Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
“An obvious place to begin critical reflection on the materiality of our lives is with money. Money is a useful vehicle for the exchange of goods, a use that justifies market transactions. Money is, however, at the same time a powerful symbol (variously socially constructed) of influence, power, success, and virtue. It is to this latter function of money that material direction must attend, for in our society most of us are quite innocent about the spiritual propulsion of which money is capable.”
Walter Brueggemann in Materiality As Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World (Louisville: WJKP, 2020), 21.
The reason Jesus explicitly instructs disciples not to store up treasures on earth is not because He wants our money. He does not need it. He wants our hearts.
Money has “spiritual propulsion” power. When stored in heaven, money moves us toward God. When stored up on earth, money moves us away from God.
We must each ask ourselves real questions if we want to grasp the materiality of our Christian faith. What direction is money moving me? Then go deeper.
What does it look like to treat money as a useful vehicle? And, what message does my handling of money send to God (who sees everything)? To others?
This message will post whilst I am traveling on a long flight (14.5 hours) from Newark to Dubai. When I read the word “propulsion” I thought of the jet engine.
Imagine everyone reading this treating money as a “jet engine” to advance the things that God cares about. Ponder what you want that to look like in your life.