Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols.
- John Calvin
Rich Your Ruler
For millennia Christians have wrestled with Christ’s teaching on worldly vs heavenly wisdom and wealth. From the Rich Man and Lazarus to the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus often warns that believers can’t live two divergent storylines. While the secular pursuit of riches is hardly surprising, one might hope better of the Christian community.
Sadly, toxic levels of Me-ism and worldliness with Churchianity are at all time highs. Given the duties and distractions of modern life, even among “believers” a shrinking percentage understand the Bible’s clear teachings on fundamental issues like faith and salvation, much less more subtle and controversial topics such as money and wealth.
Those seriously interested in considering life’s ultimate questions soon find faith is not only reasonable but indispensable, particularly when pondering, “what must I do to be saved.” Only twice in Scripture is the Ultimate Authority asked the ultimate question. The first is found in the account of the Good Samaritan. The second and perhaps more interesting passage is that of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. These, along with the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Sheep and Goats and Ten Virgins represent Christ’s most in-depth treaties on this subject of subjects. Strangely, in each case, the teachings of Jesus are substantially different than doctrines so often taught by modern Christianity.
One crucial yet constantly misunderstood passage is that of the Rich Young Ruler. Often these important verses are too quickly dismissed as simply an example of someone having made riches an idol. In truth, the substance and reality of this important exchange is not only between Jesus and a rich man but the entire world.
Before examining this amazing 2,000 year old interview a few salient points should be noted:
- Right Question: The rich man asked the ultimate question which all of us should be asking.
- Right Attitude: Unlike the first time this question was asked by a lawyer who was sent to test Jesus in the story of the Good Samaritan, the intent of the rich man was to understand the conditions Scripture places of salvation.
- Right Behavior: When Jesus answers his question by pin pointing certain commandments the rich man was able to truthfully say “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” (Note: Here Jesus, like Paul twice elsewhere, only lists the commandments dealing with others excluding those dealing with God alone. This is meant to reinforce the amazingly gracious revelation that God so identifies with the needy that whatever we do or fail to do to these we’ve done or failed to do to Him! Thus the way to keep the first greatest commandment is by observing the second.)
- Right Person: Upon the heals of the rich man’s statement of having kept the commandments we are told “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” Surely this not only validates the rich man’s report but is meant as a “flag on the field.” Either we are meant to believe Jesus loves selectively or that this encounter is being emphasizes as particularly important and that so far the rich man was batting a thousand!
The transcript is as follows:
- Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:17-27
Common misconceptions include the following:
1. Conversation Unimportant: This passage is simply one of hundreds in the New Testament dealing with this subject.
2. None Comprehensive Conclusion: Given the man had obviously made wealth an idol, Christ’s command to sell all he had was directed to him alone.
3. Unique Wealth: The riches possessed by this man made him far wealthier than most of us living in the modern world.
4. Possible Trumps Impossible: Jesus emphasized possible over impossible in regards to salvation.
While there are no doubt other areas of erroneous thinking, those listed above represent a few of the most pivotable for the following reasons:
1. Conversation Important: While Scripture is replete with indirect references to the qualifications for inheriting eternal life, this is one of only two times the Bible records Christ being asked point blank the most important of all questions.
2. Comprehensive Conclusion: While this conversation is between Jesus and an individual, the fact that it’s included even once, much less three times, in the gospels is extremely significant in light of John’s statement “There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.” Also, Christ’s comments regarding wealth were made to His disciples after the rich man had “went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Furthermore, Jesus repeats the same command, except for “follow me” which may have been an personal invitation to discipleship, to everyone in Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount: “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. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
3. Common Wealth: While this man was undoubtedly “wealthy” for that area in the 1st Century, in many ways his “great possessions” would pale by comparison to those of the average 21st Century citizen. As discussed in the Rich Man and Lazarus, the net effect of the blessings of technology equate to inheriting the answered of prayers of all past generations and then some. Even King Solomon, for all his unprecedented wealth, never dreamed of half that we routinely take for granted.
4. Impossible is Serious Terminology: While Scripture employs “poetic license” it does so infrequently when compared to the vast number of passages that “say what they mean and mean what they say.” Furthermore, Jesus seems to go out of His way to reinforce His message regarding wealth by repetition, reiterating His warning no less than five times. (1) Sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. (2) How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! (3) But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! (4) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (5) With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.
