If Only I Had More Money…

Pastor John Snyder and Alastair Hayward – Week 5 of The Study in Joy 

Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
–Proverbs 23:4-5

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
–Philippians 4:11

There was a motto from a bank from many years ago that said: “Money makes you happy.” Although pretty crass, this may be true, but only to a point. Studies show that if we’re chronically short of money, always struggling to pay bills, continually borrowing to make ends meet, and never having anything left over after necessary bills, then having more to spend does make us happier. Money enables us to have the good things in life, at least, the good things that it can buy.

When we are fortunate enough to reach a higher level of income and have more than merely enough to get by, our happiness does increase. Why would it not? However, as our income gets higher and higher, and we have far more than enough, when our assets move into the wealth stage, the happiness levels off and no longer follows the increase. It often moves in the other direction.9

The above is not to say that all rich people get less happy, but it is true that an over-abundance of money can undermine happiness. A very successful man, in a moment of unguarded honesty, once said to Pastor John, “There’s not a single thing in life I enjoy.” He could have bought anything on the planet he wanted: private jets, palaces, villas on the French Riviera, an island in Italy, the best food, entertainment, you name it.

Like other very wealthy people, he spent his days managing his money, calculating how much he was losing each day, and losing sleep worrying about all the money-related anxieties that came along with wealth. He cut his vacations short to return to the task of preserving and protecting his holdings from people and forces out to get it.

Author and speaker Emily Esfahani Smith says, “The research shows that when people chase happiness and value with the way our culture encourages us to do, they end up feeling unhappy as a result and lonely too.”10

So it’s evident that merely pursuing and having a lot of this world’s goods doesn’t automatically mean that life gets better on any level. This knowledge comes to us from social psychology, from observing life in general, and from the Bible’s teaching. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Money is the root of all evil.” But this is not what the Bible actually says. Instead, it states, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). In other words, there’s nothing wrong with money; it’s neutral. It’s the love of it, the place it occupies in our heart, that creates the problem.

When we cease to use money as a tool and start to fall in love with it, we fall out of love with everything else. It’s the great displacer. It replaces and displaces other proper loves—the love of others, love of the simple, free pleasures of life, and most of all, love of God. When one’s investments explode, the human heart and soul can easily implode. And when it takes God’s place as number one in life, it begins to devour us. Money, good in itself, like most of the things in life that become idols, becomes evil when it ceases to be one more good and proper thing and takes the place of the best.

The Ancient Hebrews had physical idols of gods such a Moloch and Dagon, and we tend to think of them as slightly foolish to worship man-made stone idols. Nowadays our idols are more subtle —money, sex, power, fame, success, and all the rest. Most idols are not bad in and of themselves—but, from the view of the Bible, they become bad by being out of order. How is that? By being no longer subordinate to God, family, and others, but being number one, Ruler, and Master of all life.

The apostle Paul tells us that he learned over time to be content with what he had, whether with much or little—and he had both (Philippians 4:11). He did not become disgruntled or resentful of either.

Neither did he become proud. It’s common to see people become very proud of themselves when they accrue wealth, congratulating themselves for their cleverness or shrewdness in amassing more and more.

But people can also become proud of having little or nothing. Marxist philosophy students or ascetic Christians who revel in their poverty imagine themselves morally above everyone else and condemn all those around them for possessing even a little more than they. For some, it seems to be a race to the bottom of society.

An ancient Jewish prayer was: “Lord, don’t make me so poor that I curse you, or so rich that I forget you.”

Or, from Proverbs:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God (Proverbs 30:8-9).

They knew well the power of money to control the heart and mind, so they wanted just enough to live well and to be content, knowing that God was ultimately in charge. So, where does joy fit into all this?

Happiness and a positive view of life do not derive from money, either much or little. True Christian joy and happiness are not directly related to money at all. If the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, (the only reliable definition of a Christian) (Romans 8:9), then his Spirit can keep us afloat when everything has been taken from us, even if we languish in some dark and grim prison cell.

While in prison in Philippi, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other hopeless prisoners were listening to them in astonishment (Acts 16:25). We may assume that some of them became part of the founding of this, the first church in the history of Europe.

Believers have learned to be so grateful for what they have and for what God has done for them. Sheer gratitude drives out the regrets, the resentments, and all the self-pity and victimhood that so easily set in our sinful hearts.

Christians have always passed through periods of plenty as well as want and yet managed to maintain their thankfulness and praise of God in any circumstances. If we learn to praise God for whatever our situation is at the moment, God knows it all and is never offended to hear our prayers for more of anything the world has to offer. So pray your heart’s desires. As Paul says in Ephesians 3:11, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

God is not manipulated or forced by us. He knows when to give and when to withhold, always for our good. Praise God for his perfect will.

Takeaways:

1. Money is not inherently evil, but we need to keep it in its proper place. Money is a tool and should not be an idol. John Wesley said that Christians should, “Earn all you can, give all you can, save all you can”. Money is a tool and should not be an idol.
2. Security comes from God and not from wealth that can sprout wings and fly away. So we need to focus on our relationship with him.

Personal Reflection:

 

For Thought or Discussion:
1. Read Philippians 4:11–13. Now analyze your view of money. What teaching or which teacher has shaped your opinion?
2. What does it mean to you that money is neither good nor evil, but the place it occupies in the heart?
3. Summarize what you think is a Christian philosophy of money. Is it biblically based? What Scriptures come to mind?
4. What are some practical ways you can glorify God through what he has given you?

NOTES;
9. “High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being.” PNAS.org.
https://www.pnas.org/content/107/38/16489 (accessed December 2020).
Week 4: 31 January 2021
10. “Esfahani Smith shares powerful message with Doane students.” Doane.edu.
https://www.doane.edu/news/esfahani-smith-shares-powerful-message-with-doane-students

Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash