1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17 How to Be Rich: The Love of Money
Rich Person Problems
I wonder if you’ve ever heard the expression “rich person problems.”
A "rich person problem" is a self-deprecating way to talk about the kind of frustrations and inconveniences we often complain about that so many people in other, less developed parts of the world could only dream about.
For example, I can be very impatient when service at a restaurant is slow. We plan an evening out, and pick a restaurant to eat at, only to find out there is a 20 to 30 minute wait for a table. We could go look for a different restaurant, but we heard really good things about this one, and we’re here already, so we put our name on the list and then go to stand in the tiny little entryway with like a dozen other people. I could make conversation, but I really don’t want to, and neither does anyone else, so we all just kind of aimlessly read through the menu while we stare at the beeper thing silently willing it to go off and I count the number of empty tables and wonder what’s taking so long.
And, of course, 20 to 30 minutes usually becomes 40 or 50 and by the time we get to the table I already know what I want to order because I’ve read through the menu like 6 times but the server has 10 other tables they are responsible for and there is a routine they have to follow so first we have to put our drink orders in and then they have to ask about appetizers and another 10 minutes pass before we can order and then it takes 25 minutes for the food to arrive.
Meanwhile, I’m staring down every tray of food that comes out of the kitchen and I’m watching other people eat and I’m getting more and more impatient so that by the time my food comes I’m just too irritated to enjoy it and all I want to do is pay the bill and get out of there; but it still takes another eternity for the server to come back to the table.
All of that is a “rich person problem.” Every time I’ve ever grumbled about poor service at a restaurant where I get to sit down and select from a wide range of menu options and then they bring me that food in portions that are usually far greater than my daily requirement of calories—then I am complaining about an experience which the vast majority of the people in the world today simply cannot afford. Have you ever complained about a rich person problem?
I’ll give you some more examples. Every time we complain about poor cell phone coverage, slow internet speeds, or spotty wi-fi access—those are rich person problems. We are complaining about things that are only dreams in much of the world.
Or, again, if you’ve ever complained because your child’s teacher didn’t call you back in a prompt manner, you have a rich person problem. According to a report put out by the United Nations in 2024, it is estimated that there are about 251 million children, worldwide, aged 6 to 18, who do not get to go to school at all.
Every time we complain because we have a long wait in the security line at the airport or because our flight is delayed, that’s a rich person problem. I mean, think about it: we’re about to get in a jet and fly hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Imagine what a sheer impossibility that is for most of the people in our world.
Or, think about this one: if you’ve ever complained about the high cost of an ambulance ride, or an ER visit, or a diagnostic test like an x-Ray or an MRI—any one of which may have contributed to saving your life—that is most definitely a rich person problem. In many parts of the world access to even the most basic healthcare is extremely limited—like, walk for 5 hours to get to a clinic that is only available on certain days—and the more advanced medical techniques are totally out of reach for all but the most super elite.
Now, I say all of that to make this point: we are all much richer than we think. All of us, just by virtue of living in America, are much better off than the majority of the world’s citizens.
“Rich” is not often a category we apply to ourselves. There’s always somebody richer. A common statistic floating around on the internet says that about 85 billionaires control nearly half of the world’s wealth. That’s almost unfathomable. And I think it’s safe to say that none of us are among those 85. So there’s always somebody richer.
But, at the same time, we need to realize that we are all much richer than we think. For example, most of us work 5 days a week and we make enough to eat 7 days a week. Do you realize what a luxury that is? The five day work week is still unheard of for much of the developing world. If they can manage a six day work week they consider themselves fortunate and for many survival continues to be a day-to-day proposition. And yet, many of our families have one primary breadwinner who works five days a week and several people in our households are provided for 7 days a week without earning a paycheck at all. That makes us rich.
In fact, I went to an online income calculator and punched in $40,000 a year for a family of four. Here’s what came back. You probably can’t read all of that, but it says that a family of four making $40,000 a year after taxes would be in the top 20.7% of the world’s population and makes three times the global median income.
I share this all with you not to make you feel guilty, but hopefully to help you feel blessed. We have a lot of advantages that are not available to many other people alive in the world today. We should feel blessed, and we should feel grateful.
