The Love of Money

The following are a couple of verses that really concern me regarding the state of the church (in America):

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. (Mat. 13:7)

And here is Jesus’ interpretation of this part of His own parable:

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (Mat. 13:22)

This is the second verse:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…. (2 Tim. 3:1, 2)

And finally:

Because you say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (Rev. 3:17, 18)

Putting these three verses together serves as a serious warning to the church regarding our focus while we are still here on this earth. I’ve been taught that the seven churches in the early chapters of Revelation were actual churches with their own issues and problems. And we can see that Jesus is revealing certain things to John about these churches, and that these churches needed to take certain steps and precautions in following the Lord Jesus. It’s also been postulated that these churches (along with their problems and predicaments) represent the church’s history as a whole: we should take note that there are seven churches listed, (and with the number seven being the “number of completion”) it’s quite possible that we have here a “complete” view of the history of the church. If this is the case, then the Laodiceans being last might indicate the state of the church in the last days. If this is true, and if we believe we are living in the last days, then this letter is every bit as much written to each of us as it was to the Laodiceans. We should then take careful note of their state.

They (we) say, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” Really? Are we guilty of saying/thinking the same thing? Are money and self-sufficiency the identifying characteristics of the church today? I really think we ought to think long about this sentence and not just glaze over it without giving it lengthy consideration:

Are money and self-sufficiency the identifying characteristics of the church today?

Note Jesus’ reaction to their (our) assertion: “[You] do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” My pastor has said on numerous occasions, “Don’t underestimate your capacity for low self-awareness.” These people (we) really thought they had it together: they had wealth and no need for anything. My hunch is that, if we were measuring this church’s state of being by the world’s standards, we might all come to this conclusion, that they have need of nothing. But, as is true in the kingdom of God with everything else, the world is completely backward and diametrically opposed to the things of God. And this is why Jesus, in His loving way (see Rev. 3:19), sharply rebukes these people. They (we) are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

Jesus then goes on to give them some advice: “Buy from Me gold refined in the fire….” They were all about getting wealth. Jesus is telling them to get real gold, which is an authentic faith. 1 Peter 1:7 talks about faith being more precious than gold and being tried in the fire. Here Jesus is telling them to have faith in Him rather than in worldly wealth. Make no mistake: having a real faith in Jesus Christ is what saves, not the riches of this world. He then goes on to say, “Buy from Me some white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.” This is another allusion to having faith in Jesus Christ. These people are naked, and I think the case can be made that these people have never entered into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. They are naked like Adam and Eve were in the garden and have not been clothed by God. These people were not only about getting wealth, they were about getting costly clothing (a sign of wealth that is still highly valued in America’s culture today). Jesus tells them they’re naked. Finally He also tells them to anoint their eyes with salve so that they can really see what’s going on. It still baffles me today as to how utterly blind people can be to the things of God. The question is, are they blind because Satan has blinded them, or are they blind because they choose to be blind (like an ostrich putting its head on the sand)?

If you read to the end of the letter to the Laodiceans, you’ll see that Jesus is standing at the door and knocking. It scares me to the core that at this church, Jesus is on the outside knocking, wanting in. If Jesus is on the outside wanting in, then they (we) as a church have a very, very serious problem.

The 2 Timothy passage is also disconcerting. The first part of it says, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money….” It’s a sure sign of the last days when men are lovers of themselves and lovers of money. Well that’s all fine and good, and to be honest, what would we expect from the world? If they’re not living for God, what is there to live for? Themselves? Sure. If this is all there is, then we’re living a short, temporary life, and it really is no wonder that our selves would easily find their way onto the thrones of our lives. Ever more people are becoming increasing opposed to the idea that there even is a God, or that we might be accountable to Him, so it should be no surprise when we become our own gods, and our lives revolve solely around making ourselves happy. We love ourselves, and in short order, we love money, because when we have it (or so we’ve been led to believe), we have infinite power to make ourselves happy with as much consumer product as we want. We are our own gods, and we worship ourselves with money.

But what’s so disconcerting about this passage is, if you put it together with Jesus’ warning to the Laodiceans about their attitudes toward wealth, it’s not such a stretch to say that the warning in 2 Timothy could also be a warning about the church in the last days. After all, verse 5 of the same chapter says, “…having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

And finally, if we put these two verses together with Jesus’ parable of the sower, we see that the idolatrous desire for and unholy love of money is an absolute brick wall that stands in the way of following the Lord:

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (Mat. 13:22)

When it comes to money, let’s remember this: the world is insanely in love with money. Think about it: how much of today’s news has to do with the economy? How much time does our own government pour into developing laws and programs that seek to revive our economy? The way I see it, it’s all about jobs, earnings reports, stocks, home values, unemployment, Social Security, national debt, the dollar’s performance against other world currencies, etc, etc, etc, as if there’s nothing else in the world going on. If we could just fix the economy, I bet everyone would be happy.

But I’m not so sure this is what God wants. What if we have idolized money so much in this country that God is trying to teach us the pitfalls of trusting in uncertain mammon? It’s almost as if we’re in a room, with all our money stacked up high on a table, and as we have bowed down to it, God has seen fit to just blow on it and send it flying in a million different directions. I’m really not sure if this is the case, and I don’t claim to be a prophet, but I do know that the Bible warns against trusting in uncertain riches.

Now as it pertains to the church, if we have done the same thing as the world, we are truly guilty of idolatry and find ourselves in the same state as the Laodiceans: we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. There is no recourse but to repent and ask for His forgiveness. He still wants in! He still loves us!

This morning at church we considered a message regarding who Jesus really is. Do we really know who He is, or have we made Him into someone He’s not? The thought occurred to me, have we, as part of the church in America, gotten Santa Claus and Jesus Christ confused? Are we here to serve Him, or do we think He’s here to serve us? Do we think He’s there to give us more money? Do we think He’s there to make our lives on earth better? It would do us well to heed the warnings in these three passages.