Is it O.K to live extravegantly wealthy and also be a christian?

Question

Most of the people in my church have alot of money. And when we meet in homes for bible study and such I tend to lose my breath at how beautiful these homes and luxury cars are. I"m a middle class working artist and have never been a part of this society before until I joined this church

I know I should not pay attention to these things and focus on God but It's disturbing me more and more. I think about it when I ride the city bus and see children with no shoes or coats and I begin to feel guilty and feel resentment toward my church. I''m not making judgements, just want to know if what I"m feeling is ligitiment

Pardon the misspelled words, I meant to edit.

Answer 1

It's amazing how well the human mind adapts to its surroundings. These people are probably unaware of the opulence they are projecting. It's all "normal" to them. And all that "normal" requires proper upkeep. It's all part of the cost of living as far as they can tell. And just as you can hardly imagine how they can't be embarrassed by all this, they can't imagine what living in poverty is really like. TV stereotypes are the best they can manage. That's why Jesus said how hard it was for the rich to get to heaven. A failure of imagination, due to circumstances.

And human culture naturally isolates classes so they don't mix. So people don't get angry, or embarrassed (depending on which end of the slope they're on). The pressure to conform is tremendous, as is the pressure to avoid looking across the fence. It's too jarring and painful.

The easiest gesture is charitable donations, but charity doesn't actually fix the discrepancies, only temporarily numb the pain (on both sides). But to substantially improve the opportunities of the poor is for the rich to give up the lifestyles they are used to. And that's even more painful, even though it can be done. Easy Christianity is false Christianity.

A prophet's duty is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable". But they can't expect to be thanked for it. It's a hard, painful job. There are ways to mute its consequences, but they mute the message as well. No one listens to anyone as much as they do to someone who has nothing to gain. I'm not saying any of us has the stuff to pull it off, but we can always work on ourselves. Why should I try to help if there are richer people than me? Because it's right, no excuses.

I don't recommend passing judgement on these people. You really don't know what they may be doing behind the appearances. (It can be surprising.) But I don't think it's crazy to occasionally be grateful that such a temptation has passed you by, so far. Times can change. Don't forget the lesson you see.

Answer 2

Spelling errors forgiven...I've never gotten the "check spelling" link to work for me (or perhaps I'm just to impatient :) ).

This is a question that has and continues to trouble me. I do believe that God rewards giving with a measure greater than the amount given. For example, in the parable of the talents, the man that used his talents to serve his master was given even more. I've heard it said that you can't outgive God. I believe that, through faithful and cheerful giving, a Christian can receive greater and greater blessings.

Having said that, I concerned that too many Christians take more than they need from the blessings God gives them. I don't have a problem with a person that uses some of the financial blessings they receive to provide a home for their family and provide for the necessities of life. I don't even have a problem with people that use some money for things others would call a luxury (e.g., a cell phone, cable television, etc...). However, no one "needs" a $100,000 car and a family of four doesn't "need" a 25-room home...a woman doesn't "need" 300 pairs of shoes or 25 Gucci handbags...a man doesn't "need" 20 Armani suits or a $15,000 set of golf clubs (unless he makes his living playing golf of course). In essence, people that spend their money on such things are suggesting that those things are more important than people...and that's contrary to the instructions Jesus gave us!

...and I'll readily admit that I'm guilty of this. God has been convicting me recently about the way I manage the resources he's entrusted to me. A couple of weeks ago, I sold my BMW convertible and my Toyota 4Runner and bought a single, functional vehicle (a pickup truck)...I pledged the money I saved in car payments and insurance to help various missions to help people around the world. I'm also working on eliminating other "excesses" in my life. I still feel like I'm wasting my resources, but I'm thankful that God is steering me in the right direction. I can already say without any doubt that the good feelings I've enjoyed for two weeks since downgrading my vehicles FAR outweighs any of the pleasure I got driving my fancy car for the past three years!

Answer 3

What is money? Money is an inanimate object like a lamp or rock. Money is not evil, the love of it is. There are right uses of money and wrong uses. You can buy groceries or drugs.

Not all Christians who have money "love" it. And Jesus didn't hate the rich. Thou shalt not be rich is not in the commandments. Look again at how decked out the High Priest was... gold, jewels for every tribe, finely woven clothing and the priests of God, after God's portion received the rest of everything. St. Paul was rich and highly educated. Peter's fishing business wasn't in some rickety boat. Does one think the tax-gatherer Jesus called was poor, C'mon--Look at Grassley. Do any of your government officials look poor? Job was rich. Abraham was Rich. Gimme a break.

