In ancient Israel wealth was seen as a sign that God was pleased with you. To be rich meant that God was acknowledging your righteousness. We need only to look at the story of Solomon for an example of why this thinking was prevalent during that time. Solomon asked God for an understanding mind and it pleased God. God showed His favor not only by giving Solomon wisdom, but also by giving him something he didn’t ask for, wealth.¹

It is in this type of setting, and with this mindset, that a rich man walked up to Jesus one day seeking to justify himself before Jesus and the crowd. He asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, probably assuming all the while that he was all set. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, which must have been a pleasing answer to the man, but then Jesus took it a step further and he told the rich man he must sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. The rich man walked away sad, turning down Jesus’ offer of eternal life.²

Jesus went on to say it would be difficult for a rich man to get into heaven, then he continued, saying:³

²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

This shocked all those who heard it, for if a rich man could not get into heaven who could? Remember, riches were supposed to be a sign of God’s favor, but Jesus just turned everything on its head. Even Jesus’ disciples questioned him, asking who could be saved? Jesus’ answer to this question confirmed that salvation is only possible through God.⁴

So what is it about wealth that makes it so hard for a rich person to get into heaven? The key comes from what I believe is the most misquoted verse in the Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10:

 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils (ESV)

People love to quote this verse, including many who do not realize this comes from the Bible, but they quote it wrong. It is not money itself which is a root of all kinds of evils, it is the love of money that is a root of all kinds of evils, greed and avarice.

We just need to go back a few verses in Timothy to see what Paul was actually talking about, from 1 Timothy 6:6-9:

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (ESV)

When the driving and motivating power in your life is the acquisition of money it opens you up to all sorts of temptations because he who loves money will not be satisfied with money.⁵ Matthew tells us that where our treasure is, our heart will be there also.⁶ If a person’s heart is set on accumulating money and not set on seeking God he is not on the right path. A person’s contentment should come from their faith in God, their relationship with God, not from the acquisition of wealth, for as Matthew warns us:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.⁷

It is when money becomes your god, or your idol, that you are led into destruction. This attitude is ungodly and this is why it becomes so hard for a rich man to enter heaven. This is what happened with the rich man in Jesus’ parable. It is not simply because a person is rich, it is when that person values money over God, loves money more than God, when money has become a person’s idol or obsession, that the doorway into heaven begins to narrow.

It comes down to this: What did it take for the person to become wealthy, what was their mindset? Was their mindset to get money at all costs, did they hurt people to get what they wanted? Did this goal lead them down the path of temptation? Maybe they earned their money legitimately and righteously, but after becoming wealthy what did they do with the money? Did they squander it on reckless living like the Prodigal Son, or did they use their money to help the less fortunate and to advance the kingdom of God?

This is an easy trap to fall into, but it does not mean a rich person cannot get into heaven, or that the acquisition of wealth disqualifies you from heaven. While it is true that you cannot serve God and money, you can use your money to serve God. Not all who get rich go about it the wrong way and there are good wealthy Christians who are using their wealth to help the less fortunate and to advance the kingdom of God.

Luke 12:48 states:

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. (ESV)

It is true that this verse pertains to more than just wealth, it pertains to any gift we have been given by God, but it is also true that if you have been given wealth you are expected to use some of that wealth for the benefit of others and for the benefit of God’s kingdom.

What you do with what you have been given will be the difference between hearing the words, “I never knew you, depart from me”⁸ or hearing the words, “well done, good and faithful servant”⁹ when it is your turn to thread the needle.

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1. 1 Kings 3:9-13 ↩︎
2. Paraphrase of Matthew 19:16-22 ↩︎
3. Matthew 19:23,24 ↩︎
4. Matthew 19:25,26 ↩︎
5. Ecclesiastes 5:10 ↩︎
6. Paraphrase Matthew 6:21 ↩︎
7. Matthew 6:24 ↩︎
8. Matthew 7:23 ↩︎
9. Matthew 25:21 ↩︎