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The Love of Money: A Hallmark of Our Times

A composite of two images. Top: A heap of gold ingots and coins. Bottom: The barefoot legs of a homeless person lying on a concrete bench. Such disparity illustrates that the love of money is a hallmark of our times.
We’re living in a time of vast wealth inequality characterized by economic instability and the decline of democracy. The short-sighted love of money by the super wealthy has created numerous crisis points that could suddenly flare into disaster. What is our place as Christians in this situation? Top: Pexels. Bottom: Tomas Castelazo on Wikimedia Commons, (CC BY-SA 3.0).

In “The Love of Money Is a Root of All Kinds of Evil,” we saw what the Bible says and doesn’t say about the love of money. We also reviewed how the first-century saints avoided this root of evil by loving each other instead. Now, let’s look at the love of money as the hallmark of our times and the driving force of the world’s economy.

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The Love of Money Is a Root of All Kinds of Evil

A man sitting dressed in fine, seventeenth-century clothes sitting at a table covered with gold coins and moneybags. How is the love of money a root of all kinds of evil? The Miser by Hendrick Gerritsz Pot (circa 1580-1657).
Paul wrote, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and Jesus said, “You can’t serve both God and Mammon.” Yet, not only those in the world but even professing Christians live their lives in pursuit of wealth. Painting: The Miser by Hendrick Gerritsz Pot (circa 1580-1657). Public domain.

Most of us are familiar with the saying from the Bible, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10a). But I wonder if we’ve considered what those evils are and how we can avoid getting caught up in them. This seems particularly relevant right now as the rich get ever richer while raging inflation far outstrips wage increases, begins to eat into savings, and throws some people into debt just to pay bills. And, now we’re hearing that the economy may plunge into recession. Under such circumstances, the temptation to obsess on money can easily raise its head. What I want to do is help us keep our focus where it belongs by pointing out some of the ways in our society and our personal lives that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

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