The Curse of Wealth

Is wealth a curse or a blessing? Should we follow the Prospersity Gospel - "Believe in God and you will have wealth!"? Should the church be blessed by the number of  'influential' people they have in church? Apostle Peter and John did not have any silver and gold, were they then considered as failures? Jesus on earth has no wealth, was he then also a failure?

It is not wrong to have wealth on earth, it is good that God blessed us with riches for he trusted us in managing the possession well. If we see riches in a wrong way, then it will become a curse to us and prevented us from entering into the kingdom of God, for the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Tim 6:10).

The rich man in Mark 10:17-31 called Jesus "Good Master" and did not see Him as his saviour but a person being successful and therefore had obtained eternal life. This rich man was very eager and earnest, although all in the wrong place. Jesus told him how to have eternal life - keep thy commandment, to which the rich man was confident that he has done that since young. He thought he was pretty good! However, there is only one who is truly good; the rich man was blind to Jesus' goodness. He was sincere, but was sincerely wrong about what is truly good in the spiritual sense, not worldly sense.

Jesus pointed out the only thing that the rich man lacked - sell away all the possessions and follow Him. "Take up the cross and follow me." Jesus was telling him to worship Him but not his wealth. Jesus is saying that He is all that the man needed in life, not the worldly riches. Thus the rich man had broken the commandment of having no other gods except Jesus. The rich man did not see this; he went away. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Mark 10:25. If it is impossible for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle, then who can be saved? This is a rhetorical question - the answer is "no one!" However, for with God all things are possible; and only with God, not God and man, not God and riches, only God alone can save.

The way ahead is to live for the Lord, using the wealth and riches blessed to us; and with the heart in the Lord, He will see it fit to give us the riches we need in life, for us and for His work.