Coveting your neighbors goods shows God that one is actually unthankful for what God has given them. Having money doesn't mean one's blessed by God and not having money doesn't mean one isn't blessed by God. Our blessing is in the knowledge of Him and what He did for us whether one is rich or poor.

What bothered Jesus was not that they were rich, but that they were not generous. He was by no means a Socialist. He said His kingdom was not of this world; therefore, political party ideology wasn't his interest.

Some would say Jesus became poor. Yeah, well let me ask you this: If you could feed 3000 from thin air or pay your taxes from the money a fish brought you, are you really poor?

Now you said you were an artist. I suppose the term "starving artist" never crossed your ears prior to picking your profession?

Just keep in mind while these govenment morons hypocritically investigate the "misuse of money" that the same person, Grassley went to the IRS in January and met with 12 others there because our government has had a 354 BILLION dollar tax-gap for 30 YEARS and still don't know how to fix it even though they have all the info. The common people like us who balance a check book actually have to balance it, not write off overages somewhere into thin air and say, taaah dahhh. Misuse of money? How much is a toilet seat on that friggen space station? What does it cost you to watch that stupid space shuttle blast off? Misuse of money? Why do your tax dollars pay for abortions if it is morally wrong to you? Every President's wife gets brand spankin' new china and digs for the White House they keep when they leave. Who paid for that?

NOT all non-profits are charities. The church(es) are NOT charities even though they can be charitable. And every church has a right to organize and function the way it decides. YOU as a christian have the right to support it or not. You do not have a right to say how the money is spent. Churches do not owe their members a fiduciary duty. If you give, give to God, no strings attached.

And as a plea to all Christians, stop claiming the tax deduction and encourage your ministers if possible not to use it. THE PRIVILEDGE will be taken away as the spirit of anti-christ grows stronger and your church won't survive.

Answer 4

It okay to earn a very comfortable living. In the parables Jesus used (camel and needle etc) it just shows that materialism makes it harder for someone to serve God. It's takes a lot of time and energy to BUY the luxuries but even more TIME to take care of them.

Gods word DOES admonish us to be modest however. We shouldn't make a "showy display" of our means of life.

Jesus said the poor would 'always be with us'. Do what you can to help those you want to. Your feelings are legitimate so long as you don't dictate what others should do with their time and money.

Answer 5

"...The fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Moreover, those who belong to Christ Jesus *impaled* the flesh *together* with its passions and desires." --Gal 5:22-24

"Moreover, do not forget the doing of good and the *sharing of things with others*, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." --Heb13:16

“...Let the man that has two undergarments *share* with the man that has none, and let him that has things to eat do the same.” (Jesus' own words) --Lu 3:11

"...We have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, *having sustenance and covering, we shall be content* with these things." --1 Ti 6:7,8

Answer 6

It all depends on your definition of what a Christian is? If you believe that a Christian is someone who proclaims the gospel and all of the doctrines of the church, then the answer is yes--you could be rich, a mass murderer, or child molester and still meet that standard. But, if you believe that a Christian is someone who follows the "way" of Jesus, then the answer is most definitely NO! Jesus and his disciples could have easily been the richest individuals in their community because of the influence that they had over the general population--but they chose not to.

Answer 7

Yes, it's O.K to live extravegantly wealthy and also be a Christian.

I would feel guilty living that way, while others starve, but I will not try to judge those who do.

The root of all evil is the LOVE OF MONEY, which even a poor man can have...not the wealth itself!

Wealth is not a sin...BUT how you got that rich may be!

God is all knowing, and wise. I trust Him to be your judge.

Answer 8

I've always wondered the same thing.
There's a TV evang. that lives down the street from me you've all heard of her. She owns like 3 houses in a row all worth 1-mil each. she has gates around it and she gets a lot of flack for it from the media here in town.

But, Abraham, Joseph, David, Isaac and others were rich rich men. Is it OK for them to be rich as long as they tithe?
I just don't know.

†

Answer 9

You might recognize names of some historic millionaires and billionaires:
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph
David
Solomon
etc.
etc.
etc.

God blesses people to be a blessing. Don't judge these people, you have no idea what they give to help people. Most give at least 10% or more of their income to charitable organizations and chruches. The more they give, the more God blesses them. The poor will always be here, no matter what you do. We should help them, but a life of poverty does not honor God more than a life of blessing.

Answer 10

Not at all a good commentary, eh? Wealth actually stands between us and the Lord. Why? Because people have the tendency to rely upon their wealth rather than upon God.

Psa 49:6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;


Psa 49:7 None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:


Psa 49:8 (For the redemption of their soul [is] precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)