Stephen
Terry, Director
Mission
to the Powerful
Commentary
for the December 2, 2023, Sabbath School Lesson
Then
Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you; it is hard for someone who is
rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, 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."
When
the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can
be saved?"
Jesus
looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible." Matthew 19:23-26, NIV
Prosperity Theology evangelists
often become wealthy by preaching what the wealthy want to hear, that their wealth
is proof of God's blessing on their lives and that they, rather than the poor,
will be the ones inheriting the earth. This may be pleasing to their ears, but
it was never taught by Jesus. His overturning of the tables of the money
changers in the temple demonstrated what he thought of those who saw religion
as an avenue to wealth. While he never turned away the wealthy who would come
to him, he also never reinforced the idea that they were somehow more blessed
than others because of their wealth. When he sent his disciples throughout
Judea to preach the Kingdom of God, they bore no emblems of wealth or status as
evidence of their authority to speak for God.[i] They
had only the clothes on their backs and the sandals on their feet.
Despite that, some like to point
to examples of wealthy individuals in the Bible as justification for a single-minded
pursuit of riches. Job was a wealthy man, and even after his troubles, God
rewarded him with even more wealth. Does that prove that wealth is an
indication of God's approval of its pursuit? Those who think this overlook Job's
character. Job saw his wealth only as an opportunity to help others. Because of
this, God could trust him with the responsibility of wealth. Too many see
wealth only as a steppingstone for more riches and as an opportunity to
experience things in life that others will never know. For them, there will
never be enough. The homeless person who shares their only can of soup with
another is closer to the character of Christ. Thankful that they had enough to
share, they gave of all they had to bless someone who had less. The wealthy
leave their homes empty to travel the world, while many of the poor have no
home at all. But the world often judges others by their wealth. The homeless
man with the can of soup is of little worth because he made wrong choices about
his life. The wealthy man, jetting about the globe, is of great worth because
he made all the right choices. Nonetheless, God looks upon the heart, not the
wallet.
Some like to point to King
Solomon's wealth as evidence of God's blessing on his life. But it revealed his
true character and how far he wandered from a loving relationship with God and
humanity. He compromised his faith to build upon his political power, even
building pagan worship sites for his foreign wives.[ii] He
also greatly oppressed his own people for his building projects.[iii] Wealth
only increased his desire for power and control over others, and he corrupted
his walk and hardened his heart to maintain all he had. In the end, much of
what he managed to gather was taken from his son, Rehoboam, who had learned
only harshness and ill treatment of others from his father.
Another favorite biblical
passage for those who preach Prosperity Theology is Isaiah, Chapter 61,[iv]
especially the verse that promises "beauty for ashes." But much of that chapter
does not talk about the present. Apparently, Jesus realized this for he also
quoted from the same chapter as endorsement of his ministry. But he stopped with
the first part of verse 2. He knew that the vengeance Isaiah was talking about
was future, not present, for he had not come in judgment, but to save humanity.[v] This
indicates that the restorations promised in the rest of the chapter are after
the "day of vengeance" and therefore future as well. The intent of the chapter
is not to encourage us to get wealthy as proof of our relationship with God. It
is to encourage us to emulate the words of verses 1 and 2 that Jesus quoted. If
we are not good news to the poor, comfort to the brokenhearted, freedom for
those held captive, or light shining into the darkness of prisoners' lives, sharing
the favor God has shown us with them, we have no right to expect any of the
restorations promised later in the chapter, future or otherwise.
Yet another passage favored in
Prosperity Theology is found in John's Third Epistle. It is only quoted by those
teachers of prosperity as it appears in the King James Version as it better suits
their agenda. "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be
in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (3 John 2) They point to the word "prosper"
as an indication that God wants his people to be wealthy and we should claim
it. But other versions of the Bible make clearer the intent of the verse. For
instance, in the New International Version, it reads, "Dear friend, I pray that
you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul
is getting along well." The verse is about health and wellness, not about
wealth accumulation.
Wealth is more a stumbling block
for those who may wish to enter the Kingdom of God than an endorsement of their
suitability for that kingdom. Christ repeatedly drove home the point about the great
impediment that wealth could be to salvation. Our opening verse is only one
example. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is another. Sadly, many
preachers only see this parable as an endorsement of their view that people go
immediately to heaven or hell when they die. Their confirmation bias about the
state of the dead prevents them from seeing the point of the parable. The rich
man was condemned because he was unwilling to relieve suffering even at the
slightest inconvenience to himself. There will be many who will also suffer on
that day who accumulated vast hordes of wealth on a planet where people die of
hunger and exposure, living on the streets, despised and treated as though they
were invisible by those with the means to help. The wealthiest among us fear
walking those streets without armed escorts because they know what they are
doing is wrong and they fear being called to account for the injustice. While
their wealth cannot follow them into the grave, the injustices they perpetrated
in this life will. Then will be triggered the "day of vengeance" of Isaiah,
chapter 61, to be followed by the restoration promised for their many victims
whom they have likely never seen. Their armed guards and security systems keep
them from ever having to see the evil they have wrought by their greed.
The church is not innocent in
this, and by this, I mean that because they do not preach Prosperity Theology
does not mean they do not practice it. The vast streams of wealth that flow
into the denominations of this world, especially the largest denominations,
represent food, clothing, and shelter torn from the hands of those without.
Every opulent church or temple is built upon the bones of the poor. While I
cannot speak for non-Christian religions who also do this and what their
writings teach, I can say that Jesus never told us to build such edifices.
There is a valid argument to be
made that we should be meeting in one another's homes as the early church did.[vi]
This would accomplish two things. First it would eliminate the desire to build
multi-million-dollar temples that only demonstrate our wealth while also condemning
our characters for building temples to display that wealth instead of feeding,
clothing, and housing the needy. Second, if we were meeting in one another's
homes, we would be intimately aware of the needs of others, something we too
easily avoid when we only meet on neutral ground. This may be why no one was in
need in the early church, the need was obvious and was addressed.[vii]
There is a way for the wealthy
and powerful to find salvation, but it requires laying aside their power and
their wealth and not endlessly accumulating even more. Too many get the love
yourself part of Jesus' witness and not the love your neighbor part. Wealth is
not an end. It is only a tool. Just as a carpenter or a mechanic can have a
complete set of the latest tools, those tools are created for a purpose, and if
they are not used for that purpose, they are unprofitable to fix or create
anything. When a neighbor asks to borrow a tool, any desire to keep the tools
unblemished and in like-new condition should not hinder me from loaning to him whatever
he needs. Many of us understand this
principle. But for some reason, when it comes to wealth, we forget it. Jesus would
have us remember, "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.
You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)