. No, planning for the future is smart. As long as God is at the center of your plans. Luke 12: 16-21.

Lesson question, is your future in Gods hands or your own?

Your attitude toward money.

What is your attitude toward money? Is it a tool to help you further the kingdom of God? Or is it all yours? 

In Luke, we are told “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 20:25. 

Leviticus 27: 32 “And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord.”

Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops” 

Money and wealth are not sinful in and of themselves. It’s what we humans do with said resources, this is where sin marches in. 

Lesson question: does money rule you? Or does God rule it in your life. 

Luke 19: 1-10

Here was where my tongue got wrapped around my teeth; the story of “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus was a wealthy man. We see where he says to Jesus, “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Even though he was wealthy, he gave to the poor and made atonement for cheating. Jesus didn’t chastise him for being wealthy, he said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.” Zacchaeus was lost. And he knew it. I don’t feel like it was his wealth that made him lost. (I could be wrong.) He accepted Jesus with open arms. Jesus didn’t praise him; (this was my misspoken word) but he didn’t condemn him either. 

Money is a powerful tool. It can lead even the strongest Christian down the garden path. Or it can be used to further God’s kingdom. 

1: Pablo Escobar | Biography, Death, Hippos, & Facts | Britannica

1. https://www.christianstewardshipnetwork.com/blog/2023/2/16/is-it-okay-for-christians-to-be-wealthy

1. What It Means To Be Wealthy In The U.S.

1. Houston man guilty in killing over Air Jordan shoes

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