It's Not About The Money

It's not About the Money

1 Timothy 6:6–19 NKJV

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

The world thinks it’s all about money. How often do we see the topic of money on the Internet, magazines, and books? How often is the topic of money discussed in various conversations? We hear sayings like “Money makes the world go round” or “In Gold we Trust.” There are even many programs about money and money management on Christian media. Someone thinks that Ecclesiastes 11:1 “Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.” is meant to be advise on diversifying one;s monetary investments. Others say that the Bible speaks more about money than any other topic. But is it all about money? Let us see.

When we look at the passage from First Timothy 6 which we read this morning, we came across the well-known phrase that “Money is the root of all evil. Most modern translations use “a root” rather than “the root like the New King James Version which we read this morning does. Many are uncomfortable with the idea that money is evil. Of course, this is not what is said. What it clearly does NOT say is “Money is the root of all evil” but rather says “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” Money or some equivalent, such as barter in some societies is vital to the function of societies. The Bible does indeed value money, so long as it is not made a god. The Greek does not have an indefinite article “a” in its language. It does have the definite article “the”, however. “The” is not in the Greek text either. Nouns without an article have to be supplied in translation into English. The exact translation in Greek is "For root of all evil is the love of silver.” the fact that “root” is at the front of the sentence gives it extra emphasis. When translated into English, we read “For the love of money is (a) (the) ROOT of all evil.” To me “The root” fits the context better. the fact that it is immediately connected to “covetousness” adds weight to this. Paul, in another place, seems to indicate that covetousness is the gateway towards the breaking of all of the other commandments as it is the initial motivation and temptation which leads to evil. Jesus, in the sermon on the Mount warns us to store our treasures in heaven where thieves can’t break in and steal or moth corrupt. He also in the same sermon that if a man desires (covets) a woman, he has already committed adultery with her. The problem is not with the woman, even if she dresses suggestively or otherwise desire to get your attention. that is her sin in that case, but the “devil made me do it” is no excuse for our sin.

Money is not evil in itself as we have already noted. and yes, the christian should be a good manager of money. There is a lot of good advice for the management of money which you can consult. What I want to zero in here is the word “root.” In a tree, it is the roots which supports and nourishes the tree so that it might bear fruit. In this case, the love of money produces spoiled fruit. this is the fruit of the evil tree in the sermon on the mount. But there is another type of tree in the Sermon on the Mount. this is a good tree which produces good fruit as it springs forth from a good root.