1 Timothy 6: The Rich Get the Same Charge Timothy Does

My view of 1 Timothy 6 is that Paul never tells the rich in it to stop being rich, and that he gives them orders the way he gave them to Timothy.

Where the money talk starts

The money talk starts with teachers, in verses 3 through 5, with a man who teaches something other than wholesome words, and the last thing said about him before Paul turns away from him is that he is "supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." Verse 6 then takes the word back: "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Money shows up in this chapter as a problem of motive in the people who lead, before it is ever a problem of the people who sit in the pews. Paul had already put "not greedy of filthy lucre" on the list for bishops and again on the list for deacons, which I went through in the post on the bishop's list. By chapter 6 Timothy has read it twice.

Then the two verses everyone knows.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(1 Timothy 6:9-10)

You've heard the correction about "the love of," so I'll leave it there. What I'd point at is the rest of verse 10. It says "some" coveted, not everyone who handles money. It names the damage as erring from the faith. And the last verb is reflexive: they "pierced themselves through." Nobody in the verse does it to them. Verse 9 has the same bent, because "will be rich" means wanting to be, and the thing it describes falling into is a snare of wants.

Timothy himself gets told to run in verse 11: "But thou, O man of God, flee these things." The one holding the letter is addressed by the same warning, and the "these things" just before it are the coveting and the snare. Paul doesn't write the passage as a speech aimed over Timothy's head at the wealthy. He puts Timothy inside it first.

Two charges, one phrase

Skip ahead to verse 13, where Paul says to Timothy, "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus." That is about as heavy as a sentence in this letter gets. Four verses later the word comes back, this time passed down the line:

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
(1 Timothy 6:17)

Between the two charges Paul stops giving orders and praises God for a stretch, verses 15 and 16: "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords." Then comes the charge to the rich, and right after high-mindedness the thing they are told not to do is trust "uncertain riches." I don't think the placement is an accident. Paul has just spent two verses on the King of kings, and his next sentence tells the wealthy what not to lean on.

Timothy was charged in verse 13, and now he is to charge a particular group, and the group is the wealthy members. They get the same verb. And the wording of what they are charged toward matches what Timothy was told in verse 12, "lay hold on eternal life," because verse 19 ends with the rich doing "that they may lay hold on eternal life." Same five words.

The overlap itself is plain on the page, and anyone with a pencil can check it in a minute. What it means is my reading. Paul tells a young man to fight the good fight and lay hold, then tells him to go to the people with money and set the same goal in front of them. Nothing in the chapter says the rich are on a lower road, or that their part is to pay for the people on the real one, which is the way I've heard the passage used when a ward budget is short.

Enjoy, and lay up for yourselves

The charge in verse 17 has an odd piece in the middle. God "giveth us richly all things to enjoy." I'd expect a warning chapter to skip that clause. It doesn't, and it sits right between the instruction not to trust riches and the instruction to do good.

Verse 18 asks for the doing: "That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate." In older English "communicate" means to share, and next to "distribute" that's the plain way to take it. Then verse 19:

Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
(1 Timothy 6:19)

"For themselves." Matthew 6 has the same shape, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal," followed by "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:20-21). In both places a person is told to store something up for himself, and Paul has just told these people to give it away to do it. The rich person in verse 19 is still building something for himself.

Verse 8 and verse 17 in the same chapter

This is the part I can't tidy. Verse 7 gives the reason for contentment, "we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out," and I notice that "certain" there is the word Paul turns around ten verses later in "uncertain riches." Verse 8 says "having food and raiment let us be therewith content." Verses 17 through 19 address people who have a good deal more than food and raiment and don't tell them to get down to it. No amount is given. Nobody is told to sell anything. The chapter asks the rich for a different trust, a different kind of work and a different place to put the store, and it leaves the size of the pile alone. A person could read verse 8 as the standard everyone is held to and verses 17 through 19 as a concession. I don't find that in the text. Verse 6 puts contentment on everyone, "godliness with contentment is great gain," and verse 17 says what contentment looks like when there's more in the house than food and raiment: not high-minded, not leaning on it, doing good. I can't draw a line from verse 8 to a number, and I don't think Paul tried.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 1 Timothy 6:10 say money is the root of all evil?

No, it says the love of money, and then it says some who coveted after it erred from the faith. The shortened version I hear most often turns a warning about wanting into a charge against the thing itself, and that changes who the verse is talking to. I don't read it as aimed at a person with a paycheck and a mortgage.

Is it wrong to be rich according to 1 Timothy 6?

Verse 9 warns people who will be rich, meaning those set on it. Verses 17 through 19 address "them that are rich in this world" and give them instructions, which they wouldn't need if being rich were the sin. The instructions are about pride, about what to trust and about doing good.

What is the good fight of faith in verse 12?

The chapter doesn't define it. The verse before gives the list Timothy is to follow after: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. That's the closest thing to a description on the page.

Who is the man of God in verse 11?

Timothy. Verse 20 addresses him by name, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust." The chapter doesn't say where he was serving, so I'll leave a location out.

What I'd like to hear

If you were the one handed verse 17 to deliver to the most comfortable family in your ward or branch, what would you say to them, and what would you leave out?

— D.