On the rare occasion this passage is still taught, most if not all the above considerations are misconstrued or underemphasized, if not altogether misinterpreted. This is particularly true of Christ’s use of the word “impossible.” While Jesus went out of His way to stress the difficulty, if not impossibility, of the rich entering the Kingdom of God we gloss over these verses in favor of the far more encouraging “with God all things are possible.” More often than not, any warning implicit in “impossible” is easily explained away by equating this as simply a reference to the necessity of Christ’s costly atonement. The Bible is crystal clear that without the Son of God’s incarnation and virgin birth, ministry and miracles, crucifixion and resurrection, ascension and intercession no man, woman or child would ever see heaven. Nevertheless, notice it’s not belief in Himself that Christ requires of the rich man, but rather that he sell what he has to benefit the poor, with whom Jesus so identifies.
Interpreting, much less implementing Jesus’ more challenging directives, particularly those on riches, requires careful thought and understanding by even prophetic Christians hoping to grow in radical discipleship. Many great Christian thinkers and leaders have weighed in on these topics through both their teachings and examples, including the Apostles and martyrs. More recent contributors include such notables as Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard, Hudson Taylor, Praying Hyde, George Muller, Charles Finney, Smith Wigglesworth, Evan Roberts, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Brother Yun, Jackie Pullenger, etc.
One example of challenging insight comes from Søren Kierkegaard a 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. Famous for his honest devotion, Kierkegaard explained our hesitancy to deal with such passages this way:
- “The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
- Christianity “is the deepest wound that can be dealt to a person designed to collide with everything on the most appalling scale.”
- “The will of Christ is this: an examination in which one cannot cheat.”
- “It is true that a mirror (the Bible) has the quality of enabling a person to see his image in it, but to do this he must stand still.”
- Less that 1/3 of the world claim to be Christians on a survey. This percentage is highly inflated when judged by orthodox doctrine much less adherence to Biblical lifestyles.
- Within the developed world, including all “Christian Nations” morality has literally been inverted in a single generation opening the door for previously unimaginable sins such as abortion to become not only the norm but an inalienable right.
Spread through trillion dollar marketing campaigns of temptation and deception, the original sin of entitlement and me-ism is all but ubiquitous. Adding to our dilemma is what appears to be growing levels of demonic resistance as the stage is set for the Book of Revelation’s judgments including an unprecedented “war in heaven” resulting in the rise of the Antichrist and mark of the Beast.
Even in the face of such immanent and imminent motivation, billions of believers are being lulled to sleep by worldly pursuits and pleasures. Surely just such a scenario partially explains Christ’s warning against the deceitfulness of wealth, both to the rich young ruler and to Laodicea in Revelation’s judgments of the church. Might this also go a long way in explaining that while modern Christianity enjoys some level of God’s presence and power, provision and protection that when it comes to such plaguing problems as unanswered prayer we seem to be off-line or have a spotty connection at best?
Tragically, the observation by Blaise Pascal, the esteemed 17th century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher appears all the more apropos in the 21st: “Jesus, seeing all His friends asleep and all His enemies awake…” a refrain more recently lamented in and excellent though troubling compilation entitled The Revival Hymn.
Surrounded with seven billion souls, each with hell to loose and heaven to gain, it’s hight time we commit to grow in righteousness, rousing ourselves from the slumber of double-mindedness and dualism as Scripture so emphatically implores:
- ”But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!” Romans 13:11-14 The Message
- ”You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” Ephesians 5:8-17 The Message
Inconvenient Truth
Taken as a whole, the above principals and passages, along with a preponderance of other less than desirable Scriptures regarding the tension if not opposition between the pursuit of Godliness vs. Wealth, present a strong case against the worldly wisdom of current models of pursing wealth. Some possible reasons for what appears to be such counter intuitive reasoning may include the following:
1. Lack of Diligence: The wealthy are less likely to daily and diligently press through the silence and distance of God, hour by hour seeking His presence and direction, provision and power. When when the door to life’s delights is open wide, few are spiritually sensitive enough to initiate much less persevere in the hard and necessary work of the Kingdom:
- “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 AMP
2. False Happiness: The poor are more likely to be impacted by the challenges of life than the rich who can avoid them by improved circumstance and postpone the inevitable through pleasant distraction. The former are all but forced to learn to find heavenly happiness in counting their trials as joy (i.e.. mechanism for refining faith) or fall away under the burdens of sorrow. The lot of the latter is so pleasing as to make such “hyper” spiritual thinking seem an unnecessarily strenuous exercise in religious futility.
