Hindrances to the Mission–Money

From the title of this post, you “might” conclude that you’re going to read about an encouragement to give to missions. Well, giving to missions is of course needed! “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent” (Rom. 10:14-15). What we give to support missionaries is vitally important.

But, that’s a topic for another day, another blog post. Today’s topic is more personally focused.  As the Christian musician Steve Green put it, our mission is “a call to deepen our devotion to the cross of Christ at any price. . . . The heartbeat of our mission is to love the Lord our God.” One of the hindrances to our mission, then, is a wrong view of the topic of money. Now there are a lot of views on the subject of money in the Christian life. What is the biblical view of money? That’s what we will look at today.

First, the Bible treats the subject of money as both the same as, as well as different from, other earthly possessions (stuff and things). That is to say that money, in one sense, is just another possession that one can accumulate. At the same time, however, on this earth money has power. We see it every day. People with money are treated differently than others. Some people think that economic inequality is the real problem.  However, the real problem is the results of that. When Bill Gates, Tim Cook, and the like are treated better than John Smith from Main Street simply because of their bank accounts and influence, that is the problem.

Contrary to some folks, the solution is not to start a class war and redistribute wealth and try to make everyone equal. The root of the problem is spiritual, not financial. Thus, we must change our view of money and possessions.

The Gospel makes it clear that anything that hinders us from fully trusting in God, whether for salvation or in our daily lives, must be forsaken. Jesus made it even more clear: “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Must we actually abandon everything? In some cases, absolutely. Jesus did, after all, tell the rich young ruler to sell all he had and then “come and follow Me.” And we know that the man went away “very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23).

Now, why was he sad? Not just because he was rich, but because he loved his riches more than God. Jesus called the man to part with them, and he could not do so. He will also ask us to part with anything that is preventing us from being fully devoted to Him. In some cases, that means we lose a lot—or everything. But we have Him. And that is exactly how He wants it.

Let’s talk about some common questions when it comes to money, wealth and poverty.

Q: Is wealth a sign of God’s favor?

In the Old Testament, God promised to bless Israel for as she was obedient to Him. In turn, the covenant also contained curses for disobedience. These blessings and curses were primarily directed at the nation as a whole, though they also applied to individuals—though not all the time.  For example, God granted Solomon and David riches and honor. Why? Because they were faithful to Him (in Solomon’s case, at least for the first part of his reign). Yet, the same thing cannot be said of others. The Levites weren’t even allowed to own land, for “the Lord is your portion.”

We cannot say that money is always a sign of God’s favor, especially for those who have become wealthy at the expense of others.

Q: Is poverty a curse?

There is a teaching in certain segments of the church that says, “If you are poor or struggling financially, something is wrong in your life.”  The teaching suggests that poverty is a curse, and even Christians can suffer from it. Considering the answer to our first question, we must say again, “Not necessarily.”  Jesus was poor. And while He became poor “that we might be rich,” those riches are more spiritual than physical. Again, Jesus did instruct the rich young ruler to sell all he had.

What do we say, then, to a person or a family who is faithful to Christ, gives as they are able out of a grateful heart, and still struggles financially? Do we tell them to repent of some unknown sin? Pray more? Have more faith? Break the curse?

A better counsel would be, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches.” Poverty, when understood rightly, can drive us to seek Christ. We have nothing, He has everything. We are nothing, He is everything.

The idea that poverty is a curse generally comes from the Old Testament (see question above). However, if one applies that curse to the believer, then the other curses apply as well, since the law is a unified whole. To accept one part of the law is to accept all, and to stumble at one point is to be guilty of the law. For the believer, though, the curse has been broken because Christ became a curse for us.

Q: Is money in itself evil?

By teaching “renounce all,” some might wonder if I think money is inherently evil. This is not the case, and it’s not a position supported by Scripture. Money is a possession that, like other possessions, can be used to buy things we want and need. However, Jesus did often comment on “the deceitfulness of riches” (Matt. 13:22; Mark 4:19). This suggests that, as we said above, in this world money carries worldly power, and that while money is not evil per se, it has an inbuilt corrupting influence. Money, along with many other things, can easily draw a person away from God. Money makes it easy to trust in oneself.

Paul echoes this point when he says the love of money is the root of all evil. And it’s easy to love money, not only because of the status it can buy, but also because it gives us a form of security. It’s possible (and common) for a middle-class or even one who is poor to ‘love’ money.

Implications of This Teaching

First, we must not seek wealth or earthly power in any form. Those things have an inherent corrupting influence. They entangle us in things that believers ought not be entangled in. Along those lines, we must not see money as our security, regardless of our socio-economic status. Our security is to be found in Christ, not anything or anyone else.

While we’re on this subject, this includes the idea of seeking God’s blessing “to bless others.” That is a subtle trap that many fall into, disguising their longing for earthly blessings in spiritual terms.  Blessings are for the Lord to dispense, and that includes the means of that dispensing. We are to seek Him and Him only, leaving the blessings up to His sovereignty.

Second, we should not seek poverty, unless it is special call from the Holy Spirit. (“Leave all you have and follow Me.”) The Lord calls each of us in various stations in life. The Bible teaches clearly that we are to learn to be content in both want and plenty, for He provides all we need. We are to seek Him and allow Him to provide our needs.

Third, we must abandon ourselves to Him. He calls His disciples to renounce all. What does this mean? It means that if He takes something or someone from us, we are to acknowledge that it or they are His. Even if, in His wisdom, He takes all we have, we are to cling to Him—not in the hopes of getting it back, but because He is truly all we need.