The problem with wealth

Luke's gospel brings into sharp focus the issue of wealth and faith (Lk 18.18-25). In this question the rich person is overwhelmed by what must be given up to such an extent that he turns away from the path that is presented by Christ. In turning away the commentary from Christ is the difficulty of the rich engaging with the path of Christ. This passage has often been seen as being a derogatory base from which the rich should be castigated and shamed. However, there is something that is much more meaningful to be engaged with here and in the passages that have been read alongside this particular one today.

Is it aimed at the rich? Have we actually missed the target when we talk about this in terms of rich and poor? If we break this passage down into this binary I believe we have totally missed the mark. The generalisation that is being used here is and can be used today and is not aimed at the binary rich and poor. Rather it is a generalisation that is aimed at the attitude not the wealth or the lack of wealth. Note that the passage quite clearly states that the man turns away following the comment that he was rich.Richness or wealth per se is not the issue but rather the attitude that we hold when we have riches and wealth. For the man in the story the implication is that the hold of riches and wealth are greater than the hold of the path that Chris offers. This is the point of the story for us. There is no injunction against the ownership or pursuit of wealth. We are quite capable of undertaking this pursuit so long as we do not deflect our trajectory away fro the pursuit of God's love in our lives.

It is not wealth but our attitude that is the issue

The prophet Joel puts this into perspective (Joel 2.23 ff) reminding us that creation belongs to God. Everything that comes to us comes to us through the grace of God and not through our own efforts. Yes, we have a hand in our own survival but God gives us the opportunity to further our own needs and desires so long as we remain cognisant of the other. In coming to understand our response to God we need to constantly remind ourselves of the requirement to do what God has asked of us. There is no harm in being wealthy so long as we put that wealth to the benefit of those around us and not to rely on it for our own gain. God gives to us what we require in our daily lives. Whilst it is good to have the support of those around us it is even better to be supported by the presence of God in our lives (2 Tim 4.17).

Our weakness is that we see wealth as the crutch that allows us to live the way we want to irrespective of the other. Once we begin this act of selfishness we become like the man who turned away. It is the sacrifice that needs to be made the sacrifice of everything that we hold dear whether it be time, money or service that makes following Christ so difficult for us. We are totally unprepared to undertake that sacrifice. It is easy for us to state that it is an SEP (Someone Else's Problem) which we can ignore. In ignoring our responsibilities we ultimately have to live with the consequences. The delivery of God's gospel is our responsibility if we have accepted Christ's presence and guidance in our lives. This is what it means to become a living sacrifice. We begin  not with ourselves but with the other, not with our wealth but with the other. Once we have enabled the community of God to come together in worship and praise by opening ourselves up to the other wealth and riches have no meaning. Let us accept our responsibility and give totally of our wealth (Service, finance, time, etc).