- “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 MSG
3. Fading Comfort: Those largely content have enough satisfaction with life as to investing little or time or energy in the challenge of understanding its spiritual and thus eternal ramifications. Failure to pursue the equanimity intended and commanded by life’s Designer. Particularly on behalf of those in spiritual and/or physical need. Those in comfort, or even opulence, are far more likely to adopt a false but pleasant spiritual world view of “peace, peace where there is no peace.”
- “But woe to (alas for) you who are rich ([abounding in material resources), for you already are receiving your consolation (the solace and sense of strengthening and cheer that come from prosperity) and have taken and enjoyed your comfort in full [having nothing left to be awarded you]. Woe to (alas for) you who are full now (completely filled, luxuriously gorged and satiated), for you shall hunger and suffer want! Woe to (alas for) you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep and wail!” Luke 6:24-25 AMP
4. Two Masters: The poor are less likely to risk devaluing or forfeiting their labors on behalf of the Kingdom, which represent their sole investment. On the other hand, the wealthy feel less or no constraint to worry about such matters having “bet the spread.” These seem to be enjoying the best of both worlds. Over time the pull of gravity of such donors warps Christian doctrine to the point of having divided loyalty among two masters:
- “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” Matthew 6:19-24 MSG
5. Apathy: When life is very good, Scriptural warnings such as the Rich Man and Lazarus (the only conversation in the afterlife recorded in Scripture), Good Samaritan (Christ’s answer to the ultimate question what must I do to be saved), Sheep and Goats, Rich Young Ruler, Ten Virgins… much less the Bible’s continual reiteration that the Kingdom of God belongs to those willing to exchange their all for God’s, largely fall on happily deaf ears.
- “Haven’t you fantasized sheer nonsense? Aren’t your sermons tissues of lies, saying ‘God says’ when I’ve done nothing of the kind? Therefore—and this is the Message of God, the Master, remember—I’m dead set against prophets who substitute illusions for visions and use sermons to tell lies… The fact is that they’ve lied to my people. They’ve said, ‘No problem; everything’s just fine,’ when things are not at all fine. When people build a wall, they’re right behind them slapping on whitewash. Tell those who are slapping on the whitewash, ‘When a torrent of rain comes and the hailstones crash down and the hurricane sweeps in and the wall collapses, what’s the good of the whitewash that you slapped on so liberally, making it look so good?’” Ezekiel 13:7-12 MSG
6. Independence: Sin above, about and within conspire with phenomenal technological advances affording lifestyles where “every man’s a king” and thus little interested in the rigors of spiritual disciplines. Too few in such a privileged state care enough to diligently progress from sporadic prayer to pressing in, much less praying through to experiencing anything even remotely approaching the fullness of God’s presence and power. A relationship all but demanded by the specter of eternity. Neither does there seem much cause for the well off to strain over the study of Scripture, rightly interpreting it’s emphasis and judgments:
- “And then he prayed, “God, I’m asking for two things before I die; don’t refuse me—Banish lies from my lips and liars from my presence. Give me enough food to live on, neither too much nor too little. If I’m too full, I might get independent, saying, ‘God? Who needs him?’ If I’m poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:7-9 MSG
7. Insensitivity: Given “necessity is the mother of invention” the well-to-do feel little pressure to engage in the kind of spiritual practice necessary to grow in sensitivity to truth, not only for the purpose of reviving that which was lost but greater things yet unseen. Far from developing callused knees from desperate prayer or the shedding blood against sin, the wealthy spend their time in frivolous pursuits of a variety doubtful habits. Collectively, substantial time, energy and money are diverted from the Kingdom for the sake of seemingly innocuous hobbies and travel to more nefarious diversions and pleasure.
- “So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did.” 2 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG
8. Entitlement: While the average modern Christian does not feel rich, yet by comparison to nearly half the world’s current population not to mention previous generations, we are among among the top 1% of the 1%. Interestingly, this holds true for both blessing and temptations, as daily we enjoy the privilege and culpability of being the recipients of the answered prayers of all past generations. Ironically, such lavish gifts on God’s part have served to only dull our gratitude while sharpen our appetite. Our culture’s embrace of the original sin of entitlement is strong evidence that Satanic cunning has long since given way to wholesale demonic deception.
