“Great eagerness in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, or honor, cannot exist without sin.” ~ Desiderius Erasmus

“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” ~ 1 Tim 6:6

There is probably no philosophy or religion on earth that doesn’t contain at least some warning about the dangers of wealth. Jesus’ teachings are no different. The Bible is replete with warnings about money and wealth. Not warnings about the use of money as a means of exchange – but always warnings about money’s effect on our hearts.

We’re going to be continuing our study in Luke this (chilly) Sunday, reading Luke 16:10-18, where Jesus will transition from using money as a parable to speaking about it literally. They will be some of His strongest words about wealth’s potential influence on us.

As you read the passage, what are the contrasts Jesus makes? What would you think is a “little thing” and what would be a “greater responsibility”? What do you think Jesus is trying to emphasize here? Why do you suppose he goes from using money as an illustration of something else to talking about actual money? V 14 may give you a hint.

In what ways can we end up serving money? How might money be able to serve God’s interests? Do you think Jesus’ warnings are limited to wealth? If not, what other things of this temporal world are capable of enslaving us?

V16-18 are difficult parts of this section – they feel like non—sequiturs, but they are in fact related to the topic as a whole. We’ll unpack and examine that on Sunday!

Hope you can join us!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.