1 Timothy 6
Paul understood how important it is for church leaders to have the right attitude towards money. He also understood that those who love money will end up believing and teaching what is false. Therefore, in Chapter Six, Paul describes for Timothy the proper attitude towards money. He begins by telling Timothy how to treat authority in the place where we earn our keep.
1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and {our} doctrine will not be spoken against.
It is interesting that Paul never tried to abolish slavery, but focused only on the job God gave him – which was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Even Jesus focused only on the task that God gave Him to do. We too should take the time to understand the task that God has given us, and then focus only on that.
We should never be responsible for giving people or demons an opportunity to speak against God or the things we teach about God. For example, while we are under an authority, we should never speak ill of the authority that God has placed over us, unless unusual circumstances require us to do so. By ‘unusual circumstances’ I am referring to when the authority disobeys the law of the land.
The authority you work for will definitely not be perfect. Sometimes, they may not even be fit to be over you. You will feel the brunt of their flaws and their mistakes. But remember, all authority is allowed there by God. Don’t make the mistake of focusing on their flaws. Further, don’t make the bigger mistake of telling others what their flaws are and thus dishonoring them.
2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these {principles.}
In our place of work, if the authority above us is a believer, we should not take advantage of that; rather, we should serve them with greater loyalty.
The church leadership should teach and preach these things.
3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,
4 he is conceited {and} understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,
5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
There are churches all over the place that preach the “prosperity gospel” (which is an example of a ‘different doctrine’) which says that God will make you financially rich if you are His child. This is a variation of the “godliness is a means of gain” doctrine. Sound doctrine conforms to the idea that we need to be godly. But when one adds to that, saying that if you are godly God will also bless you financially, then one belongs to the category of “men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth.”
There also churches all over the place that preach that if you tithe God will bless you financially (which is another example of a ‘different doctrine’). This is also false doctrine – it may have been true in the Old Testament, but it is not true in the New Testament. For example, neither Paul nor Jesus were affluent.
Some churches today won’t allow you to become a member if you don’t sign an agreement saying that you will tithe. Some churches also won’t let you minister in their church if you don’t tithe. Why do they do this? It is because they want your money. Church leadership that attempts to gain financially from people seeking to be godly are of depraved mind and deprived of the truth.
You see, there is a relationship between loving money and having false doctrine. If you love money you will end up wandering away from the faith (i.e. you will believe what is false), as Paul mentions in verse ten. This is why Paul speaks about this in this letter addressing how church leadership should handle false doctrine.
Suppose you feel that God has called you into ministry. What do most people who feel that way do? They go to seminary to get a degree related to theology. So then, let’s assume that you go there. They teach you a whole bunch of things. What do most people do? They simply swallow what is being taught, assuming that it must be right. If they have any questions, they usually don’t ask, or if they do, they accept the answers, even if the answers are not really satisfactory. No one wants to ruffle any feathers, you know; getting the degree is more important than knowing the truth, right? After a few years, they end up as pastors or Bible teachers in some church. Now and then, some discerning believer comes to their church and asks some tough questions, or points to some errors in their theology. What do these pastors do? They don’t want to change their doctrine. Why? They fear the loss of their congregation, and thereby, the loss of income. They choose money over truth. That is what goes on all the time, everywhere.
While Moses was away, when the Israelites wanted to build idols of gold, Aaron let them, for fear of loss. They never dared build such things when Moses was around. When Moses returned, he didn’t fear loss of the congregation; rather he feared God. So he stopped that nonsense immediately.
Today, pastors allow the church to celebrate pagan festivals based on Halloween, solstices and fertility. Why? Because the people want it, and they don’t want to lose the people, because that results in loss of income to the church.
If you are a church leader who loves money, you will do the same, won’t you? That’s why Paul connects the love of money to false doctrine.
6 But godliness {actually} is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
If we learn to be content with what we have, even if it is just food and covering, recognizing that we won’t take our money with us when we die, then our godliness is of great gain to us because God will reward us for that in the age to come.
If you compare yourself with others, who have more money than you, or who are more successful than you, you will want to get richer, and such thoughts will plunge you into destruction. Beware of that trap. Be content with what God has given you.
9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
If God has made you financial rich, that is nice – and you have the responsibility to use your financial riches wisely. Having money is not dangerous, but the desire for money and the things of the world is.
Since the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, we should work hard at not loving money.
It is harder for a camel to enter the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
We can’t love God and mammon.
Loving money brings grief.
Loving money takes you away from believing the truth. If you want truth, you must not love money.
In Philippians 3, Paul talks about people who are enemies of the cross of Christ, and whose god is their appetite and whose end is destruction. Similarly, in James 4, James explains that people who follow their lusts are enemies of God. When we have money to spare, we tend to use it to feed our lusts of the flesh (we satisfy our bodily needs for maximum pleasure), and our lusts of the eyes (we buy what looks good to us), and our boastful pride of life (we like to tell others of all the wonderful things we have). This behavior is foolish and harmful and can destroy you. In 2 Thessalonians 2, we read about how those who take pleasure in wickedness will be deceived to believe what is false.
For this reason, when you begin to get rich, remember what is said here, and be careful about how you spend your time and money.
11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance {and} gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
A man of God must flee from trying to get rich, and from using his riches for his pleasures.
The good fight of faith is to realize that the wealth of this world is temporary and passing, and that our kingdom is not of this world. Believing this helps us to focus on the eternal life that God has called us to, and on doing what is right and good, believing the right things, loving others continually and gently.
13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 which He will bring about at the proper time – He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him {be} honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
It is God who gives life to all things, and all your riches are inconsequential because what matters is the ability to have immortality i.e. eternal life, which is the nature of God.
The good confession that Jesus made before Pontius Pilate was that His kingdom was not of this world. We too need to adopt the attitude that our kingdom is not of this world. Armed with such an attitude, we become willing to lose the things of this world gain the things of the world to come. I cannot forget the words of Jim Elliot – “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Only God possesses immortality.
Only God dwells in unapproachable light, and no man has seen or can see God in that light.
God has been, now is, and will always be in charge of all things.
God deserves all honor, not rich or powerful men.
When Jesus comes again, He will rule.
Keeping all these things in mind, we should not try to make ourselves rich with the things of this world, nor should a church leader worry about accumulating wealth.
17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
18 {Instruct them} to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
If you are rich, you shouldn’t think that your riches will last and that you can depend on them. Your dependence should always only be on God.
God richly supplies us with all things to enjoy, but we should never get too attached to anything.
We should use our wealth to bless others who are less fortunate. Doing that will bring eternal reward for us.
20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly {and} empty chatter {and} the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge" –
21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
Finally, Paul tells Timothy to guard the truth, and to avoid useless conversation about doctrine with people who think they are right and don’t have an open mind.
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