A radio programme invited comments about the relationship between money and happiness. There was a variety of responses. Some people gave listeners a piece of their mind that they could ill afford to be without. Some who were fairly well off said that money did buy happiness because they would be happy if they had more. Some with very little also said they would be happy if they had more. Others said their experience was that having less money had not made them less happy.

Above a basic income to minimise worry about food and housing, a person’s happiness is not proportional to the amount of money they have. Other factors are more significant in measuring the nation’s happiness.

On the subject of money and happiness Paul writes to Timothy and steers our minds to think about contentment. When it comes to money, few are content with what they have even if it is a relatively large amount. Paul reminds us that all this life’s wealth is only temporary. ‘We brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out.’ ‘You can’t take it with you.’ ‘There are no pockets in a shroud.’

But the attitude towards money is also important within this temporary world. Paul tells us that ‘the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.’

Many of the economic, political and social evils are at least partially the result of someone’s pursuit of monetary gain. Money itself is neutral. It is our attitude to it that is key. If you have more than ‘enough’ it is very hard not to put your hope in wealth and possessions.

Paul gives six points to help us avoid the love of money:

‘Realize that one day riches will all be gone;
be content with what you have;
monitor what you are willing to do to get more money;
love people more than money;
love God’s work more than money;
freely share what you have with others.’

Several centuries before Paul and two and a half millennia before the recent radio programme, the prophet Amos also addressed the implications of a love of money, possessions and power:

‘Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!’

Amos’s message of woe is grounded in specific practical examples from all around. There are also contemporary examples of billionaires whose wealth and power increase while many go hungry or find their savings are no longer worth anything. As prophets do, Amos pulls no punches in describing very bluntly the result and implications of this attitude:

‘You will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.’

In other words: money, possessions and power do not bring happiness, there is more to life than the here and now. You can’t take it with you, and you may be required to go sooner than you think.

That’s a rather heavy message which people resist hearing, but God gets it through in Jesus by telling stories. The Parable of the Dishonest Steward is told to show that the Pharisees are really as ‘lost’ as the sinners Jesus was criticised for spending time with. Jesus’ soundbite at the end of his parable is typically telling and memorable:

‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.’

The story of the rich man and Lazarus counters any idea that riches are a sign of God’s blessing and reminds us to keep the eternal perspective when looking at attitudes in the here and now.

Is it worth checking that we are not loving money above others or above God? Do you think about it frequently? Do you stop serving others just to make more money? Do you find it hard to give money away?

To answer the radio question: money cannot buy happiness, or eternal life. The route to contentment is as Paul put it to Timothy:

‘Command [the rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves – so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.’