Well, the love of money is the root of every kind of evil. So what kind of warning should be sounded to Christian entrepreneurs who have financially embarked on a venture to raise a lot of cash for a new business? It's a really good and sharp question from a listener named William.

"Hello Pastor John, 1 Timothy is really an exhortation against false teachers and the problems in that church because of them. Saying that, chapter 6 deals with such. I've always had a hard time fully understanding verse 9 about desiring to be rich. I am an entrepreneur and a business owner, and with my business I want to fund myself and my team in order to do missions together.

Therefore, I desire to raise a lot of money. Does this contradict the Bible? Is it in a context of greed or desiring money as ultimate? What does it mean to be rich, and to what level does this cover? Is there a godly way to pursue a lot of funding?" Let's start with the words of Jesus and then make our way to the text he referred to, especially 1 Timothy 6.

Jesus said in Matthew 6, 19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." And later, Jesus illustrated the dangers of this laying up treasures on earth by describing the fool whose business prospered, and he kept building bigger and bigger barns to accumulate more and more profits that he was earning.

And he said this, "Soul, you have ample goods." Way more than ample, in fact. "You have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry." That's Luke 12, 19. And God said, "Fool," well, you don't want to be called a fool by God. You can be called a fool by man, but you don't want to be called a fool by God.

God said, "Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you've prepared in all those barns, whose will they be?" Now, the problem here is not that this man's business prospered. It's almost inevitable that gifted, hardworking business people with integrity are going to run businesses that prosper.

They are. They're going to be successful, by and large. They're going to make a lot of money. That's not what Jesus condemned here, as though he would say, "You know, if you're good at what you do, you should stop doing it." That's not the way Jesus dealt with things.

The problem was the bigger and bigger barns. The problem was accumulation, accompanied by—and I say accompanied by, because it could be both cause or effect. The problem was accumulation accompanied by a sense of self-reliant, self-satisfied ease in this world, as though the next world, or the world in need over there in who knows what neighborhood, don't really matter to me.

Jesus correlates excessive accumulation with the place where your heart is resting, where your treasure is, there's your heart. Where your treasure is, there is your heart. So if it's not evil to be successful in business, and it is evil to accumulate and accumulate and accumulate because of your sense of needed security and your pride and your indifference to the world and your indifference to coming judgment, then the implication would be, "Well, something else should be done with the proceeds of all that God-given success." So let's turn to 1 Timothy 6 and see what he says.

This is 1 Timothy 6.6. "Godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into the world. We can take nothing out of the world. If we have food and clothing with these, we will be content. This is the kind of witness which may attract the world as unusual." So they say, as they do in 1 Peter 3.15, "What's the reason for the hope that is in you?" Because they can see that our hope is not based like theirs on getting richer and richer and richer.

That's why they ask, "What's the reason for the hope that is in you? You seem to be content with food and clothing, and you're somehow making yourselves a conduit of extraordinary generosity." This is the difference between true Christianity and the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel believes that the world will see the material prosperity of Christians and be motivated to embrace Christ.

Well, that's not the way it works. What they are motivated to do is embrace the money that the Christians have wanted to accumulate, and if Christ can be a good stock investment to get that, well, I'll use Christ for that to get what I really want. That's not saving faith.

If we have food and clothing with these, we will be content, because Christ has made an incredible future for us and provided all our soul needs. Now, that might cause the world to wake up and ask a reason for the hope that is in us, because it seems to them like we're not hoping in the same stuff they're hoping in, namely the accumulation of wealth.

Then the text continues, "But those who desire to be rich" Now, that is not necessarily the successful businessman. Let's make this distinction again. That's the man who sees his business prospering and falls for the temptation that he needs to continually increase his lifestyle with the symbols of wealth and power, and what he wears and what he lives in and what he drives and the vacations he takes.

They all have to look rich, rich, rich and opulent, otherwise people won't know how much money I'm really making and how successful I am. That's the falling into temptation and into a snare and into senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction for the love of money and all those symbols of wealth is the root of evil.

And I think that sentence, "The love of money is the root of all evil," should be translated that way rather than just by all kinds of evil, because the heart that loves money, needs money to be content, is not content in God. That is the kind of heart that produces all evil, period.

All evil comes from that kind of heart. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. So that's Paul's version of the warning about wealth-loving barn-building in Jesus' words. And then in verse 17, he gives an alternative vision for the successful Christian entrepreneur.

So listen up. This is the question that was really being asked. "As for the rich in the present age, charge them not to be haughty. Know yourself and your sin and your weaknesses and your dependence and your God and your Calvary, and know them so well that money can't make you proud," he continues, "nor set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches.

Know how fragile your body is, how fragile your mind is, Mr. Rich Man. Know how fragile the economy is. Know how fragile the culture is. Know how fragile the economic theories are. Know how fragile and temporary this whole world is, that you cannot be foolish as to bank on something so fragile as riches," he continues, "but set your hope on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

And that enjoyment is not only the simple delights of eating and drinking and reading and gardening, but even more, the delights in sharing those resources with others because it is more enjoyable to give than to receive." Jesus said that in Acts 20.35. And then he closes, "They are to do good, to be rich in good works." That's the alternative to bigger barns, rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus storing up treasure.

Remember, Jesus said, "Don't lay up treasures on earth. Lay up treasures in heaven." Well, here's Paul's interpretation of that. Thus, that is, in doing all those good works and making all that glorious entrepreneurial success a means of doing good in the world, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of life, which is life indeed.

So, William, it seems to me that the bottom line in answering your question is that we pursue a heart that is so satisfied in God and all that he is for us in Christ through the gospel that we are freed from the craving to accumulate and that we turn our great earnings, which are not evil, we turn our great earnings into doing good for others.

And I don't simply say giving away to others. I don't want to be simplistic here. I'm not saying if you're rich, give your money away. That's not wise, necessarily. Here's what I say. Because giving your money away may not be nearly as effective in doing good as by creating an industry that employs 10,000 people, which would be better?

To give 10,000 jobless people jobs or to give 10,000 people $100 each or whatever, $1,000 for that matter. Way better to get them working and you might have the way to do it. This is a profound and beautiful work of God in the heart of the diligent, creative, honest, humble, unashamed, Christ-exalting entrepreneur who has not deceived himself but truly longs to live for the glory of God and the good of others, especially the eternal good.

Yeah, that's very good. And may God bless every Christian business owner with wisdom as they steward God's money for its maximum benefit. Thank you, Pastor John. And thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast with John Piper. For more information, you can go to our online home at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn.

And there you can explore all of our 1,200 episodes, scan through a list of our most popular ones, read transcripts, even send us a question of your own. And, of course, to get new episodes delivered to you three times per week, you can subscribe to Ask Pastor John in your favorite podcast app.

Well, speaking of building institutions, God gives each of us a unique blend of skills and inclinations, certain instincts and mental capacities, emotional strengths and tastes, etc. So how do I know what role I'm supposed to play with my own set of gifts? It's a perennial question. Every generation of Christians face it, and it's the question on the table on Monday.

You won't want to miss this one. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Have a great weekend. We'll see you on Monday. . . .