A Biblical View of Wealth

The subject of wealth can be a confusing topic, especially in today’s church, where the topic is often taught. The confusion, however, is not new to this world. The Scriptures warn us about having misleading views of wealth; in fact, the Bible teaches extensively on this area. The book of Proverbs, for example, is full of biblical insight on the topic of wealth, yet we are still confused.

Confusion regarding wealth leads to long-term consequences: the cost of an incorrect view of wealth impacts many generations to come. Ideas have consequences, and the subject of wealth has many material consequences. It not only affects our attitudes about work and leisure, but also affects what we eat, drive, give, live in, and so forth. The following material will look into general positions of wealth held by many Christians today with a biblical critique and common consequences of each position, followed by a biblical view of wealth. Hopefully, it will eliminate any misunderstandings on this subject and give us a better understanding of a biblical approach to wealth.

The Scriptures clearly warn us about having a romantic view of poverty, yet that is how many of today's Christians view wealth. Most of these Christians will not claim to have an idealistic outlook of wealth, yet their fruits show it.

The basic tenet of this view is that money is immoral. Although adherents of this view rarely admit such a statement, the outcome of their principles demonstrates it to be true. Since having absolutely no resources becomes practically impossible, the idea is that we should have as little money as necessary. The basic thinking is that wealth corrupts man. The more wealth a person amasses, the more corrupted he will become; the less wealth someone attains, the less corrupted he will become.

The Word of God, however, clearly shows that this position is not biblical. The Bible teaches us that riches are neither moral nor immoral, but are, in fact, amoral. In other words, wealth, in and of itself, is not the problem. What man does with his possessions becomes the issue. The words of Agor, the son of Jakeh makes this point clearer:

This passage points out that wealth or the lack of wealth is not moral or immoral. Prosperity and poverty both come with temptations. Riches can lead to arrogance, to the point of denying the Lord, while poverty can tempt man to steal, leading man to profane the name of God.

Nevertheless, a person will use his possessions according to his character. Proverbs 10:16 states: "The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin." The wickedness or righteousness of wealth is not in possessions or lack thereof, but in a person's use of those possessions. Just as food in and of itself is not wrong, the misuse of food (as in gluttony) can be sinful.

A great biblical example is Job, a man who was "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). Job was rich because the Lord blessed the work of his hands and increased his possessions (Job 1:10). The Lord, however, took all his wealth away, yet Job continued to fear God (Job 1:22; 42:7). Later in Job's life, the Lord blessed him even more than in the beginning by doubling his material possessions (Job 42:12). The point of this example is that the ownership of wealth does not make a person moral or immoral; it is a person's view and use of wealth that makes him moral or immoral.

Unfortunately, this position leads to unpleasant consequences, just as any other unbiblical idea. In general, people who hold to such a view of wealth are pietistic; in other words, they view worldly things as evil, therefore, retreating from the world and eventually becoming the servants of society (Pr. 22:7). The Lord, however, bought us with a price and called us to be Christ's servants, not man's slaves (1 Cor. 7:23). The wicked use God's resources for their evil purposes, instead of God's people using His property for godly ventures. Nevertheless, the Lord is faithful to His promises and will store-up the wealth of the wicked for a more righteous generation (Pr. 13:22). Either we will be obedient or disobedient with God's resources. The pietistic position leads to disobedience.

Here we have a position that focuses on the exact opposite aspects of wealth. Just as some people romanticize poverty, other people romanticize riches. The Scriptures warn us about the dangers of both positions.

Prosperity seekers usually understand that there is nothing immoral about money. In fact, they see that the Scriptures clearly show that God wants to bless His people, including in that blessing are material goods. The concept is that we should go after wealth because we are seeking the blessings of God. What is wrong with seeking the blessings of God? If God said that wealth is good and that we should enjoy it, then we should strive to get all that we can! The more wealth we have, the more God has blessed us; the less wealth, the less God has blessed us. Therefore, if God has blessed us materially, it must mean that we are pleasing to Him or obedient to His Word. Although there is a lot of truth to this position, there are also some dangerous errors.

Unfortunately, prosperity seekers have a tendency to have the wrong goal or focus about wealth. The focal point easily becomes the blessing and not the means to the blessing, which is to try to please the Lord. This focus often leads to many other sins.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of blessings, money, worrying about material necessities, and so on. As He concluded His teaching on worrying, He stated, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Mat. 6:33). Jesus clearly pointed out that the focus should not be God's material blessings (or the outcome), but God's kingdom (or the means to the outcome).

The end result of a proper focus will be the natural consequence of being obedient to God's law. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 states:

And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.

The Lord simply stated that if we earnestly obey Him, He will bless us. The drawback is that if we become deceived and turn aside from earnestly obeying Him, He will curse us.

Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).

