Here
in this country we are obsessed with money. Money is a huge part of how we
value ourselves and how we value each other. Since World War II it has been how
we gauge how well we are doing as a nation. We are doing well when our GDP
grows. It is vitally important for the stability of our nation for us to buy
more and more stuff.
Everything
revolves around money, but we cannot
talk about it. How much each of us spends is important to our vitality as a
nation, but we cannot actually tell anyone how much we spent on anything. This can be seen in the fact
that when we buy gifts, we take off the price tag before giving it. To not do
so is seen as rude. We do not like talking about how much we make, or how much
we spend or how much we give to others, to charity or even to the government.
This is so much so that this election season, whether or not the political
candidates reveal their tax information to the voting public is a big deal. And we really do care about it.
Whether
we like to talk about it or not, our relationship with money is an important
part of our lives. Paul agrees. We do not like to talk about money and our
relationship with money, but here in 1st Timothy, that is exactly what Paul
does. Paul addresses the unspeakable and not only talks about money, but talks
to us about our relationship with money. Our relationship with money matters,
and it not only matters in how it affects the GDP, or how it effects the growth
of our economy, but it matters to God. Our relationship with money affects our
relationship with God.
Paul
begins to talk about “gain.” What we gain; in what ways we profit, in this
world matters, and the only profit, which matters is that we profit in is godliness.
When it comes to the “Rules of Acquisition”, what we gain and how we gain it is
the primary focal point in godliness. These “Rules of Acquisition” govern our
relationship with money when we live by them our relationship with Jesus Christ
is strengthened. When we do not live by them, wealth, money, riches, things become things which hinder and
tear apart our relationship with our God, and lead us away from all that really
matters in this world.
According
to the “rules of godly acquisition,”
the only gain that is substantial is gain that does not rust or fade. The only
gain that matters is that which will last. Any gain that is not godliness is no
gain at all. It is worthless and unsubstantial. The first rule of which we
should be aware, is: we enter this world with nothing and we will leave this
world likewise with nothing. So anything which we gain in between that does not
and cannot transcend the barrier of death is worthless. All the stuff we care so much about; all the things, all the objects which money
buys for us here in this world, reside wholly, solely and only in this world. The only gain which we can acquire in-between
entering and leaving is godliness, righteousness, faith, love, endurance and
gentleness. These are the things
which we are to pursue. These are
the things which hold value in the life eternal.
Since
we enter with absolutely nothing, we have nothing which commends us to acquire
the love, the care, and all that we gain while we are here, all these things
are provided for us. They is given to us and we gain them not on our own accord.
For what can we, being the tiny helpless creatures, which we are upon our
entry, do to gain the things we need
for our very survival. All is given; all is gifted to us. It is gifted to us
freely, and is ultimately given and gifted to us by God. All that is provided,
given and gained, from our first breath to our last, which allows for our very
survival, is not ours, it is the provision of God at work in our lives.
The
second rule of acquisition therefore, is that we should be content with that
which is provided, given, gifted to us. In fact when it comes to contentment,
although it is not the first rule of acquisition (being dependent upon
understanding the first), it is the most important rule. Godliness cannot be
gained, unless we are content with that which God has provided for us.
If
we have food and clothing, which was is a sort of ancient shorthand of saying
all that is needed to survive. This includes food, shelter, clothing, water and
warmth, all the basic necessities of life. Once provided with all that is
needed to survive, we are to find contentment in simply having those things. Being grateful and content for all that we
have is the root of godly acquisition.
The
third rule is this, “Do not want to be rich.” Our desire in this life should
not be for riches, wealth, money or things. Just as contentment is the root of
the acquisition of godliness, the love of money, (and all that goes with that)
is the root of evil. Our desire in this the life, the things for which we long,
is to be righteousness, godliness, faith, love and endurance – the things that
set our sights on God and God alone.
Our
desire is not for be for money and all that it can provide. This seems implicit
in being content, but when we look at the world around us and we see all that
can be had. When we see all that which money can buy, when we see the things
which those who have more than us acquire, it is hard to not want, to not
desire, that which we do not have, to strive to gain more things, thinking that
they will make our lives better, easier, that there is profit in their gain.
But there is no profit in the desire to gain that which is not needed. To want
to be rich, to have more, is a trap. It’s a trap which is a sinking hole
continuing to suck us in, causing us bit by bit, one more thing at a time to
want more and more. There is no end to this kind of desire, it is insatiable
and unending. There is always more to be had, always something else to gain.
