OVERCOMING THE DANGERS OF MONEY 1 Timothy 6:6-16 by Andy Manning We all need money. It takes money to pay for food, clothing, shelter, medical care, etc. Money is necessary. But it is also very dangerous. It s sort of like water. Water is necessary for life, but it can also kill. If we don t handle money God s way, then it can ruin our lives and prevent us from loving and serving God. In 1 Timothy 6 we re going to learn how to overcome the dangers of money. Let s begin with a review. In 1 Timothy 6:3-5, Paul is warning Timothy about false teachers and people who listen to false teachers. And one of the characteristics of false teachers is that they imagine that godliness is a way to material wealth. In other words, there were some people then, and there are some people today, who try to use religion to get rich. Here s how it works. Most people are very unhappy because they don t have a right relationship with Jesus Christ. And one of the primary ways that people try to find happiness is through money and possessions. People believe the Myth of More. If only I had more money, then I d be happier. If only I had more stuff, then I d be happier; more tools; more toys; more TVs; etc.; more vacation time. People have When/Then Syndrome. When I own my own house, then I ll be happy. When I pay off my house, then I ll be happy. When I get a new car, then I ll be happy. And people will do anything to get money. They will play the lottery; gamble; be workaholics; lie, cheat, steal, and kill; throw all their money away in get-rich-quick schemes. And they will even try to use religion to get rich. That s what Paul is referring to in verse 5. The Bible promises blessings, even financial blessings for the godly. Some people take those verses out of context and assume that the key to riches is godliness. So they jump in to religion with both feet. They get baptized; join the church; repent of their sins; and sing the loudest on Sundays because they believe that religion will lead to riches. But Paul condemns this attitude. This is what I call Christian Greed. Paul says that godliness is not a means to an end; it is the ultimate end that we should be after. True Christianity is when you worship God and use money to serve Him. But Christian Greed is when you worship money and use God to get more of it. Paul s message in verse 5 is that it is wrong to imaging that godliness is a way to material gain. Godliness should be the end that you seek, not a means to an end. Godliness is not something you do to get something else; it is the ultimate goal that you should seek. Then in verse 6 Paul introduces a new idea. Look at verse 6. But godliness with contentment is a great gain. He says that godliness with contentment is a great gain. What does he mean by that? What is contentment? Contentment means to be satisfied with what you have. But there s more to it than that. In the next few verses (7-10) Paul talks about the opposite of contentment. He uses three different phrases: Wanting to be rich; the love of money; and craving money. So when 1
Paul talks about contentment, it means to avoid the pursuit of riches and be satisfied with what you have. Contentment is not laziness. The Bible strongly condemns any form of laziness. It encourages us to be diligent, to be hard workers so that we can provide for ourselves, our families, and share those in need. And contentment doesn t mean to avoid riches, or that being rich is a sin. It s not a sin to be rich. That can be a great gift that a Christian can use for God s glory. Paul is condemning not riches, but the pursuit of riches. The pursuit of riches is an unhealthy pursuit for a Christian. To be content is to avoid the pursuit of riches and be satisfied with what you have. In verse 5 he essentially says that it is wrong to use godliness as a way to get rich. In verse 6, by adding contentment to godliness, he is saying that it is also wrong to pursue riches. 2 Benefits of Contentment And then in verse 5 Paul says that godliness with contentment is a great gain. How is it a great gain? In the next few verses Paul explains two benefits of contentment. Look at verses 7-8. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. It sounds like Paul is acting like Captain Obvious. When you are born, you don t come out of your mother s womb with a wad of cash, or with lots of toys and merchandise. You come out with nothing. And when you die, you can t take your money and possessions with you into the afterlife. You can t buy your ticket to heaven. And the size of your bank account on earth doesn t determine the size of your reward in heaven. So what s the point? If the pursuit of riches can t help you in the afterlife, which is where you will spend the bulk of your existence, then the pursuit of riches is a waste of time. It s a waste of energy. It s a waste of life. And that brings us to the first benefit of contentment. 1. Contentment enables us to focus on what really matters. If you are contented, satisfied, not pursuing riches, then you are able to focus on what really matters. What really matters? Eternity. What really matters in this life is that which will last in the next life. It s those things that last for eternity. What lasts for eternity? Anything we do for God lasts for eternity. When we do things for God, we are storing up heavenly riches. The Bible tells us not to pursue earthly riches; but it also encourages us to pursue heavenly riches. Later in this chapter, in 1 Timothy 6:18-19, Paul tells Timothy how to instruct the rich people in the church. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good reserve for the age to come, so that they may take hold of life that is real. Where did Paul get that from? From Jesus. Jesus said the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19-21. 19 Don t collect for yourselves 2
