1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
In the Almighty Dollar We Trust
People who trap animals in Africa for zoos in the Western world say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ring-tailed monkey. For the local Zulus, though, it’s fairly simple. They know the monkeys love the seeds of a locally grown melon. So they just put a melon on a vine, and cut a hole in the melon just large enough for the hand of a monkey to fit into. The monkey reaches in and grabs the seeds, but then can’t remove its clenched fist from the melon. His fist is larger than the hole. The monkey will fight the melon trap for hours without ever letting go of his seeds. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and catch him.
Sometimes we are like that ring-tailed monkey. In fact, I would submit that despite being “one nation under God,” our true national religion is consumerism. We love to buy. We treat everything like we are marrying it. You know, “to have and to hold from this day forward.” We buy and buy, wanting more and more. And once we have something, it never quite delivers the way we expected. And so we need more.
1 Timothy is a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé, a pastor named Timothy. In it, he has practical advice for Timothy as well as for the folks in Timothy’s church, during a time when Greek society was fairly affluent by world standards. Perhaps the same lessons for Timothy and his parishioners would hold true for us today. When it comes to the almighty dollar, consider these principles on your outline. First, learn to...
1. Be content with what you have.
Verses 6-8 read:
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.
Paul took a word popular among Greek stoics and gave it new meaning. To a stoic, you became “content” by becoming self-sufficient. Paul says, what’s really profitable is to be godly AND content at the same time. And he reminds us that we came into this world with nothing, and we’ll leave this world with nothing. Everything we have is a gift for a time. We are not so much SELF-sufficient as we are GOD-sufficient. And all we really need are the basics, like food, clothing, and Monday night football!
Elsewhere, in his letter to the Philippians (Philippians 4:11-13), Paul writes,
11 ... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.12 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. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Who’s the “him”? Christ. The secret is Christ, who gives us strength. If we have Christ, we have everything. If we do not have Christ, then no matter how much we have, we have nothing. In Christ, we can be thankful for all things, whether we have much or little. And out of our gratitude comes deep-seated contentment.
Hebrews 13:5 has some good advice on the subject. It says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.” How do we become content? Charles Stanley says we do it by “asking God to teach us how to have gratitude for what we have, rather than complain about what we’re missing.” Someone once said, “Contentment is not measured by what we have; contentment is measured by what we don’t have.” Learn to be content with what you have, and on the flip side...
2. Guard against greed.
Listen to verses 9 and 10: 9 “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. 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.”
If the first point had one of the best-known verses of the Bible -- “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” -- this section has one of the most often wrongly quoted verses: “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Sometimes people say, “The Bible says MONEY is the root of all evil,” and yet it doesn’t say that at all. Money is a necessary thing in our economy, as it was in Paul’s. He has nothing against wealthy people even. He will address them later on. But it’s the LOVE of wealth that can get us into trouble: “those who want to get rich;” the “love of money;” “eager for money.”
God has promised to meet your need, not your greed! One time someone approached Jesus and asked him to take care of some inheritance issue with his brother. Jesus responded pretty sharply, seemingly upset about the man’s apparent selfishness. Then he said, in Luke 12:15, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
You are NOT your net worth! You are much more than that. How do we guard against greed? Same way we stay content: we stay thankful. It’s hard to be greedy when your heart is full of gratitude. Focus on what you do have, not what you don’t have.
Some people say, “Why should I be grateful to God? It’s really my hard work that got me where I am today!” No doubt God honors hard work, but remember who gave you the strength to do the work. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...”
Be content with what you have. Guard against greed. And...
3. Share generously with others.
Listen again to verses 17-19, as Paul turns his attention on the wealthy (and remember that if you live in America, you are among the world’s wealthiest people!): 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.”
Wealth is uncertain. It can be here today and gone tomorrow. Remember the stock market crash of 2008? Many lost their retirements during that time. When you invest, your advisor wants to know your willingness to risk, your risk tolerance. Our only truly safe investment is in God. Paul tells us to put our hope in God, our provider.
And then he says to share. Recently I gave a sermon on “Lessons We Should Have Learned in Kindergarten.” One of the valuable lessons we pick up early on is learning to share. If you share with others, you fight the temptation to be greedy. Greedy people don’t share. Generous people do. Paul says, “Want to be rich? Be rich in good deeds!” That’s rich!
In his famous Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said, 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What does it mean to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven?” Randy Alcorn says, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!” Look for ways to invest in eternal things. Look for ways to bless people and to lead them to a loving relationship with their Creator. Use your money for good deeds. Send it on ahead, as God promises to reward you some day in heaven.
Let’s pray about all these things now and ask for God’s help: Lord God, the Bible says every good and perfect gift comes from you in heaven above. We are blessed. We have so much compared to most people in the world today. Help us to be content with what we have, to avoid greed, to share with others, and to invest in your kingdom purposes. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who had so little by world standards, but now has it all at the right hand of the Father, amen.
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1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
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 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. 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.
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Two friends met in the street. One looked sad and almost on the verge of tears. The other man said, "Hey my friend, how come you look like the whole world has caved in?"
The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me 50-thousand dollars."
"That's not bad at all...!"
"Hold on, I'm just getting started. Two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew kicked-the-bucket and left me 95-thousand, tax-free to boot."
"Well, that's great! I'd like that."
"Last week, my grandfather passed away. I inherited almost a million."
"So why are so glum?"
"This week - nothing!"