There always another item which we can
acquire. In this unending circle of want, and gain; desire and acquisition, the
focus on the gain of material things and riches leads to ruin and
destruction. There is truly no real
profit in.
The
corollary to this rule is that the ultimate result of the desire for wealth and
the acquisition of things is that we will wander away from the faith. Since the
ultimate goal is godliness, the point toward which we are aiming is God, the
center of our life is Jesus Christ. This is not only seen when our goal or our
aim is godliness, but in other things in life as well. This drifting toward
where our focus is, can be seen when driving. Our focus is forward toward where
we are going and as long as we continue looking forward we will move in that
direction. When we shift our focus, when we look at something off to the side,
we will find that we will shift our direction and begin to drift toward where
our focus is. This is the same when we are walking or running. If you move your
focus from where you are heading, you will begin to move in the direction you
are looking. When it comes to our lives as Christians, if our focus is shifted
off of God onto anything else, we will begin to head toward that that which we
are focusing. If our desire is for riches, wealth, or the things which they can
provide, our focus no longer remains on God and we will move away from the
acquisition of godliness, we will wander from the faith, and we will find
ourselves lost when it comes to the things of God.
The
rules of Acquisition go on to discuss how we should think about the money and
riches that we do have. The first
rule of which we should be aware when it comes to owning, having wealth, is
that we are to not be haughty. That is that we are to never think of ourselves
as better than someone else because
of the things which we have gained here on earth. We are not to find pride in
the material things which we possess, we are not to see what we have, as making
us superior to those around us who do not have what we have. Our money, our
wealth, our things, and our possession of them does not make us better than
those who do not have what we have. To ever come to believe that those who do
not possess the things which our wealth affords us is due to moral failure or
ultimate character flaw in another is the kind of haughty thinking which is to
be avoided.
Since
we know that our wealth, and all that we acquire here on earth is ultimately of
no value, to then to believe that simply in the having of it, results in our
possessing more value than another or that we possess these things because we are morally superior or more
righteous in anyway, is to conflate our wealth with godliness. The only thing
which adds value to ourselves is godliness, as seen in righteousness, faith,
love, endurance and gentleness, which is what we are to pursue because these
are the only things which endure beyond this world.
The
next rule, for those who know the riches which having can bring, is that we are
not to put our hope in these things. They are not that which will bring us joy
or peace, or happiness. Finding hope in these things will not bring contentment. We are to be content with that which we have,
not find hope in them. Seeking hope in wealth is seeking something in it, which
it cannot ultimately provide. Hope
can truly only be found in Jesus Christ. Setting our hope on money, creates in
us the same down falls as setting our desires on acquiring the things which
money can provide, it is an empty hole which will never be filled and always
require more and more, until it has taken all, creating in us more and more
discontentment, restlessness and it results in a joyless hopeless life. Seeking
hope in the things which we have acquired in this world will ultimately lead to
nothing more and nothing less than hope-less-ness.
All
that we own beyond that which is needed to survive, food, shelter, clothing,
water and warmth, are things which we have that for our enjoyment and even (perhaps especially) that which
brings enjoyment is given, is provided to us by God. These things are not ours
of which to be proud. And again when
we pass from this world, like all else, they will remain. As a rule these
things are not for us and for us alone, these are things which are given to us
for a purpose.
These
things of enjoyment are given to us, so that we might afford to do good; so
that we are able to be rich in good works, and that we might be generous and
ready to share. We are to be seeking to help those around us. This is the
opposite of being haughty, and comes from finding hope in that ONE who gave all, so that we might live.
Realizing that our prosperity is given
so that we may work to bring enjoyment to those around us, who might not have
more than what is necessary in life, to raise them up and allow them the small
enjoyments of life, of which we are familiar. These are not ours to keep and to
hoard, they are ours with which to be generous, to share and to give so that our
blessings may be the blessings of others, that through us God can give to others.
Finally
the last rule of acquisition is the most important, that is that we are to at
all times, “take hold of the life that is really life.” (I love that phrase –
take hold of life that is really
life). Live the life that is worth living. A life of working to gain all the
things that can be gained and are
worth gaining, that is righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and
gentleness. The life that is really life is what we truly gain when we live by
the “Rules of Acquisition” as spelled out in this passage.
When
we live by these rules which govern our relationship with money, our
relationship with money will enhance our relationship with God instead of being
a hindrance to our faith and will lead to godliness.
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