I know I am walking on a thin line for writing even a title
like this. Before you condemn me please, give me the chance to explain what I mean
so that we can all come to an agreement. Please if you read this article make
your comment and let me know what you think. I know there are pastors here, and
they’d even scoff at the title but please here me out, as I make my analysis.
1 Timothy 6:10
King James Version (KJV)
10 For the love of
money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
When I was a small boy, pastors
were the humble and poor guys. The general notion is that they were not
supposed to be rich. Pastors lived by faith and sometimes when the money does
not come or the birds failed to bring them meat, they would do by force
fasting. I lived with a pastor who used to fast a lot. He quit his job and been
a young man his parents were ashamed of him. I remember how he used to eat gary
and ground nut for breakfast. Sometimes he went to his mother to collect food. He
was doing well before he accepted the call of God on his life, but now his life
became a sad one. He could never marry even though he was growing old. The last
time I heard about him, they said he tried to marry but perhaps because of
finances and his stubbornness not the work the relationship came to a halt.
Now men of God are so rich and are
having lands and driving big cars and some even have airplanes. Ghanaian
pastors don’t showcase their wealth like Nigerian pastors, nevertheless, we are
not fools; we know they are very rich.
Every young man these days want to
be pastor. If the average Ghanaian does not enter into politics or football,
his or her next option is to go to a seminary and become a pastor. These days’
seminaries are graduating young pastors like rain.
I say that we Christians claim we don’t
love money but we do. The truth is there but everybody is afraid to say it, and
I don’t think it is wrong to love money, provided you set limit to your moves. Before
you slaughter me for writing an article like this, please hold on and let me do
my analysis.
Please don’t forget that am not
saying that the scripture is wrong but our interpretation of it. The truth is
always before us, if you want to have money and be rich you need to be
passionate about it. I need to be passionate about money to be able to pay Ghc
1000 to believe God for breakthrough. And don’t forget that we give such
offerings in our time of need.
1 Timothy 6:10
King
James Version (KJV)
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows.
I believe this scripture is the reason for poverty in Christianity.
We’ve heard since we were
children, that if you love money you’d be evil and so we’ve all killed our
passion for money. I know in my life that what I don’t have passion or love for
I can never achieve. That is why I think there is something wrong with our
interpretation. If I listen to the rich and see their passion for money and I can
say confidently that they love it and pride themselves in it. When I read about
Solomon the richest man in the world in his days, he loved money; he decorated
everything he had with Gold.
I believe if am ever to make
money, unless I receive a million as gift, I have to love it if I am to have
the passion and focus to get it. We have to question the way we interpret it. Let’s
not close or minds, let’s think it over because the devil is using this
scripture against us. We don’t have to take this scripture at face level else
only a few people would be rich.
Let’s look at these translations
1 Timothy 6:10
The Voice (VOICE)
10 For
the love of money—and what it can buy—is the root of all sorts of evil.
Some already have wandered away from the true faith because they craved what it
had to offer; but when reaching for the prize, they found their hands
and hearts pierced with many sorrows.
If we would follow this scripture at face level, we don’t have to buy
anything with money.
1 Timothy 6:10
The Message (MSG)
9-10 But
if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time.
Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path,
some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly
ever after.
I like this translation, if we look for money a long with a particular
purpose, we are safe.
1 Timothy 6:10
J.B. Phillips New Testament
(PHILLIPS)
9-10 For
men who set their hearts on being wealthy expose themselves to temptation. They
fall into one of the world’s traps, and lay themselves open to all sorts of
silly and wicked desires, which are quite capable of utterly ruining and
destroying their souls. For loving money leads to all kinds of evil, and some
men in the struggle to be rich have lost their faith and caused themselves
untold agonies of mind.
I think this is the attitude of poverty and why only a few are rich. If
we don’t set our hearts to be wealthy, that is if we are not serious in making
money, then how can we be rich?
1 Timothy 6:10
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
10 The
love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that
they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.
This is my opinion how the general interpretation should be; we don’t have
to love money till the point of giving away our faith. We all love our
families, sometimes we can love them to the point where we deny God our love. We
should have passion for money, we should be able to sacrifice it on the alter
for the Lord like the way Abraham almost sacrificed his only son to God.
Am a human being and God gave me brains and my conclusion is that we
can have passion for money. If we take it this way, our pastors would not feel
shy when preaching about money as it is for some parents when they discus sex
with their kids.
Let’s not take the interpretation at face level; else it’d kill our
killer instincts for money.
This is my final points
We have not interpreted this
scripture well, because several translations contradict each other.
Wise people love money and it is
helping them.
If we lose the drive for money,
we can never fight and become the millionaires God wants us to be.
Love and drive for money is the
same thing and are necessary to push us to make money.
Whatever you dreams are, and no
matter how much you pray, if you don’t have money you will die with all your
big dreams.
We can have passion for money and
not give up our faith.
Let’s adopt the right attitude
towards money so that more Christians would be rich.
What are your views, kindly let me know. Thank you.
All translations were picked from
biblegateway.com
