Whatever one may think of the Bible, it is perfectly natural to have a question and see what it says about that question. The question usually has to do with ethics: What does the Bible say about divorce? What does the Bible say about sex? What does the Bible say about violence? Or in our case today, what does God think of money?
While it is something that we all do, there is a fatal flaw when we go looking for answers to our questions in the Bible. One of two things happens (or both): our biases determine the answer we find, or we distort Scripture to say something we want it to say. An essential discipline behind Biblical academia (or personal spiritual growth) is to take the Bible on its own terms. Organizations like The Bible Project do an amazing job of showing us how to do that.
So, rather than looking for random verses that talk about money, let’s look at how money fits into the grander story God is telling. That way, I might glean wisdom from other stories that do not explicitly talk about money.
What I find through the story of Scripture are three fundamental principles when it comes to money: idolatry (mammon), stewardship, and generosity.
Idolatry (Mammon)
That word idolatry can feel foreign to those of us who don’t talk or read about spiritual things often, but there is no need to be turned off by the word. It simply is an ancient way of saying: my decisions are based on _____________. And you fill in the blank. Idolatry is the idea that your decisions are based on anything that is not God and his instructions.
If you recall back to your middle school history classes, the Old Testament was written, edited, and compiled from the early Egyptian, and into Mesopotamian times (remember the Fertile Crescent?). During that swath of time, an idol was typically a statue that represented the presence of a god. These idols were ceremonially put into temples and it was believed that their presence filled the temple via the idol. Then other idols were placed strategically around the nation so as to represent the deity’s presence in that nation. (Amazing to think how Genesis speaks of God filling his ‘temple’ (earth) with his ‘idol’ (humans) and we represent his presence). In modern times, we obviously do not have idols like that. But we do ‘worship’ different ‘idols’ and figuratively represent their presence in different ways.
The human heart is prone to worship. We base our decisions around the things that we ‘worship’ to bring that object of our worship more and more glory and power. If success is my idol, I will base all of my decisions on “Will this add to my success?” And ‘success’ can mean, “make my parents proud,” or it can mean “be the CEO by age 35.” If we are being brutally honest, most of us worship ourselves. We are a self-centered lot most of the time. Myself included.
What does any of this have to do with what God thinks of money? Well, he doesn’t want money to become an idol that takes us, our hearts, and our decision-making away from him and his heart for us. And we can make money into an idol without being rich. In fact, those who worship money are probably (anecdotal, not factual) disproportionately poor (or less financially stable). Because we tend to worship things that we think can bring us peace and freedom. We think we will be free if people like us, so we try to buy things to impress people. We think we will be free from pain if we can just drink a little more, so we buy alcohol to relieve the pain. If only we were rich, then we would have peace of mind. The truth of the human heart is that whatever we worship and base our decisions around controls us. The promise of Scripture is that no other idol will give us freedom, other than learning to be our truest selves in the presence of the living God.
Mammon is another weird, old, and irrelevant word. It comes from an ancient Hebrew word that means “Trustworthy.” However, it is commonly translated as “Money” in our modern translations. Mammon, in Scripture, is personified as a spiritual power in competition with God for your trust. Meaning, Mammon is the name of the idol when money becomes that which you base your decisions around because it has gained your trust to bring about peace, security, or freedom.
Stewardship
Stewardship is a concept we are more familiar with. It is the idea to do well with what you have been given. From the first pages of Scripture, we read of a God who gives everything over to us (humans) to take care of and use to create. Stewardship necessitates wisdom. To do well with what you have been given depends on purposes, goals, identity, and many other factors that offer direction.
Good stewardship requires that you learn how to take care of yourself. Sliding into credit card debt (as I did) is bad stewardship.
Good stewardship requires that you know the needs of others. To be a good steward of your finances is to love others well with your finances. You must take care of yourself (and your family) by becoming financially free first (the blind cannot help the blind), but you must not focus your financial decision-making around yourself. An athlete who is part of a team will steward their talents so as to leverage them for the sake of the team, which, as they do so, increases their stats. But when faced between padding the stats and getting the win, the elite athletes will do what’s best for the team. We can say they are stewarding their talents based on wisdom for winning the game. In finances, you don’t have a game to win to guide your direction, but you can still leverage your finances to lift others up based on prudent wisdom.
Generosity
The principle of generosity is a theme throughout the pages of Scripture. Generosity is not limited to giving from out of your abundance but giving until it hurts. Giving until it hurts is not equal to giving until you are ruined. When Jesus calls people to sell all of their possessions to give to the poor, it is attached to idolatry. Those he calls to do that have given their hearts, worship, and decision-making to money. It is not a universal calling to all believers. However, our relationship with money should be ready to give it all away if God calls us to that radical surrender.
Generosity cultivates our hearts and builds our character. It keeps us compassionate and willfully aware of others’ hurts. Generosity is not limited to our financial resources but to our time, talents, kindness, etc. Generosity is not limited to the rich or even the financially stable. By giving money to others’, even out of your scarcity, it begins to soften your heart and you become more intentional in living within your means.
Generosity is an act of worship in Scripture. Some call this tithing and say you ought to be giving away at least 10% of your income. But the way Jesus talks about money we understand that giving until it hurts keeps our hearts from worshipping anything else and becoming too dependent on money for our sense of stability. We can afford freedom and afford to be generous. It’s a mindset, not a budget line.
Other Thoughts
I will end with a story of Jesus encountering money to give us a full picture of how God thinks of money.
One day, people who did not like Jesus and who were leaders in the community were going to try and trap him in his words. They wanted to make him look bad. So, they asked him publicly, “Should we pay taxes to Rome?” If he says yes, he is a Roman sympathizer, which is equivalent to a cultural backstabber. It would make people feel like when LeBron James first left the Cavaliers. But, if he said no, then the leaders would just turn him over to Rome for misleading the people.
Before answering them directly, he asks them a question. He asked them for a coin to show him. Once presented, he asked them, “Whose image is on this coin?” “Caesar,” they replied. Jesus responds, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.” Caesar can have his money, but God wants you. And what does God require of us? To act justly. Love mercy. To walk humbly with the Lord your God. Jesus really drives this point home in his parable with the shrewd manager. Where the ultimate value is relationships with others, and money can be used in service to that greater cause.
Money is just another resource at your disposal to live out your identity. It’s a way to either feed your character or jeopardize it. Money can make you feel trapped, or it can make you feel free. But it isn’t the money itself that does either of those things, but rather how you interact with it. God does not require you to give all your money away. He does not restrict you from becoming wealthy. In fact, he has little concern with the amount in your account. He wants your heart. He would rather you keep it in its proper perspective and use it wisely and generously. Affording freedom is not a budget line. It’s an identity.
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