New Life Daily

In February 2003, an alternative rock band from California released the greatest album of a generation. The music: catchy. The lyrics: deep. The value to an angsty 3rd grader from Rockford, IL: priceless! The Beautiful Letdown album by Switchfoot would find nearly all of its 11 songs repeated on my first-generation iPod shuffle after I received one as a Christmas gift a few years later. To this day, I can still quote the entire album verbatim. (Confession time: I’m painfully below average at understanding song lyrics, so I can only quote what I think the song lyrics are.) In the past year, Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman announced that they would be re-releasing a 20th-anniversary edition of The Beautiful Letdown. This time the album would contain updated versions of their 2003 songs as well as covers of those songs by other prominent artists (including The Jonas Brothers, Jon Bellion, Owl City, and others). That entire album was released last month, and it’s been on repeat in our house ever since. 

One of my favorite songs on the album (both in 3rd grade and now) is called “Gone”. It describes the brevity of life, the irony of conspicuous consumption, and the meaninglessness of pursuing wealth. Amongst a series of punchy one-liners, Foreman embeds three biblical allusions that capture Jesus’ view of money: 
 
"Where’s your treasure? Where’s your hope? 
If you get the world and lose your soul?" 

As we dive deeper into God’s view of money throughout our NEW LIFE series, we must look further than 2 Corinthians 8-9. We must expand our scope to include not only a single letter from Paul, but also get glimpses of other major sections of the scriptures. What does Jesus say about money? What does the Old Testament say about money? How is money viewed by the early Church in the book of Acts? To that end, this week I’d like to examine what I believe to be Jesus’ overarching teaching about money. Let’s look at a section from his most famous block of teaching found in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount: 
 
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” --Jesus, Matthew 6:19-21 

Here we see a glimpse of one of the major emphases of Jesus teaching: renovation of the heart. 

Jesus’ mission was multifaceted, but it can be summarized in two phrases: to usher in a new kingdom where he is the king (Lord), and to seek and save the lost (Savior). Part of the new kingdom living that he envisioned was not just the right action but the right heart behind the action. As he saved people from the sin in their lives, he also upped the ante of expectation in his new kingdom. No longer would it be acceptable simply to follow the letter of the law (like the Pharisees), but, instead, following the spirit behind the instructions God gave his people to live would yield the kind of life that God designed.  
 
For example, in the new kingdom, it wasn’t enough to simply not commit adultery. Jesus tells the people that “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” regardless of whether or not he takes any physical action to physically commit adultery. Jesus instructs them that the heart behind the action is what needs to be fixed. Later, Jesus instructs this same crowd to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Again, we see an emphasis not only on outward actions but on the inward state of the heart.  

Still later in this same sermon, Jesus addresses the heart behind the money issue in a line later referred to as The Treasure Principle: 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

Jesus first instructs the crowds on an actionable item concerning how to handle money (“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”). You can’t take any of it with you. In the words of “Gone” by Switchfoot, “all the riches of the kings end up in wills.”  

Then Jesus goes straight for the heart. If you treasure money, your heart will be consumed by it. If you treasure the kingdom of heaven, your heart will be consumed by it. In case there is any question as to his meaning, he states it more plainly a few phrases later: “You cannot serve both God and money.” 

This all begs the question: where is your heart? No, really: where is your heart? Take a few minutes to really examine it. 

Let me make one of Jesus’ main points from his ministry crystal clear: you can be doing all of the right things and saying all the right things and still have a heart that is far from Jesus. You can be tossing a few bucks to a few nonprofits and still have a heart that is far from Jesus. You can be faithfully giving a percentage of your money and still have a heart that is far from Jesus. You can be tithing and still have a heart that is far from Jesus. You can give all you possess to the poor and still have a heart that is far from Jesus.  

Maybe a more pointed question could reveal the state of your heart: what treasure are you pursuing? 

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” --Jesus, Matthew 13:44 

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Jake Harp

Jake is a native of Illinois where he first learned about ministry by watching his dad work in the church. He has earned degrees from Missouri Southern State University and Lincoln Christian University. Prior to starting at Venture during the summer of 2022, he served as a Small Groups Minister in Southwestern Missouri. While in Missouri, he and his wife began growing their family and moved to Hamilton County with three kids and one on the way. Jake also has a love for ax throwing which caused him to open up his own mobile ax-throwing business.