MONEY Pt. 1 - The Dark Side of Money

The Dark Side of Money & The Love of Money

Money ! Money ! Money!

Is it good? Bad or Neutral?

Is it OK to accumulate more & more?

Introduction:

There are 3 conversions mentioned according to Martin Luther…….

The conversion of the heart, mind and the purse.

Money subject is something not publicly talked about due to various reasons or hang ups etc but Jesus didn’t think that way. Jesus taught a lot about money.

Money is discussed a surprisingly a number of places in the Bible and according to a survey, there are 1,600 verses in the Bible that have to do with money or finances. There are over 500 verses that includes the words “money,” “riches,” or “wealth.”

Our attitudes towards money and wealth are clearly an indicative of who we are and what our relationship is with God. If Christianity has no impact on our pocketbooks and the way we use our credit cards, Christianity is not worth very much.

Reading passage - 1 Timothy 6

3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,

4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions

5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Examples verses related to money

Ø Heb 13:5 – Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Ø Luke 6:24 – “Woe to you who are rich”

Ø Luke 16:13 – “You cannot serve God and Mammon”

Ø Matt 6:19 – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth”

Ø Matt 19:24 – “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”

Ø Luke 12:15 – “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness”

Ø Luke 12:33 – “Sell your possessions, and give alms”

The Love of Money
Why do we tend to love money?
Why is it a temptation to love money?

3 myths or lies that the world tells us about money.

Ø WE DESERVE WHATEVER WE HAVE, AND WHO WE ARE IS WRAPPED UP IN WHAT WE HAVE

§ My self-image is dependent on what I own.

Ø MONEY BRINGS HAPPINESS

§ If I only had such and such, then I would be happy.

Ø MONEY BRINGS SECURITY AND SECURITY COMES FROM HAVING SUFFICIENT FINANCIAL RESOURCES

§ Be secure for the rest of your life once your finances are all lined up.

PREVAILING DISTORTIONS

Ø MONEY IS A SIGN OF GOD’S BLESSING, AND HENCE POVERTY IS A SIGN OF GOD’S DISPLEASURE

§ Love Jesus and get rich.

Ø VIEW STEWARDSHIP OF MONEY AS COMPLETELY NEUTRAL AND DEPERSONALIZED

§ It is merely a medium of exchange.

We deserve whatever we have

Ø What I own, I have gained from my own hard work!

q From a economist viewpoint – Is there a cor-relation between “wealth & income” with “effort & hard work”?

q Yes, to some extent….but only to a small extent! (even from a secular perspective)

- Certainly it is true that a diligent worker, who is wise in making investments, who saves regularly is likely on average to have more than the person who is opposite in all those ways. However, there are many “accidents” or “factors” that lead one person to have more than another, i.e. your background, your family, your race, your country etc. Some of the hardest working people, and have made the wisest investments, and yet they are in the category who have an income of about $3 a day and lives in the high lands of East Africa. They have no opportunity to get any more than that because of where they were born, the resources they inherited, and the policies of their governments.

There is NO one-to-one correspondence between diligence, hard work and income.

What is the Biblical perspective?
WE DO NOT DESERVE WHATEVER WE HAVE AT ALL!

1 Chronicles 29 – David’s prayer when he is commissioning Solomon as his successor, and talking about the money they have raised to give to God for the building of the temple. David says, “Wealth and honor come from you, Lord”

Deut 8:17-18 – You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me”. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Ø So what God is saying that even if what we have is the result of our hard work, that hard work itself is a gift of God. Our ability to do hard work is a gift of God. So, who we are does not consist of what we own. Our status does not depend on our income.

WE DO NOT DESERVE WHATEVER WE HAVE.

Money brings happiness!

Ø If only I had a new car, a larger house, a higher salary, better clothes or better education.

Ø Almost always wealthy people, famous people, who are envied because we tend to think this is what life is really about.

q Does money leads to happiness?

q Yes, to some extent….if we follow the Economist law of ceteris paribus..(holding all things constant)

- If we could hold all other things constant like our attitudes constant, the way we relate to people constant, and everything on ourselves constant, then the additional money that gives us more choices, more opportunities, we would probably be happier.

q The problem is that when we desire more, that desire itself changes us. When we get more, we want more….we become not content with what we have. WE WANT YET MORE!

What is the Biblical perspective?
If we have what we need in order to live, both to nourish and protect us from the elements, we will be content with that

Ø The Bible tells us that whether we are poor or rich, or somewhere in the middle, if we have desire for more money, if that is driving us, we will never be satisfied.

Phil 4: 11-13 – I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Ø Paul is saying that God is in control of our lives. And whatever, He wants us to do, He will provide us with the necessary resources to accomplish.

