Jesus, the Defender of the Poor > 나눔과교제

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The love of money - and all the comfort, status, and stuff it can bring - thrives in our culture. It tricks us into believing that our value is equated with a healthy bank account with lots of zeros, or the job title on our office door. As well-known pastor John Piper writes, “The issue is not how much a person makes...  The evil is in being deceived into thinking a six-digit salary must be accompanied by a six-digit lifestyle.”

In the Gospel of Luke 16, the Pharisees loved money (v. 14). And while the first parable in Luke 16 may be difficult to interpret, it’s clear that the dishonest manager has been fired from his job because he wasted the rich man’s possessions. “Give an account of your management,” his boss demands in verse 2, signaling the accountability each of us will have before God for the stewardship of every earthly resource given to us - time, talents, money, energy, or education. Did we use them for our fame or selfish pleasure, or for God’s glory and His holy purposes? 

Jesus talked so often about money because it’s indisputable evidence of our heart’s allegiance. What we love, we buy. What we delight in, we spend on. And the Pharisees were like the rich man described at the end of the chapter 16. They lived in luxury and disregard for the poor, forgetting the essential nature of godly stewardship.  (For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21)

Godly stewardship answers two essential questions: Who owns my stuff? And how long will it last? A faithful steward understands that he does not own his things. God owns everything and He lends it graciously to His people. A faithful steward also understands the temporary nature of houses and cars, clothes and vacations. Every luxury has limited worth compared to the eternal riches Christ’s followers will inherit. To live in right relationship to God demands that we live in right relationship to money.