Living in Dallas, I’m confronted daily by the fruit of lives that are given over willingly to the pursuit of money.  Dallas, the home of the $30k millionaire, the person who maxes out their credit cards to live a lifestyle they can’t afford.  What can I say about money that would be helpful?  What I want to say first of all, is that money by itself is neither good nor bad.  It is not evil to be rich, it is not inherantly good to be poor.  As Christians, we should know that God isn’t nearly as concerned with what is external, but He is immensely concerned about what is internal to us – what is in our hearts.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 – “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 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.”

God is encouraging us in two ways here.  One is to constantly striving to be content with what you have.  When is the last time you REALLY prayed asking God to grant you contentment in your current situation?  The second is God is discouraging… what, being rich?  No, God is discouraging the desire to be rich, and the love of money, not money itself.  So there it is.  It’d be very easy for me to just tell everyone they should give away all they own, to pursue a greater possession in Jesus Christ.  I’d like to be able to say that sometimes, but that’s not what God has planned.  God wants us to use what He has given us, to pursue a greater possession in Jesus Christ.  He wants us to stop placing a higher value on material things, than on Christ.  He wants us to be able to consider the loss of all of our possessions as gain, for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord.  (Phil 3:8)

Now, I don’t know about you, but I can be an amazing debator, or at least I’ve been told.  I did debate some in high school, and have been told by many, many people that I should have been a lawyer (I never know if I should take that a compliment or if I should be offended?).  Regardless, I own that label to some degree.   It’s funny then, that the person I find myself debating the most is…myself.  I can be an amazing debator within myself.  You might not be surprised to know that I have a 100% success rate of winning the argument.  Unfortunately, many times what I’m debating internally is really the justification for carrying around sin in my heart.  I’m afraid that this is the pitfall into which many Christians find themselves when it comes to money.

Mark 10 gives us a good example.   Mark 10:17-22 – “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and 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 murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'”  And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”  And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Now Jesus recognized this man as a man familiar with the commandments of God.  It is likely then, that he had tithed according to Jewish law, by giving 10% of his money, yet he still had much wealth left over.  This man was deceived, as many Christians can be, when it comes to money.  Jesus exposed the truth of this man’s heart.  He loved money, and what he believed it could provide for Him more than Jesus.  Did Jesus need this man’s money?  No.  God created the universe and everything in it, including money, He didn’t need this man’s money for the poor.  Look back 2 chapters before in Mark 8, Jesus fed thousands of people from 7 loaves of fish and a few fish – God doesn’t need money to accomplish anything.  So why do we have money?  Why does God care about how you feel about it?  God uses money to sanctify Christians through giving.  Money is a gift of God, so that in giving it away, Christians see the infinite worth of Christ.

My encouragement to you all as Christians isn’t to look at how much money you have, or how much money you have given away.  Pray, and ask God to use 100% of your money to draw you closer to Him.  Money and God both make promises of happiness, but gold can lead to chains, if your heart desires what it offers.  Pragmatically I’d say this,  there are very few things that are more helpful in a Christian’s life, to do, than to develop a healthy practice of giving money away.  Instead of asking yourself how much you should give, ask God to give you a peace about how much you keep.  I cannot make anyone see God as infinitely valuable, only God can open eyes to see Him that way, but God has means by which He reveals Himself.  Trust God in this, you will never look down from Heaven away from God and wish that you had kept more money for yourself.

Grace and Peace,
Adam