“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Mark 10:25
Does this verse make you a little uncomfortable? It makes me squirm. You may be thinking “but I’m not rich. I don’t live in a mansion. I don’t fly around in private jets. I don’t have millions in the bank.” I get it. I don’t either. Think about this, though. You probably don’t know anyone who has ever starved to death because they couldn’t get food. You likely live in a home of some sort, even if it belongs to someone else. Your home probably doesn’t have a dirt floor or a cardboard roof. You probably slept in some kind of bed or on a sofa or mattress last night, not in the dirt or on a pile of old clothes. You’re reading this, so you are literate and probably have had access to some amount of education. You likely have drinkable water in sufficient supply. You have toilet facilities available, don’t you? You probably have the ability to bathe regularly. You likely own more than one set of clothing and have the ability to wash your clothes from time to time. Most likely, you own at least one pair of shoes, but probably have more than one pair. I could go on and on but you obviously get the point. If you have all of this, or even most of it, you are rich. Not just compared to most of the rest of the world but also compared to just about everyone throughout human history.
Despite this evidence, we don’t think of ourselves as wealthy because we have more or less the same lifestyle as our neighbors, family, and friends. All of us know someone who has much more than we do. We know people with more luxurious homes, cars, and clothes than we have. We hear about the luxury vacations others take. So, if most of us, perhaps all of us, are wealthy compared to people in Guatemala or Ethiopia or Uganda, does that mean it will be difficult for us to enter the kingdom of God? Honestly, I don’t know. Let’s look further at the scriptures about wealth and see what we learn.
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.
1 Timothy 6:17
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
Proverbs 11:4
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
Luke 1:53
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Mark 8:36
And, of course,
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Matthew 19:21
I’ve heard dozens of sermons from pastors of various denominations where I was assured that Jesus didn’t really mean that I need to sell everything I have to follow Him. I just need to make sure that my possessions don’t control me or I just need to make sure I give my full tithe, or I just need to make sure I don’t love money more than God, and so on and so forth. But is that true? I’ve recently begun to really question whether there’s a lot of confusion on this point.
Will I someday stand before God and be asked these questions:
“Victoria, I blessed you with a comfortable home, an abundance of food, and enough money to buy a houseful stuff. How much of that abundance did you share with the poor? Did you really need 34 pairs of shoes? I only gave you two feet. Could you have gotten by with fewer than six pair of jeans? Did you actually need to buy that blouse in two colors? How many Costa Rican children could you have sponsored with the money you spent at Starbucks for overpriced coffee?”
If He asks me these questions, how will I answer? I don’t think explaining to God that I bought most of my stuff from thrift stores or at a discount will seem like a good excuse. I suspect arguing that others lived more lavishly will fall flat. I understand that my salvation is through faith in Christ, His death and resurrection, not anything else. I understand that it is possible for a rich person to go to Heaven. Jesus didn’t say it was impossible, just very difficult. But, if God asks me about my stewardship over the money and other material things with which He has chosen to bless me, how will I justify my choices?
There’s a part of me that thinks about these things and is tempted to justify my lifestyle by citing how hard I worked to earn what I have. I did the “right” things. I worked hard. I diligently learned new skills. I often went to work early and stayed late. But did I really work harder than a farm laborer in Latin America who earns less than $2 per day? Who is responsible for my being able to get a job making a good salary? Did I earn my natural intelligence? Did I earn being born in a country that offers free public education to all children? Did I earn being born physically and mentally healthy? Did I earn having never suffered a life-altering illness or an accident that rendered me physically or mentally disabled? Did I earn having good eyesight and hearing? Did I earn having parents who taught me to work hard? Did I earn being born in a country with broad options for careers and an abundance of job opportunities? No. I didn’t earn any of that. It was all a gift from God.
On the same day I was born into all of this opportunity and blessing, there were children in other countries born into circumstances that were vastly different. There were children born to parents who would die before the child was five years old. There were children born in places where education is costly and limited. There were children born in places where the social structure doesn’t allow for social mobility of any kind so if they were born into poverty, that was their lot in life no matter how hard they worked. So, no, I didn’t really earn it after all – at least not on my own. I had a lot of help from the Lord. Will realizing all this change how I spend my money and how I share with others? I hope so. It wasn’t in my control so I have no reason to feel guilty for the choices God made on my behalf but I am responsible for how I have chosen to use what He has given me.
“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
Jesus told us how we should manage our relationship to our possessions. He warned that we can’t really hold on to the things of this world. The temptations of this world are big. We’re surrounded by advertising and a world that teaches us from birth that “more is better” and “happiness can be bought.” Even as I write this, I’m thinking how I’d like to have a new dress even though I have a closet stuffed with clothes. I can think of a dozen excuses to buy things I don’t need but would like to have – a new stove to replace the 30 year old one that came with the house, new patio furniture, new sheets for my bed, a fancier instant pot, perhaps even a full kitchen remodel. If I let myself, I can rationalize upgrading things that are completely functional because they are worn, “dated”, or there’s a better version available or because I’m just tired of the old one. But should I? Or should I focus on using what I have to honor the Lord, thus storing up eternal treasure?
If I’m honest, looking back on my life, I don’t think I’ve ever regretted anything thing I didn’t buy. I don’t even remember what those things were! And I cannot recall a single time that I regretted giving money or possessions to the church, a mission, or a person in need. I wonder, then, why my flesh is still so tempted by material things? They never truly satisfy but generosity always does.
Prayer: Lord, in the name of Jesus I ask You to please help me to view everything I gain in this world as Yours, not my own. Help me to be a better steward over whatever You provide. Let me use whatever I have to bless others and glorify You, rather than for my own fleeting pleasure. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.
a surrendered life 