You may have heard many preachers quote the story in Matthew 19:16-30 regarding the rich young ruler. In that story, the rich man asked Jesus what he was to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said to obey God and the man said that he does that. Jesus told him there was one thing he was not obedient in and that was to give away all that he had. Now add to that that the type of person that Jesus chose as the example of the condemned man in Luke 16:19-31 is a rich man, these are very thought provoking statements. Can you be rich and be a faithful Christian? How much can you possess? Can you have a TV when others live in poverty? Can you spend money on a vacation to Disney World when others can’t afford food? Can a charitable organization pay employees and if so how much? To be fair, if you are going to insist that to be a millionaire is immoral, then you must ask even more than the above questions. With all this in mind, how do we make sense of Jesus’ statements?

We must look at how God views wealth as a whole through the Bible. We have the above statements that seem to imply that in order to please God you must not have wealth at all. Yet because Isaac found favor with God, God made him very rich (Genesis 26:12-14). Also, Paul urges believers to work to assure that they have the means to provide for themselves (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Plus the man that buried Jesus was one of His disciples and yet was wealthy (Matthew 27:57-61). Somehow he managed to remain wealthy and pleasing to God. Paul implies that there is a way to be godly and wealthy at the same time when he says, “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity” (Philippians 4:12). Paul implies the same thing when he asked Timothy to teach the rich how to be godly in spite of their riches (1 Timothy 6:17-19). In fact in that passage, Paul says, “God…richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17). Based on these passages we can have some wealth and still please God. We can even enjoy material possessions and still please God. Then how do we reconcile these statements with the earlier statements?

There are other scriptures that seem to imply that wealth is a sin in and of itself (Proverbs 28:20; Luke 6:20-26; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; James 1:9-11). In fact so many have thought this way that the scriptures are often misquoted to say, “money is the root of all evil.” However, the complete statement is “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). It is not the possession of wealth that is the problem. The problem is our attitude towards it.

God gives us some principles regarding money in the Bible. First we are to give our tithe (Malachi 3:10-11). We are to attempt to be out of debt (Proverbs 6:4-5) and earn enough to meet our family’s needs (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). It is also important that we do not over work ourselves (Proverbs 23:4-5). There should be enough time for us to tend to all the responsibilities that God has given us: personal devotions, tend to our friends and family, maintain our home, serve the Church, serve the community, and rest. If after taken care of our family’s needs there is still more income, then we are to make sure that some of that goes towards charity (1 Timothy 6:18-19). There needs to be a recognition that God is the one who provides what we have and what we have we are not always guaranteed to keep (1 Timothy 6:17). God only guarantees that our needs will be taken care of (Philippians 4:19). With that in mind, we also should be content with our financial position (Philippians 4:11-13), which does not mean that we cannot work on improving it. As long as we are fulfilling these basic principles, then if God chooses to prosper us further, there is no sin in enjoying the prosperity of God. It only becomes sin when we pursue money or possessions in place of our above priorities. In fact, the passages I mentioned earlier that seem to imply that wealth is a sin actually, although they mention wealth, it is a wrong attitude towards it that is the problem. You’ll notice in these passages that it is wealth accompanied by a negative trait that makes a person sinful (Proverbs 28:20; Luke 6:20-26; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; James 1:9-11).

Remember the rich young ruler above? In light of the above passages, we know God doesn’t require everyone to give away all that they have, so why this man? Remember that Jesus did not only ask the man to give up his wealth, he asked him to give up his wealth so that he could follow Christ. Perhaps what is most insightful in this story is the man’s response. “[H]e went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property” (Matthew 19:22)”. This man was keeping his possessions in place of faith, which goes against the above principles. Having wealth was not his problem. The problem was that it became more important to him than following Christ. As to the statement “it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, 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” (Matthew 19:23-24). His disciples were concerned about this and asked, “who can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). Then Jesus made this statement. He said, “with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). In other words, with God involved the rich can be saved. Well everyone needs saved by God. None of us can save ourselves. A rich person can be saved. The problem is that wealth can be a hindrance to faith and spiritual maturity. As to why some are rich and others are not, just remember that God says “My ways [are] higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).