A Biblical Perspective on Money

Everyone knows what money is. We use it every day. We exchange it, we trade it for things, we save it up, we count it, we bemoan its loss, and we rejoice when we win it, earn it, or receive it as a gift.

Money can be paper or metal. It can be made of gold, silver, copper, nickel, or a combination of other metals stamped and engraved in various images. It can be a written promise to pay as in a check or a signed credit card receipt, or it can be intangible points added or subtracted from an account.

The Bible is often quoted as saying money is the root of all evil.  This is an unfortunate misquote.  What it actually says is that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.  Using money for its intended purpose was never considered to be evil.  In the next section we will look at virtuous acts involving money.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the hero gives money to the innkeeper to cover the cost of caring for the injured man:

"The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’" (Luke 10:35, NIV)

In the illustration of the generous widow we have another good deed involving money:

"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.'” (Mark 12:41-44, NIV)

• Gehazi accepted money from Namaan, a cured leper, when he had been forbidden to do so by Elisha the prophet (2 Kings 5)
  
• Balaam (the guy who heard a donkey talk) accepted money from Balak for attempting to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22)
• Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave for silver coins (Genesis 37)
• Simon the Sorcerer offered money to the Apostles and requested one of their abilities be given to him in exchange (Acts 8)
• Judas...everyone knows what he did.  What we don't often talk about is the fact that he was struck with guilt afterwards and attempted to give it back.  When this didn't work, he threw it down in the temple and left.
  

Money is a representation, a concept. The actual materials of which it is made are not really worth anything unless we esteem them to be so. As in the ancient tale of Midas, we all realize that one cannot eat, drink, or breathe gold. A unit of money really represents the work that was put into earning it. It is a tangible symbol to which we assign an intangible value. The things it can buy are transient. No one can purchase a sunset, a rainbow, or extra lifetime minutes.

And as we all know, no one can purchase love.