Fighting The Good Fight Of Faith

But thou O man of God, 

flee those things; and follow

after righteousness, godliness,

faith, love, patience, meekness. 

Fight the good fight of faith, 

lay hold on eternal life,

whereunto thou are also called,

and hast professed a good

profession before many witnesses.

1Timothy 6: 11-12

     The last blog I asked two questions about money, if it was wrong to pursue money and to have money, and many will say that it is not wrong. But is it? Not necessarily, for money is not wrong, money is not alive, has no power, cannot make a person do anything, money is inert. So, money in itself is not wrong, to have money is not wrong, to pursue money is not wrong. What may be wrong is to be pursuing money for the wrong reasons: i.e., to be wealthy, to have things, to show everyone how smart you are, to show everyone that you are special, very talented, and should have the respect due to your wealth and ability to accumulate wealth. Verse 10: "For money is the ROOT! (my emphasis) of all evil...." It isn't money that is the problem it is the ROOT! The word ROOT in the Greek in the natural means ROOT. Here the word ROOT is not being used in the natural, as in speaking about the base of a tree, the root from which is gets is water and life source, no, here it is being used metaphorically. In this metaphorical sense it means: cause, origin,or source. Sometimes this Greek word means "Bitterness" (Hebrews 12:15). Who or what is the ROOT? You! Me! We draw from money as the source, the cause, how we handle money even how we deal with others. Is money driving us towards God, or away from God? That question is at the heart of the matter. An example from my childhood: My family, dad, mom, my older sister, me, my younger brother, sister and another sister, seven in all lived in a home with three bedrooms, one for mom and dad, one for sisters, and one for brothers. No dining room other than that part of the kitchen where a table would fit, a living room, one bathroom, garage, (which we turned into another bedroom, bath, and laundry), all of lived there, slept together, and all were not harmed psychologically, (well, that might be debated: HA!), but it wasn't because we did not have a large house and each child had their own bedroom, a dining room (which is often rarely used), a two car garage full of play toys, and yet we have all done really well. Today, a person must have a large home, and each child must have their own bedroom, at least two bathroom, and each child must be able to decorate their rooms, and all this costs money making it necessary for both parents to work to pay for all this. BUT THEY LOOK SUCCESSFUL TO ANYONE FROM THE OUTSIDE! We still own that home, and it was home, not just a place to come, eat quickly and go to other events that makes a person feel good about themselves, (Which in most cases if done properly is not wrong to enjoy i.e., sports, dancing, etc.), sleep and rarely have time with mom and dad, (They are too busy making money to pay for all this), and this is where the ROOT of money has its evil, in the minds of those who want some sort of recognition of being successful. Why? Do you not know that all you accumulate will be used by others, and you will not take one thing to heaven. In fact, God will ask you a question about how you used your time and money. 

     Paul writes, that because of the ROOT of money some will be seduced, notice the word: SEDUCED! Seduced from the faith, yes, for with all this accumulated wealth, or seemingly wealth, for some is nothing more than the use, the overuse of credit cards making for more debt to be paid and the need for more money, all taking time and money from a better use: care for those in your congregation, for those in need, both in your home, Church, and in missions. We speak of Christianity as a thing to pursue but we do not live according to what we say. People in other countries have little, or nothing, sick, and a bad way, and yes we send missionaries, but we do little to aid those in need. In fact, often, just because we feel good about sending someone, a missionary, we feel as we have done something godly. We see pictures of dying and sick children, and we do nothing, but our homes are large, we have all the toys, things which will seduce us to not attend Church, at least regularly, and do nothing about those we see on TV that are in great need. But we are going to heaven! Oh! God will do what God, will do for He knows their plight, and God will do what God will do, therefore we excuse ourselves from doing. Paul writes that as Authentic Christians we are to flee such things and pursue, not money, but righteousness, that which is truly godly, to have patience, (actually the Greek word translated "patience" means to have endurance), and to pursue meekness (That means we do what we do not for our glory but for the glory of God). 

     Is all this easy? No! We must fight the GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. How is this done? We do not pursue riches, we do not allow ourselves to be a bad source that draws from the ROOT sustenance that is harmful to our faith, our witness. God has called you and has given to His children eternal life, therefore our lives must be a profession of the faith we say we have and this faith is expressed in how we handle money. We may, and many of us have not handled money as we should have, but we are alive and we can change to do right so that we have a good profession before many witnesses. Quit looking for blessing, be a blessing, you are already blessed, you have eternal life, and you cannot be taken out of the hand of God. What more do you want? Be a blessing and a good witness and when you stand before 

God to give an answer for your life you will hear: "Well done faithful and discreet slave."

I am a wonder unto many;

    but thou art my strong refuge.

Let my mouth be filled with thy

    praise and with  thy honour 

all the day.

                  Psalm 71: 7-8

Become a faithful and discreet slave

Richard L. Crumb