In 1 Timothy 6:10, it says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
We often-times misquote this text by saying “Money is the root of all evil,” but that’s not what the text says. It is said that “the love of money.” This is important because Jesus did not have a problem with people being wealthy; he had a problem with what the wealthy did with their money. In the familiar text of Matthew 6:24, Jesus stated, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Jesus did not have a problem with wealthy people, but he did have a problem with how wealthy people used their money. Jesus chastised the Pharisees, who were a wealthy class of people in the northeast African region of biblical Palestine in the first century, for being domineering with their wealth. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus stated, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
He is taking them to task for not helping the indigent, the poor, the needy, and the destitute, as well as tithing to the temple. Jesus gave a scathing attack on the religious leadership of Jerusalem in Mark 12:41-44, when he pointed out that the rich gave large sums of money, but the poor widow gave only two small copper coins, which would be a couple of pennies in our present day. Jesus called his disciples to him and said the rich gave out of their excess, while the poor widow gave all she had. Many Pastors and Preachers have tried to use this text to chide their congregations into being like this poor widow and be willing to give all they have if need be.
However, a closer reading of the text reveals that Jesus was actually chastising the religious elite and wealthy for creating a system that would expect a poor person to give all they have, while wealthy people only give a small portion of their wealth. Sounds like CEO’s and corporations today that barely pay taxes, while the working poor often pay ten times more taxes than the billionaire class in this country. Jesus’ scathing rebuff to the religious system and secular systems of his day is that the poor should not have to suffer economically while the rich flaunt their wealth and do nothing to help the poor have enough of all they need in this life.
This is a fundamental principle in the New Testament regarding Jesus and money. Jesus, moreover, expects the wealthy to use their wealth to uplift, empower, and serve the poor. In Luke 8:1-3, the women Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna were women of financial means and they provided for the ministry of Jesus from their financial resources. In Acts 4:36-37 a man by the name of Joseph who was named “Barnabas” by the disciples sold a piece of property that he owned and gave it to the new community of believers to help provide for anyone in need and the text says that “no one had a need in that community because the rich in particular gave liberally to the ministry to help those in need have what they needed.” These are very basic principles in the ministry of Jesus and any Christian ought to not only understand this but speak against any system or institution that would reward the wealthy while punishing the poor. Any believer in Jesus Christ of Nazareth ought to stand with Jesus to chastise and correct any government or religious denomination or institution that would condone cutting needed resources like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and USAID to reward the wealthy. It is a sin against Jesus and God to make poor people pay for a permanent 4.5 trillion tax cut. Any person, any preacher, any pastor, and any religious group that claims Jesus as Lord and also supports this is betraying the ministry of Jesus. Jesus did not have a problem with people who were rich; he had a major problem with what rich people did with their money.
Be Aware, Be Authentic and Stay Woke. Uhuru Sassa!!!
The Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.”
- Rev. John E. Jackson
- Rev. John E. Jackson
- Rev. John E. Jackson
- Rev. John E. Jackson
- Rev. John E. Jackson
