Thursday, January 3, 2008

What is Money's Role in Christianity?

This week's questions: What is money’s role in Christianity? How much can we want it? How much should we strive to make more? Is it not right to keep some for yourself?

Obviously, without money, there would be no church building, there would be no lunches, no bibles would get printed without the existence of money. One way or another, God’s church needs money. Where is the boundary between needing money for the good of God, and the need of money that stems out of greed?

Is it possible to be a rich Christian?

Answer: I’d like to begin the answer to this question with a story. Recently, I visited the home of a prominent church leader who shall remain nameless in this post. During the visit, he and his wife showed me and the other guests the addition they had just put on their house. The main feature of the addition was the bathroom, which was the fanciest bathroom I had ever seen. It was huge, roughly the size of my bedroom, had a giant walk-in closet with more pairs of men’s dress shoes than I had ever seen outside of a store, and even had heated tiles so your bare feet don’t get cold in the morning. It was incredible. A couple days later, I was with friends and this church leader’s name came up in conversation. I then said to my friends, “You should see that guys bathroom!” I was immediately disturbed by what I said, because I realized that despite all the good things this man does for the Church, what I’m going to remember about him is his bathroom.

About a week later, I was talking to a friend who works for a church in Pittsburgh. He told me that he and others in the worship band were practicing when a homeless man entered the church. The man approached the drummer and asked him for money. The drummer replied that he doesn’t like to hand out money, but would like to help meet his need. So he asked the homeless man if he had a place to stay. The homeless man replied that there was a place he could stay, but the woman charges a modest fee per night, which he doesn’t have the money to pay. So, the drummer took the man to this woman’s place, paid for a couple nights lodging and worked out a deal with the woman where the homeless man could shovel her driveway and sidewalk to stay additional nights. As he left, the drummer asked the homeless man if he had gloves. When the homeless man said “no,” he took of his own gloves and gave them to him. Now I don’t know this particular Christian personally; I don’t even know his name, and have only seen him a few times. But, whenever I think of him, the first thing I’m going to think of is this, selfless, Christ-like act he did.

I think these stories provide a negative and positive example for how Christians are called to handle their money. A few weeks ago during Advent, we looked at the ministry of John the Baptist on Sunday mornings. John the Baptist lived his life in such a way that everything he did, down to the clothes he wore and the food he ate, pointed to the Kingdom of God. We’re called to the same type of witness. Everything we do is to point to Jesus Christ, down to the clothes we wear and the food we eat, and the way we handle our money.

As far as how much we should desire money, you’re right that we do need some just to live and function. The distinction between the “needing money for the good of God” and “the need for money that stems out of greed” is the same on both the personal and church level. The distinction is: for what purpose do we desire the money? I know of many churches and individuals who have a lot of money and do a lot in the world for the sake of Christ with that money. (Consequently, yes, it is possible to be a rich Christian.) I also know a lot of churches and individuals who have a lot of money and use it all for their own good, with no concern for using it to bear witness to Christ in the world. (Consequently, being a rich Christian is a very difficult thing.) That’s the difference between need for money and greed, whether or not the money is used to honor Christ.