Money. There is a restlessness that happens whenever money is brought up in a church setting. Part of that restlessness is emotional; we don’t like folks telling us what to do or prying into our business. Sometimes that restlessness is because the preacher is striking too close to our feelings about what we consider ours. So how do we approach money if we are following The Jesus Way?
Jesus said, “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:19–24, CSB) This teaching can be summed up with the closing sentence, “You can’t serve both God and money.”
Where is your treasure? Or perhaps it would be more insightful to ask, what is your treasure? Is your treasure a possession? Land? Cash in the bank? Or is your treasure knowing Christ? Valuing love? Worshipping God? Treasures occupy our heart and mind. What do we spend our time thinking about? How do we assess the value of our life? Is it the money in the bank or the love we give and receive?
The surface reading of Jesus’ teaching seems to discourage savings and investments. But the real lesson is about our heart. I’ve known rich people that demonstrated love for Jesus and poor people that were steeped in greed. You can have nothing and still make money your treasure. Perhaps another day, we can fully explore the Jesus Way with savings, budgets, and the rest.
In some way, it seems that Jesus changed topics when He started talking about eyes. But it is really the same thing. If our eye is clear, we are not divided and can see God’s hand in the world around us. If our eye is bad, then we are walking blindly through life. Jesus is not talking about physical eyes but more along the lines of “heart .”Is our heart divided?
Jesus makes this clearer in the next few statements about serving two masters. Trying to serve both God and wealth is impossible. As Jesus said, we will end up loving one and hating the other. Why? If we encounter someone in need, what do we do and why? Our love of God moves us with compassion. But our love of money will cause us to shun compassion.
The entire theme of The Jesus Way is summed up in “Who are you going to serve?” Make up your mind, settle your heart, and move forward without regret. Does this mean that a Christ-follower can’t run a business? Of course not. But if our heart’s treasure becomes that business, we have missed the mark Jesus set for us. The same is true about our savings, investments, and possessions. If these become our treasure or the measure of our value, then we have missed the mark. The love of Christ we have and share is more valuable than all the gold in the world. He is our treasure.
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