Author : Keith Sharp
A local friend of mine sent me a book to read – Through the Eye of a Needle: The Doctrine of Nonaccumulation, by Roger Hertzler. I have now read and pondered the material, and this article is a review of it.
Hertzler’s position is
Jesus forbids His people to accumulate wealth on this earth, but rather commands them to distribute those possessions they do not currently need for the needs of others and for spreading the gospel (5).
He explains, “Specifically, He is forbidding us to accumulate it, to invest it, to store it up here on this earth” (18). Later, Hertzler adds, “The doctrine of nonaccumulation, therefore, means more than simply ‘don’t accumulate.’ It also means, according to Luke 12:33, that we are to practice lavish generosity” (22).
The two main passages the author claims are the pillars of his thesis are Matthew 6:19 and Luke 12:33 (27). He does make a commendable effort in his 99 page book to examine all New Testament passages that deal with wealth and to harmonize them with his position.
I will first examine the two primary passages Mr. Hertzler believes upholds his position and then examine others he discusses.
Matthew 6:19
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…”
Matthew 6:19 begins a section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:19-34) in which the Master contrasts serving God with serving wealth (verse 24). “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” “Mammon is a Syriac word, a name given to an idol worshipped as the god of riches…. It is not known that the Jews ever formally worshipped this idol, but they used the word to denote wealth” (Barnes.71). Christ here personifies wealth as a master. One cannot be a slave to two masters. Being a slave did not mean working forty hours a week for a company. It meant the slave was at the service of his master “24 – 7 – 365.” Some people work one full time job and one part time, and some even hold two full time jobs. But no one can be a slave to two masters. It is impossible to serve wealth as your master and to simultaneously serve God as Master.
Even Mr. Hertzler recognizes that the Lord did not forbid all accumulation of wealth. He comments, “In other words, sell and give those possession that are clearly of an investment nature (as opposed to a “tool”)” (24). The Master makes no such distinction in Matthew 6:19; Luke 12:33; or in any other passage. He simply commands, “Sell what you have and give alms” (Luke 12:33). Taken literally, that leaves out no possession, whether “tool” or “investment.” It includes one’s house or farm just as much as a savings account or investment in corporate stock.
Mr. Hertzler identifies himself as “conservative Anabaptist” (11). This religious classification includes but is not limited to conservative Mennonites and Amish. Frankly, Mr. Hertzler simply justifies the popular Anabaptist occupation of farming. Dedicated Anabaptists are models of frugal living and generosity. For this I commend them. But if we take the words of the Master literally, they should sell their farms and give the proceeds to the poor.
The friend who sent me this book is a morally pure, dedicated man. I have no doubt he is generous. But I’m confident his farm, dairy herd, house, and vehicles would approach $500,000 in monetary value. My total savings are less than $10,000, and I do not own any property, not even the apartment in which I live (cf. Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58). I rejoice in his prosperity and am content with my relative poverty (Philippians 4:10-14), but it strikes me as ironic that I would be accused of violating Matthew 6:19 and Luke 12:33, whereas my friend would be lauded.
In Matthew 6;19 the Lord employs a teaching method both He and His apostles often used, the denial of the lesser to emphasize the greater. Two examples of this figure of speech will suffice. In John 6:27 the Master commanded, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Is it wrong to work for a living? Hardly! (Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). But it is far more important to labor to receive the spiritual bread from Christ. The apostle Paul stated of Apollos and himself, “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Taken literally, Paul was denying that he and Apollos even existed. Were they literally nothing? No, in the immediate context he both calls them “ministers” and “God’s fellow workers” (verses 5 and 9). But, in comparison with the importance of God in building up the church, they were – and we are – nothing.
Notice, as Jesus lays “treasures on earth” side by side with “treasures in heaven,” He is employing this very figure.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20).
The Lord denies the lesser, laying up treasures on earth, to emphasize the greater, laying up treasures in heaven. It is not a sin to accumulate wealth. It is a sin to give earthly wealth greater emphasis than heavenly.
In verse twenty-one Jesus explains, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mr. Hertzler is correct when he comments, “The word Jesus uses that has been translated as treasure simply means “wealth.” The words lay up simply mean to ‘store up,’ or ‘to accumulate'” (15). but contextually the Master’s point is The treasure that we labor the hardest to store up is what we will love and trust.
Mr. Hertzler is also correct when he points out that Christ Jesus does not state that where we place our heart is where our treasure will be but that where our treasure is our heart will be. But remember, the Master is teaching the greater importance of laying up treasure in heaven compared to laying up treasure on earth. Again, that which we labor the most diligently to store up is what we will love and trust.
In verse thirty-three, the Lord states the primary point of this entire section of the Sermon on the Mount. “But see first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The “things” of which He speaks are simply the physical necessities of life (verses 25-32). But this establishes His point. Put the riches of heaven above the riches of the earth.
Jesus does not condemn accumulating material wealth. He condemns putting these things above heavenly blessings (Matthew 6:19-24) and anxiously worrying about the necessities of life rather than trusting God to provide (Matthew 6:25-34).
Luke 12:33
“Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.”
In Luke 12:22-34 the Lord teaches the same truths He taught in Matthew 6:19-34, but He reverses the order of the primary points. In verses 22-32 He forbids anxious worry. In verses 33-34 He uses the same figure of speech, denial of the lesser to emphasize the greater, to teach us to place heavenly riches above earthly.
Again, the Master makes no distinction between “those possessions that are clearly of an investment nature (as opposed to a “tool”).” If the passage is literal, Anabaptists should sell their farms and give the proceeds to the poor.
When the Lord prepared the twelve for their work under the Great Commission, He commanded, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it” (Luke 22:36). But in Luke 12:33, taken literally, He implicitly forbids the possession of money bags (a treasure). He does not contradict Himself. In Luke 12:33 He denies the lesser to emphasize the greater. His point is the same as Matthew six: Put the riches of heaven above the riches of the earth.
