The deceitfulness of riches is a term Jesus coined while explaining the parable of the sower. He said, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22 KJV)
According to the Parable of the Sower, while the sower was scattering the seeds, some of the seeds fell among thorns. When the seed germinated and grew, the thorns also grew with it and choked it such that it became unfruitful (Mt 13:7 KJV). When Jesus was explaining the parable, He identified the thorns to be some factors that hinder a believer from bearing fruit. The factors are:
1. The cares of this world: Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19, Luke 8:14
2. The deceitfulness of riches: Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19
3. The lusts of other things: Mark 4:19
4. The pleasures of this life: Luke 8:14
The meaning of the deceitfulness of riches
The deceitfulness of riches refers to what people’s hearts are deceived to do in quest of riches and what their hearts are deceived to do after having got riches. Or. It is what people are deceived to do to become prosperous and what they are induced to do after having become rich.
In a world in which success is measured in money and other material things, Christians too are much as tempted as the unbelievers to love money and to employ dishonest strategies to become rich.
The deceitfulness of riches encompasses the pride, arrogance, extravagance, excess, etc. that characterize the lives of the rich or the lives of people when they become rich. It is written: 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 (1 Timothy 6:9). Being rich comes with its own temptation. Some of those who are rich are entangled in one sinful pleasure after another which leads them to destruction.
The deceitfulness of riches also encompasses the shady means people use to become rich such as corruption, prostitution, theft, bribery, murder, fraudulence, drug trafficking, sale of alcohol, human trafficking, etc. It is worth mentioning that many Christians who are seeking to become rich have lost their virtues and have resorted to stealing, cheating, deceiving others, etc. to make great gains.
Examples of the deceitfulness of riches
1. In Luke 12:13-21, while Jesus was teaching, a certain person in the multitude asked Him to speak to his brother so that he would give him his portion of their inheritance. This person and his brother were left with an inheritance but his brother, full of greed, wanted to cheat him and take everything for himself. This is a typical example of the deceitfulness of riches. The deceitfulness of riches has led people to cheat family members, friends, neighbors, etc. to amass a lot of wealth for themselves.
2. Judas Iscariot resorted to betraying Jesus to His enemies to make an amount of 30 silver pieces. Matthew 26:14-15
3. Zaccheus used dishonest means to make money. He confessed this himself when he said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Luke 19:8 NLT
4. Some Christians did not use shady means to become rich; however, the fact that they respect their job more than God makes them victims of the deceitfulness of riches. Some Christians, in pursuit of riches, have little or no time for God. They have no daily prayer; in fact, they barely pray; they hardly find time to read the Bible; they go to church once in a while; some professing Christians, though find it convenient to go to church, do not have any personal relationship with God; some professing Christians have lost their zeal and love for God to the extent that they see going to church as a waste of time.
The dangers of the deceitfulness of riches
The world loves and worships money. The deceitfulness of riches leaves a lot of evidence for us to see each day of our lives. The sale of hard drugs and alcohol, cheating, ritual murder, corruption, bribery, human trafficking, etc. are crimes that plague human society each day. Though mostly, unbelievers perpetrate these crimes, it is also true that many Christians are involved in a bid to become rich. Christians who are under the influence of the deceitfulness of riches are the same Christians who are victims of the love of money. The end of this category of Christians is already determined for it is written about them:
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 6:10).
If you are under the influence of the deceitfulness of riches, your life will never be straight because, since time immemorial, money has been used as bait to make some Christians stray from the path of righteousness to commit heinous crimes against others and they themselves perish in the end.
The deceitfulness of riches has always been a hindrance to bearing fruit – where bearing fruit refers to obedience to God’s word to do good deeds. Christians who are under the influence of the deceitfulness of riches, considering their evil deeds, have walked away from the word of God and consequently, have stopped bearing fruit such as honesty, fairness, contentment, truthfulness, generosity, etc.
How to overcome the deceitfulness of riches
It is not wrong for a Christian to become a millionaire, or billionaire, or trillionaire, etc. However, in a bid to become rich, do not love your career or job to the extent that you have no time for God nor have any inclination to pray daily and read the Bible.
It is not enough to use Sunday church services as the only means to relate to God. God wants Christians to know him personally and to relate to him each day. Your ambition of becoming rich should not come between you and God to either weaken or ruin your relationship with Him.
As a Christian, if you have the ambition to become a millionaire, billionaire, or whatever, you could achieve this ambition better with God. After all, since time immemorial, many of the richest people who ever walked the earth were men of God. E.g. Abraham, Isaac, Job, King Solomon, etc. Pray to God about your ambition and ask him for help in your business.
As a Christian, you have no justification whatsoever to use any of the dishonest means that the unbelievers use to make money. As we are walking and trusting God in every endeavor, we should rid ourselves of any dishonest strategy that people use in their career or business to make money; for with God being on our side, we shall certainly excel.