Money by W. N. Glenn

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 11, 1883

Money.

By W. N. Glenn

THERE is not a word in the English language that will so readily attract the attention of mankind in general as the word money. There is nothing about which men are so sensitive as in regard to money. There is nothing for which they will risk so much, or undergo so much hardship and privation as for money. There is nothing in which mankind in general feel so self-confident and inherently wise as in the use of money; yet there is no one way in which so many mistakes are made. People will ask and take advice regarding almost every phase of life, and admit a lack of ability or a want of experience; but when it comes to the expenditure of money, they suddenly become infallible. This is the one point concerning which no second-hand opinion is wanted.

Money has more to do with the affairs of this life than any other element or commodity. It has more to do with the formation of human character than anything else in existence. The use of money is a good test of the moral constitution of any man or woman; hence it becomes a close test of one's relation to his Creator, and to his Saviour. I once knew a prominent church member—a class leader and Sunday-school superintendent—who, when taken to task about a questionable financial transaction, in which he had forfeited his public pledge to a municipality, coolly replied, "That's business." The inference was that the matter in question did not concern the church—it was purely a business affair. But it was a standing reproach to the church as long as he occupied a leading position in it.

The Scriptures tell us that "the love of money is the root of all evil." But the professed believer in the Scriptures is as intent upon getting money as though no such declaration had been made. The Saviour said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Yet, in the face of this startling assertion of him upon whom all chance for admittance to that kingdom depends, the candidates for that honor cease not to lust after riches—the "mammon of unrighteousness." Notwithstanding this plain warning of the Judge who shall pass upon our qualifications for citizenship in that kingdom, those who "seek to enter" manifest no fear whatever to take to themselves this dangerous obstacle. Why is it that there is no fear in striving for the very thing our Lord has so solemnly cautioned us against? Is it unbelief of his word, or is it a vain imagination that I will be an exception to the rule—if I had money I would do so much for the cause of the Lord.

What one does with a small amount of money is a fair indication of what he would do with a large amount. An increase of property does not change a man's heart, but it develops his real character. Whether he be selfish or self-sacrificing when poor, his propensity will probably increase if permitted to become rich. There is a deception in this connection which it would be well to beware of: Many flatter themselves that they would like to be rich so they could sacrifice for the cause of truth, when in reality the desire is to be able to give a noticeable amount without feeling it. There is very little ambition to give "two mites" and feel it. W. N. GLENN.