Be Rich
We’re starting a new series today that I am calling “How to Be Rich.” It’s a title that comes from a book of the same name by Andy Stanley, a preacher in Atlanta. This book, which came out about 10 years ago, is also going to be a primary source for me as I put these messages together. Our primary scripture for this series, which is going to cover 4 weeks, is 1 Timothy 6:17-19, which says this:
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
I like the series title, “How to be Rich”, because I think it is a clever play on words. You hear those words, and you think it might be a “get rich quick” kind of scheme. In fact, I typed those words into google looking for Andy’s website and 9 out of the first 10 hits I got were advice on how to make money fast. So you might think the point of this series is that we are going to give you Biblical secrets for gaining and sustaining wealth.
But it’s not “How to get rich.” It’s “How to be rich.” In other words, if you happen to be rich, or if you hope to be rich someday, or if you even think there’s a possibility you might be rich someday—we want you to be good at it. The point of this series is for us to think about how to handle our wealth well. Because, as Andy Stanley says, there are so many examples of rich people in America who are so bad at it.
So, notice what Paul is saying in this passage. He’s writing to his young friend Timothy, who is a pastor in a city called Ephesus. And he says to Timothy: “Timothy, as you pastor, as you teach the people under your care, you need to go to people who are rich in this present world and teach them how to be good at it.” Do you see that? It says: “Command those who are rich…” This is teaching for people who have money. Or, as I said, for people who hope to have money.
And the verses that surround it are all about how to handle money well. How to be good at being rich. How to use our money in a way that honors God. In the next 4 weeks, we are going to go through these verses to learn 4 ways to be good at being rich.
Root of All Evil
And we are going to start with this–here’s the big idea for today:
If we want to be good at being rich, we have to learn to love money less.
It’s almost counter-intuitive. We think that if we want to get rich, we really have to be driven by money. Make the bottom line the bottom line. Be all about the Benjamins.
But the Bible says if we happen to find ourselves with wealth, or we hope to have some wealth someday, if we’re going to be good at being rich, then we have to learn to love money less.
To see this, we need to back up a few verses in 1 Timothy 6 to verses 9 and 10:
9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
The main idea here, and the verse you’ve probably heard quoted many times before, is right in the middle. The first part of verse 10: “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” That’s what today’s sermon is about.
But before we get into it, I have to make two clarifications about this verse. I think it gets misquoted quite a bit. For one thing, this verse does not say: “Money is a root of all evil.” That is to say, it does not call money itself evil.
On its own, money is neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It’s a tool. An instrument. It can be used for great good—to buy food for a starving person. Or it can be used for great bad—to fund a terrorist attack. But money itself is not the problem. It is what we choose to do with it that is the problem. People are either moral or immoral, but things like money are morally neutral.
So understand, having money is not necessarily a bad thing. There is nothing inherently bad about being rich. This verse does not say that money is the problem. It’s the love of money that is problematic.
Or, again, this verse does not say: “Love of money is the root of all evil.” That’s how the Old King James Version translated it. But every modern translation uses “a” rather than “the”. In other words, “the love of money” is one way to stray into evil, but it’s not the only way. You may free yourself from the love of money, but that doesn’t mean you are completely without sin.
That being said, these verses still point to big danger area for our spiritual lives. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” As verse 9 says: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” Or, as the end of verse 10 says, the love of money has pierced many people with “many griefs.”
When we talk about how to be rich, then, we’re talking about navigating some dangerous waters. “Ruin and destruction” and “many griefs” sound like the kinds of things I want to avoid.
So, the big idea for today, again, is; If we want to be good at being rich, we have to learn to love money less. And since the passage says there are many griefs that spring from the love of money, let’s consider at least 6 of them.
An Unstable Place to Be
First: The love of money is a game of Jenga. The love of money is an empty hope. It is a spiritually unstable place to be.
In Matthew 19 Jesus makes this statement to His disciples right after the rich, young ruler walks away:
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
It’s hard for a rich man to get into heaven. The rich are at a spiritual disadvantage.
Now, this doesn’t mean that God has no love for the rich. That’s not the case at all. The problem is that the rich tend not to love God. That’s the danger of having a lot of money. We might be so in love with it, so trusting in it, that we’ll fail to trust in God. We might become so spiritually self-sufficient that we think we can buy our way out of every problem.
