The Christian and Money Part 2

Sin and Money
Having said that possession and material things are created and given by God for our good and for us to enjoy in thankfulness in Genesis 3 we see that along with all of creation money and possessions are affected by fall. They are now part of the world which is under the curse and is dislocated in terms of relationship with God and how we view it.

That is why the tenth Commandment is “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.” One consequence of the fall is that instead of enjoying material things we are in danger of becoming enslaved by them. They are now a rival to God and his place in our affections.

The dangers of money enslaving us are emphasized in the parables that Jesus tells. Warnings are also found in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:3 where believers are told to put greed to death, and that there is not to be even a hint of it in the church.

We need to be aware that as Christians greed is a very real danger for us. In fact so blind are we to greed that it would probably be wise to work on the assumption that we have a greed problem rather than that we do not. This problem is exacerbated by the world we live in, a world where we are bombarded with advertising trying to create desires and wants. Making greed seem like need!

It is helpful to actually sit and think; ‘What are my needs?’ on a basic level we need food, water, clothing, shelter, warmth, friendship. It is telling to then compare that list with adverts we see on the side of buses, on poster boards, and on line or on screen, which tell us we need so much more!

Credit enhances that, credit seeks to make the need manufactured by advertising easy to fulfil. Feel like you need a new car, sofa, computer… here have the money to buy one. But of course you pay for that money later, and end up overpaying for what you actually did not need. It is not wise stewardship on any level, and leads people into debt.

Post fall possession and money and our attitudes to it are warped and distorted by sin. Greed is a very real danger; we can all too easily forget it is a gift of our creator and worship the created rather than God.