There are obvious advantages to gaining wealth. You get the cool car, the nice house, and of course, the knowledge that your healthy bank account means that you are shored up for the future. But wealth doesn’t come easy. It may mean sacrificing time with your wife and children or neglecting the needs of your church members. We should be careful not to let the desire for money lead us to be unfaithful in our homes or in our churches.

The American dream is life, liberty, and the pursuit of money. It must be, because that’s how society works. Money pays church expenses—salaries, rent or the mortgage, electricity bills for lighting, heating, or air conditioning, staff and public liability insurance, etc. Sadly, we need money to have a place to have a church service. Despite that being so, we should have a higher aspiration than making money. Let’s consider biblical principles on contentment and materialism for pastors.

The Bible on Materialism

A healthy income promises us a house, a good car, nice clothes, and societal status. It can give us what the world calls “success,” and yet true success is something the money-loving world sees as an enemy—“contentment.” They don’t want you to be content with your car, your house, your iPhone, your clothes, or even your looks. This is because discontentment is the lifeblood of advertising. They need your money—so they will rock your boat until you abandon it and get their product. And so we are barraged by advertising from every side telling us that we need more, bigger, and better. That’s the way the world works, and your contentment throws a wrench into their money-making machine.

David, as the King of Israel, knew material success, and yet he said, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Wanting is the thief of contentment.

Read More