(Based on 1 Timothy 6:6-21)
The beautiful part about what we read in Timothy is, the church and its leaders were just as screwed up as they are today. We find the same remnants of manipulation, religious treachery, and the money game. In Paul's final letter to Timothy, he talks about money.
I remember sitting in the auditorium of a church I used to attend, and it was filled with people. This church had grown massively. There was a ton of good being done, and there still is, in the community and around the world. I loved the leadership and I loved being involved in whatever way I could be. However, the dreaded conversation came one Sunday that I hoped would never come.
The pastor unwrapped in polished speech and powerpoint, an eloquent presentation of a proposed building campaign. It would only take $4 million and thirty years to pay off. But, it was needed and essential, the pastor said. There were things we couldn't do without building bigger buildings. The journey began, and the church voted in support of the endeavor. I couldn't see how building bigger toys and getting into debt would somehow make a larger impact on the community. So, I opted out and left. While that church continues to draw massive amounts of people and impact the lives of many people, I still am left with one question - Why is money so important to the church?
Paul paints a picture for us about how the leadership of Timothy's church is functioning. We've already been told leaders are turning things that are holy and beautiful like marriage and food, into unholy, secular things. He tells us they spend a lot of time talking religious jargon, and very little time getting into action. Now, Paul tells us they are in it to make a buck. He says they are "infecting the air with germs of envy, controversy, and bad-mouthing," all part of the pyramid scheme of making a profit.
It's interesting to me that Paul starts this chapter off with a word to slaves. In that time, slaves were not what we think about today - chained up, locked behind closed doors, and beaten for a living. Slaves were more like household servants. For whatever reason, they had gotten into debt with someone, and by law it was required to pay the debt off. If the person didn't have the resources, they would work it off until it was paid off in full. The lender became the master, and the borrower became the slave. However, once the debt was paid off, the slave became free again, and the master didn't have a slave anymore. While there probably were many cases of physical abuse and mistreatment, the concept behind it was: work for me until you're debt is paid off.
In this context, Paul starts the chapter off with the instructions for slaves to respect their masters. He doesn't want the misbehavior of slaves or masters to cause people to blame God or his teachings for the problems created between the tension of the slave and master relationship. I believe Paul starts the chapter off with this example because he wants the audience to know that there is a slave to master relationship going on in Timothy's church.
In the same way that slaves work off their debts to masters, the leaders of Timothy's church are holding the congregants up to burdens that shouldn't even be there. They are creating a sense of guilt and envy in getting the congregation to give money to the church. The leaders are getting very good at creating a false sense of debt among their people, in a way that places a heavy burden of debt on the very people who are the lifeblood of the church.
It's in the midst of this injustice that Paul is charging Timothy to speak out, and to call the perpetrators what they are: arrogant windbags obsessed with money. He wants Timothy to call them to quit chasing after money and power, and to start chasing after God. Then, Paul goes into a beautiful explanation of what it looks like to be wealthy.
It looks like having bread on the table and shoes on our feet. It looks like being rich in helping others. It's a richness full of generosity. It's a wealth full of grace. Paul tells us that when we run like hell away from the lust for money, we find a whole treasury full of riches that we would have never dreamed of. It's inner peace, love for others, and a renewed sense of love for God. Paul and Timothy are not rich, nor are they looking to get there. They have found contentment in financial poverty, because they are finding all the wealth they could have ever wanted through helping others and loving God.
I believe Paul is conveying a message that needs to be heard in today's church. It's about lust for money. When I think of lust, I think of spending all my money on myself, and buying new toys all the time, and always pining for a better job, better paycheck, and better benefits. While I think this is one picture of lust for money, I don't think it's the whole picture.
There's this other side of it, and it's on a much wider scale. I believe another angle of lust for money is the idea that impacts on the community can't be accomplished without more money. While I am writing this in regard to the church, I am also writing on a personal level as well. The principle works on both levels.
The paradigm of the idea of helping others has gotten very distorted. We often find it very easy to respond to needs in the community by pouring our resources into them. If people are hungry, we buy groceries. If a disaster happens, like an earthquake or tornado, we send donations through Twitter. I believe the church has been responding to needs through financial resources for so long, that she's forgotten how to give herself, to break herself open, even when there's not a penny left to her name. The church has become so good at getting the right system created to make the most bang for the buck that we can't possibly think of just going out into the community with nothing but the clothes on our backs. The idea of showing up with nothing to give scares us. It means we actually have to talk and build relationships.
I believe Paul is empowering Timothy to be himself because he has already been given all the wealth he could ever need. Do we see this happening in our small groups, communities, and churches? When we talk about where to go, who to serve, and what to do, are we talking solely about where our money is going, serving, and doing?
When it comes to serving others and being the church, money should not and certainly doesn't have to be a determining factor. As Paul says, we were born penniless and we'll go out penniless, so why should it be a driving force for our missional purposes? While money is definitely an asset that can be used for doing a lot of good in the world, it is a two-edged sword. It can actually prevent us from being ourselves and opening ourselves up.
Have you ever stopped to hang out with a homeless person, only to find that you didn't have anything to give? What happened? There's been a couple times that I've intentionally not given anything to people, just so I could re-find my sense of commonality and humanity. I just wanted to talk. I didn't want to wear the hat of financial benevolence. I just wanted to share some time with another human being, and learn about them and them about me. It's very humbling to share time without anything to give but self. Yet, these turn out to be the most beautiful, life-giving moments because there is not a slave master relationship.
I believe the church does a very good job at giving something. There's no doubt about that. However, I believe that the way we give determines if we are creating relationships of slave to master, or creating relationships of equality and brotherly love. It's the giving of ourselves through conversation, time, and presence that destroys the idea that money is the defining force between where we serve, how we serve, and whom we serve. It's the naked feeling of not having a sandwich in our hands or money in our pockets that catapults us into the unlimited wealth of sharing our time, faith, and love with others.
Tomorrow is Sunday. Millions of people worldwide will be in a church service. I wonder how many "service projects" will be talked about in terms of how much money is given or needed in order to fulfill the wanted mission. I hope that we as sharers in the unlimited wealth that we've been given, can learn to not feel the need to always have something to give. I hope that we learn that giving ourselves, our conversations, and our time is enough and always will be. I hope that money becomes a secondary aid and not the primary factor in where, how, and whom we serve.
Today's Action: Pick one person who we consider "needy" in our lives. Intentionally join up with that person and just talk. Share time and conversation, and see what happens.
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