Did Jesus Teach More on the subject of Money than any other ?

[A_Thinker]

Another ministerial statement I heard much less frequently ... was that Jesus spoke more on the topic of money ... than He did on any other subject. I don't believe that I ever truly believed that this statement was true, and a cursory study of scripture pretty much confirmed my skepticism.

But ... what say you ???

 

[Sabertooth]

No, He did not. He definitely addressed it, but it wasn't central.

 

[SkyWriting]

Another ministerial statement I heard much less frequently ... was that Jesus spoke more on the topic of money ... than He did on any other subject. I don't believe that I ever truly believed that this statement was true, and a cursory study of scripture pretty much confirmed my skepticism.But ... what say you ???

If you hold that Jesus wrote all of The Word, then yes.

Statistic: Jesus' Teachings on Money
Jesus talked much about money. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions. In the Gospels, an amazing one out of ten verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.

Statistic: Jesus' Teachings on Money

 

[Randy777]

Another ministerial statement I heard much less frequently ... was that Jesus spoke more on the topic of money ... than He did on any other subject. I don't believe that I ever truly believed that this statement was true, and a cursory study of scripture pretty much confirmed my skepticism.

But ... what say you ???

The word of God can produce salvation regardless of the motive because Jesus is the way to the Father and how the Father chose to forgive sin.
Phil 1:18
But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

 

[Ancient of Days]

Did Jesus Teach More on the subject of Money than any other ?

No. But when he did speak of money it wasn't about the physical article but about the attitude of the heart towards it.

 

[Halbhh]

He taught much about our relationship to materialism, because mammon is a powerful evil, and He is light that the darkness does not overcome.

But as I read the gospels, over and over, I see the main themes above all the rest are faith and love.

 

[RaymondG]

No. He said to give the money to ceasar and give to God what belong to God....when the religious asked Him to preach about money. We are to focus on the spirit and not how much money you have......not the material world or the flesh.

 

[com7fy8]

Well, we can start by looking at the Beatitudes. These have four things about how to be. The first Beatitude says,

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
. .For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Matthew 5:3)

This Beatitude says how we are blessed to be, in this first Beatitude. If we are "poor in spirit", ours "is" the kingdom of heaven. It does not say "will be", but "is". I personally understand that the kingdom of heaven involves how Heaven is, spiritually . . . therefore how God's love in us is, spiritually, since God's love is Heaven's love which we have by means of the Holy Spirit . . . Heaven's own Spirit . . . "in our hearts" (Romans 5:5). So, I would say it is good to know what "poor in spirit" means.

Now, "poor" can be taken to mean not having much money and other goods in this life; so ones might claim this scripture is about money . . . in the first thing Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, where He could have said anything at all, which He considers to be the most important to say.

So, I think this is a good one to understand and share about and make sure about if and how it is talking about money.

First, Jesus is talking about how to be > "in spirit". So, He is not talking about money, directly, since money is physical.

One source says "poor", in the Bible Greek language, has to do with a crouching beggar. I think of how a beggar can be pleased with and appreciative of whatever you are willing to give to the person. And I think of how Jesus says that having a desire in our heart can be the same as doing whatever our heart desires. So, being "poor" in our heart could mean being satisfied with whatever we have, and thankful to God.

But if we desire to be rich, this is being rich in our heart, even though we might have nothing or be in debt for more than what we possess. And Paul says ones who desire to be rich have much trouble > 1 Timothy 6:9. He doesn't say those who are rich, but those who desire it.

So, I can see why Jesus would not be concerned first about how much money we have, but how our heart is. And Hebrews 13:5 says, "be content with such things as you have". Again, here, we are told how God desires for us to "be". This is not how our acting is, or how much we have, but the fact of our character because of how the grace of God's love cures our nature.

And what we have can be a lot more things than just money; so I can see that the first Beatitude is not only about money.

 

[ViaCrucis]

The thing Jesus spoke about more than anything else was the kingdom of God. The reality of God's reign breaking into the world.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Jesus spoke more on the topic of money ... than He did on any other subject.

Well, it is possibly the subject that people ignore the most, practically never understand, and don't get saved because of it (love of money), no matter how long they go to church and whatever else they do.....

 

[DennisTate]

If you hold that Jesus wrote all of The Word, then yes.


Statistic: Jesus' Teachings on Money

Wow!!!!!!!

