Does God Want You to Be Rich?

In last week's Time magazine, the front page posed a question, posted in big yellow and white print, "Does God want you to be rich?" Incredulous and with furrowed brow, I slowly made my way toward the article, flipping and rustling through the crisp colorful pages until I finally arrived at the headline article. I read and read, the mystery growing in my mind, and the knot tightening in my belly. I thought quietly to myself as I closed the magazine and tried to catch the flitting pieces of half-truth and lay them down on the observation table of the mind.

Now, I am no great scholar of all things Jesus, but I am pretty sure he talked about it being harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I suppose the health and wealthers feel like anorexic dromedaries to make such claims. I tend to think that the tight squeeze for the rich might be attributed to the fact that they have made more room for gold in their pockets than for God in their hearts. I'm pretty sure Jesus also said that where your treasure is, that is also where you can find your heart. So with all that golden treasure in the pockets of the rich, where do you think we might find their hearts? But beyond all my trite mockery of the more fortunate, I think Jesus really meant to just let us all know that the things we own eventually begin to own us.

It sounds to me as though millions of "christians" are being duped by a few wealthy reverends who want to justify the extravagance of their lifestyles. Now, before I say any more, I think Jesus also said that before I tell my brother to take the speck out of his eye, I need to take the log out of mine. So let me say that while I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, I still find myself possessed by my possessions, or at least the idea that I need more of them. But I'm pretty sure Jesus also said that anyone who leads any of his little children astray should have a millstone thrown over his neck and be thrown in the sea. This to me sounds like Jesus is pretty serious about the people who follow him, and anyone who would be their leader better lead to Jesus or there are some pretty heavy consequences.