Paul will begin today by talking about how Christian masters and servants are to relate to each other, then he will give a warning about loving money.
"All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered." (1 Timothy 6:1) As we've discussed before while studying Paul's writings, slavery was widespread in the Roman Empire, but it wasn't generally the type of slavery that we once had in the United States. A Roman who had slaves did not feel he "owned" them in the same way Americans felt they "owned" their slaves. A slave in the Roman Empire could use his free time by earning money for himself, by buying and maintaining his own property, by attending religious services, by enjoying recreation and short travels with his family, and et cetera. This is why so many slaves came to know Christ, because they had the freedom to listen to preachers like Paul and Timothy and to attend religious services at the churches that were beginning to pop up all over the Roman Empire.
But just because these men and women have been set free from the bondage of sin does not mean they can go home and treat their masters as if they have also been set free from the bondage of service. In some cases, the slaves have become Christians and the masters are still pagans, but the slaves should not behave in a superior manner to their masters because of this. That's not going to win their masters to Christ. In other cases, their masters have also become Christians, and the slaves mustn't take advantage of the fact that they are now the brothers or sisters in Christ of their masters. They can't ignore their duties or disobey instructions. "Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves. These are the things you are to teach and insist on." (1 Timothy 6:2) We can use Paul's advice in our work settings of today. If our boss is an unbeliever, we won't be good witnesses of Christ if we treat our boss as inferior to us. If our boss is a believer, praise the Lord! We are equals in Christ but not equal in rank in the workplace, so we still must show our boss the respect due to his or her position on the job.
The passage regarding masters and slaves concludes a long list of instructions for the church that we have been studying for the past several days, so Paul sums up this list by saying, "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing." (1 Timothy 6:3-4a) When we refuse to follow the words of the Lord and the teaching of the apostles, what is the reason for this? Pride, usually, which is the same as conceit. In addition to being a synonym for pride, looking up the word "conceit" in the thesaurus tells us it also means "arrogance, narcissism, self-importance, and vanity".
Those who refuse to accept godly instruction want to do their own thing, so instead of knowing and promoting the truth they follow their own agendas. "They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think godliness is a means to financial gain." (1 Timothy 6:4b-5)
Some people who want to argue against sound doctrine do it because they enjoy stirring up trouble. Others do it hoping to gain financially by it. We learned in some of Paul's other writings that there were those who were promoting themselves as "super apostles", who were trying to upstage the real apostles so they could gain a huge following for themselves and make a living by exploiting the generosity of those who did not realize they weren't preaching sound doctrine. Paul is going to speak against the love of money in a moment, but first he is going to remind us that being content is far more important than having wealth.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:6-7) The ability to enjoy and be happy with what we already have is a blessing. I can think of several acquaintances who are quite wealthy but who are not happy. They are obsessed with hanging on to the money they already have and with making more money to add to it. I don't think any amount of money would ever make them feel content or satisfied, plus they've allowed their obsession with money to make them suspicious that others are trying to cheat them somehow. Paul isn't saying it's wrong to be well-off, but he is saying it's wrong not to ever be satisfied with what we have. We came into the world with nothing, as he says, and anything that has been added to us is a gift. When we leave this world, we aren't going to be taking any of our money or any of our stuff with us, so why spend our days being dissatisfied about what we have or thinking about how to hold on to it? Wise money management is important, and it doesn't honor the Lord to be foolish with money, but our lives aren't to revolve around money. Our lives are to revolve around our relationship with the Lord.
"Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For 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." (1 Timothy 6:9-10) If money could satisfy the soul, why have so many wealthy celebrities become alcoholics and drug addicts? Why have so many famous musicians committed suicide or died of accidental overdoses? Why have so many enormously wealthy people been unable to keep marriages together? Why have so many people killed a spouse instead of dividing up the money in a divorce? Why have so many people broken ties with their family members over financial disputes? It's not that money itself is evil; it's that the love of money is evil. Placing more importance on money than on our relationship with the Lord and with others is a sin and it won't lead to anything good. It will instead pierce us with many griefs, as Paul warns.
Putting more value on money than on our relationship with the Lord or on our relationship with those around us is essentially making a god of money. When we do this, it's the same as if we are bowing down to an idol. This is why Paul says that eagerness for money has caused some to wander from the faith. They have allowed money to become the lord of their lives in place of the Lord. When we allow anything else or anyone else to take the Lord's place in our lives, we are headed for sorrow.
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