I didn't realize that until now!!!!!

 

[RaymondG]

Wow!!!!!!!

I didn't realize that until now!!!!!

What is it that you realize? That the opinion of man seem more valid if it is on a website as opposed to a forum? Or that since you have to pay to read the article, they should know about how money was discussed in the bible?

 

[he-man]

Another ministerial statement I heard much less frequently ... was that Jesus spoke more on the topic of money ... than He did on any other subject. I don't believe that I ever truly believed that this statement was true, and a cursory study of scripture pretty much confirmed my skepticism.

But ... what say you ???

no, he taught about the coming Kingdom of God as the main message and told his disciples to do the same

 

[DennisTate]

What is it that you realize? That the opinion of man seem more valid if it is on a website as opposed to a forum? Or that since you have to pay to read the article, they should know about how money was discussed in the bible?

Sixteen out of thirty eight.... is a pretty serious percentage......
and it fits with an idea that I shared on CF years ago......

North American churches should each have their own currency!

I am of the belief that each large church in North America should discuss the printing up of their own church currency unit such as has been done by a group of socially active citizens in Calgary, Canada with their CalgaryDollars.ca

Here is a good article on how important local currencies were during the Great Depression:

City in Austria Printed Local Currency

Worgl, like many other European towns and cities, was hit hard by the Great Depression. There was mass unemployment; four of the five local factories had closed, and the people were starving in the streets. Nobody had any money to buy anything. One of the features of an economic depression is that there is not enough money in circulation to ensure that people can meet their basic needs, and in the 1930s, the shortage of currency in many countries of the world became catastrophic.

The mayor of Worgl, together with local businessmen, decided to try to break this economic impasse by creating their own local currency. They printed and issued 60,000 Austrian shillings worth of local currency. These shillings could only be spent in Worgl, so they remained in the local community and were exchanged over and over again.

The positive impact was immediate and surprising to everyone. In only six weeks, unemployment disappeared, all the factories had reopened and everyone had food. For the inhabitants of Worgl, the economic depression was gone. This dramatic transformation became known as the “miracle of Worgl.” Surrounding towns, inspired by the success of Worgl, immediately started printing their own local currencies.

Sadly, the miracle did not last long. When the Austrian Central Bank heard about Worgl’s local currency, they initiated legal proceedings against the mayor and local businessmen. According to Austrian banking law, it was illegal for anyone except the Austrian Central Bank to issue money. The bank won the court case, and the mayor was ordered to shut down the local currency, which he did, under threat of imprisonment. The town then returned to the devastating economic depression of the 1930s, with all the human pain and suffering associated with this catastrophe. Factories closed, and once again, the people starved.

Alternative Currency in the U.S.

Irving Fisher, an American professor of economics at Yale University, visited Worgl before the local currency was suppressed and witnessed the ‘miracle’ firsthand. When he returned to the United States, Fisher spread the word by traveling and lecturing across the country, advocating the use of the Worgl ‘scrip’ everywhere. Inspired by his vision, hundreds of communities began issuing their own currency, and by 1934 there were over 1,000 local communities using ‘scrip’ throughout the U.S.

Every one of these communities experienced a tremendous rejuvenation of their local economies. They thrived while others suffered. Fisher then met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, proposing the implementation of government-sanctioned local ‘scrip’ in every community in America. When FDR consulted with his top financial advisors and bankers, however, he was advised to shut all the ‘scrip’ systems down, which he did. Instead, he borrowed large amounts of money from bankers, at interest, and used it to pay for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the other work-creation projects, which collectively came to be known as the ‘New Deal.’ So ended the last widespread use of a local currency within the U.S.

Surely everybody who reads this article would agree that we have many advantages over the people who lived in Worgl, Austria during the Great Depression?!

If they can do it....why can't we?

Here in Canada the only problem that we have to watch out for is that we must pay the same rate of taxation if we earn Calgary Dollars as if we had earned Canadian dollars....so we have to keep our level of bartering at the point where our tax bill doesn't get too high.....but if we volunteered our time and our church earned a local currency from another church....it could be amazing where this could lead!

 

[durangodawood]

....when he did speak of money it wasn't about the physical article but about the attitude of the heart towards it.

The actual metal coins?

Does somebody here actually think that and you need to correct them?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Ecclesiastes 10:19
"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things."

There are few human activities that don't involve money, even (gasp) in the church.