Episode Details

Think about Wealth Differently“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”Each of us only has a certain amount of time and energy to spend in life.Many people experience a moment of awakening when they realise that they have ended up spending it in something they don’t like very much, that isn’t too fulfilling, like a career that doesn’t pay that well or isn’t that enjoyable. And so they have a rethink and try to reorientate themselves.In the story of the rich man who came to him asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life, Jesus is recommending a similar type of rethinking.The test for this man is: Can you walk away?And we see of course that he can’t. He wants to inherit eternal life. Maybe he even wants to follow Jesus. But the alternative is too stark: My wealth or eternal life? I suppose it’s got to be my wealth.How did Jesus view wealth?This rich man who came to Jesus, what was he hoping for? Perhaps he was hoping that Jesus would hire him as his director of charitable operations and that he could put his financial expertise to good use in Jesus’ new ministry.Instead, Jesus tells him to do three things: sell all of his possessions, give to the poor, and then come and follow him – stripped of his wealth, his status, his identity, his place in the world.“It is hard for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God,” he tells his astonished disciples, “Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”Yes, he adds that all things are possible with God, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy…far from it. Some among them might be saved but, if they’re anything like this man, probably not many.Whatever Jesus thought about material wealth, it wasn’t that it’s a great thing that we should pursue more of.The Power of RichesThere was once a Stoic philosopher called Seneca who said of the rich people he knew, “These individuals have riches just as we say that we ‘have a fever’, when really the fever has us.”What he meant is that, when you look at rich people, they rarely seem happy. Their money has made them anxious that they will become poor again. Money has made them worry about their status in Rome. Money controls how they spend their time and the decisions they make. Money has attracted yes-men and fair-weather friends looking for a handout. Money has given them a taste for the high life so that nothing is good enough for them anymore.They have lost all perspective on what actually makes you happy and fulfilled in life.Jesus is trying to tell us something like this: You think that in riches you will find contentment, peace, security, and happiness, but actually you don’t realise that your wealth is enslaving you.That is the tragedy that we see in the case of the rich man who couldn’t leave his wealth behind.One early follower of Jesus put it like this:‘Such, O my soul, are the miseries that attend on riches. They are gained with toil and kept with fear. They are enjoyed with danger and lost with grief.’ – St AugustineOr, as one of the Biblical writers said:‘Whatever overcomes a person – to that he is enslaved.’ – 2 Peter 1:19Riches are, in fact, so powerful that Jesus went so far as to say that you cannot serve both God and mammon (meaning money).There is something about money that is powerful: getting it doesn’t just take up your time and your energy, but it takes over your heart. You begin to care only about maintaining your bank balance and increasing it wherever possible. This becomes your life’s work.Maybe you thought about attending to your soul once. Maybe you thought it might be nice to spend a bit more time in prayer and service to God. But you’ve left those thoughts far behind now. And trying to summon them again doesn’t do very much for you anymore.True RichesWhat is needed is some serious heart surgery. And there is only one prescription: get rid of it. This goes for everything, by the way, not just money: Whatever it is that is dominating your mind and your heart and leading you aw