"Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it." — Proverbs 23:4
There's a chance that you might probably feel bad every now and then because you keep thinking about money every time you make a decision. We've been told that the love of money is bad and that we shouldn't love money at all. But does that mean that we should stop pursuing money altogether?
The Christian view of money is said to be marked by two extremes—one where money has too much meaning in one's life and the other where it has too little meaning. Both extremes are dangerous.
The love of money sure can be a danger, but the reality is that we still need money and we still need to pursue it.
We Need Money
A pastor once told this story at a finance seminar about a dream-driven man who was full of confidence and was called into ministry. The pastor sat down with that man to discuss details about his ministry job. When time came to talk about salary, the man said, "I'm not in it for the money."
The pastor then replied, "Okay, starting tomorrow you can come in and I won't pay you a salary."
The man froze in disbelief, unable to say a word.
Money isn't some taboo material that Christians should stay away from. It's a real need. We all have bills to pay. Money plays an important function, and we all benefit from that function.
Money Gets You to Your Goal
Looking at my goals for 2017, I have come to realise that I cannot pursue any of them without money, even my most "spiritual" ones. Money is a great tool and gets things done. We accomplish ministry with money, we grow a family with money, and we build businesses with money.
If you have a goal in mind, there's probably an attached price tag to it. At some point you're going to have to consider that price and, more importantly, pay for it.
Who's Master of Who?
The greatest factor that determines whether we have a healthy view of money is knowing who's in charge of who. Money is a wonderful tool, but it's a terrible master. It's great at getting you to your purpose, but it's not a great way to ultimately determine your purpose.
Money can be a goal as long as it's not an end goal. We need money to get things done. But it's not money that we ultimately need and should ultimately seek for. As Matthew 6:33 reminds us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
We all need money, but not as much as we need God. If there's anything we should be seeking greater than anything, it's God's kingdom and righteousness. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't seek and grab hold of the other things that are also added unto us.
