Money is the root |
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We modern Christians seem to believe very strongly that materialism is a sin. In our churches, we teach that the worship of things is idolatry. The example of the unhappy materialist has become as much a theme of contemporary sermon-giving as sheep were a theme of Christ's parables. In Christian songs and Christian magazines we have made the idea that a sincere Christian cannot be a materialist into a sort of cliche. Call a believer materialistic and you will meet with vocal protest. No one wants to be a materialist. And no one believes that he is a materialist. Almost any Christian can repeat 1 Timothy 6:10a, "the love of money is the root of all evil." But do we really carry this out in practice? Most importantly, is the materialism we condemn so loudly the materialism that scripture warns us against or do we condemn a distorted ideology of our own conconction -- an ideology so removed from our own sins that we cannot feel convicted in condemning it? You see, it's very easy to say, "I'm not a materialist" by defining materialism to mean something less than it is: the sin of acquiring unnecessary wealth. Most people I know would use a definition more along the lines of "putting money and possessions before God." Perhaps they like this definition because it is so abstract. Abstract definitions are easier to ignore. What does "putting something before God" consist of? Quite clearly, having a job isn't evil, right? Working 40 hours a week isn't evil right? When does something become materialism and when is it just providing for my wants and needs? Since the only way to answer these questions is to look at your heart, only God and the materialist can possibly identify this sort of materialism. Unfortunately, materialism itself blinds its victims to their own sin.It is easy to become so accustomed to a lifestyle focused on worldly gain, that we can no longer see that we are caught in it. It is so normal to us, that the suggestion of being materialistic seems absurd. We are so used to our comforts and the pursuit of wealth that we don't recognize it for what it is. It is altogether too easy to think that as long as we attend church regularly (and maybe sunday school), hold the right doctrines, live otherwise righteous lives, and don't neglect the other duties of a church-going American Christian, that our focus is on the Lord, when our values and our daily life really center around the world. But this is a big mistake! The more that material things and their acquisition, preservation, and disposal occupy our lives (and consequently, our hearts), the less room there is for God's spirit to work in us and the more our joy as Christians is stolen by the world. Christ's description, in the parable of the sower(Luke 8), says that the cares of the world are like weeds that "choke" the word of God. Exacerbating this problem is a teaching of many withing the church on something they call "Stewardship." They use the word "stewardship" to mean taking care of what God has given us -- talents, material possesions, finances, and so forth. They argue that we have a duty to be as "responsible" as we can with our material goods. That we need to be "good stewards." Their idea of responsibility usually includes making wise financial investments and avoiding things that are wasteful. Using this reasoning, many forms of materialism are easy to justify. Together with the idea that there's nothing wrong with the acquisition of wealth, itself, they not only justify materialism, but make it seem like the Bible requires it! But what does the Bible really teach about materialism? Luke 9:57-62And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain [man] said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay [his] head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Mark 8:35-36For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Matthew 6:24-34No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. I suppose most Christians would like to argue with "Take therefore no thought for tomorrow." This certainly doesn't sound like good stewardship! Quite clearly Christ can't have meant that, could he? Well, that is what the scripture says. Let's look at this idea of stewardship a little better. Does it come from scripture? Or is it the invention of man? The word stewardship is used in only one place in the bible, Luke 16:2-4. It is used once in each verse. These three verses are part of the parable of the unjust steward. |