- “Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 MSG
9. Presumption: Clergy and laity, along with their worldly counterparts, habitually equate the praises of men with God's anointing, blessings as His approval, financial freedom as His favor.
- “Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment. So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.” 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 MSG
10. Partiality: Misunderstanding of foundational Kingdom principals but disregarding the interests of the those modern society considers “less than.”
- “My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted? Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—“Christian”—used in your baptisms?” James 2:1-7 MSG
11. Superiority: When it comes to the story we are all telling ourselves, wealth appears to equate with success. The temptation to imagine and behave as if temporal blessings belong to us, rather than are entrusted to be shared with needy neighbors, serves to bestow a sense of false privilege destined to “go up in smoke.”
- “You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change. You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire! If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.” Romans 2:3-11 MSG
12. Disassociation: From the Book of Acts and throughout the New Testament introduces a sense of community and Koinonia few appreciate. Rather than living as separate and autonomous entities and families, Christians are called to fully identify with others as did Christ. This extension of concern and action can be seen in a myriad of Scriptures, including those of this article. The following is an example of a directive the scope of which is easily lost on those unpracticed in hearing what the “Spirit is saying to the churches.”
- “Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.” Hebrews 13:1-3 MSG Note: In how many ways might authentically taking the misfortune of others personally radically change our lifestyles of ease?
13. AWOL: The wealthy appear to have the luxury of ignoring the eternal and earthly war raging across three heavens. Unlike their Philadelphian counterparts, modern day Laodiceans are in point of fact absent without leave. Churchianity as a whole lives large as civilians, rather than soldiers while partying hard as if on a cruise, rather than battleship.
- “A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain. Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself.” 2 Timothy 2:4-13 MSG
Conclusion: In light of the summary of the passages and principals listed above, a mere handful of Scriptures directly and indirectly addressing the place of worldly wisdom and wealth in the lives of would-be Christians, it may be argued that the the New Testament’s handing of riches is the equivalent of the Old Testament’s continual command that the Jews were not to intermarry with the Gentiles. And for much the same reason.
- “Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half the children couldn’t even speak the language of Judah; all they knew was the language of Ashdod or some other tongue. So I took those men to task, gave them a piece of my mind, even slapped some of them and jerked them by the hair. I made them swear to God: “Don’t marry your daughters to their sons; and don’t let their daughters marry your sons—and don’t you yourselves marry them! Didn’t Solomon the king of Israel sin because of women just like these? Even though there was no king quite like him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel, foreign women were his downfall. Do you call this obedience—engaging in this extensive evil, showing yourselves faithless to God by marrying foreign wives?” Nehemiah 13:24-27 MSG
- “What leads to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures. You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?” James 4:1-5 AMP
Close examination of the New Testament reveals a corresponding thread of reasoning regarding the pursuit of worldly gain:
- “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Matthew 8:19-20 NIV
- “When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived. A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect? Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now. Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.” Matthew 10:21-28 MSG
- “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” Luke 6:27-30 MSG
- “Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions. Then He told them a parable, saying, “There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive. And he began thinking to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place [large enough in which] to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things stored up, [enough] for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’ So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God.” Luke 12:15-21 AMP Note: This is not a parable but rather an actual account where no specific sin is charged against this man except that of an excellent retirement portfolio.
- “Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:22-34 NIV
- “One day at three o’clock in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way into the Temple for prayer meeting. At the same time there was a man crippled from birth being carried up. Every day he was set down at the Temple gate, the one named Beautiful, to beg from those going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, he asked for a handout. Peter, with John at his side, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Look here.” He looked up, expecting to get something from them. Peter said, “I don’t have a nickel to my name, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” He grabbed him by the right hand and pulled him up. In an instant his feet and ankles became firm. He jumped to his feet and walked.” Acts 3:1-8 MSG
- “…constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs..” 1 Timothy 6:5-10 NIV
- “Stay where you were when God called your name. Were you a slave? Slavery is no roadblock to obeying and believing. I don’t mean you’re stuck and can’t leave. If you have a chance at freedom, go ahead and take it. I’m simply trying to point out that under your new Master you’re going to experience a marvelous freedom you would never have dreamed of. On the other hand, if you were free when Christ called you, you’ll experience a delightful “enslavement to God” you would never have dreamed of. All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.” 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 MSG
- “Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.” James 1:9-11 NIV
- Wesley felt that the Christian should not merely tithe but give away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care of. He believed that with increasing income, what should rise is not the Christian’s standard of living but the standard of giving.
