Money – Master or Mastered?

1 Timothy 6:6-11

How many of you know the Tooty-Ta song? I can remember the first time I heard it was
when Abbey was in kindergarten. She came home one day and showed us how to sing this
song. She bent over like this, stuck out her tongue and started going around in circles,
saying, “Ah, tooty-ta, ah-tooty-ta, ah-tooty-ta-ta.
I gotta tell ya, it was hilarious! I loved it. And the following year, AJ came home singing
the same song. And next year, when Victoria enters kindergarten, she’ll probably learn it
too.
Tooty-ta is one of those songs that teachers love to use as a tool with very young students.
The song was written by Dr. Jean Feldman, who holds a Ph.D. from Georgia State
University and is a nationally known early childhood presenter, author, recording artist,
and teacher.
Another song written by Dr. Jean, and used by teachers all over is called the Money Song,
and it goes like this…

I like money to buy things at the store. Money, money, money, I always want more!
A penny's worth one cent. A nickel's worth five. A dime's worth ten cents. A quarter's
twenty-five.
Chorus – I like money to buy things at the store. Money, money, money, I always want
more!
There’s more to the song that I won’t take the time to share with you, but the real focus
this morning is on that chorus… “I like money to buy things at the store. Money, money,
money, I always want more!”
No doubt the song sounds cute enough coming from a bunch of 5 year olds dancing around
and waving their hands in the air. And no doubt we’d be impressed with how they learn to
identify coins and the monetary value of them.
But there is another value that this song is teaching our kids, however harmless as it may
seem, that really isn’t cute or harmless. Listen to the chorus again…. “I like money to buy
things at the store. Money, money, money, I always want more!”

Money, money, money… I always want more!

Now, if a pre-school song that could sum up the personality of western culture, this would
be it! We live in an age of commercialism and consumerism in which financial prosperity
is seen as the standard of personal success.
In 1973, the rock band Pink Floyd released a song on their album, Dark Side of the Moon,
entitled “Money”. A few of the lyrics are…
Money, get away
Get a good job with more pay and you're OK
Money it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team
Dark Side of the Moon – June 23, 1973 Lyrics © Pink Floyd Music Publ. Ltd./Chappell Music Ltd.

Is it really true? Will we all be OK if we can just find a job with good pay so that we can
live the good life – the American Dream? If we listen to Pink Floyd, and the myriads of
other entertainers in our self-obsessed culture, we might think so.
But not according to God.

In fact, the Bible says as much or more about the dangers of money and materialism as it
does just about any other subject. We are warned in the Scriptures not to pursue riches.

Proverbs 23:4 – “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.”

Our Lord Jesus likened the desire for money to idolatry and He said in Luke 16:13...
"No servant 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.” -

He also said in Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also.”

Preaching about money is one of the hardest things for us to hear because we tend to be
possessive and private when it comes to what we think of as “our money”. But no matter
how private we want the subject of money to be, Jesus Christ made it a very public issue.
He personally preached and taught about money more than He did Heaven and Hell
combined. Why do you think He did that?

Because God knows the power that money holds in our lives. It can be used as a tool for
good, or a weapon for evil. And we’ve all heard the stories of people who have been
ruined by money. We remember Jim and Tammy Baker and Robert Tilton. And fresh in
my mind is the story of a couple of priest in Florida charged with stealing millions over the
years.
There are two forces that Satan uses to ruin more ministries and homes than any other…
sex and money. For that reason, we MUST talk about money. Let’s look at our text…

The Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, “But godliness with contentment is great
gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (1 Timothy 6:6-11)

What is God teaching us here?

First, contentment is the ideal state of mind.

“…godliness with contentment is great gain…” “…having food and raiment, let us
therewith be content…”
Of all people, Paul could preach these words without hypocrisy. He knew exactly what if
was like to be rich, and he knew what it meant to be in abject poverty as he lay in a rat-
infested prison cell. Paul said that striving to be godly and having an attitude of
contentment was of greatest value.
But envying other’s wealth and wanting more possessions or money is sin. The tenth
Commandments says, “Thou shalt not covet…”
Paul wrote in Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be
content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee.”
Proverbs 23:4-5 “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine
eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as
an eagle toward heaven.”
People who always want more get caught in a vicious cycle of lust and disappointment. No
matter how much they get, it is never enough. And they live their lives chasing something
that they will never catch. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:10 “He that loveth silver shall
not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also
vanity.”

Second, materialism is a seductive and destructive force that we must beware of.
Someone once said that “In the world there are three categories of people: the haves, the
have-nots, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves.” Paul said, “But they that will be
rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition.” We say, “Oh, but I don’t want to get rich” when the fact
is that we are already rich in material things and we’re struggling to pay for them!
How many people do you know who have no time for church – no time for God – because
they are so busy working all the hours they can get to pay for the big house, multiple cars,
their weekend boat, four-wheelers, computers, and big screen TV’s?
This is what Jesus warned about in Luke 8:14 as He spoke about believers who would
allow material things to choke off their spiritual lives. He said, “And that which fell among
thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and
riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”
Jesus taught that daily worries, material possessions, and pleasure are like thorny vines
wrap themselves around an otherwise healthy plant and choke the life out of it, so that it
can’t bring forth the best fruit.
This is what is happening to many of us today.

