We’re looking this week at how our views of money change as followers of Jesus.  Here are the words of Paul, one of the first Christian leaders, to his protégé, Timothy.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.  (1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV)

A Christian author, NT Wright note that we give lip service to the maxim that “money can’t buy happiness” and then give life-service to the opposite.

We don’t need to prove it, we’ve all seen this kind of thing.

One example, when someone is quite wealthy, they might buy more homes.  But since they can’t be everywhere at once, they need to get security systems or guards, repair people, landscapers and more.

With more wealth comes the need for lawyers, accountants, investment advisors, and all the work and stress of coordinating them properly.

A friend owns a home by the lake, which is beautiful.  But the amazing view comes at a cost, as they are constantly replacing shingles after every windstorm.

Another example: Justin Bieber’s incredible success and wealth may also be his downfall.  He is able to try and buy happiness in cars, drugs, and surround himself with friends so dazzled by it all that they won’t try to stop him.  But we’ve seen recently, that it’s not working.  His wealth has turned into a trap, a snare.

Is Paul saying money is bad?  Or houses by the lake, or pop music?  No, but money is also not good, or happiness, in and of itself.

This is why Paul says carefully, the love of money is the root of many evils.

Money isn’t the good to be loved.  It represents the good, it’s just a piece of paper, metal or computer data used to exchange for actual goods and services.  The further our modern currency gets from the actual goods it was meant to represent, the closer it gets to an idol for worship in and of itself.  Money is a stand-in for actual goods, and becoming less and less grounded in reality since treasuries no longer actually have to have gold on hand for every dollar they print.

What are idols?  They were things like statues worshipped for rain, sun, fertitility, whatever people wanted to control.  They stand in for a real relationship with God who can’t be controlled.  They allow us to become ungrounded from reality, since we elevate ourselves to the status of controlling nature through our gods.

If we pursue money alone, we are pursuing something at the whim of the markets that is ultimately meaningless. We can see this as the Canadian dollar recently plugned below 90 cents US.  Manufacturers who signed contracts at $1.00, bought supplies at $0.95 and got paid at $0.90 have all seen just how subjective money can be when it’s unhinged from the actual goods it is meant to represent.

The risk is that we’ll pursue this kind of thing in life, and worship things in our lives whose value is constantly in flux, hardly eternal.  They may not be little statues anymore, but idols are very much objects of worship today.

That’s why Paul states the obvious truth: we brought nothing into this world, we cannot take anything out.  Despite that, we regularly treat money, possessions in life as if they are permanent and of eternal value.

Question: When have you seen someone’s love for money lead to evil?

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - April 2, 2014

Wednesday - Change It - Reset Death

Hi, welcome to Redeem the Commute. I'm Ryan your host of the Daily Challenges. Here we are in a cemetery because this week we're studying how following Jesus resets our views of death, and in fact, Jesus resets death itself. In yesterday’s passage, a Christian leader named Paul calls dead Christians “those who are asleep”. The suggestion is that they will wake up in the kingdom of heaven, and be no different from those who might be alive when the kingdom of heaven arrives fully. How does Paul figure? They will wake up because Jesus woke up. There is a direct connection. Jesus Died – definitely. We have lots of great textual evidence that matches science to say that Jesus definitely died, it was no mistake. See Christianity 101 for more! He spent Saturday in the tomb, and rose on Sunday. In that time in the tomb, he destroyed death’s power. Usually death is final, but Jesus treated it like a 3 day nap. Death is nothing to fear for one of Jesus’ followers. Paul asked elsewhere: death, where is your sting? He taunts it, knowing it has no power. Jesus’ victory is not just someone else’s victory to celebrate. He was the first, not the last, so we can follow him not just in life, but through death to new life. He doesn’t promise that we’ll never die a physical death, like the Thessalonian Christians apprently thought. But if we do, he will raise us. One pastor asked a child whose mother died: would you rather be run over by a truck, or its shadow. It’s shadow, because it wouldn’t hurt. Well, your mother has not been run over by death, but by the shadow of death. Regardless of whether we are alive or dead when the kingdom comes, it comes. We arrive there not by our own power, religiosity, etc. but by Jesus’ pioneering work on the cross. He went through death, conquering it first, and invites you to follow. But that’s just death, how does this impact life? You may know the song, “Live like you were dying”. The idea in that song, and else where, is that if you’re dying you waste everything you have, party it up, before it’s all gone and you’re over. But if death is destroyed by Jesus, death is now a state we pass through, so living like you were dying means living like every day brings you closer to God’s kingdom. That means using our resources wisely, no wasting them. It means preparing for the kingdom of heaven, so often described as a party, not just partying it up for a moment. For a Christian, living like you were dying means not taking the short view, but the long view of eternity. Question: How does Jesus’ death impact your own view of life, and death?

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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