Money: The Love Affair That’s Never Enough

Money. We all need it. You can’t buy stuff without it, right? Sure, there are things like credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Venmo and other purchasing options, but ultimately, it’s a transfer of money from one person or entity to another. The question is, where does money rank in our priority lists? When do our needs turn into insatiable wants?

Years ago, someone posed a question to John D. Rockefeller, the world’s first billionaire. At the time his family name was synonymous with wealth and influence. The reporter asked, “How much is enough?” Rockefeller famously responded, holding a thumb and forefinger slightly apart, “Just a little bit more.”

 

Imagine, the richest person in the world at that moment calmly stating that what he had wasn’t enough. I suspect most of the affluent elites of today would say much the same thing. I still remember a pro athlete a few decades back who was awarded a contract making him the highest-paid player in his sport. He was ecstatic – until a couple weeks later when a rival player received an even larger contract. His proud grin twisted into a dissatisfied frown in a matter of moments.

 

This is hardly a phenomenon of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. In fact, a few thousand years ago King Solomon – purportedly the wealthiest man of his time by far – made this sage observation about money: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless”  (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

 

It may indeed be meaningless, but that doesn’t stop people from chasing it. Every day we can turn on the TV and see a program or hear reports about wildly rich celebrities and their mansions. Some of them get on a soapbox decrying the needs of the poor while indulging in levels of lavishness most of us can’t even imagine. See any hypocrisy there?

 

We read about entrenched politicians, who supposedly ran for office to serve the public, who have found out public service can be quite lucrative, leading them to dishonesty and corruption. Seems they never read the warning of 1 Timothy 6:10) – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 

 

Contrary to the understanding of some, this verse doesn’t say money is the root of all evil. But it does give birth to an amazing array of evils, such as greed, immorality, blackmail, embezzling, stealing, robbery, and many manifestations of dishonest and unethical behavior. Worst of all, the love of money can seduce even the faithful, causing them to compromise or turn away from their devotion to the Lord.

 

This is why Jesus, in the middle of His ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ declared, “No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24). 

 

Some translations use the word “mammon” instead of money, but the meaning is the same. If wealth and affluence are the object of our affections, they can’t help but diminish our love for God.

 

Does this mean that to be a follower of Jesus Christ one must take a vow of poverty? No, although there certainly have been some who have found that necessary for them to serve Him with single-minded determination and intensity.

 

I have a friend who said before committing his life to Christ, “I could touch manure and it would turn into gold.” After his spiritual rebirth however, he admitted, “I could touch gold and it would turn into manure.” But after spending the early part of his adult life in the unrelenting pursuit of money, he now agrees with Solomon that it indeed was meaningless. He has no regrets that Jesus has taken top priority in his life.

 

Even if we’re not numbered among the financially elite “10 percent” politicians are always talking about, that doesn’t provide immunity from the lure and love of money. We can visit a friend’s home and find ourselves feeling jealous of what they have. We can see a shiny, just-out-of-the-showroom luxury car and fantasize about what it would be like to possess one like it. We can envy folks who seem to be on a never-ending parade of amazing journeys to places we’ve only seen on TV and in magazines. 

 

Surely there have been people in Third World countries living in huts of straw who have felt greatly envious of others in their villages whose dwellings had roofs of tin. Wealth is relative, but the love of money and what it can provide is universal.

 

So, what are we to do about this? Do we simply offer the excuse, “Well, I’m only human?” Should we justify feeling angry toward God for giving us less and someone else more? We can – but such thinking won’t bring us one inch closer to the Lord. It might even erect a wall that could disrupt or permanently short-circuit our relationship with Him.

 

Or we can confess our misplaced love and follow the advice of the writer of Hebrews who admonished, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

In our materialistic, consumer-oriented world this is much more easily said than done. But do we believe it? Do we, by faith, trust that God will meet our needs and contentedly believe that is enough – not “just a little bit more”?