• By Eugene Rutabagaya

Paul made it plain in his Letter to Timothy that love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. Yet we all need money to cater for daily needs. What can the righteous do ?

The question of “love of money”

In his first Letter to Timothy, Paul says ; But those who desire to be rich fall into the temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” Chapter 6:9.

The question about love of money and sound Christian life is ever present in our daily lives, isn’t ? As diligent Christians, we need to know if there is a clear demarcation between looking after money and pursuing piety. But most often, we tend to disregard this ever-present question, saying to ourselves : after all, don’t we need money to buy food, build comfortable homes, pay for children’s education, and buy nice clothes ? ... Isn’t therefore an exaggeration to assume that the love of money and pursuit of wealth would be harmful or incompatible with sound Christian life ? And besides, doesn’t Apostle Paul teach us about working to earn a living and provide for the needs of our relatives, especially the members of our households in 2Thessalonians 3:12 ; and 1Timothy 5:8 ?

Furthermore, there are well-known characters in the Bible who served God while being remarkably wealthy, such as Abraham, David or even his son Solomon. In Genesis 13:1, we read ; "Abraham was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold." We know that his son Isaac inherited much of his father’s wealth and increased it (Genesis 30). Centuries later, King David became wealthy during the time of peace that he brought to Israel. But it was his son Solomon who became one of the richest men of all time as we can find in 1 Kings 4. Now, why would Apostle Paul emphasize again that the love of money is root to all kinds of evils ? Where is the right balance between the two ?

Excessive love of money leads to ruin

First and foremost, it is important to notice that in our reference text of 1Timothy 6:9, Paul did not say : “those that are rich fall into temptation…”, but “those who desire to be rich”. That is, those that place their happiness in the wealth of this world and covet it with much desire.
When Jesus told the rich young man to sell his possessions, give it to the poor and follow him in Matthew 19:21, he was illustrating the point that attachment to material things can be a hindrance to Christian discipleship. What was the response of the young man ? He went away “sorrowfully” because he was placing great attachment to his wealth. That’s exactly what 1Timothy 6:9 is cautioning us against : coveting money with too much desire leads into temptation, into snare, and eventually into ruin and into destruction. Why ? Because the devil will see your lust for money and haste to bait his hook upon you to catch you and lead you into ruin.

Is there a right balance, then ?

The Balance with respect to wealth and sound Christian life is found in the same text of the first epistle to Timothy, as we read in chapter 6:17-19 : “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life”.

As we can notice from the above passage, being rich is not a vice in itself, but it requires more resilience, more discipline, more wisdom and more soberness of mind for whoever is blessed with abundance, so that he does not fall into the temptations of being haughty. In other words, you and I may be blessed with some riches without being enslaved to it. You and I may resolve in our hearts to remain humble despite of our favorable economic status. You and I may decide to use our God-given resources for good works, including serving others and helping the needy. You and I may resolve not to pursue wealth by all means even when it means compromising on our godly values, or abandoning our noble commitments. You and I may go through seasons of deprivation and economic downs and still find reasons to love God and treasure him with the little that is at our disposal. As the psalmist put it nicely, “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked ?” (Psalms 37:16).

There’s one important point to remember in all this : when we came to this earth, we were empty handed. Now, take a look at yourself and think about all the assets at your disposal ! Regardless of what you make of them - perhaps you think what you have is enough or insufficient depending on your own assessment – but the fact that you live, eat, move, and make plans … you are by far better endowed than when you were born, and you inherit all that from the providence of God ! For God - not your money, neither your job and nor your business – God is the true and sole source of your life.

Conclusion

What comes as your top priority between God and wealth ? If your answer is BOTH, then money is not too far near the top. For there is only one master at the top when it comes to God and wealth, it can never be both. Secondly, how does your daily or weekly to do list look like ? Is there enough place for seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33) ? Or you are just too busy working industriously to earn money, with no time to fellowship with your creator ?
Let’s not be driven by insatiable search of wealth, but by constant thirst for God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

In Jesus