God & Money

For a number of years I have been struggling with the concept of God and money. I have gone through life asking myself questions such as, 'Is it ok to be rich? Does God want me to be rich? Or is it better to remain poor or with average income so that I don't allow riches to tempt me? The list went on and on. Hence, the following reflection.

'I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.'
Luke 16:9-14

Verse 9 - 'I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth…'

Dishonest wealth here means money. How do we make friends for ourselves with money? Clearly, the parable prior to this scripture tells us that it is done by giving money away. We have to recognise the importance of giving money away and helping others. That's how we reflect our trustworthiness with money. The money given to us is meant to be given to others especially the less privileged or for the spread of the Gospel of Christ. This does not mean that we give all our money away as we also have to be responsible consumers and savers.

So how much should we give away? The Bible recommends that we give our tithe and offerings. A tithe is 10% of our income and offering is an undetermined amount as we are prompted.

Note that God does not have a problem with the amount of wealth a person has as long as we are giving part of it away.

Verse 9 - 'I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.'

What is Luke referring to when he wrote 'when it fails'? When does money fail? Money surely seizes to be useful when we die. When we die, we would never need money again. Hence, that is when money fails.

Hence when we use the money as required, when we die, we would be welcomed into eternal dwellings, that is we will be welcomed into heaven.

Verse 11 - 'If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?'

Dishonest wealth = money
True wealth = heaven

Verse 12 - 'If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?'

Money = belong to others
Heaven = belongs to you

The money we have belongs to others and if we do not give it away we would not be trustworthy with it. The consequence of it is that we would not be given what belongs to us, that is, we would not inherit the kingdom of heaven which is rightfully our as it is prepared for us by our Father.

Verse 13 - 'No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

It is important to recognise that what belongs to us is more important than what belongs to others. Hence, heaven created by God is more important than money. God and money should also not be seen as of the same importance. God must always be more important than money in our lives.

If money is more important to us than God, we ultimately would not be able to love and follow God simply because God wants us to seek him first but we are doing the contrary of it.

Verse 14 - 'The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.'

Money in itself is not evil, it is the love of money more than God that is evil.

In conclusion, God has got no problem with me being rich as long as I give away part of my income. By giving part of my income away, it reflects that I am trustworthy and honest in this very small matter and God will reward me by having me in his presence in heaven when I die.