I got a question about my blog Imagine if You Won $200 Million that warrants its own post.

Question for you: how do you reconcile religious teachings about money with the possibility that money does not corrupt character? These biblical passages in particular don’t leave a lot of wiggle room:

Mark 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (wealth).

Great question, thanks for asking. First, what everyone believes on this topic will be different. This is because how we read any text will be slightly different depending on which words we focus on. What we need to do is listen to our hearts for what rings true. So, I am not intending to convince you that my interpretation is right or correct. I am just presenting an alternative way of seeing things.

My belief is that money is just energy and we put our beliefs (e.g. negative beliefs) on money. For example, we have all heard that “money is the root of all evil.” Yet, we know, the full saying is “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Even though we know that it is the love of money, many have lived their lives subconsciously believing that money is the root of all evil. How can money be the root of evil when it is a piece of paper? Does a piece of paper have so much power? The Constitution is powerful not due to the piece of paper it is written on, but because of the thoughts and ideals that our founding fathers created. Money becomes powerful and the root of all evil because of life experiences where we have seen how people have used money to hurt others. And it is from these life experiences that for our beliefs are formed that influence how we read spiritual writings, hear spiritual teachings and experience events in our life. We may think that if you have money, then you are greedy. Yet, we could have a different interpretation if we see how money has been used to create many things including our library system (a gift of Andrew Carnegie).

I see money as just a piece of paper that represents manifestation. If I put energy out in the world, I receive money back that I can use to save for retirement, make a mortgage payment or give it to charity. I also do not work just for money. I work for what I can give to the world (to help others and to give more peace, love and joy to the world). Thus, when I am working, I give and I also receive back. What I get is not just money but also what I give: peace, love and joy. My focus is not on money as much as it is on what I give. And, when money shows up in my life, I do not feel guilty due to having money, because I know money is just energy circulating around the world.

Now, let’s look at your two passages. Mark 10:25- It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

One way to look at it is if a person sees himself from the money he has (his richness), then it will be hard to receive God’s love in heaven. Yet, if a loving man is also rich, he can easily enter because he is coming to heaven from pure love not from the love of money. Look at how people describe themselves at a party. Is it usually from what we do (e.g., doctor, lawyer, financial planner, etc.) which signifies our status in the world we live in. How many people answer “Who are you?” by saying “I am loving, caring, considerate” instead? So, for me, a rich man is describing someone who defines himself based on his wealth. The line does not say a man with wealth has trouble entering the kingdom of God. It may seem like splitting hairs, yet would a parent love one child more or less if he has or does not have money?

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (wealth).”

I can look at it as if your focus is on wealth believing that it will make you happy then you will never be happy. Yet, if I focus on what I give (serving God) while working (giving love, help, joy, etc.), then when money comes it comes. However, money does not need to be my master just because I have it. As the saying goes, “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

I find it interesting that you said “don’t leave a lot of wiggle room”. This may signify a belief that a person can not be rich and spiritual at the same time. People have pointed to Mother Teresa and Gandhi as two examples of how this (poor and spirituality) work togethers. Yet, it took a lot of money to support Mother Teresa’s work and Gandhi’s movement. So, I see it as they (Mother Teresa and Gandhi) put love first and then money followed. They key is money does not make a person greedy, the person and their beleifs do.

Lasertroly, thanks for asking this question. If others are interested asking questions, please e-mail me or leave a comment.

To read more on these topics see:

What is money?

Also, Eric Butterworth, a minister, wrote the book, Spiritual Economics, which discusses this same topic.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 22nd, 2006 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Prosperity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.