O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...

It has now been shown that a synthesis of the historical, literary and theologicalanalyses all showed that Money can be presented as a rival god to the Christian. Anapplication for the modern day believer would be to heed Christ’s command and tostop prioritising the accumulation of wealth at the expense of Christ and HisKingdom. As Jesus in Matthew 6:19-34 does not give hands on practical advice onhow to do this, one could ask how one would know whether or not they areneglecting their allegiance to Jesus?Two points concluded from the literary analysis could answer this question. Firstly, ifone’s life is characterised by anxiety over items pertinent to human survival, thenone would know they are in a position of “little faith” and are essentially acting pagan.Secondly one can ask the question as to whether her or his life is characterised by aseeking of God’s Kingdom.The second aspect of money as a rival god is that God and money were presentedas two radically different gods. God was presented in the literary and theologicalanalyses as an all knowing benevolent Father who is keenly aware of the needs ofHis people. He was shown to have sovereign reign over all events and history.While not much of a description was given to money as a god, the differingconsequences of allegiance to God and money were noted, thus hinting towards thekind of master money makes: The worship of money results in accumulatingtransient treasures that will not last, as opposed to the eternal treasures stored inGod’s Kingdom.The worship of money would lead to a life that neglects the needs of others in need.It was noted in the literary examination of Matthew 6:22-23 that allegiance to Godcan be expressed through generosity. Thus worship of money is degenerate for thebelievers. The degenerate experience was seen in the metaphor of the bad eye,which shows that neglect of allegiance to God, in favour of worship of money,creates a stingy person.The worship of money was also shown to potentially create a person who isdeceived into thinking they are in fact good stewards with the wealth God has given93