by Matt Martin, pastor at Veritas Community Church

Since one of my desires for us as a church is to abound in the application of wisdom and discernment as we learn to evaluate everything through the lens of Scriptural truth, I want to highlight two recent articles for us to consider as we contemplate this week’s message. Though neither of these pieces were written from a faith-based perspective, they each point toward important truths we see throughout the Bible, especially in verses like the ones from this week’s sermon on Hebrews 13:5-6. And because time often fails us on Sunday mornings to fully unpack all of the implications of a text and what it looks like to apply truth in our lives, hopefully these articles can help you unpack those things more this week with your community group.

The ProPublica piece reveals two truths about the grip that money can have in our lives when it becomes the object of our love. The first is that there is literally no amount of it that can ultimately satisfy us. King Solomon calls this out throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, and it is also evident in the mind-boggling fortunes of the wealthiest individuals in the world. A second truth the article illustrates is how prone we can be to live in ways that contradict our stated beliefs. As the article points out, though Warren Buffet has been a staunch proponent of taxing the wealthiest individuals more fairly, he himself continues to pay only a proportionally minuscule amount of taxes. The reality is that consistently living out your personal convictions is challenging, no matter how much money you have, and if you believe the words of Jesus (Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25), perhaps even more so for those who have a lot of it.

“How we think about the future, or whether we think about it at all, is at the core of how we treat money.”

– Gloria Liu

However, one of the things the piece by Gloria Liu highlights is that righteousness is not necessarily the polar opposite of being rich. In her vulnerable and self-reflective analysis about the disdain with which wealth is viewed in outdoor adventure subcultures, she touches on deep truths about our understanding of money and materialism, based on our family and community of origin. Inadvertently, the author also underscores the truth from Hebrews 13:5 that it is the love of money that’s sinful—not money itself. Equally important is the way this piece points out that the idolization of stuff (in this case recreational gear) and epic experiences, both of which cost money, are ultimately no less unholy than the love of money itself.

“Shame is closely linked to money: shame we have too little, shame we have too much.”

– Gloria Liu

Proverbs 30:8-9

[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

In closing, my hope for us as we continue to process the lessons from this week’s sermon (and every Biblical teaching) together, is that we learn to actively disciple one another in all truth. We all struggle in different ways to live out of God-honoring convictions about gratitude, generosity, and contentment, and yet the beauty of Christian community in the church is that each of us possess gifts and perspectives that we can use to bless one another in our personal journeys of learning to increasingly treasure Jesus and reflect him to the world around us. So if you have a finance background, consider how to bless others with what you’ve learned. If you come from money, please share reflections with others about how that has impacted you, and if you grew up poor, please share with others about how it shaped who you are and how God is molding you too into the image of Christ. And to anyone who’s still forging your own biblically rooted convictions about money as an adult, don’t be afraid or ashamed to reach out to the people in the church God has put in your life for guidance and support.

by Matt Martin, pastor at Veritas Community Church