4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.
7 When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.
Although God appreciates honest business and following him can have real tangible benefits, practically and relationally, human profits do not have long term significance. As the saying goes, you can't take it with you. Those who follow God's law (or more accurately admit they cannot), are delivered. Those who rebel, take themselves into trouble and misout on God's wealth.
4 comments:
I'm probably the only one reading this, so perhaps I should just email you, Harrison. This is another thing I've got a problem with in the Bible. You've hit one of the toughest issues for me, especially after marrying an economist.
I just don't understand the placing importance on heavenly wealth. Shouldn't Christians love to be poor? What's the point in aiming for wealth if you can't take it with you? To me, Christians ought to be poor and love it OR get rich and then squander it all before they die.
Sure, you can spend money on charity and mission trips and scholarships, but having been a part of a very wealthy church and knowing some wealthy Christians, I have seen minimal charity and lots of gadgets and "ways of the world" type purchases. Which is it: get rich and spend it all because you can't take it with you or be a poor matyr and hope for death, so you can enjoy your heavenly riches?
I don't expect you to have the "right" answer, I'm just voicing my questions. I know you aren't a theologian. But this isn't a Word doc ;)
You're probably right, but it's nice to have the discussion attached to the original post.
I think you've hit on something that is under emphasized in American Christianity: the benefits of poverty.
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."- Matthew 19:24
That said, I don't believe God hates wealth. He hates the love of wealth. Wealth under the control of a wise man can do a lot of good.
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. "
- I Timothy 6:17-19
Being a creator is following in God's footsteps. Creation and wealth can make your life easier. Hardship isn't what God wants for us.
To summarize: I don't think it's either or (get rich or be poor), it's an appropriate amount of each.
I've heard those verses before, and I think I understand what the Church teaches better with those verses together. Don't be too rich because you'll love it, and don't be poor because you can be productive and earn more.
Now, this is truly personal because I know you are both a Christian and an economist. As you well know, I'm married to an economist. His goal (and mine) is to earn as much as possible, and as we continue to earn more than we have in previous years, we are loving it. We are loving the worth of ourselves rise, but we are mostly loving the wealth itself. But, then again, we have no god to tell us how to feel about wealth. We decide how our wealth is spent, donated and saved.
How do you handle this rub? Are you of the same mind as Bryan where you want to earn as much as possible? I bet it would be hard, and I know Bryan often thinks you are right in your economic analysis but we both wonder how that affects your faith. A lot of his economic thought (which is mostly similar to yours, thanks to Clemson Econ) has made him believe what he does: there is no god.
Let me know if this should be in email form. I know we're getting personal.
As a high school teacher married to a social worker I don't see myself as earning as much as possible. But your husband isn't either. College professors after all aren't the highest paid people, especially when there are so many economist jobs in the private sector. Both your family and mine are basing decisions on wage compensating differentials (yay economics!).
I think the difference in our decisions is the difference in what we think work and wealth can bring and what it can't. I think there are huge costs to working too hard. Missed relax time, missed family time, AND a feeling of total self reliance. When righteousness is all about submission, wealth gets in the way.
We are both guilty of regularly worshiping ourselves. For me, becoming a Christian was realizing I didn't turn out to the the god I wanted. Attending church, fellowshipping with other Christians, and hopefully this blog are daily reminders that I'm not god enough, but God is more than good enough.
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