There are several money myths that folks think are taught in the Bible. I will attempt to answer these by examining the Scripture and with sound reasoning. Although there are probably other money myths thought to be in the Bible, I will deal with the following four in this paper.
- Jesus told the rich young ruler to give away all his money, so that is what we are supposed to do too.
- Being poor is more godly than being rich.
- Money is the root of all evil.
- God wants you to be rich.
Jesus told the rich young ruler to give away all his money, so that is what we are supposed to do too.
This story is found in Luke 18:18-23:
18 “And a certain ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 And when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich.”
This passage is also found in two of the other gospel accounts. In the three accounts of this story, none command everyone to sell everything and give the proceeds away.
Jesus was addressing a spiritual issue with that particular individual. The young man put his possessions above his relationship with God. Benson’s Commentary on this passage concludes, “to cure his love of the world, which could not in him be cured otherwise, Christ commanded him to sell all that he had. But he does not command us to do this; but to use all to the glory of God.”1
Here are two more examples, Zaccheus, and Joseph of Arimathea.
Zaccheus
As Jesus was traveling through Jericho, He encountered a man named Zaccheus, identified as a chief tax-collector. Zaccheus was rich, but not told to give everything away. Rather, Zaccheus voluntarily gave half of his possessions to the poor. The passage tells us that Jesus was a guest at his house that day, and told Zaccheus, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:2-8) If giving away everything was the norm, Jesus could have easily corrected Zaccheus, telling him that giving away half was not enough -give it all away.
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea is identified as a rich man who was a disciple of Jesus. He is the man that took Jesus’ body and placed it in his own grave after the crucifixion. (Matthew 27:57-60) There is no record of Jesus telling him to give all his possessions away.
Logic applied
Furthermore, we don’t apply that same logic with other passages. For example, Matthew 8:21-22 says;
“And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” ”
Jesus was addressing a spiritual issue in the life of this disciple because his priorities were not correct. We don’t use this passage to say that a Christian should not have funerals for their families, do we? No, of course not.
Being poor is more godly than being rich.
There are numerous examples of both poor and rich in the Scriptures. Examples of godly men who were poor would be Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and John the baptist. Among the rich, examples of godly men would be Abraham, Job, and King David. In none of these cases do the Scriptures tell us that we should be either poor or rich, or that one is godly or not godly based on their material prosperity. Godliness is based on faith in Christ, not your bank account -or lack of it.2
The reality is that being poor or being rich has its own struggles. The passage in Proverbs 30:7-9 explains the difficulty:
7 “Two things I asked of Thee, do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 that I not be full and deny Thee and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.”
The writer of the proverb recognizes the problem: If he has riches, he might be tempted to forget God, thinking he is self-sufficient; If he is poor, he might be tempted to violate God’s law by stealing, not believing that God will take care of his needs. He wisely connects these problems with deception and lies. He was cognizant of the deception of self-sufficiency, and the lie that God will not provide.
Poor or rich, we are to not be lazy, but to work hard to provide for our needs and to have something to give away.3 Whether we are poor or rich, there is an important ingredient related to our assets (or lack of assets) when it comes to godliness -contentment, talked about next.
Contentment
The Apostle Paul tells us that contentment plays a role when it comes to godliness. He states, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.” (1 Timothy 6:6) In another passage Paul explains that he had learned the secret of how to be content in whatever circumstance he was in. In Philippians 4:12, he says:
“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”
Concluding in the next verse,
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Paul learned that he could trust God whether he is poor or rich, because it is God who strengthens him. In trusting God, Paul had contentment, which brought peace into his life and was a means of great gain. (I write more on this secret that Paul learned in my paper, Contentment.)
Money is the root of all evil.
I have heard this passage misquoted many times where one important word is left out -love. It is the LOVE of money that is the problem. (1 Timothy 6:10)4 Later in that same passage, instruction is given to those who are rich. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)5 If money alone is the root of evil, then the instruction in this passage would be to get rid of the evil money. Instead, it is our attitude toward money that is dealt with. The rich are instructed to, “not fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God.” (v 17) They are also instructed to, “be rich in good works and to be generous and ready to share.” (v 18)
Another passage dealing with our attitude toward money is found in Ecclesiastes 5:10
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”
Here, we learn that our love of money is misplaced because it will not bring satisfaction. We are not to depend on money or our assets to provide that which God supplies in our lives. The implication here is that looking for satisfaction in the wrong place, i.e., money, is empty and transitory. While the 1 Timothy passage deals with the root of evil, putting our hope in money, this passage answers the question of whether money can really bring us happiness.
God wants you to be rich.
Indeed, God does want us to prosper, first spiritually, then physically. In Matthew 6:31-346, Jesus instructs us to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness”, then the heavenly Father would provide for our physical needs. The point of the Matthew 6 passage is to have the proper attitude. The first priority should be our spiritual well being, which is being redeemed and staying in right standing with our Creator. Then, with our faith in God to provide for our needs, we perform our work in a way to honor God. If riches come into our lives, then we are in position to be be good stewards of those resources. For more information, see my article Idol of Prosperity.
Some who promote the idea that God wants us to be rich, list examples of rich men from the Bible as proof of their viewpoint. It is interesting that this same logic could be used to promote the idea that God wants us to be poor. There are examples of rich as well as poor godly men as I previously mentioned. However, the financial state of these Biblical figures is not given to be an example for us, rather it is their faith in God that is the object lesson.
If God wanted us to be rich, he could have easily given plain instructions for us to do so. Some say that he HAS given those instructions. I write about that in another article, More Money Myths from the Bible.
Conclusion
I have evaluated 4 money myths that are not taught in the Bible. They are: Jesus says to give away all our money; Being poor is more godly than being rich; Money is the root of all evil; and, God wants you to be rich.
We have learned that money can be a hindrance and a deception in our relationship with God. Therefore we must be careful about how we view money. Whether poor or rich, contentment is a key element in our godliness. We should fix our hope on God, not on the uncertainty of our wealth. We have also learned the importance of correctly reading the Scriptures, and then understanding them so they can be applied in our lives.
1 Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Bible https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/luke/18.htm 11/23/22
2 Philippians 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith
3 Ephesians 4:28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need.
4 1 Tim 6:9a For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.
5 1 Tim 6:17-19 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. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 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.
6 Mat 6:31-34 “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ 32 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”