- John Wesley's teaching on money offered simple, practical guidelines for every believer. His first rule about money was Gain all you can. Despite its potential for misuse, money in itself is something good. There is no end to the good it can do: “In the hands of (God’s) children, it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked. It gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the place of a husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless. We may be a defense for the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ease to them that are in pain. It may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame: yea, a lifter up from the gates of death!” Wesley added that in gaining all they can, Christians must be careful not to damage their own souls, minds, or bodies, or the souls, minds or bodies of anyone else. He thus prohibited gaining money through industries that pollute the environment or endanger workers.
- Wesley’s second rule for the right use of money was Save all you can. He urged his hearers not to spend money merely to gratify the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eye, or the pride of life. He cried out against expensive food, fancy clothes, and elegant furniture: “Despise delicacy and variety and be content with what plain nature requires.” Wesley had two reasons for telling Christians to buy only necessities. The obvious one was so they would not waste money. The second was so they would not increase their desires. The old preacher wisely pointed out that when people spend money on things they do not really need, they begin to want more things they do not need. Instead of satisfying their desires, they only increase them.
- Wesley’s third rule was Give all you can. One’s giving should begin with the tithe. He told the one who does not tithe, “Thou dost undoubtedly set thy heart upon thy gold” and warned, “It will ‘eat thy flesh as fire!’” But one’s giving should not end at the tithe. All of the Christian’s money belongs to God, not just the first tenth. Believers must use 100 percent of their income as God directs.
- And how has God directed Christians to use their incomes? Wesley listed four scriptural principles: 1) Provide things needful for yourself and your family (I Tim. 5:8). The believer should make sure the family has “a sufficiency of plain, wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on” as well as a place to live and enough to live on if something were to happen to the breadwinner. 2) “Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content” (I Tim. 6:8) . “Whoever has sufficient food to eat, and raiment to put on, with a place to lay his head, and something over, is rich,” he said. 3) “Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17) and “Owe no man anything” (Rom. 13:8). Wesley said the next claim on a Christian’s money is the creditors’. He adds that those who are in business for themselves need to have adequate tools, stock, or capital for the carrying on of that business. 4) “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). After the Christian has provided for the family, the creditors, and the business, the next obligation is to use any money that is left to meet the needs of others.
- In giving these four biblical principles, Wesley recognized some situations were not clear-cut. He accordingly offered four questions to help his hearers decide how to spend money: 1) In spending this money, am I acting like I own it, or am I acting like the Lord’s trustee? 2) What Scripture requires me to spend this money this way? 3) Can I offer up this purchase as a sacrifice to the Lord? 4) Will God reward me for this expenditure at the resurrection of the just?
Wesley’s generosity seems almost negligent in light of today’s Christian stewardship programs. Yet isn’t it interesting that to find a Scripture on saving money for the future, such as investing in a retirement 401(k) plan, one need cite the Old Testament. The New Testament is without a single such verse!
This vastly different mindset from the commingling of the love of money (things) and God (as we imagine Him), a hallmark of modern Christianity, would go a long way to explaining many problematic Scriptures including the intricacies of Christ’s conversation with the Rich Young Ruler who appeared to batting a thousand until Jesus’ final fast ball. If what was being offered was some form of apostleship (i.e.. “follow Me”) it may be Christ the Suffering Servant is using the passage to highlight the incompatibility of inordinate worldly vs Kingdom wisdom and wealth. Might this be an attempt to direct those who would speak for God to escape the trap of manipulating Scripture for the purpose of financial gain? Sadly, this very scenario has all but crippled the fractured belief system of billions, introducing a variety of Christs and partial gospels. These in turn have twisted Churchianity’s doctrines every which way but loose, just as Peter warned millennia ago:
- “But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They’ll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They’ve put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can’t tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name. They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you.” 2 Peter 2:1-2 MSG
- “Their specialty is greed, and they’re experts at it. Dead souls! They’ve left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil. But Balaam was stopped in his wayward tracks: A dumb animal spoke in a human voice and prevented the prophet’s craziness. There’s nothing to these people—they’re dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they’re dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they’re addicted to corruption—and they are—they’re enslaved.” 2 Peter 2:14-19 MSG
- “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-31 NIV
- “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NIV
- “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.” Colossians 3:1-8 MSG
- “God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.” Romans 8:16-21 MSG
- “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV
Should all or even some of the financial considerations mentioned above prove accurate and true, for most of us enjoying and taking for granted the innumerable comforts of modern life, the come away might be rendered this way:
