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GROWING
EDGES
Dear
Friends,
In this issue we are focusing our attention
on “Money and the Spiritual Life.” Martin
Luther astutely observed, “There are three
conversions necessary: the conversion of
the heart, mind, and the purse.” Perhaps
today we find the conversion of the purse
the hardest of the three!
Money
as a Spiritual Power
In seeking to work our way through a Christian
Spirituality of money it is important for
us to begin by seeing money in the context
of the "principalities and powers"
that Paul speaks about so vigorously (Eph.
6:12, Col. 1:16). Money is one of these
powers. When Jesus uses the Aramaic term
mammon to refer to wealth, he is giving
it a personal and spiritual character. When
he declares, "You cannot serve God
and mammon," he is personifying mammon
as a rival god. In saying this, Jesus is
making it unmistakably clear that money
is not some impersonal medium of exchange.
No, mammon is a power that seeks to dominate
us. You see, mammon makes a bid for our
hearts. Mammon asks for our allegiance in
a way that will suck the milk of human kindness
out of our very being.
That is why so much of Jesus's
teaching regarding wealth is evangelistic
in character. He calls people to turn away
from the mammon god in order to worship
the one true God. For Jesus money is an
idolatry we must be converted from in order
to be converted to him.
Most sinister of all is money's
desire for omnipotence, for all power. It
seems that money is not willing to rest
contented in its proper place alongside
other things we value. No, it must have
supremacy. Think of the symbols we attach
to money that are unrelated to its true
value. If money were only a medium of exchange,
it would make no sense at all to attach
prestige to it, for example. And yet we
do.
Paul made it clear that it
is not money, but the love of money that
is "the root of all evils" (1
Tim. 6:10). Given the almost universal love
of money, however, they are often the same
in practice.
Using,
not Serving
Jesus makes it abundantly clear that
we must never serve money; yet, at the
very same time he urges us to "make
friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous
mammon" (Matt. 6:24, Luke 16:9).
How are we to break the horns of this
strange dilemma? We do so by first conquering
the spiritual power money has over us,
and once we have conquered it we are
free to use it for kingdom purposes.
We are never to serve money; but having
conquered it we are then able to use
money for the common good. Never serving.
Ever using.
This
is why we need mature and seasoned followers
of Jesus in the business profession.
You see, business is never just business.
The business profession has a moral
role in society, bringing goods and
services for the betterment of all.
Louis Brandeis, after which
one of our great universities was named,
spoke of business as the noble profession
where our finest and most varied mental
faculties are empowered for the good of
society. He writes, "Then the term
'big business' would lose its sinister
meanings, and will take on a new significance.
Big business will then mean business big
not in bulk or power, but great in service
and grand in manner."
The
Ministry of Money
Now, it goes without saying that
businesses need to make a profit. A business
must survive if it is to serve. And that
profit can rightly be thought of as the
ministry of money. This is a high call
indeed, this ministry of money. It is
not for the spiritual neophyte. It is
for those who are well trained in the
spiritual life.
"We use money to exercise
our dominion for good," says Dallas
Willard. Hence, we begin by earning all
the money we can, and saving all the money
we can. Then, we freely use this money
within a properly disciplined spiritual
life, and we control and invest this money
for the good of humankind and the glory
of God. And, finally, we joyfully give
money away where and when we have the
opportunity to do the most good.
Peace
and joy,
Richard J. Foster
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