No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? …
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself…
Matthew 6:24-35
The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete description that Jesus of Nazareth gave of how people should live. Some scholars doubt it was ever delivered as reported in Matthew’s Gospel but it seems to me that it is characteristic of what Jesus must have taught in various places. At the heart of the sermon is his paradigm for handling money.
In our society, money is supreme. Financial policy is the primary focus of governments and when world leaders come together it is usually to discuss the economy, especially since the banking crisis of 2008. When people are encouraged to take control of their lives, it is usually by way of a personal budget to ensure they can afford their lifestyle choices.
It is no different in churches. For as long as I have been a Christian, I have heard that God would not call a person to a ministry or special work without providing the necessary funding. As far as it goes, I agree. But it seems to me that often the provision of money has come to be seen as a necessary validation of a divine call.
In the above passage, Jesus makes it clear that money is of secondary importance.
- Do not be anxious about material things like food and clothing – or anything else that money can buy. (Some translations say ‘give no thought’ to these things but they go too far: Jesus was warning against worry, not sensible forethought and planning.)
- Make seeking God’s Kingdom and righteousness the sole lifestyle priority.
- Trust God for basic needs.
The thrust of this is clear: our lives should be built around doing what is right, not what is cost effective. Is this true of us? How easily are we compromised by the cost of doing the right thing? If this is not true of us at home, what about our decisions at work?
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2012.
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Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
These Advent Reflections do not teach personal finance skills and where these skills are mentioned the issues have been simplified. Handling money and dealing with money problems and debt can be complicated and neither the author nor anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for any action you take, or fail to take, based on what is written here.
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