True happiness comes not from building up resources, but from doing the will of God.

Money brings security

Ø If only we have one million dollars, then we would be secure.

q Why is it not true?

q Because money and finances are fleeting.

- Riches can disappear, and we can spend a lot of worry, and time, and energy trying to make sure that they don’t.

Prov 23:5 - Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Prov 13:8 - A man's riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat (sleeps without worries).

Luke 12: 15 - 21

15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

This man’s problem was not that he had been very successful in his work. This man’s problem was not necessarily that he was thinking how to build better resources for storing what he had. This man’s problem was that he was thinking of this wealth as his security. He was not using the wealth that God had given him for the purposes that God had intended, but only for himself, and thinking that he was perfectly secure because of what he had.

Distortion that lies on a Biblical teaching of the great generosity of God

• Even the disciples of Jesus struggled with this distortion.

– They were amazed that a “camel could slip through the eye of a needle more easily than the wealthy could enter the kingdom of God.

– Their amazement comes from the belief that the rich young ruler was a sign of God’s special favor upon him.

– No wonder they exclaimed, “who then can be saved?” (Matt 19:25)

• What about the story of Job? The firm conviction from his comforters that he must have sinned, that’s why he is suffering economic misfortune.

Distortion that money is neutral and harmless

• This talk of stewardship fails to see money is not just a neutral medium of exchange but a “power” that is demonic in character

Money as Power

Ø Not purchasing power

Ø Not something vague or impersonal

Ø But real spiritual power with spiritual forces that energizes it and is capable of inspiring devotion

q What we must recognize is the seductive power of mammon – power to win our hearts and in between us & God (Example of the rich young ruler)

q For Christ, money is an idolatry with many characteristic of a deity. It gives us security, can induce guilt, gives us freedom, gives us power and seems to be omnipresence. Most sinister of all, is its bid for omnipotence. We attach importance to it far beyond its worth.

q If money were only a medium of exchange, it will make no sense to attach prestige to it – eg we value people in relation to their income. We give status & honor in relation to how much they have.

The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-22

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-- except God alone.

19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

• Jesus wants this guy to have the kind of relationship that will open up eternal life to this man and open up his life now to everything that God can give him.

• Here we need to note that Jesus did not say this to every rich person he met. There are other rich families that we meet in the New Testament, rich individuals, and Jesus doesn't tell them all to give up everything that they have eg. like Mary, Martha and Lazarus & others, Jesus never says that to them, even though they seem to be wealthy. There are other disciples that had enough money, there are other people who followed Jesus that had enough money to support Jesus and the other 12 and he doesn't seem to say it to them. And the early church never forced that on new Christians.

• So we've got to begin by realizing that this is a personal problem, personal question and Jesus gives him an answer that is meant for him. However, we can learn from this, that applies for all of us, is that money and possessions are so dangerous that they can stand between us and God. Money is not harmless. And so this is an issue that we have to deal with in our lives.

• Jesus doesn't need or want this man's money. Take a look at what Jesus actually says. He says, go, sell what you have, give it to the poor and then penniless come and follow me. So Jesus is not saying liquidate your stuff so that I can have it to use. It's not what is happening here. Because again, Jesus loves this person and so what this is a prescription for the problem that this person is having that's putting up a barrier between him and God. So Jesus doesn't want or need the money. God doesn't need our money. God will use our money. God will do wonderful things through our generosity, but he doesn't need it and never are we to give because God needs it. We need it more than he does.

APPLICATION

Conquering the Dark Side

1. Lets check our feelings about money

• Our fear, insecurity and guilt about money

• We are afraid we have too little and we are also afraid with too much

2. By conscious act of will, let us stop denying our wealth

• We do not need to be ashamed of our wealth but to conquer it and use it for God’s good purposes

3. Create an atmosphere in which confession is possible

• Helping each other relates to it

4. Lets us discover ways to be in touch with the poor
5. Inner renunciation – no longer what is mine is mine.

• A conversion of our understanding of ownership

6. Give with glad & generous hearts

• Even the poor need to know that they can give. Just the very act of letting go of money, or some treasure, does something within us. It destroy the demon greed.

Are we possessed or are we possessors?

• Are we possessed by our possessions or are we possessors? Do we control our money and our possessions? Or has it gotten out of control? If we control our possessions, if we possess things instead of them possessing us, then it means that our possessions and our money are tools. We can use those tools for our own enjoyment, but we could also use those tools to serve other people and to serve God. It means that we can part with our possessions and part with our money, if that's what we need to do. It means that as we make more money, we don't have to spend it all, but we can give it. It means that we can even scale back our lifestyle if that is what we need to do. That's what it means to be a possessor instead of being possessed.