“A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.”
- Jonathan Swift
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt6.20-21
Money is not the root of all evil, but the LOVE of it is. It is a challenge to stay focused on God’s priorities when the world is constantly pulling in a opposite direction. It is all about balance. It is easy to be in the extremes, but difficult to stay balanced in the middle. For instance, I seem to have the ability (probably like most people) to come up with unethical ways to make money. We have to remember that just because God wants to prosper us, doesn’t mean that we can do anything to get it. Some people on the money-hungry extreme will do anything they can think of to make money. It doesn’t matter if it is God’s will, if it is moral, or even legal. This is not how God has called us to live.
The other extreme is disguised as being the “righteous path,” but that really isn’t true. This other extreme is a weak and poor excuse for a christian life, where its victims have a defeatist mentality that they can never amount to anything. They believe they are of no value and because they have no self-worth they are limiting themselves. This is the extreme that Jesus came to do away with. He came and died so that we could have HIS righteousness. Not our sin, but HIS righteousness.
This extreme is about giving up and accepting that you are always going to be middle class. It is fairly easy to maintain that lifestyle. I don’t think God is very pleased with that attitude. We are stewards of what we have been given. Whether it is a talent, a gift, or finances we have a responsibility to make the most of it. Burying it because we do not want to take any chances is not a good idea (read Matt25).
It is more of a challenge to live in the balance. I would say it is almost impossible without God’s help. The bible says that we might think our heart is right, but God is the only one who knows. So, we need to maintain a constant fellowship with Him to keep our heart in check. With God’s help we can stay in the balance and live the life He has called us to.
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Nice discussion.
It seems like the other extreme to actively pursuing wealth would be actively giving away wealth like ascetics that renounce all worldly possessions.
Your are right that we should, through Christ, live victorious lives, but I am not sure that a victorious life is tied in any way to the amount of money we have or seek? What do you think?