What does the Bible say about money?
Money runs through Scripture as a test of the heart rather than a thing good or bad in itself. Paul's warning to Timothy names love of money as a root that grows every kind of evil, and commentators press two questions from it: what exactly is condemned, and what does God put in its place?
A root, not the only root
The wording matters. Writers point out that the verse does not trace every evil in the world back to cash.
F. B. HoleThe love of money is declared to be the root of every kind of evil. It is not that every bit of evil in the world can be traced to the love of money, but that the love of money is a root from which on various occasions every description of evil springs.
What people expect money to produce and what God says it produces are opposites.
William KellyThe language of men betrays their money-worship. They think of money, and the love of it, as a root of "goods." God pronounces it a root of "evils"; and not merely possible but actual — the evils that exist, subtle or important, of the flesh and of the mind.
The danger is desire, not the amount
The warning is aimed at those who want to be rich, whether or not they ever get there.
J. N. DarbyIt is not the question as to whether riches are right or wrong in themselves, but as to riches being the object of the heart. If so, they keep Christ out. A man will then say, But suppose I do not set my heart upon them; but the Lord, who knows our hearts better than we do ourselves, does not deal in this way: for He says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"; and not as it is often quoted, "Where the heart is, there the treasure will be." It is quite true that, if the Lord gives riches, He can give grace to use them; but even then they are a snare.
Where the love of money starts
One writer traces it back a step, to the love of self.
Hamilton SmithLoving self will lead to loving money, for with it men can buy what will feed the gratification of self.
Believers are not exempt
The people who "wandered from the faith" and pierced themselves with sorrows were inside the Christian circle, not outside it.
Hamilton SmithThus it is not simply money, but "the love of money" that is the root of every evil. How solemn that it is possible for the believer to be drawn into the very things that bring destruction and ruin upon the men of the world. Even in the days of the Apostle some had coveted riches, only to wander from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows.
The cure: contentment, and a short list of needs
Paul's remedy in the same chapter is godliness joined to contentment. The list of what counts as enough is startlingly small.
Hamilton SmithWe brought nothing into the world, and whatever possessions we may acquire as we pass through the world, it is clear that we can carry nothing out. Having food and covering — and the slave had these things — let us be content with that.
This contentment is not gloom or going without on principle. Commentators are careful to say the opposite:
VariousThe Christian is not to be an ascetic or a recluse; godliness owns that every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving... "and that God has given us richly all things to enjoy."
Money you already have: hold it as a steward
For those who do have means, the counsel turns from warning to use. Money becomes a matter to answer for.
W. W. FeredayA grave responsibility rests on the Christian as to how he disposes of what he holds, be it little or much. He is indeed a steward; to Another he must give an account. The one who spends everything on himself, keeping only a small coin for God, is living for the present only; the one who uses what he has for God in a needy world is making friends by means of his possessions.
Giving, on this reading, is not loss — it is transfer.
Hamilton SmithTrusting in the living God, who is the Giver of all good, will enable the rich man also to become a giver... In doing so he will be laying up a good store with a view to future blessing, instead of laying up riches for this present age. The man who lays up for the time to come will lay hold of what is really life, in contrast with the life of pleasure and self-indulgence that earthly riches might secure.
Summary
- Root — Love of money is a root, not the only one, but every kind of evil can grow out of it; men expect it to be a root of goods, and God calls it a root of evils.
- Desire — The trap is set for those who want to be rich, whether they succeed or not; the question is never the size of the sum but whether it is the object of the heart.
- Self — It begins further back, in love of self, since money buys what feeds self.
- Content — The antidote is godliness with contentment: nothing came in with us, nothing goes out with us, and food and covering are enough — yet God gives richly to enjoy, so this is not asceticism.
- Steward — What you keep, you hold for Another and will account for; what you give away is not lost but laid up, and there you lay hold of what is really life.