Is Rich Christian an Oxymoron?

Newsweek magazine once ran a cover story on poverty in America. Their cover featured the face of a one-year-old girl named Faith who had been rescued from a flooded home in New Orleans.  And as Jonathan Alter wrote in his article “The Other America,” Faith, a child in poverty, was a stark reminder of the economic disparities in this country.  As we watched pictures of the poorest of the poor in New Orleans, Alter says those pictures represented a growing population in this country.  In a nation of nearly 300 million people, 37 million live below the poverty line. The average CEO in this country earns 185 times as much as the average worker in this country. Alter argues, as others have before him, that there are two Americas: the rich America and the poor America: 37 million people make up poor America; 263 million make up rich America. Many of us are part of rich America.

 Not only are there economic disparities within the United States, there is great disparity when the U.S. is compared to other nations.  Author Michael Schut reports that Americans comprise 5% of the world’s population, but we consume 30% of its resources. Alan Durning reports that American children under the age of 13 have more spending money than the 300 million poorest people in the world.  American children spend more money per year than the 300 million poorest people in the world.

 Around the globe, we Americans are the wealthiest people in the world.  And within our nation, many of us make up “rich America.”  When compared to citizens of other countries and to the poor here in America, many of us are indeed wealthy.  Only a few are part of “poor America.”  Comparatively, we are quite wealthy.

And this raises many faith questions: How do those of us who are wealthy by national and global standards follow Jesus?  Can we even claim to follow Jesus and still maintain our wealth?  Would we be better disciples if we sold what we had and gave it to the poor?  The reality is that we are “Christians,” but most of us are also “rich.”  Is “rich Christian” an oxymoron?

When it comes to gaining a Christian perspective on this reality of life, God’s Book carries both a dark side and a light side.  (Richard Foster uses this distinction in his book Money, Sex & Power).  God reveals warnings and dangers associated with wealth, possessions, and riches.  But he also reveals blessings and opportunities arising from wealth, possessions, and riches.  Any attempt to reconcile our Christian identity with our wealth, as middle to upper-class Americans, must take into account both the dark side of riches and the light side, as revealed by God.

Perhaps the best thing we can do is to simply listen closely to the words of God concerning the dark side of wealth:

19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal… 24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (TNIV Matt. 6:19-24)

 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. (TNIV Matt. 19:24)

 But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. (TNIV Luke 6:24)

  30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. (TNIV Luke 6:30)

15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (TNIV Luke 12:15)

 33 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. (TNIV Luke 12:33)

19 There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ (TNIV Luke 16:19-24)

 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 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. 10 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. (TNIV 1 Tim. 6:7-10)

 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (TNIV 1 Tim.6:17)

  1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the one who is poor, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (TNIV James 2:1-5)

  1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. (TNIV James 5:1-6)

 There is a dark side to the wealth that, by the world’s standards, most of us in America possess.

 It has the power to become the major competition to God in our life.  The bottom line is that people either serve God or they serve money.  Wealth supersedes all other things that might pull us from God.  Of all that might distract us from God, money is at the top of the list.  Because of this, it is hard, not impossible, but it is hard for wealthy people like us to truly live under God’s rule in God’s kingdom.  In the end, many of us who are wealthy place our trust in things that will not last, things that will ultimately rust or rot, or can be stolen.    

Not only can wealth impact us individually.  It can also impact the entire faith community.  Wealth can create division within the church and become the measure by which we judge each value.  Wealth has a very dark side to it.  And those of us in America who live at middle to upper class ranges must heed these warnings.

 Yet wealth has a light side, a positive side to it as well.  God and Jesus do not issue a blanket statement saying that all wealth is wrong and that all followers of God should get rid of all their wealth.  Scripture is filled with stories of wealthy people made wealthy by God and with stories of wealth put to godly uses.  Once again, perhaps the best thing we can do is to simply listen to God’s word about the light side of wealth:

 1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. (TNIV Gen. 13:1-2)

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. (TNIV Gen. 26:12-13)

 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. (TNIV Job. 1:1)

  12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. (TNIV Job 42:12)

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for-both wealth and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. (TNIV 1 Kings 3:10-13)

  14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. (TNIV Matt. 25:14-15)

6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.  8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”  10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, [a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. (TNIV Matt. 26:6-12)

 57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. (TNIV Matt. 27:57-60)

  1 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. (TNIV Lk. 8:1-3)

 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.     7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”  8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. (TNIV Lk. 19:1-8)

  36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. (TNIV Acts 4:36-37)

  1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. (TNIV Acts 10:1-2)

14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”  And she persuaded us. (TNIV Acts 16:14-15)

  11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (TNIV 2 Cor. 9:11)

 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (TNIV 1 Tim. 6:17-19)

 While money or wealth can be the source of much darkness, it can also be the source of much light. 

As God chooses from the many ways in which he will bless certain people, wealth is one of those ways.  Some riches are gifts from God that God provides so that the recipients might provide abundantly for others. 

Wealth can be used lavishly as an offering to God, as in the case of the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume. Others such the women mentioned in Luke and Joseph of Arimathea used their wealth to honor Jesus. 

  Scripture is filled with wealthy people of whom God approves.  There are many wealthy people in Scripture who were not asked to sell all they had. Rather their wealth became a means by which they served God.