The temptation becomes to serve another god after the Lord has blessed us for earnestly following Him. The other god can easily become wealth. The Lord wants us to have wealth, but not wealth to have us. When we have a lot of wealth, we are easily tempted to serve it. Jesus stated that we cannot serve two masters: either we will hate the one and love the other, or else we will be loyal to one and despise the other (Mat. 6:24).

This temptation is why Agor said, "give me neither poverty nor riches . . . Lest I be full and deny You, and say, "Who is the Lord?" He cautions about the dangers of romanticizing riches and poverty. Proverbs also teaches us that the realistic view of wealth is that both the lack of riches and the abundance of riches come with their own tribulations.

Consequently, prosperity seekers fall into many great dangers. When we focus specifically on attaining the financial blessings of God, instead of first focusing on pleasing God by walking with Him and obeying Him, we effortlessly become consumed by the blessing. Then we often do what the Lord warned Israel about and what Agor feared: forget the Lord. This does not necessarily mean forgetting who God is, as far as memory loss, but not following His commandments (Deut. 8:10-11). Therefore, as Paul commissioned Timothy, warn those who are rich not to be haughty or to trust in uncertain riches (1 Tim. 6:17).

Another unbiblical view of wealth is the socialist position. It is important to note that someone who holds to a socialist attitude of wealth may or may not also adhere to a pietistic or prosperity seeker stance on wealth. The socialist view, which is rampant throughout our country and other economies, primarily deals with wealth expectations. It teaches that we have a right to certain amounts of wealth. It says that it is our right to have retirement security (social security). It is our right to have a minimum amount of wealth (welfare). It is our right to have a certain amount of medical care (Medicare). Since these rights do not come out of thin air, society must provide them.

Since someone has to pay for these so-called basic rights, and people are not flocking to volunteer, the result is legal theft: The government, representing society, takes wealth from its society and redistributes it to provide for these basic rights. There are a lot of labels that society uses for this action; however, biblically it is called theft (Ex. 20:15).

The fundamental error in this sort of thinking is the fact that wealth is considered a right and not a blessing. Ecclesiastes 5:19 states: "As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and give him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor-this is the gift of God" (emphasis mine). Deuteronomy 8:18 says, "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…" (again, emphasis mine). Is the Lord required to give us anything? Do we have a right to demand mercy from God? Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9:15, where the Lord says; "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."

This does not mean that we do not have a duty by God to give our wealth to others in need (1 Tim. 6:18). Nevertheless, society does not have the right to steal from others in order to give to others. This form of societal theft is called socialism.

Fortunately, this societal theft has been tested over and over by many countries throughout the past years. In its most extreme forms it is called communism (i.e., the former Soviet Union), and today we have a form of fascism (United States), where businesses are privately owned but centrally-controlled by government regulation. Unfortunately, we do not learn very much from history, let alone the Word of God. For the Scriptures clearly state, "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thess. 3:10). The world has seen the awful consequences of not acknowledging the depravity of man, and with such socialist views of wealth currently present, it will continue to experience more dreadful consequences.

By the grace of God, some people have a more biblical outlook on this subject. This topic is much more encompassing than any person can completely grasp or that any article can cover. One way of having better comprehension on this topic is to know what is not biblical. Nevertheless, we must also understand what ideas are biblical. The following points attempt to expound biblical truths regarding wealth that specifically deal with our hearts, duties, and outcomes of our views of wealth.

The book of Proverbs is full of the realities of life, whether good or bad. Proverbs 10:15 states that "the rich man's wealth is his strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty." This is simply a general observation of the hard facts of life, which in this case shows that there is not much protection for the poor.

Deuteronomy 15:4 states, "However, there shall be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess" (NASB). It seems that in this passage God clearly intends to bless His people with wealth. Seven verses later, however, God says, "the poor will never cease from the land" (Deut 15:11). This is due to the sinfulness of man.

There should be no poor among us, but because of sin the poor will never cease. But this does not negate the fact that the Lord calls us to obey him and be blessed, and this blessing does include wealth. For if we disobey him we will be cursed, which includes poverty (Deut. 28). We must also remember that these blessings and curses are general statements, as the effects are shown through many generations, and not necessarily as we see it (i.e., Job).

As stated before, poverty may not necessarily be caused by the poor individual's sin, but it is caused by sin (i.e., children may be born into poverty, due to the sins of the previous generations, society, country, etc.). Our attitudes, regardless of the direct cause of our wealth or poverty, must be joyful with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:4-6). Whether in plenty or in need, we must learn to be content (Phil. 4:11-12).

Proverbs gives us many instances of things that are worse than poverty. The following passages certainly show that righteousness is far better than riches:

a. Pr. 15:16-17. "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble."

b. Pr. 17:1. "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."

c. Pr. 28:6. "Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich."

