What do you remember that the various writers in the Bible say about money? That it is the “root of all evil”? Actually, it says that the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1st Timothy 6:10). Maybe you remember Jesus saying that it’s harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven that for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 20:3.)

Do you wince even when someone asks about the connection between the Bible – or religion in general – and money? Why is the Bible so negative about money when we… are not? How can some Christians move from the Bible to voluntary poverty (nuns) while others move in an opposite, lavish direction in owning mansions and multiple jets by megachurch preachers?

Some basic questions and challenges from Scripture and from the Church focus on:

• How did you make money? Was it ethical?
• What are you doing with money? Investment, hoarding, and/or giving?
• What is money doing to you?
• What is money doing to others?

Is there a life-giving, scriptural approach to money? Can earning and giving money bring us a gift from God?

Look at the scriptures for this Sunday: Ecclesiastes 5:10-15 and 2nd Corinthians 9:6-15. What might God be trying to tell you?

I look forward to seeing you in worship this Sunday!