Let’s Return To The Early Church View Of Money

Let’s return to the early church View of Money

1Timothy Chapter six

Michael H Koplitz

[Paul supports slavery] 1Tim. 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be 1spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who 1partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

[Must follow Paul’s ways] 1Tim. 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he 1has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between amen of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

[Must follow because Yeshua died] 1Tim. 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who 1gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He will bring about at the proper time — He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

[Teach the rich] 1Tim. 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

[Ending comments] 1Tim. 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

Chapter 6 of 1 Timothy is a hard passage to talk about today. However, if you have watched any of my sermon videos or listened to any of my podcasts, you know I will not shy away from Scripture. This chapter is difficult because the modern church today totally contradicts what Paul was talking about. I am not referring to the slavery question as much as I am referring to the money question.

Let me talk about the slavery question just for a moment. We remember that the ancient church was emerging inside of the Roman empire. Roman culture and most cultures of the known world had a belief in slavery. What Paul said almost 2000 years ago is based on what we believe today. I’m sure everyone who is reading or listening to this message would agree that slavery is 100% wrong. However, it is incorrect to judge an ancient society on our current cultural norms. There are acceptable practices in our society and culture today that ancient Romans would find offensive. There are a lot of things that our society does today that Jesus would 100% object to. Therefore, you can see why I’m saying it’s incorrect to judge an ancient culture by 21st century norms. Enough said about that.

The love of money is important to understand in this chapter. Paul tells Timothy that it is not a problem for someone to be rich. It is what a person does with wealth and how it was accumulated that matters. Paul’s primary concern about someone being rich and joining the faith was that they may allow their wealth to guide their decisions. The Corinthian letters show how rich people would come together for communion and exclude the poorer members of the congregation. This was so that the richer members could eat and drink the best and they did not want to share it with the poorer members.