Is it possible to be rich and righteous?
Hi, welcome to today's Little Lesson.
We're going to continue talking about money on this episode.
We know that the Bible warns that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.
So there is a great danger there with money, and wealth, and riches.
Most teachers and preachers who will mention the fact that the scripture warns against
that will quickly point out, and rightfully so, that it's not money itself that is the
root of all sorts of evil, but it is the love of money that is the root of all sorts of
evil.
Money is a horrible taskmaster, but it can be a great servant, right?
That's important to remember.
Jesus warned that you can't serve two masters.
You're going to love one, and hate the other, or vice-a-versa, right?
He specifically then tagged money, he said you can't serve God and money.
Money is a great competitor against God for people's hearts.
God wants us to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
God wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
When we love money more than we love God, or more than we love our neighbor as ourselves,
we got our love on the wrong thing.
Okay, now can it ... is it possible rather, to be righteous and to also at the same time
be rich?
Well yes, but with a little disclaimer, the person who is laying up treasures for himself,
as not rich towards God, as Jesus warned about in the parable of the rich fool, he's not
righteous.
If you're going to be righteous and rich, you have to be submitted to God, and if you
are submitted to God, then you're going to be using your money to do his will, and then
it can be a wonderful, wonderful blessing as I said, money can be a wonder servant,
it's a horrible taskmaster.
Oftentimes we find some folks who love to just focus on one or two verses of the Bible
and build their theology on those, for example, where Jesus said, "Whoa to you who are rich,
for you are receiving your comfort in full."
I think that's in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke chapter six.
If that verse was spoken in a vacuum, we might conclude that it's just evil to be rich, but
it wasn't spoken in a vacuum, it was spoken within the context of everything else that
Jesus said, and everything else that God said in the entirety of the Bible.
In fact, it might not hurt us just to read a little bit of the context of that statement
by Jesus, I happen to have it here real handy, Luke chapter six, and verse number 22, "But
whoa to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full."
Well, was Jesus condemning all wealthy people?
If he was, he was condemning a lot of biblical people, right?
Sure, and he was condemning some folks who were helping him in his own ministry, because
scripture makes it plain that Jesus was supported by the contributions of those who appreciated
his ministry.
Now let's keep reading, Luke 6:25, "Whoa to you who are well fed now, for you shall be
hungry."
So there's a condemnation of anyone who's not currently hungry, and they're well fed.
Well, whoa to a lot of us if there's no deeper meaning, or perspective that we ought to take
by looking at the entirety of scripture here.
Jesus went on to say, "Whoa to you who laugh now," yikes, "for you shall mourn and weep."
So he's condemning everyone who's not mourning and weeping right now.
Well obviously, you know, looking at that in the context of all of scripture these can't
be carte blanche condemnations of everybody who's smiling and laughing, and everybody
who's got a full belly, who just completed a meal, and then for that same reason, for
everyone who's rich.
He's talking about a specific instance, a specific time there, when there were his followers
who were being persecuted, and suffering because of it, and those who were not his followers
who were having a party at the expense of his followers.
Now, James similarly, who a lot of what he wrote in his epistle mirrors what you find
in the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps more than any other epistle, wrote something similar
he said in James five, verse number one, "Come now you rich, weep and howl for the miseries
which are coming upon you."
I always believe that the best commentary on what Jesus said in the gospels as recorded
by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is found in the epistles, right?
These guys were the closest ones to Jesus.
Was James across the board condemning anyone who had some degree of wealth or riches?
Well, he goes on, and you know, becomes more specific on who he's condemning in this fifth
chapter of James, "Your riches have rotted," so that means you've got more food than you
need, that could have been shared with the poor, but you didn't care about the poor,
your food, that you've got stored up has rotted, and it's not good for anybody now.
And your garments have become moth eaten, well that's right out of the Sermon on the
Mount where Jesus warned about laying up treasures on this earth where moths, and rust consume.
The moths that eat the garments of the wealthy, those are garments that the wealthy aren't
wearing.
In other words, it's an incrimination against the wealthy.
You've got more clothes than you need, you could be clothing the naked, but you just
have clothes stored up in your closet, and you never wear them, and the moths are benefiting,
but the poor are not benefiting from your wealth.
Then he goes on, "Your gold and your silver have rusted."
So you've got piles of stuff that's not being put to use, it's not being invested, it's
not being given to anybody to help the poor, or to give opportunities for people.
It just piling up.
Their rust will be a witness against you, and will consume your flesh like fire.
It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasures, so clearly this is a condemnation
of a certain group of wealthy people, not generous wealthy people like Job, who used
his wealth to take care of widows and orphans, and to employ people, and to put them to good
service and use in a functioning little economy, this is just wealthy greedy people piling
up their treasure on the earth, okay?
Well, this is a Little Lesson, and how does time fly?
So we're going to have to do part two in our next Little Lesson.
Thanks for joining me, hope to see you then.
God bless.