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Both of these passages emphasize that we need to pursue heavenly riches not and earthly riches. The more that you do for God, the greater your reward will be in heaven whether it is serving at church, giving tithes and offerings to support the mission of the church, giving to missionaries, giving to the poor, telling people about Jesus, etc. But the only way that you can do that is if you are content. Because if you are not content, then you will be investing most of your time and energy pursuing earthly riches. So that s the first benefit of contentment. Contentment is a great gain because it enables us to focus on what really matters. There s a second benefit of contentment. Let s look at verses 9-10. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. What s Paul doing in these verses? He is talking about the dangers of money if you don t have contentment. That s the second benefit of contentment. 2. Contentment protects us from the dangers of money. If you don t have contentment, then you are going to spend your life pursuing riches. And that leads to all sorts of bad consequences. What are the dangers of not having contentment? Paul mentions six. Six Dangers of Discontentment 1) Temptation: Without contentment you will fall into temptation. You will not be able to resist the temptation to do sinful things in order to get ahead financially. 2) A trap: Without contentment you will fall into the Devil s trap. Paul uses this same word trap two more times in the Pastoral Epistle s, and both times he uses the phrase the Devil s trap (1 Tim 3:7; 2 Tim 2:26). We are in a spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:11 says, Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics (Or schemes, or tricks) of the Devil. 1 Peter 5:8 says, Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. The Devil is trying to come up with a game plan to attack. What does he want to do? John 10:10 tells us that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to destroy your relationship with God; your usefulness to God; your witness; 3
your family; your finances; your career; your reputation; your potential; your health. He is after you. And without contentment you fall into his trap. Without contentment you are an easy target for the devil. All he has to do is wave a little green in front of your face and then he has you. 3) Many foolish and harmful desires which will plunge you into ruin and destruction: Without contentment the love of money will make you desire foolish and harmful things that will ultimately ruin your life. Like what? The love of money can cause you to spend your money foolishly; to marry someone for money; to take a job that s bad for your family and spiritual life; and even to make foolish educational choices for kids. And of course all of this just leads to ruin and destruction. In other words, if you don t have contentment, then the Devil doesn t have to do much to ruin your life. Your love for money will lead you to make foolish and harmful decisions that will ruin your life. 4) All kinds of evil: Verse 10 says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Notice that it doesn t say that money is the root of all kinds of evil, but the love of money. In other words, without contentment you will get involved in all kinds of sinful things that you never dreamed you were capable of. If you just go down the list, the love of money will cause you to break every one of the Ten Commandments. First, do not have any other gods besides me. The love of money can cause a person to reject God. Second, do not make an idol for yourself. The love of money is idolatry depending on money for happiness and security, and therefore putting it before God. Third, do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The love of money can cause you to pursue riches for selfish gain but lie and say it s because you want to give to God s work. Fourth, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. This is the command to take time out weekly to rest and worship. But the love of money can lead you to resist rest and worship for the sake of making more money. Fifth, honor your father and mother. The love of money can cause you to not take care of your aging parents because you re too stingy. Sixth, do not murder. The love of money can cause you to kill someone for the sake of money. Seventh, do not commit adultery. How many marriages have been destroyed because of money fights? Eight, do not steal. Ninth, do not give false testimony. The love of money can cause you to steal and lie to get more money. And tenth, do not covet. The love of money can cause you to resent people who have what you want. 5) Wander away from the faith: Without contentment you will backslide. Why? Because pursuing godliness and pursuing riches aren t synonymous. They aren t complementary. They are contradictory. There will be times when the pursuit of God will mean losing money. And there will be times when the quickest way to get richer will mean disobeying God. Money is the reason many people backslide. If 4
