The Love of Money and the 10 Commandments

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. (1Timothy 6:10 ESV)

This text tells us that all types of evil are rooted in the love of money. One might relate this to the Marxist claim that man is essentially an economic being, yet I think it goes deeper than this. While economics plays a major part in motivating human behavior it cannot be the ultimate motivation. Rather, man is essentially a worshiping being. God created human beings to bring him glory. Money comes into the picture because, as fallen mankind is apt to do, we create an idol out of it. We worship the security and the pleasures that money can bring. As I thought about this reality, I wanted to see how the 10 Commandments fit into this equation. The 10 Commandments are a summary of the moral law, so if the love of money is the root of all evils, then we can expect that it may motivate the violation of each of the commandments.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

According to Jesus, the whole law is summed up in the commands to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. Yet, as sinful human creatures we fall short. We do not love God as we ought to love him. When we find our security, our comfort, or our meaning in something other than him we have committed idolatry. We are worshiping something other than the one true God. Money is easily worshiped. You don't have to bow down or have religious ceremonies to worship money. You just have to treasure it more than Jesus.

2. You shall not make for yourselves any graven image.

 Initially, this commandment seems more difficult to tie to the love of money. Yet Jesus asked whose image was on a coin in his day. It would be wrong to claim that the minting of coins violates this command; however, when our devotion is to money, our hearts care more for the image on a coin than the image of God in our fellow man.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

 If we say we worship God, yet we really only treasure the gifts that He gives. If we value His gifts above Him, then we take his name in vain. Taking God's name in vain is more than just using it as a curse word, it is using God's name emptily. To claim to worship Him when He is not our highest treasure is to violate this command.

4. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.

 How often do we let our service of money stand in the way of our observance of rest and worship? The principle of the Sabbath is not easily transferred to New Testament believers. Not everyone understands the application of this command for today in the same way. However, at the very least we can say that when we allow the constant pressures to work stand in the way of making time for rest and worship we have allowed money to be our God.

5. Honor your father and mother.

 Jesus connects this command to money when he confronts the religious teachers about holding their traditions above God's word. To honor one's father and mother means to care for their needs and to provide for them in their old age when necessary. The love of money might keep some from fulfilling this duty.

6. You shall not murder.

The love of money might motivate some to kill for it.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

 One might not easily connect the love of money and the sin of adultery; however, when one considers that the from 2001 to 2007 the pornography industry in the US alone went from a $1 billion a year industry to a $3 billion industry, it is easier to see the connection. Young women who were created in the image of God, to worship him, and to bring him glory, are selling their bodies for the sake of the love of money.

8. You shall not steal.

This may be the easiest to relate to the love of money. People will take what does not belong to them because they love money more than they care about another human being created in God's image.

9. You shall not bear false witness.

It is often the idol of security that may cause someone to lie for the sake of personal gain or protection from material loss.

10. You shall not covet.

Coveting = Loving money (or material things) more than God or neighbor.

There are some of the commandments that are easier than others to relate to the love of money. I am sure that there are many aspects that I left out. I merely tried to show that there was some kind of connection to each of the commandments. Beware of the love of money. It is an internal enemy that is capable of pulling us into a pit in which we will be impaled upon many sorrows.

"True Religion" Caring for Widows: 1 Timothy 5:1-16

There is a very important place within the life of Christians for caring for widows. James, the brother of Jesus, made the point by stating that caring for widows was at the heart of true religion. Paul gives Timothy instructions on caring for widows. The office of deacon was first instituted so that churches would be able to effectively care for widows without neglecting preaching and prayer, and Jesus commended the faith of the widow who gave all she had.

The Big Picture

Tonight I recommended a children's Bible...to an adult...and not for her kids...for herself.

There's no shame in this. Fifty years ago, when you talked with someone about the Bible, the chances were they had some frame of reference to understand what you were talking about. It's just not that way today. We no longer live in a culture that shares a common understanding of what the Bible is.
This brings a challenge to us when we do evangelism today. We use our church language and expect that people know what we are talking about...but they often don't.

Case in point (I'll spare details for the sake of privacy), I was having a conversation with two other people. One was a mature believer, one is just beginning to seek Christ. The seasoned believer encouraged this young sister to read her Bible...and not to forget the Old Testament...that's important too. Now, I agree with this mature assessment about the necessity of the Old Testament for the life of a believer. I mean, I've spent years studying Hebrew and got half way through the coursework for a PhD in Old Testament. Believe me, I affirm the need for the Old Testament. Later...when it was just me and the new seeker...I brought this up again and asked..."Do you know the difference between the Old and the New Testaments? The answer was no. When we've been in church so long we often take little things like this for granted.

I spent the next 5 minutes trying to give an explanation of the contents of the Old and New Testament. I started with the New, and I explained that it begins with the 4 Gospels. Each of the Gospels tells the story of Jesus life and ministry through his death and resurrection. I told her that they aren't in chronological order, but rather they each tell the same story from 4 different perspectives. Next comes Acts. This is the story of the next 30 years or so after Jesus ascended into heaven. It tells the story of the apostles taking the message of Jesus throughout the world. Next come letters to specific churches and individuals that are intended to address specific situations. Finally, Revelation is probably the most difficult because it is filled with symbolic imagery and it is about the things at the end--things in the future.