But, of course, our money means nothing when we die. That’s why I call the love of money a game of Jenga. Eventually, the blocks all come tumbling down. Let’s go back to our theme verse. 1 Timothy 6:17:
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God…
We’re supposed to put our hope in God. But too many rich people put their hope in their wealth. That’s why there are so many rich people who are bad at being rich.
Andy Stanley calls this the “migration of hope.” He says that as we begin to earn, as we begin to make money and establish our assets, our hope tends to migrate from hope in God to hope in stuff. And we tell ourselves, “If I can save enough money, if I can put enough away, if I can have a retirement plan…” And the problem, as the Apostle Paul says, is we are putting our hope in something that is uncertain.
But then, at the end, when we’re lying on our death beds, or we’re in that hospital room, or at the moment when the car veers out of control, then, suddenly, at the moment of our death, our hope is going to shift back to hope in God. So, if we’re going to hope in God at the end. Why not start hoping in Him now?
More to Worry About
A second grief that comes from the love of money: It gives us ulcers. The love of money brings unhappiness and anxiety. The love of money does not reduce your burdens, it increases them.
Let’s put 1 Timothy 6:17 up there again. This time, pay attention to that little phrase: “which is so uncertain.” Don’t put your hope in wealth, “which is so uncertain.”
Dr. Aaron Beck conducted a ten-year study of patients hospitalized with suicidal intentions. Then he published the results in The American Journal of Psychiatry as a list of 15 major risk factors contributing to a suicidal frame of mind. One of the 15 risk factors was “financial resources.” As in, the more financial resources, the greater the risk of suicidal ideation. (Randy Alcorn, Money, Possessions, and Eternity, p. 47-48)
You’d think it would be the other way around. You’d think that the more we have the fewer concerns that would plague us. But that’s not how it works.
Listen to these quotes from some of the wealthiest Americans of their time:
- John D. Rockefeller said “I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”
- W.H. Vanderbilt said: “The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.”
- John Jacob Astor said: “I am the most miserable man on earth.”
- And Andrew Carnegie said: “Millionaires seldom smile.” (Ibid, p. 47)
I know it’s hard to feel sorry for a bunch of rich guys, but when your love is for money you spend an awful lot of time stressing about it. How do you get more? When do you have enough? How can you be sure not to lose it? It’s enough to give you an ulcer.
Ecclesiastes 5:12 puts it like this:
The sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
That’s a wisdom saying. That means it is not a universally true statement. But it’s observable enough to be usually true. An increase in resources often results in an increase in worries.
Christian author Randy Alcorn writes:
The hopes of a person with primary investments in the stock market will rise and fall with the market. The one whose greatest riches are deposited in the bank will be destroyed when the banks fail, as will the farmer whose greatest asset is in crops when the crops fail or when the commodity markets fall. In contrast, the one whose hope is in God will be devastated only if God fails—and he never does. (p. 48)
Arrogance
Third grief: The love of money makes one cocky. The love of money can lead to pride and elitism. One of the perils of being rich is that we’ll start to think of ourselves as better than everybody else.
Back to verse 17:
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant…
Money, and the love of it, can make us arrogant. An illusion of superiority over others just because we have more resources than they do.
This is pretty much how wealth worked in the culture in which the Bible was written. It was a patronage culture. A view of wealth that revolved around the Latin word “Liberalitas”, which basically means giving to someone in the hopes that they would return the favor. In fact, that word was printed on a lot of the Roman coinage. “Liberalitas.” And whenever a new emperor was crowned, he’d print new coins with his face and that word on it, and then he’d go through the streets throwing coins to the people. And the idea was that he would give to them, and now they would owe him. It was a way of buying their favor.
And in a culture like that, then, the only people you would be generous to would be people who could in turn, do something good for you. Consequently, it was the people who had the most who would often receive the most. Because they were the ones who could return the favor. And you can see how that would make the rich cocky.
