All We Need

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. [1 Timothy 6.17] 

If trusting in God is the opposite of trusting in money (as indicated above), in what realm does this trust manifest? It manifests in the realm of all we need.

In 1 Timothy 6.17, Paul is saying that all we need can be obtained in one of two places: trusting money, or, trusting God. Paul's contrast between trusting money and trusting God puts these two options at separate ends of the trust spectrum - one cannot trust both money and God.

We should not be surprised by Paul's statement here because Jesus just as adamantly made the same statement:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. [Matthew 6.24]

Jesus not only gave precedence to Paul's claim, but also revealed something else about faith (trust) not surprising for a jealous God to say: trust is akin to slavery or servanthood. To trust in God is not an abstract idea, but instead, active servanthood to Him alone. (Can you see where this is going?) In contrast, to trust in money is to be in active servanthood (enslaved) to it. And, Jesus said, we can't do both. Here is where the jealousy part originates:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. [Exodus 20.2-6]

All we need in Paul's letter to Timothy is one and the same as everything you need in Jesus' teaching to His followers:

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.31-33]

If all we need is of no concern to us, then the money that meets those needs is of no concern to us. We should understand the brilliance of God's Word here because in the trade/barter society around the time of Jesus and Paul, money, as important as it was then, was nowhere near as important as it is today! What the Holy Spirit spoke years ago through Jesus and Paul is more relevant today than it was the moment it was spoken!

Now then, we should understand the relevance of money regarding our trust in God today for all we need. As Jesus so clearly stated, there must be a separation between money and God because they are in competition for our trust. And, while money doesn't mind us additionally trusting God, in contrast, every fiber of God's Word and being declares that He will not tolerate us additionally trusting in money (or anything else for that matter).

Where am I going with this?

I will answer the question above with a question: How much of all we need comes to us today through the exchange of money?

The answer to this second question is this: practically everything.

It is one thing to use money earned from work to buy something. It is another thing altogether to use money not yet earned from work to buy something paying additional interest for the privilege to do so.

It is one thing to use money to pay for the replacement or repair of something damaged or lost. It is another thing altogether to use money to pay premiums in advance for the replacement or repair of something damaged or lost that may or may not ever be damaged or lost.

It is one thing to use money to bandage a wound. It is another thing altogether to use money to prolong life through prescriptions and procedures laden with side effects (requiring additional prescriptions or treatments) sold by companies whose financial 'bottom-line' depends entirely upon repeat business.

It is one thing to use money to obtain tools to accomplish a task. It is another thing altogether to use money to obtain tools that are outdated by the time they leave the store in the manufacturers' attempt to secure future ongoing sales and profit.

In all four of the scenarios above, it is one thing to use money, but another thing altogether to be used by money. That is precisely what debt, insurance, medicine and technology all do: they coerce us into servanthood to obtain benefits (that God said He would provide) using money as the chain to bind us. All the while, God said, Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Idols always get involved where trusting money and trusting God intersect on the path of all we need. The best investigative method to find the offense of idolatry is to follow the money to the crossroad of trust. 

And, again, Jesus said:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. [Matthew 6.24]

The strength of our relationship with money and all we need is the weakness of our relationship with God. And, the opposite is true, but few ever realize it.

... the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.14]

At the end of the day, money is so unreliable, as Paul stated to Timothy. God, on the other hand, remains trustworthy and richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 

Father, help us get it right when it comes to money. Just because we rationalize, 'we can't live without money,' does not justify us selling our souls to it. May we find the courage and strength to methodically and categorically turn away from the love of money inspired by idols turning only to You for all we need. So be it.