Then I turned to the Old Testament. I didn't take the time to break down the divisions of Law, Prophets, and Writings. Rather, I just told her that the Old Testament is important because it is how we know that Jesus didn't just plop out of the sky one day from nowhere. Rather, it was the unfolding of God's plan throughout thousands of years. I told her that it tells the story of God working among the Jewish people, promising a Messiah who would one day come. I concluded by saying that the two parts of the Bible can basically be summed up with Promise and Fulfillment.

Imagine, if you were an alien from a distant planet and you came here. Assuming this is in the world of Star Trek where all planets speak English, you are familiar with literature, but only one genre--Children's Books. When you arrive here on earth you quickly find a library and randomly pick up a book assuming that it will be a children's story; however, you soon find the book difficult and give up because it was actually a technical manual for repairing an automobile. This technical manual does not follow the rules of the children's book genre, so you give up, assuming that it is too difficult and you can never understand what is so entertaining  about the story.

This is what reading the Bible can be like. When we come to the Bible, we have to realize that it is written in several different genres over the course of thousands of years. There is great diversity within the biblical corpus, and it is an ancient document that is very foreign to modern readers. For those of us who grew up with the Bible stories in Sunday School from our childhood, we can navigate the Bible with some level of ease. At least we know what it is we're looking at. But think of what it must feel like for someone coming to the Bible for the very first time without any knowledge at all of what it is all about.

People have to have a reference point. We have to have some kind of idea of what it is we are reading before we can understand what something big and complex is all about. When a child is leaning to read, they always look for the pictures to get some idea of what it is they are looking at. Children's books are filled with pictures. This isn't something that is necessary for children only. It can be very helpful for adults as well. I'm not saying that we can be content with just a children's book, but how about instead of telling new believers to start with the book of John, we get them a copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible so they can at least have some idea of the big picture of what the Bible is about.

So I recommended it. I recommended the Jesus Storybook Bible to an adult, just beginning to seek Christ. And I would suggest, that when you have conversations with others that have limited understanding of the Bible, you might want to do the same thing. Start with a children's storybook Bible that can sketch the main story line of the Bible. We all have to see the big picture before we can make sense of the details.

A Good Servent of Christ Jesus: 1 Timothy 4:6-16

The greatest desire of the heart of any disciple of Jesus Christ ought to be that we might be called a good servant. This is true for all believers, but it is especially true for pastors. In 1 Timothy 4, Paul is instructing Timothy on his duties and priorities of a pastor, and he tells Timothy, as well as any pastor who comes after him, how to be a good servant of Christ.

1 Timothy 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
 11 Command and teach these things.
 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The first thing that Paul says that pastors must do to be a good servant of Christ is to "put these things before the brothers." This begs the question, "what things?" In the previous verses, Paul warned that in the last times false teachers would depart from faith and be devoted to teachings of demons. This teaching was characterized by an obsession with asceticism. In contrast, Paul points to the biblical doctrine of creation and states that foods were made holy "by the word of God and prayer." I would suggest that "these things" refers to sound biblical doctrine that isn't based on superstition or man made wisdom but is grounded in the Bible.

Verses 6-10 continue to confirm that this is what "these things" is talking about. Paul says that Timothy has been trained in the "words of the faith" and the "good doctrine" which he has followed. Again, Paul is pointing Timothy to the Scriptures.

In verse 11, Paul continues the emphasis on Scripture. He says "command and teach these things." It seems he is talking about the same things as he referenced in verse 6, and then in 13 he gives specific instructions on how to carry out his charge. He says to give attention to public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. Timothy has been charged to read the Bible publicly. This is something we don't do often enough today. There are some churches you can go to and Scripture is rarely ever read publicly more than a verse or two, and sometimes it is hard to find scripture read even during the sermon. A faithful servant of Christ will give a prominent place to the reading of Scripture as he leads the people of God in worship. But Timothy wasn't merely to read it, but he was to exhort the people with it. In other words, he was to labor to convince the congregation by words and with passion to obey and believe the biblical teaching. Paul also instructs Timothy in verse 13 to give attention to teaching or doctrine. Paul was convinced that the Scriptures presented a unified message that was consistent throughout. With this understanding of the nature of Scripture one can come to it and arrive at an understanding of what the Bible teaches about any given topic. Here Paul tells us that we are to pay attention to doctrinal orthodoxy. It isn't enough just to read the Bible and exhort people to obey it, but we must also be careful to teach what is in conformity to orthodox doctrine..

So far as we've looked at the passage, Paul instructs Timothy to oppose error (unbiblical doctrine), and to give attention to biblical teaching, but neither of these are enough. In verse 16, Paul tells Timothy, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching." Paul's concern isn't merely doctrinal orthodoxy, but it is on the person teaching as well. Paul had already exhorted Timothy to discipline himself for godliness, and this makes up the third element required for all good servants of Christ Jesus. We must watch both our lives and doctrine.

So, in summary, Paul's exhortation to Timothy in these verses is to 1) confront false teaching, 2) commit himself to the Bible, and 3) have a character of purity. This is our charge as well. We must have the courage to call out false teaching when others would think that we are being judgmental or too "restrictive." We must have the commitment to Scripture that keeps us chained to the Bible that we do not leave it behind for the latest whims of the world. We must watch our lives, and we must fight the battle with the flesh, that we may live lives of holiness in the fear of God.