As God has called us to take dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28), we will inevitably earn or gain material resources. We are even told that the righteous man will accumulate possessions. In fact, he will have so much wealth that he will not only leave an inheritance for his children, but even for his grandchildren (Pr. 13:22). Unfortunately, most Christian parents today leave their children a small inheritance, usually filled with debt, but the righteous will leave their children such a great inheritance that some of their inheritance will go to their grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 28:8-13 says, "The Lord will commend a blessing on you and your storehouses . . . You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them." This is a picture of godly dominion, where His children have first obeyed His commandments and as a consequence, the Lord blesses them.

God does not always bless wealth, however. Proverbs 10:16 say that "The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin." The wealth gained by the wicked usually leads to pride and is short lived (Pr. 13:11; 18:11).

a. Greed is an abomination and brings the curse of God. Proverbs 27:20 says, "the eyes of man are never satisfied." As soon as we get to the next level of financial security we want more (Pr. 21:26; 30:16)

b. Deception in order to increase wealth is repulsive. Proverbs 21:6 says "Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death."

c. Other passages show that the financial ends do not justify the moral means (Proverbs 13:11; 20:21).

Wealth can provide some false sense of security; however, God controls your security (the book of Job). Proverbs 11:28 says, "He who trusts in his riches will fall." In fact, God tells us not to overwork for riches because wealth can easily make wings and fly away (Pr. 23:4-5). You cannot even trust in riches for the life to come (Pr. 27:24).

Some people have the idea that only the ungodly succeed financially because they grow their wealth by wicked means. These people usually think in this manner because, though they have used God's resources more wisely, they covet the ungodly's success. For the Scriptures clearly teach that God rewards the diligent not the wicked (Pr. 21:5; 24:4; 28:19-20). Of course, we must look at the long-term, not at, for example, a wicked man who always wastes part of his pay on the lottery, and happened once to beat the gambling odds.

The ownership of wealth is often misunderstood. Some Christians think that Satan owns all this wealth because wealth is evil; therefore, Satan uses his wealth to entice people. Others think that they, themselves, own the actual possessions, and that the Lord has given them the wealth for them to keep. Still others may say that God owns ten percent, and the rest is for us, as long as they give the tithe to the Lord. None of these views, however, are biblical.

The Scriptures clearly teach us that God owns all things. He has given us stewardship, not ownership, over His material possessions. The Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 24:1 when he writes to the Church in Corinth, "the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness" (1 Cor. 10:28b). Moses reinstates that the earth is the Lord's when he confronts Pharaoh in Exodus 9:29.

We must understand that the farmer does not own any of the cattle that graze on the hills that have his name attached to the deed of that piece of land. For the Lord said, "For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine" (Ps. 50:10-11).

The farmer is a steward of the cattle and the land, just as we are stewards of the material possessions that have been entrusted to us. Jesus makes it clear that people who are not righteous stewards of God's talents (which can be physical or non-physical) will be cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat. 25:14-30). Therefore, the Lord will make us give an accounting of how we use and grow his entrusted wealth.

From the same parable of the talents we draw another principle on wealth. The Lord commands us to grow the wealth that He has entrusted to us. Good and faithful servants take what God has given them and give Him more in return, while the wicked do nothing with it. The Lord says that the righteous man gives his grandchildren an inheritance (Pr. 13:22), which means that the righteous work hard to grow the money that God has given them.

God, however, controls how much wealth we accumulate. Deuteronomy 8:18 states, "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth . . ." On the one hand, He is sovereign over how much money we have; yet on the other hand, we are responsible to give an accounting of what we have done with the talents He gave us. Some may ask-if God controls our wealth, how can we bear that responsibility?

First, God does not necessarily hold us responsible for how much money we obtained. He makes us account for what we have done with what He gave us. Both of the servants, the one that had ten talents and the one that had four talents, were praised as good and faithful servants in Matthew 25:21-23. The first servant was allotted five talents, while the second servant was allotted two talents, yet they both doubled their allotted portions. The third servant was not punished because he only had one talent, but because he did nothing with it, although he was probably only given one talent because he had not shown the responsibility to handle God's possessions. If someone does not have much wealth, it could certainly be that he has not shown the responsibility to handle it (Mat. 25:28).

Second, God materially blesses those who are faithful to Him. Deuteronomy 28 clearly shows that if we are faithful in obeying His Law, we will be materially blessed, and if we are unfaithful, we will be materially cursed. Therefore, we must know the Word of God and apply it to every area of life, including our finances, and then the Lord will bless us.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:17-18, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share" (emphasis mine). The Lord uses the rich to help build His kingdom, through sharing their wealth. As we see in Acts, people were selling some of the valuable possessions they had to help the church grow. It is simply a reality that poor people do not have a lot of valuable possessions to sell, yet the rich do, so God uses their wealth. The reality is that the wealthy, not the poor, fund most of the churches today and most other Christian ministries. This is not to say that God does not use the poor; however, the rich man's wealth is what finances most of His work.