What makes the difference?  How do we avoid the dark side and experience the light side?  Dallas Willard in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines suggests that the answer lies in distinguishing between possessing riches, using riches, and trusting in riches.

To possess riches is to have the right to say how they will or will not be used.  Possession is a neutral matter.  Possessing riches can be good or bad.  It is simply having the right to say how something will or will not be used.

To use riches is to cause them to be consumed or transferred to others in exchange for something we desire.  Where possession merely indicates having a right to say how something will be used, use indicates actually taking that possession and using it for something we desire.

 Finally, to trust in riches is to count on them to obtain or secure what we treasure.  It is the idea that riches will bring us happiness, well being, and security.

 In the Bible, the dark side of wealth largely has to do with the misuse of riches and trusting in riches.  The Bible does not condemn the possession of riches outright.  There is nothing necessarily wrong or right with the possession of wealth.  The problem is that those with wealth use what is in their possession for their own gain.  And the problem is that people, rich or poor, trust in riches-that is, they believe riches will buy happiness and well being.  This explains why it is not necessarily a good idea for those of us who are wealthy to sell every possession and give it all to the poor.  We could be penniless and still find ourselves trusting in riches-longing for what we gave away and believing that only when we become wealthy again will we be happy.

This distinction between possession, use, and trust also explains the light side of wealth in the Bible.  We are certainly not to trust in wealth, but God does give some people wealth.  And they in turn, use that wealth for God’s purposes.  Though wealthy, their identity and security are not wrapped up in their wealth.  They use what God has given them for God’s purposes.  Paul says that for those willing to trust in God, He will make them rich in every way. God will grant us the possession of wealth, so that we can be generous on every occasion, so that we can use that wealth to help others. 

But perhaps the most important lesson we must learn about this distinction between possession, use, and trust is that none of us actually possesses anything.  All wealth ultimately comes from God and belongs to God:

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (TNIV Ex. 19:5-6)

 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me. (TNIV Job 41:11)

 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; (TNIV Ps. 24:1)

 God is the only one who can truly possess anything.  We are merely stewards entrusted with the correct use of God’s possessions.  To place any trust in possessions would be ludicrous.  They are not ours.  They are God’s.  He merely loans them to us so that we might then manage them and use them for his plans.

But how do we move in that direction?  How do we, as wealthy people, avoid the dark side and embrace the light side?  How can we stop trusting in wealth, stop misusing wealth and, instead, trust only in God and use the wealth he’s given for his purposes?

In his book Money, Sex, and Power Richard Foster suggests that during the course of Christian history, there have been three vows that demonstrate how Christians have struggled to answer those questions. 

First, some have responded with a vow of poverty.  They have done what the rich man who came to Jesus did not do: they sold all they had and gave it to the poor.  They renounced all possessions.  That was their way of avoiding the dark side and embracing the light side.  And Jesus may ask some of us to do that same thing.  There may be some of us who need to renounce our possessions.  There may be a few called by God to sell all they have and give it to the poor.  But not all in Scripture were called to make that vow of poverty.  Many godly people in Scripture did not renounce all their possessions and give all they had to the poor.

Second, Foster says that some Christians have responded to these issues with a vow of industry.  Where the vow of poverty might be most closely associated with the monks, the vow of industry might be most closely associated with the Puritans.  Being industrious became highly valued by Christians.  A godly person was one who labored hard and reaped the fruit of his labor.  A strong work ethic was important in following God.  Unfortunately, this vow of industry ultimately equated to serving money because the more industrious and hard-working one became, the more wealth one earned, and the more wealth one wanted.

Foster suggests that Scripture points toward a third vow which Christians can and should take.  It is a vow that enables us to possess without misusing and mistrusting.  It ensures that God’s will is done with the goods over which he has made us stewards.  It avoids the problems of the vow of poverty and the vow of industry.  He calls it the vow of simplicity.  He lists eleven practical actions that we might be led to take with a vow of simplicity. 

 #1 – Cultivate a singleness of heart.  In the words of Jesus, seek first God’s kingdom.  Shun anything financial and any possession that distracts you from seeking God and His kingdom.

 #2 – Learn to enjoy things without owning them.  Sunsets, sunrises, public parks, beaches, majestic mountains, friendship, and a host of other things can be enjoyed without owning them.  The more joy we take in what God freely gives, the less we are tempted to seek joy in what we might use wealth to purchase.

#3 – Look with healthy skepticism on all buy-now, pay-later schemes.

#4 – Reject any purchase or possession that breeds the oppression of others.

#5 – Free yourself from covetousness.  Do not pant after others’ possessions.  Learn the secret of being content in whatever financial situation you find yourself.

#6 – Practice temperance in all things.  Refuse to indulge in extravagant luxuries solely for yourself.

#7 – Receive possessions gratefully.  When God blesses you with a gift from a friend or family member, take joy in it.  Do not feel guilty for relishing that blessing.

#8 – Hold all possessions lightly so that they might be released for God’s use at the proper time.  You never know when God may have need of our car, home, office equipment or other possessions.  The less tightly we cling to them, the more easily we can release them for God’s use.

#9 – Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.

#10 – Develop a habit of giving things away rather than selling them.  Instead of selling those old toys or that old car, give them away.

#11 – Give joyfully and generously on a regular basis to the church and to other godly causes.