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Hey Brother!
Sorry for the long delay in responding.
Now, onto your question:
Well, first, thank you for wrestling with the issue of the
place of money in your life.
Obviously, how you work through this will have a great impact
on your future and God's future in your life. So, let's get
into it.
Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for 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."
And I understand the verse as it is. If I love money (and
the things of the world), then I hate God.
This is more a statement of fact than a description of one's
emotional state. In the Bible, love is referenced to as action
more than anything else. Not like we do today, where we refer
to it more from the affection or emotional sense.
Applying that to your statement, the question is, ÀIn what
sense do you love money, and in what sense do you hate God?”
If you have an affection (i.e. love) for money, does it necessarily
follow that you have a strong antagonistic feeling toward
God? No.
However, if, in fact you are devoting your life to the acquisition
of money (i.e. love), then you are, in fact, not devoting
your life to God and are factually hating Him in deed.
To use a more personal example, if I start having affection
for another woman, it doesn't mean I have hateful feelings
toward Sandra. I could, in fact, still have much affection
for her too, right? However, in pursuing/serving another woman,
I am then certainly actually hating Sandra in deed.
And I understand that I can't serve both.. But by inference,
what we should be doing then is loving God, and hating money.
In the way I described above, both in affection and in service/devotion.
But by it's simplest and most normal definition, I can't
say that I hate money. Money is not only a means of God's
provision in my life, but a means by which I am able to bless
others.. And not only that, my career (as yours is) centers
around money.. I just can't say that I hate it, and though
not serving it is another issue altogether, doesn't this verse
really point me in the direction of having to hate money?
I honestly don't think the verse is asking us to hate money
the way you're stating it. Rather, I do believe it's asking
us to hate the idol of money, not money itself. Actually,
in just about everything God calls us to hate or detest, it's
not the thing in and of itself, but either the idol of it
or what it represents. Things are neutral; attitudes, devotion,
etc. are not.
It's an increasing struggle for me too as I think about
my future. This adds some pressure for me to be faithful and
a good steward, as being able to provide for my family and
future family financially is important. I guess what I'm saying
is that I understand that money needs to be a means, rather
than end. But is that watering down what this verse says?
We are to love/be devoted to the one (God) and hate/despise
the other (money)? At the same time, I know that God has not
called us all to live hermetic lives, though some churches
may preach that.. I don't feel like that's God's calling for
all believers. I guess as I'm looking into the near future
(1-2 years), I'm struggling with evaluating what's important,
and how much time I should be thinking about and planning
for things such as my career, financially supporting my family,
and I guess ultimately retirement.. How do I be a good steward
of God's money, while hating/despising money?
I'd like to suggest that the real issue/sin here isn't whether
you emotionally love/hate money as much as it is in whom/what
do you trust? The issue really may be about worrying. We know
worrying is sin (please read Matt. 6:27 - 35) because it is
not trusting in the only legitimate trustworthy One, which
means we're trusting something/someone false.
When we put our trust in anything/anyone else, it's idolatry
and a violation of the very first (foundational) commandment.
As for your question, ÀHow do I be a good steward of God's
money, while hating/despising money?”, my question is, why
hate something that belongs to Him? If it's His money, we
ought not to despise it. What we ought to despise is our disposition
to trust in IT rather than in HIM! Again, we ought to despise
the idol of money and not neutral money itself.
Anything that God has given for our benefit, our use, our
sustenance ought to be received joyfully and gratefully, and
even ought to be Àloved” in the sense that it represents His
love and grace to us. It could be money, talent, spiritual
gifts, loved ones, the Bible, etc. Thus, they should all be
cared for and utilized. However, all of them can turn into
idols with the wrong heart and attitudes, even the Bible!
So, to be specific, you DO need to plan out the resources
God has entrusted to you and to do so with joy and thanksgiving
(1Thess. 5:18). And He wants you to use it as an opportunity
to consult with Him on it and spend more time learning to
Àhear” His heartbeat. But don't plan out the resources in
the same manner and with the same attitude the world does
it. Money is a terrible master, but a wonderful slave.
Sure, make plans for your future, always saying ÀDeo Volente”;
practice extravagant giving (note I did not say Àliving”!)
both personally and corporately, and take Àrighteous risks”
for the furthering of His glory, even when it would not make
Àgood business sense.”
I read MacArthur's commentary on it. In it, he references
Jesus's command that if anyone comes to Jesus and does not
hate his own father, mother, wife, children, etc.. he is not
worthy of being called his disciple. I think that's Luke 14:26.
The cross reference of that is Matt 10:37 where Jesus makes
a similar statement but says "Whoever loves father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me.." So MacArthur comments
that by comparison, the command to hate is a relative term..
that we are to love Jesus so much that by comparison and relation,
we are hating our father/mother, etc.. While I see that comparison
and analogy, I don't necessarily agree that it applies to
the verse above as well. The command here is mutually exclusive.
With relation to family, however, God commands us to honor
and love our parents.. But I don't think it's just sufficient
to say, "if money is taking away some of your love for God,
then you must hate it".. I feel like the command in Matt 6
is stronger than that..
Again, if you follow my first arguments, I think this is
answered. I think MacArthur is correct. In Romans 9, Paul
states that God loves Jacob and hates Esau. I think we both
agree that this isn't in reference to an emotional love and
hatred. Rather, God bestowed salvation to Jacob (love) and
passed over Esau (hate). It's speaking of action, not emotion.
We are obviously not to attribute an affection, service,
or devotion entitled to God to anyone else, even our family;
but we ARE certainly to care for them (and in an acceptable
way, Àlove” them) in the admonition of the Lord. It's the
same with money.
If Matt. 6:33 is understood, everything false right into
place, ÀSeek first His kingdom and righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you.”
That's the key, brother. If we allow the world's (aka Satan's)
value system and the this-world-is-all-there-is, and-it's-up-to-me
thought process to get its foot in the door, then spiritual
discord is sure to follow.
So, if you're not "hating" money (or the world/idol) of
money the way it needs to be hated, you'd better start harnessing
it and Àhating” it the biblical sense. And if you're not Àloving”
God the way He needs to be Àloved”, you'd better make your
adjustments and get going on it!
I don't know if that helps at all, but please let me know
and we can go further if need be.
Take care,
Arthur
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