A God-Honoring Lifestyle, Part 2
Editor’s note: This is the second in a six-part series of articles about maintaining a God-honoring lifestyle, excerpted from the book, Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.
Part 2: “If I Were a Rich Man” (But . . . you probably are!)
As was mentioned in Part 1 of this series, there's no room for making wealth a source of security, for lacking generosity or hospitality, or for an unwillingness to share. Still, Paul leaves a door open for Christians to be "rich in this present world"—but only if they carefully follow the accompanying guidelines related to their open-handed use of that wealth. The rich are not told they must take a vow of poverty. They are told essentially to take a vow of generosity. They are to be rich in good deeds, quick to share, and quick to part with their assets for Kingdom causes. In doing so, they will lay up treasures in heaven.
Who are these "rich," and how rich are they? Nearly everyone reading this article is rich, both by first-century standards and by global standards today. Statistically, if you have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment, and have a reasonably reliable means of transportation, you are among the top 15 percent of the world's wealthy. If you have any money saved, a hobby that requires some equipment or supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, two cars (in any condition), and live in your own home, you are in the top five percent of the world's wealthy.
A youth pastor told me, "You can't really talk to kids about giving, because they don't have any money." One look at their cars, clothes, video games, concerts, movies, fast food, visits to Starbucks, and so on clearly says otherwise. In fact, even without counting the possessions that Mom and Dad buy for them, the average Christian teenager in America has a few thousand dollars in disposable cash income—far more than most adults in the world. We must lay aside our illusions and realize that when Scripture speaks of the rich it is not talking about "them" but "us." Those we think of as rich today are really the megawealthy. But it is us, the rich, to whom Paul is speaking. The concession to rich Christians immediately follows a sobering warning of what awaits those who desire to get rich (1 Timothy 6:9-10). If we are rich (and we are), we aren't necessarily living in sin. But we are certainly under great temptation to sin. And most rich people succumb to that temptation.
We say, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be rich." God says, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction" (1 Timothy 6:9). We say, "There's nothing wrong with being eager to get rich." God says, "One eager to get rich will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 28:20). We say, "The rich have it made." Jesus says, "It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:23).
Jesus speaks of the "deceitfulness of wealth" (Mark 4:19). The psalmist warns, "Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them" (Psalm 62:10). The dangers of materialism are far-reaching. We should not think that we're immune to the value-changing nature of wealth: "To suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave the way the rich behave, is like saying we could drink all day and stay sober."
Although many will volunteer to bear them, riches do create burdens. Wealth is a relational barrier. It keeps us from having open relationships. The wealthy say, "I don't know if people like me for who I am or only because of my money." (Of course, there's a solution to this: Give the money away, and then you'll find out!)
Faith & Finance Perspective:
It’s easy to fall into the mindset that generosity is primarily the responsibility of those in higher echelons of wealth. But as we’ve read in the scriptural account of the widow’s mite, anyone, at any financial level in life, can be generous. The widow had far less to her name than any of us, yet she is praised by Jesus for her extreme generosity.
There is nothing inherently wrong with possessing wealth—but we can easily fall into spiritual peril if we set our hearts on gaining wealth as a means of contentment and security—for which God is to be our solitary source. Anything else lures us toward idolatry.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
—Mark 12:41-44