Wealth: God's Chief Competition

The rich young ruler replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Jesus looked into the young man's heart, loved him, and said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions. Give the money to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But the man went away sorrowful, for he was very wealthy. Jesus then commented, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:21-25, paraphrased)  

I suspect that most of us familiar with this story have felt that Jesus’ reply was a bit harsh and judgmental. But remember that the rich young ruler asked Jesus, “What do I lack to inherit eternal life?” There is a profound irony in his question; he was asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, revealing a transactional mindset focused on earning a wage through works rather than receiving a gift through a relationship with the Father. Jesus was sincerely answering his question after looking into his soul and apparently loving who he was. We must also remember that Jesus did not concern Himself with or handle money. The closest He ever came to dealing with money is when He sent Peter to retrieve their temple tax out of the mouth of a fish.

Before we consider the details of this teaching, it might be a bit sobering to establish exactly who is rich. To put things in proper perspective, the average American family's annual income is roughly six times that of the global average, and the United States ranks second worldwide in average wealth—trailing only Switzerland. In short, even the poorest American families are considered wealthy by the world’s standards. Believe it or not, we are all rich here in the United States, and Jesus’ revelation and warning most certainly apply to us all.

There is a bit of irony in the fact that the slogan, "In God We Trust," is imprinted on our currency, because in this world, money and God are in fierce competition for the human heart. That is why Jesus definitively taught in Matthew 6:24, “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.” He then went on to state plainly, “You cannot serve both God and money.” Wealth naturally fosters a false sense of self-sufficiency. It subtly shifts our heart's ultimate trust away from the Creator and onto earthly resources for both our security and solutions. The danger is so potent that even within Jesus's inner circle, the one man assigned to handle the common purse—Judas—was corrupted by it and routinely stole from the ministry.

To drive home just how true this competition is, consider the stark contrast in Scripture regarding testing God. While Jesus sharply rebuffed Satan in the wilderness by stating, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:7), God actually invites us to do exactly that when it comes to tithing. In Malachi 3:10, He implores believers to trust Him with their wealth, declaring: "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse... Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.'"

Tithing was then a requirement for the children of Israel. We are no longer bound by the Law; we are, in fact, as Paul explained, divorced from it. But in light of all that Jesus has done for us, shouldn’t tithing be our bare minimum show of love and gratitude toward God?

The challenge is that tithing mathematically defies worldly logic. When we cannot bring ourselves to surrender that portion—even though God explicitly promises to shower us with blessing—it sends a clear, self-incriminating, unfortunate message to our Creator: “I trust my money too much to trust You with it. Maybe someday I’ll feel differently, but not yet.” God is thereby sorrowfully reduced to the emergency backup system when all else fails, and money becomes the primary source of providence.

Jesus emphasizes that the love of money can harden our hearts in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. When they both die and the rich man is in Hades and Lazarus is in heaven, Father Abraham explains to the rich man, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony." (Luke 16:25) The rich man chose to walk past Lazarus, who was utterly destitute and sat begging at the gate to his home, feeling no sympathy for Lazarus’ plight. Every day, we too see people in desperate need and wrestle with the opportunity to exercise compassion and charity.

Returning to Jesus’ challenge to the rich young ruler, Jesus was in fact inviting the young man to a courageous new way of living—one free from the cares of this world—advancing the Kingdom of God. None of us can take any portion of our wealth out of this world. It all becomes someone else’s on the day we pass. Jesus stated in Luke 12:15, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."

The fact remains that wealth is not the corrupter, but rather the love of it. The Bible reveals how wealth can be used for good. Wealthy women supported Jesus' ministry, Nicodemus provided spices worth a staggering sum for Christ's burial, and Barnabas sold property to aid the church. Yet, Jesus also made a point to profoundly praise the poor widow who offered her last two copper coins into the treasury, observing that while others gave out of their abundance, she radically gave out of her poverty. The issue, then, is not the possession or lack of wealth, but its mastery over the heart. Ultimately, Jesus calls for a radical detachment, reminding us to hold all things with an open hand and serve God alone.

With tithing to God’s work as our minimum show of heartfelt love and gratitude toward Our Lord and Savior, we can also contribute separately to a faith-based local or worldwide disaster relief organization. Martha and I, along with many others, can attest to God's faithfulness when choosing to live with open hands. He instantly rewards our faith in His promises regarding charity. Greed inherently fosters some sense of subconscious guilt and shame, while helping others makes us feel good about ourselves and those whom we have helped.

Father, help us to loosen our grip on the resources of this world and grant us the courage to trust You completely. Teach us to live with open hands so that our giving may relieve the desperate and advance the Gospel, bringing all glory to Your name rather than our own. Amen.