James 2 gives a pretty good idea of how this would work even within the church, where rich people were often given preferential treatment and often expected preferential treatment:
3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Jesus came to die for every person of every social and economic level. The Bible often highlights how Jesus came especially for the poor. And yet wealthy pride and elitism boosts our egos and makes us think we are somehow more worthy than others. Few things are more repugnant to God than the rich despising the poor. Yet our clubs and social circles, and sometimes even our churches, foster this very attitude. (Alcorn, p. 52)
Exploitation
This leads to grief number 4: The love of money hurts others. The love of money can lead to injustice and exploitation. Those with money often acquire it at the expense of those who have less.
Stay in the book of James, and jump ahead to chapter 5:
1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
How much of what we have, in our relative comfort, comes at the expense of those who have much less? Our name brand shoes assembled in a third world sweatshop. Our fresh lettuce picked by undocumented workers in California. Our unpleasant tasks done by workers who have no choice but to work for barely livable wages.
All Kinds of Evil
Or, number 5: The love of money is a gateway drug. That is, the love of money leads to all sorts of immoral activity.
Back to 1 Timothy 6:9-10:
9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Here we need to pay attention to phrases like “many foolish and harmful desires” and “all kinds of evil.” Chasing after money often leads to many other activities that lead to ruin and destruction. It’s not a surprise that a city like Las Vegas, which has made a god out of the Almighty Dollar, is also known for prostitution, strip clubs, alcohol, drugs and quicky divorces. A lifestyle built around wealth can often be hedonistic and sinful.
For years, studies have shown that “among both men and women the incidence of marital infidelity rises in conjunction with an increase in income.” Indeed, of men whose income isn’t far above minimum wage, 31 percent conduct adulterous affairs. But of those with triple that income the number committing adultery increases to 70 percent. (Quoted by Alcorn, p. 54)
Again, it’s not wealth that is the problem. But the sense of entitlement that often goes with it. Randy Alcorn writes:
Much can be determined about a nation’s ideals and future welfare by the character of its models. Who are the most admired people in America? Spiritual leaders, civil leaders, altruistic social reformers? Hardly.
The heroes and idols of America are actors and actresses, jet setters and yacht owners, entertainers and rock stars. With a glass of wine or a joint in one hand and somebody else’s mate in the other, they prance, jiggle, curse, and swindle their way into the heart of Americans. Our homage to such celebrities tells us as much about us—and our probable destiny—as it does them. (p. 54)
Loss of Focus
Then, the sixth and final grief I’ll mention that comes from the love of money, though certainly not the last of them: the love of money is a major distraction. The love of money leads to all kinds of evil because it pulls our focus away from why we’re really here.
Our chief purpose here on earth is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Our job is to carry out the ministry of the kingdom of God. To know Him and make Him known. To make much of our Lord and Savior.
But when our hearts are set on things below, when our concern is money and the stuff it can buy, then we become distracted from our calling.
Paul puts it like this, in 2 Timothy 2:4:
4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.
We need to keep our focus on the mission, we need to remember what is most important, we can’t let money or anything else pull us away from God.
Game Changing Declaration
So what’s the solution? If we want to be good at being rich, we have to learn to love money less. That’s the Big Idea. Our first instruction in learning how to be rich. If we want to be good at being rich, we need to love money less. And the best way to love money less is to love God more.
In his book, Andy Stanley gives a mantra, something we can repeat to ourselves again and again as we move through our day. I’m going to call it a game changing declaration, and it’s something I hope will resonate with us throughout this series. Here’s how it goes, drawn directly from 1 Timothy 6:17:
I will not place my hope in riches, but in God who richly provides.
I’m not a preacher who usually asks you to repeat after me, or to have a conversation with your neighbor. But today, I want to ask you to say this with me. As we think about how to be good at being rich, let’s remember to keep our hope in God. Say it with me:
I will not place my hope in riches, but in God who richly provides.
Good. Say it again:
I will not place my hope in riches, but in God who richly provides.
Andy Stanley says this one simple shift of our mindset holds the key to being good at being rich. Money has its side effects. The love of money leads to many piercing griefs. And the side effects that come with being rich are the very things that keep us from being good at it.
But if we can address the temptation to trust in riches and reinforce the idea of trusting in God instead, we can neutralize the side effects.
Say it one more time:
I will not place my hope in riches, but in God who richly provides.
I pray that is true for all of us.
