Money: everyone’s favorite topic. Unless, of course, the discussion centers on what God has to say about money. Then maybe not so much. Entire books can be, and have been, written on what the Bible says about money. In this short article, however, I’m not going to attempt to discuss everything the Scriptures teach about money, I’m only going to reflect on a few verses in 1 Timothy.
Paul writes:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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 (1 Timothy 6:6-10).
One thing we need to remember at the start, whenever we consider our use of money, is that, for nearly everyone, wealth is not an end in itself, but rather a means to something else. For many of us, and I’m including myself here, that something else is security. I’ll look to money to provide something that can, in reality, only come from God. If I’m not careful, I’ll forget that, when I am walking in faith and obedience, I am already secure. Not even death can threaten me. But apart from God, no amount of money can actually provide any security. In fact, trying to find security in what I possess is not just futile, it’s the sin of idolatry.
This passage talks about “those who want to get rich” falling into a trap. It occurs to me, however, that we very often try to justify ourselves by defining the word “rich” in terms of some specific amount of money that is always more than the amount we are trying to obtain. “I’m not asking to be rich,” we’ll say, “I just need X.” But if we look closely at what this passage is actually saying, trying to get rich is set in direct opposition, not to poverty, but to contentment. If I’m not content with what God is providing me then I am trying to become rich, in the meaning of this passage.
That’s a hard teaching. It stands against pretty much everything that our society says about money. But it fits completely with what Paul says elsewhere about not being anxious:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
It fits as well with what Jesus taught about God’s provision in Matthew 6:25-34. We quote these verses and we speak these words to one another, but too often we don’t really believe them. Being a faithful follower of Jesus, however, means actually trusting his provision, not just mouthing Bible verses about it. It’s no good parroting “seek first his kingdom” (Matthew 6:33) if I don’t trust him enough to actually do that.
“I have to have a certain amount of money to live,” is the automatic response my flesh throws up. But the truth is that no, I actually don’t. I have to have food and clothing and shelter to live. Buying those things with money is the easiest – but not the only – way to get them. It’s perfectly possible for me to survive, for example, if I work for someone and receive room and board, but no money, in return. What I actually need is enough resources to survive and to do the work God has given me to do, whether that comes in the form or money or of something else. Anything more than that is great if is comes, and just fine if it doesn’t.
It’s undeniable that sometimes, doing the work God has given me to do may not bring me any income, or not as much income as I think I need. And when that happens, the question of whether or not I’m actually doing what God has called me to do inevitably arises. That is an important question that needs an answer, but it’s not what Paul is writing about here. In this particular passage the focus is not on faith, but on contentment. Paul writes that, “if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.’ So basic survival needs are not the issue in view. The people this passage is talking about already have what they need to live; they just don’t think it’s enough. They want more. Maybe a lot more, or maybe only a little; it comes out to the same thing.
This is not a minor issue! Lack of contentment produces temptation, a trap and “many foolish and harmful desires” that ultimately lead to ruin. We’re even told that some people, because they are not content with what God has provided, have “wandered from the faith.” They no longer believe at all in any meaningful sense. They are practical atheists – people who claim to believe in God but live as though they did not. This, Paul warns, is where the pursuit of money can lead.
Notice that this passage does not address the question of why some people are not content. Is it pride, because they think they deserve better than they’re getting? Is it fear that God will not continue to provide for them, even though he clearly has been doing that so far? Certainly, it’s impossible to be genuinely grateful for what God has provided while simultaneously worrying that it’s not enough. Or is it some other reason? The text doesn’t say, which means that, for our purposes, it doesn’t matter. By whatever path, the pursuit of money is coming out of a lack of contentment, and it all leads down the same path – away from Jesus. Tragically, many people have even, as we already saw “wandered from the faith,” because they were not content with what God was providing.
Let’s go backwards for a moment. In the verse immediately prior to the passage quoted above, Paul warned Timothy about “people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Timothy 6:5). Sadly, people who think like that are still found in the church today. Some are actual crooks, preaching whatever message they calculate will get people to give them money. But there are others who simply see godliness as a means to an end, imagining that if they have the right faith and follow all the right rules, God will make them prosperous.