Listen, I’m not extolling poverty as a virtue, but I am saying that affection for money and
possessions is wrong. Materialism is a curse and Greed is sin.
Didn’t Paul write… “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.”?
I’ve heard that verse twisted up so many times. “Money is the root of all evil…” No it is
not. Money is just an object. It can be used for good or for bad. Titus 1:5 says, “Unto the
pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but
even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
If our hearts are pure, our desires will be pure, and we will see everything that we have as
belonging to God, and we will see ourselves as stewards. Possessions won’t master us. It
won’t be hard to give away what we have.
We will be able to say as Paul did in Philippians 4:11b-13 “…for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know
how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.
But if we set our affections on material possessions, and there comes a time when God
should ask it from us, we will be like the man in the story in Mark 10:17; 21-23 “And
when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and
asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
“ Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy
way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and
went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith
unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
You see, it’s really about our attitude towards life. If we see life and all the blessings of life
as a gift from God, we will also see all that God has given us as belonging to Him. Letting
go won’t be hard.
But if we see life as something that is ours by right, we will also view possessions as ours
by right. We will say, “I’ve worked hard to get these things” and giving them up will be
nearly impossible.
A brother in the Lord and I were just discussing the other day how that years ago many
men and women mortgaged their homes in order to build churches. Look around. You’re
sitting in a building laid on the foundation of others’ risks. My home church building was
bought the same way. Men and women risked their homes to build their church home.
But how many of us would be willing to mortgage our homes so that we could build a
building or start a new ministry?
“But we worked hard for what we have!” So did they! (Probably harder) The difference is
that their attitude about the value of possessions was different than ours. They were willing
to make a commitment and take a risk and trust the Lord for the results. They “put their
money where their faith was”!
But too many of us want a life without such risk. We’re content with going with the flow
and we’ll just put a bit in the offering plate so that we can have all of our creature comforts
and then put the rest back for retirement and maybe even something for our kids when we
die (and why, they’ll just fight over it anyway!)
But what if God calls us to make a great sacrifice for something He wants us to do? Will
we do it, or will we say no? Will we refuse to give them up because we love comfort and
pleasure? Will we refuse to give them up because we trust money and not God?

Job 31:24-25,28 "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my
confidence; If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten
much…” “This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied
the God that is above.”
What should our attitude about money and possessions be? - But thou, O man of God,
flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness
Paul told Timothy to flee from the idea that gain is godliness – run from the idea that the
blessings of the Lord are only evident in financial prosperity. Too bad Paul is ignored so
much!
Turn on your TV and listen to the preachers teaching that financial prosperity is THE sign
of the blessings of the Lord. But is that true? Does God want a Cadillac in every
Christian’s driveway to prove to the world that Christianity is the “way to go”? Is that
really the evidence that I’m “OK with God”?
No, Jesus taught that the world would know we were Christians by our love for one
another, not by our prosperity.
The early church believed His words.
Acts 2:44-45 “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold
their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”
Acts 4:32, 34-35 “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own;
but they had all things common.” “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as
many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things
that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need.”
Instead of forming our attitude about money by listening to the advice of the world, we
need to form it from the actions of the early church and the teachings of the Lord.
Jesus taught that nothing can stand between us and Him
Luke 14:33 "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he
cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus taught that we must be willing to let everything go.
Luke 6:30 "Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods
ask them not again.”

Jesus taught us to give without expecting a return.

Luke 14:12-14 "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a
supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors;
lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a
feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they
cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”
Jesus taught that we should invest in His kingdom.
Luke 12:33 “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old,
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth
corrupteth.”
Jesus taught that the winners in life are not those who “die with the most toys.”
Luke 12:16-21 “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich
man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do,
because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull
down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And
I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be
required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

CONCLUSION
What would you be willing to do for $10 million?
In The Day America Told the Truth here’s what people said…
 25% would abandon their entire family
 23% would become a prostitute for a week
 16 % would leave their spouse
 3 % would put their children up for adoption.

Paul said, "the love of money is a root of all evil, and some by longing for it have
wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10).
Instead of living day-to-day on the treadmill of work, spend, work, spend, we need to stop
and look at the big picture. We need to ask the hard questions.
What am I living for?
How does my spending tell the story of what I value most?
Am I trusting God, or money?
Would I give it all up if the Lord asks?
Am I willing to commit to His kingdom?
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it
fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the
sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Learning the dangers of materialism and the proper way to view money management is not
enough – the result must be action. Begin today to practice what the Bible teaches by
tithing faithfully and giving to others as often and as much as possible!