The rich are obligated to share the money that God has given them. The tithe is the minimum requirement to finance the activities of the church, yet God uses the generosity of the rich to advance His kingdom even further. Proverbs 21:26 states that "the righteous gives and does not spare."

After reading 1 Timothy 6:17-18, most people focus on the part that says we are not to be haughty, or trust in riches, but do good works and share. While all those things are good and true, as we have already discussed, we must focus on the whole council of God (Acts 20:27). The part of the passage stating that God "gives us richly all things to enjoy" (emphasis mine) is generally skipped.

Not enjoying what God has given us is just as much a sin as being haughty, trusting in riches, or not sharing His wealth. Christians often feel guilty for having too much wealth, instead of enjoying what God has given us. We often take a pietistic attitude towards wealth. Money is not a necessary evil: it is to be enjoyed! The Lord commands us to rejoice and be thankful in all situations, including having an abundance of wealth (Phil. 4:4-6, 11-12).

The topic of wealth is certainly more extensive than what is presented here, although this provides us a solid structure of biblical truths regarding wealth, while combating false views in our current culture. A correct biblical framework on this topic is a prerequisite for any Christian who aspires to be or is currently involved in business, or his business ventures are in vain.

The struggle for a lot of Christian businessmen, however, is not understanding a biblical view of wealth, but living out the ideas by applying them to their businesses. We must meditate day and night on these passages that deal with the issue in order to consistently live it out. We should write these points along with the passages in Scripture and memorize them, for businessmen in particular will be tempted to sin with the use or lack of use of their entrusted wealth.

After transforming our own hearts and minds, by the grace of God, we will be able to help transform the hearts and minds of our business associates, employers and employees, suppliers and customers, civil and church leaders, and so forth. Eventually, our culture could be transformed by their knowledge and use of wealth, as the kingdom of God blooms. Then the Christian culture will become the head and not the tail (Deut. 28:13).

Let's take a closer look at the verse that was supposed to take the wind out of my sails, so as to speak. You quote Matthew 19:23,24. I decided to include the CONTEXT of the verse and align it with a category in the article posted that most fits this situation. Maybe with this you will see how you have been short changed in who ever is teaching you what is written and to be learned from the Bible.

Matt. 19:20-24

[20] The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

[21] Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

My comment - Jesus gives him the answer IF he wants to be PERFECT.

[22] But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

[23] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

My comment - "A rich man shall HARDLY enter ..." meaning that it is still possible for a wealthy man to enter heaven because in the Bible He states so.

[24] And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

I maybe "easier" however it is NOT impossible as He later points out in the Bible.

More specifically to the situation that Jesus is addressing in your passage, Matt 19:23, 24 - clearly Jesus knows what is the priority ("great possessions") with this man. Jesus is God in the flesh so He sees into this man's heart.

This man is very wealthy which is what is meant by "great possessions". Jesus knows that material things are more important to him than God however maybe He wants this man to reconsider his idol - money over God. At the very least maybe others can learn what God wants. So Jesus calls him on his idol (possessions) by saying to sell all he has and give it to the poor, have treasure in heaven and follow Him. The wealthy man loved his possessions more and couldn't give up his "great possessions" ... "went away sorrowful". This "rich man" made his choice. He chose NOT to seek the kingdom of God. He chose "great possessions" instead which violates:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Mat. 6:33)

This is also emphasized in another form later in the Bible through this verse:

Matt.22:37

[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mark.12:30

[30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

It's the most important commandment as well.

[33] And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Luke.10:27

[27] And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

The above article expands on this problem through this paragraph and why I suspect you put out a knee jerk reaction without reading the entire post.

Excerpt:

The end result of a proper focus will be the natural consequence of being obedient to God's law. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 states:

End of excerpt.

By now it should be painfully clear that wealth is okay however some make wealth an idol and refuse to give it up and follow Christ.

Jesus is obviously brilliant. Another verse that is often short changed on money is this one:

Matt.22:21
[21] They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

Mark.12:17

[17] And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.

Luke.20:25

[25] And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

What most clergy fail to emphasize is this:

(Another excerpt from the posted article)

7. The Lord owns all wealth

End of excerpt.

Bottom line is God OWNS what is rendered to Caesar. So, if you "render it to Caesar, he is ONLY a steward for God since God owns ALL.

If you are still unconvinced, then please explain to me how Abraham and Job, some of the wealthiest men in the Bible gained access to heaven. Is it because they put God first and blessings followed? Also note, God uses disgression when giving out blessings of wealth.

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