By David J. Stewart | November 2014
Ecclesiastes 5:13, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.”
Some of the most miserable, hateful and wicked people in the world are
rich people. James 5:1, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your
miseries that shall come upon you.”
No Man Can Serve God and Money
To be quite frank, Bible collages are in business, and businesses require money to pay the bills. There will always be the insatiable temptation to compromise one's standards, dip one's sails, and cow-tow to enroll more students, or gain more church members. I do not have any particular Bible college or church in mind. I speak in general.
Jesus warned in Matthew 6:24 that no man can serve God and mammon (money). This is perhaps the most ignored passage in the Bible. Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Notice carefully that there is no middle ground. At first I thought to the same degree that a person loves money they won't serve God, but that's not what Jesus said. The Lord taught that it's one or the other, no middle ground. You either love God and despise money, or else you love money and despise God. The word “despise” is the Greek word kataphroneō and means “to think against.” This is quite different than the modern dictionary meaning, which is, “to look down on with disdain.” The Bible teaches that if you hold onto money, you will think against God.
I noticed that Matthew 6:24 starts by mentioning love and hate, and then changes to hold and despise. That's interesting. I don't believe in coincidences in the Word of God. Before a person has money, they either love it and pursue it, hating God; or else they love God and hate money, forsaking the pursuit of wealth. But once you have money, then you can either hold onto it, and think against God; or you can hold onto God and think against money. The biggest deterrent to preaching hard against sin, proclaiming offensive truth, mashing on people's toes from the pulpit, being controversial and taking an uncompromising bold stand for God is THE LOVE OF MONEY!!!