This passage teaches, however, that godliness is not a means to an end; it is the end. It doesn’t necessarily produce a gain, but rather it is itself great gain. In other words, my reason for wanting to become more like Jesus is so that I will be more like Jesus. There is nothing better than that. Which is why it’s not just my goal, but God’s goal for me as well (2 Corinthians 3:18, Ephesians 4:11-13).
A few paragraphs later, Paul adds further instructions:
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. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 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 (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Jesus told us, as his disciples, to pray for our daily needs (Matthew 6:11), and in this very chapter, Paul wrote that, “if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” But here he adds a different perspective; that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
These two concepts are in tension; I am to be content with whatever I receive, but I should also expect God to richly provide I need everything for my enjoyment, with the end result that I should not only enjoy it myself, but also that I might be “generous and willing to share.” Generosity comes out of contentment. On the other hand, trying to protect what I have displays not only a failure to understand where my wealth comes from, but also a failure to understand the character of God, who has given me all that I have. As the Scripture says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). I am absolutely not endorsing the so-called prosperity gospel, but I will point out that the prosperity gospel does not come out of nowhere; like most heresies it’s a distortion of something true. In this case, the truth is that God is not stingy. He loves to give good gifts to his children (Matthew 7:9-11).
And when I take both of these passages in 1 Timothy together, it seems to me that there’s a wonderful irony in that the way to genuinely enjoy all the things God provides is to not care very much about either getting them or holding on to them. Paul is echoing what Jesus taught: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33), where “these things” refers to food, clothing and the other material needs of this life. But he also amplifies on Jesus’ statement a bit; God does not just give me what I minimally need to survive, but rather, what I need to thrive and to live joyfully. But, and this is key, only if meeting my own needs is not my top priority. It’s when I’m not concerned about how much I have, but only about how I can use whatever I have, whether that be a little or a lot, to glorify Christ, bless others, and advance God’s kingdom, that God will generously provide me with all I need to do that, and to enjoy doing that. That’s why I can be content with whatever I receive, because I know that what God provides really is all that I need.
But I don’t want to end this article without recognizing that there is also a warning here for those who have been given a lot.
There are two major sins of the rich that are condemned in this passage; arrogance and trusting in wealth instead of in God. The two are related. To trust in what I have is to forget who is responsible for me having it. All I have was given to me by God, to use for the work of his kingdom, but also, as we’ve seen, for my enjoyment. I didn’t get it on my own, and I can’t hold on to it on my own. If I claim to have gained what I have through talent and hard work, I forget who gave me that talent and that ability to work. They are a gift from my Father, and they are also the tools I need to do the work he’s given me to do.
To trust in my own ability to make money, or to properly invest and preserve what I have, is arrogance. To trust in money itself to protect me, or in the universe to just somehow keep me prosperous, is idolatry. And although a lot can be said in favor of capitalism, both in practical and in ethical terms, to trust in an economic system is, again, idolatry.
This is not just theory. Paul reminds us in this passage that my understanding of where my money comes from will affect what I do with it. Will I keep it for myself, or will I share? Even if I am willing to be generous, it matters whether I see my bank account as a storehouse, out of which I can share whenever I have more than what I calculate I need, or as a pipeline through which God channels resources for me to use. When I work, it matters whether I am working for money, or working for God’s kingdom. If I really am working for God’s kingdom, then how much money I make doing it isn’t my problem, it’s his.
But saying (or writing) this is one thing; acting on it is another. To live with the attitude that it doesn’t matter how much money I have requires understanding my identity. I need to know both that I am a son of God (1 John 3:1-3) and that my life is not my own, to do with as I choose; it belongs to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Not just say those things, but actually know that they are true.
And although I’m writing this, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m very good at doing it yet. I know how I should live, I know what my attitude should be, but it’s not a one-time decision to trust God’s provision. Like every other way in which I’m becoming like Jesus, it’s something I have to choose to do every day, and sometimes every hour. God does not override my own will, although it might be a lot easier if he did, but he works with me even as he changes me. As the Scripture says:
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).
and:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).