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Love of Money


Jesus talks about money a lot in the Bible. At some point in their life the disciple will have to face full on the battle between God and money.  What is money? Money of course is not the issue, but rather the promises that money makes. Come to me and you will be secure! Come to me and you will be welcomed by others! Come to me and you will have power and status! The things that money can buy are things that we as humans crave: a sense of complete security, acceptance and status in society, freedom from vulnerability and servitude. We see evidence all around us that the poor are dependent, vilified, judged, lacking in status and power, rejected and needy. In order to follow Jesus and to have God as our Lord and Saviour we must fully face the false promises that money dangles before us.

Jesus’ story or parable from Luke 16 verses 1-13 is about just that. He describes a wealthy man and his manager. The manager has been squandering the wealthy man’s property and on being found out he acts shrewdly to secure himself friends by reducing the debts of those who owe his boss. The wealthy man is impressed by the manager’s shrewdness. But, here we must be careful to read the parable correctly, Jesus is not impressed. With great irony he says: ‘And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into their eternal homes’. Jesus’ point is that earthly wealth is just that, earthly: you cannot secure eternal life by acting shrewdly in worldly terms.

God’s promises are quite distinct from the promises that money makes. God’s promises are that we will enter the kingdom of heaven, which is characterised by radical generosity, acceptance, welcome, freedom, inter-dependence, peace, love and joy. These things cannot come from money, for money’s promises sound enticing, but money divides, human against human, creating slave and master, winners and losers, the rich and the poor, free and the bound, the content and the discontent. Money offers a dystopian vision which can never satisfy.

Jesus says, you cannot serve God and wealth – each of us has a choice, a real and important choice to make. Can you review your life choices and ask yourself – who or what am I trusting in? We must try and be honest and we may have to make some painful choices. But, the point is, do you trust in God as the Lord and Creator, or do you trust in wealth? Can you live up to that trust in God, however difficult it might feel at first? We have to take that leap of faith – that God will provide, God will bless, that God’s promises are true, enduring and bring everlasting peace.




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