1 Timothy 6:10-11 - The Evil of Materialism

In our present day western culture, we are completely and utterly surrounded by materialism and materialistic people. It is unfortunate that many Christians also head down this path (and many other questionable paths as well!) - to their own detriment and to the detriment of the Church. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 states: "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. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." Hebrews 13:5 states: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Of course very few Christians set out to be blatantly materialistic. Rather, it starts like a cancer and slowly eats away at you. Because it is so subtle, there is also plenty of opportunity to rationalise: "I just want a bit of extra money", "I'm building up my businesss", "I can give more to God", "I want to evangelise wealthy business people" etc. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with money and possessions but when they become the focus of lives, then they become evil. Are we striving after more money? More possessions? Are we focussed on getting to the next level in our organisation? These are sure indicators of the evil of materialism. We all need to heed Jesus words: "No servant can serve two masters. 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." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."