A couple decades ago there was a TV preacher whose slogan was something along the line “Money is evil, therefore send your money to me.” Besides the obvious misquoting of scripture, there was a total lack of intelligence in that slogan. Stop and think: If money were truly evil, why in the world would God want something evil? He doesn't, but that money-loving, scripture-twisting preacher knew that many people didn't know their Bible.
Today, money-loving preachers abound and, unfortunately, because they claim to represent God and the Bible, give a very bad name to both. But what does the Bible itself say about money? What about the intentionally misquoted passage I mentioned at the outset?
In 1Timothy 6:9-10 we read that the “love of money” (the insatiable desire to be rich) is what true Christians are warned against. What about money itself? Ecclesiastes 7:12 says that it has value as a “protection.” How can money be a protection? Proverbs 30:8,9 gives a bit of insight here. In part it says that having sufficiency can keep us humble, satisfied, and discourage theft based on hunger. (Note the “New Living Translation” here.) Yes, it can protect us from defaming our God through wrong action and it can help us make an honest living, providing for ourselves and families with a good conscience.
So money itself is not evil. However, the insatiable pursuit of it can be if we shove aside not only good morals and ethical living, but develop a “I will stop at nothing in order to get rich” mentality.
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