1. Good News: You can stop worrying about money problems! You’ve always had more than enough!
2. Bad News: You can start worrying about your problems with money! Up to now you’ve had far too much… ;0(
Such extremely challenging and spiritually transformational thinking is generally considered either dangerously delusional or too Divine. In any case, for those convinced that Scripture is authoritative and “God breathed” these passages should be duly noted. Not to be taken, nor entered into lightly, this would seem to be one of several crucial and mitigating factors for those desiring to respond to Scripture’s offer and command to “enter into God’s rest” both in time and eternity.
If we are wise, which often we are not, we'll accept Scripture's insight that the secret to human happiness is filling our empty souls, not by amassing worldly pleasures, but by cultivating the miraculous fruit of the Spirit, "Love, joy, peace..." Each infinitely and eternally priceless. All derivatives of the Bible's offer to be "filled with all the fullness of God."
Thus increasing in godliness, rather than wealth, should be our primary pursuit. Particularly since the New Testament repeatedly warns that these two goals are not only at odds with each other but diametrically opposed. A point made by a myriad of passages, including the Rich Man and Lazarus (the only conversation between humans in eternity recorded in the Bible) and Rich Young Ruler (one of only two times Jesus is asked directly how to get to Heaven).
As noted, Paul admonished his spiritual son Timothy, and by extension all Christians, to "Take with me your share of hardship [passing through the difficulties which you are called to endure], like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service gets entangled in the [ordinary business] affairs of civilian life; [he avoids them] so that he may please the one who enlisted him to serve."
Jesus comments directly on the controversy in no uncertain terms:
1. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]." Most have heard of this passage, but can't quote it correctly. Only a tiny fraction have taken even ten minutes wrestling with its implications.
A primary reason is our having been taught to substitute presumption for faith. After all, if we're going to assume salvation because of simple belief (demons also believe) or saying a special prayer (warned against by Jesus), why not go all the way?
Revealing a fuller meaning of Christ's message is as easy as plugging words into Jesus' equation. First, let's summarize all that mammon might mean into a more common and expansive word like wealth. Next, just do the algebra. There are two options:
- "...he will either hate wealth and love God, or he will be devoted to wealth and despise God."
Or the converse:
- "...he will either hate God and love wealth, or he will be devoted to God and despise wealth."
When it comes to these kind of problematic passages, of which Scripture is replete, we do well to measure our uneasiness against an eternity of far worse… or exceedingly better! Herein is the perfect example of the importance of the topic at hand as well as a clue as to why it should be repeatedly directly and indirectly emphasized. Five times in Christ’s conversation with the Rich Young Ruler, and a host of other verses scattered throughout the New Testament testify to the crucial nature of our financial attitudes and actions. So much so, the misunderstanding and inappropriate handling of worldly wisdom and wealth may rank among the top three concerns of Jesus and His apostles.
The very possibility of the above statement being true becomes doubly difficult in light of our comical (if it weren’t so true) adaption of the Golden Rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Hence the silence on this crucial topic, not to mention a myriad of other unpopular Scriptural “deal makers or breakers.” Even without negative influence from the influential, such reasoning is so troubling few are likely to “believe our report.” The question then is what should be done. Wisdom would seem to dictate that in such instances the following course of action be carefully considered:
Better to think than be entertained.
Better to reason than merely think.
Better to study than merely reason.
Better to confess than lie against the truth.
Better to try than merely confess.
Better to obey than merely try.
Better to pray than sing.
Better to press in than merely pray.
Better to pray through than merely press in.
Better one than none.
Better two than one.
Better three than two.
Better twelve than three.
Twelve was once enough.
Better add a few more zeros…
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