you ve been coming to church for a while then you know that we ve seen people over the years just drop out of church. Why? Many times, if not most, it has to do with the love of money. 6) Many pains: The Greek word is odyne (od-oo-nay). It means grief or sorrow. The NLT translates it many sorrows, and the ESV translates it many pangs. A pang is a sudden sharp pain or a painful emotion (Oxford Dictionary). Romans 9:2 translates odyne as anguish. Paul is referring to emotional pain. The love of money leads to many negative emotions, like worry, regret, discontentment, depression, and jealousy. These are the dangers of discontentment, of loving money, desiring riches, or craving money. These are the dangers of the pursuit of riches. But that s the benefit of contentment. That s why contentment is such a great gain. Contentment is God s way of protecting you from all the dangers of money. If you are content, then you won t be loving, and craving, and pursing money. And so you won t experience all those negative consequences. So money can be very dangerous, and Paul tells us that contentment enables us to focus on what really matters, and it protects us against the dangers of money. How do we Develop Contentment? But how do we develop contentment? That s what Paul gets into in the next few verses. 11 But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you 14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 God will bring this about in His own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, 16 the only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; no one has seen or can see Him, to Him be honor and eternal might. Amen. So how do we develop this contentment. In this whole paragraph Paul s message to Timothy is essentially this: Don t pursue riches. Do pursue godliness. Look at verse 11 again. But you, man of God, run from these things. What things? The things that Paul just talked about the desire to be rich, the love of money, craving money the pursuit of riches. Paul s instruction here is clearly that it is wrong for a Christian to pursue 5
riches. Don t make it your goal in life to get rich. Don t make it your goal to become a millionaire. These are not healthy goals for a Christian. They are destructive. Run after these things. Psalm 119:6 says, Turn my heart to Your decrees and not to material gain. Your heart, your passion, your desire, your ambition should not be toward material gain. Proverbs 23:4-5 says, 4 Don t wear yourself out to get rich; stop giving your attention to it. 5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. Getting rich should not be your focus in life. Hebrews 13:5 says, Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So the first thing to do to develop contentment is don t pursue riches. Again, contentment doesn t mean laziness. God wants you to work hard and make a good living so that you can provide for your family and tithe and share with those in need. God doesn t command us to live in poverty. But don t pursue riches. Don t make it your goal, your dream, your ambition to get rich. The second thing is to pursue godliness. Don t pursue riches. Do pursue godliness. Look back at verses 11-14. 11 But you, man of God, run from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a good confession about in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you 14 to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is passionately commanding Timothy to pursue godliness. And godliness is simply a catch-all word for devotion to Christ. It means loving and serving. Pursue a life of love and service to God. So don t pursue riches. Do pursue godliness. Make godliness the center of your life. The goal of your life. The mission of your life. To love and serve God with all your heart. To be a godly man or woman. And that s how you develop contentment. Contentment is not really something that you can just do by itself. It s more of a byproduct; a result of doing something else. It s like worrying. Not worrying is hard to do. Not worrying is more of a byproduct of faith. Worry is the result of weak faith. Inner peace is the result of faith. So if you want to stop worrying, you have to strengthen your faith. Developing contentment is similar. Discontentment is the result of pursuing riches. It s a sign that you are looking to money for happiness and security. It s a sign that you love money, and that are chasing money. The result of all that is discontentment. And so to develop contentment, don t pursue riches, and do pursue godliness. Change your goals. Change your ambitions. Change your values. Run after godliness with all your heart, and then contentment will follow. You will find yourself feeling satisfied and fulfilled, regardless of your circumstances; even though you may not be keeping up with the Jones s; even though you may not be experiencing the American Dream. You are content. You are satisfied. Because instead of pursuing riches, you are pursuing godliness. 6