The Lord is our protector and glorious king,
blessing us with kindness and honour.
He does not refuse any good thing
to those who do what is right.
Psalm 84:11 GNB
Do you feel guilty about richness? It might look exaggerated but I think most people do. I think most people think that richness is dirty and that you lose something of righteousness upon acquiring it, especially if it's much. The expression: "I'm poor, but I'm a good Christian" embodies this mentality.
Why does richness has such a bad reputation? When I was a little kid discovering the world around me I used to think that the rich did not have to work and could just laze around. Instead, the poor were hardworking and productive and therefore more virtuous. I think now that most people see the rich as giving themselves to material lusts, ostentation and decadence and that is one of the reasons for the above mentioned guilt.
Yet, I guess, most people would dearly accept some richness into their lives. Which leads me to ask if they, being Christians, could pray and ask God for richness? To find the answer, I think, you would have to consider the passages of the Bible that approach the theme of richness, which is what follows.
I must say that this is not an exhaustive study of the phenomena of richness in the Bible but just and enquiry from someone who would like to better understand the issue. As a method, I'll approach first the parts that speak of richness and then the ones that warn against it.
The part of the Bible that most impresses me with regards to the theme of richness is the Psalm 112: 3. It says: "His family will be wealthy and rich, and he will be prosperous forever." This though, does not come by itself but as a result of a certain behaviour which is outlined in the 1st versicle of the same Psalm: "Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honours the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands." What results from this two passages combined is, I suppose, that to deserve and receive richness you must first be righteous and have an active faith. Richness comes then as a prize and, I suppose, you would then, by embodying religious virtue, be shielded from its corrupting power. This association of righteousness and richness appears constantly in the Bible, so let's look into another example.
In Psalm 37: 4 it reads: "Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give your heart's desire." Assuming that your desire is richness, which is a covered possibility, I think, in order to receive it you would have first to find happiness with the Lord, which probably is doing what pleases him. Let's see another example of this thinking.
In Matthew 6: 33 it says: "Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things." The things provided were food, drink and clothes but I suppose they could be any material possession one would need in our time. So, the same situation of righteousness and faith as a condition for richness materializes here.
There are at least three passages, though, sternly admonishing us against the perils of money and richness. One of these is contained in Matthew 6: 24: "You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate the one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." This passage is completed by Matthew 6: 32 where it says: "Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things" these things being food, drink and clothes. What results from these passages, I think, is that you as good Christian should concern with being righteous knowing that the Lord will bring you all your need as a consequence. After saying this, I realize that these passages are probably in line with the previous ones where righteousness was a condition for richness. But, still, it clearly says "You cannot serve both God and money." This warning is repeated elsewhere.
In Matthew 19: 23 it reads: "Jesus then said to his disciples: "I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven. I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."" What this passage brings to my mind is that, as it seems, Jesus allows for at least one exception: the righteous rich man who is uncorrupted by his richness. I wonder whether King Solomon could be an example here.
The last passage I'll mention warning against richness is I Timothy 6: 5,10: "and constant arguments from people whose minds do not function and who no longer have the truth. They think that religion is a way to become rich. Well, religion does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have, What did we bring into this world? Nothing! What can we take out of this world? Nothing! So then, if we have enough food and clothes, that should be enough for us. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil." To finish, I'll just complement this explicit passage with another, also from St Paul, in Philippians 4:19: "And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs." This seems to imply that there are riches and wealth in the Kingdom of God which could be shared with us in this world.
