Is money really the root of all evil?
With ultra-wealthy evangelicals, some with personal fortunes as large as $300 million, how can that ‘square up’ for the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world?
The short answer is; it doesn’t – but first let’s get our scriptures right! The actual verse is a subtle corruption of 1 Timothy 6 and verse 10 which reads as follows:
‘For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil’
As in so many things in the Christian faith, this is about the condition of the heart rather than the actual object or sin in question.
As a Father myself, I know the strengths and weaknesses of my children, it’s not hard for me to see when they are ‘doing the best they can’ or when they are really not making any effort at all! Why should God our father be any different? He judges each of us on who we are, not against some fixed scale of perfection.
We see in the Old Testament when God is looking for the next King of Israel and Jesse brings forward Eliab his 1st born; tall and strong, God tells Samuel:
“Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see. Humans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
And ultimately God chooses the youngest and last born – a shepherd boy who we know as David (of later David and Goliath fame).
Having money in itself or riches is not a Sin, but the love of it and perhaps equally importantly how a person blesses others with it through love, is the real yard stick of measurement here.
In the story Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus, it is not the wealth in itself that is the issue, it is the rich man’s selfishness in keeping it all to himself and ignoring the plight and suffering of Lazarus Luke 16:19-31
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
Jesus also clearly states that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” Matthew 19:24
This striking image – whether referring to a literal needle or a narrow gate in Jerusalem’s walls, as some traditions suggest, uses hyperbole to show how wealth creates a spiritual barrier. Yet Jesus immediately adds, “with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26
That said, it is not ours to judge lest we be judged by the same measure (Matthew 7:1-3) and I cannot help but remembering the sage words in Proverbs 30:7-9
” . . . give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?”
Would I like $300 million in the Bank? Sure – sounds great from a worldly perspective 😊 The only worry here, is whether this is a good fit for the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus offers us when we die?
Now that is a much more challenging question!
