Page 36 - Christ and Culture Textbook

responsibility to render an honest day’s labor. Our labor must not be simply for the acquisition of
wealth, but for the glory of God.

Does Bible Permit Wealth?
Is God okay with the accumulation of material goods beyond the level of necessity? Are we permitted to
earn and keep more than we need? The tenure of wealth is nowhere condemned in either the Old
Testament or the New Testament. Prosperity and wealth are seen as an aspect of God’s providence.
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God’s distribution of wealth. Wealth is not bad, but the greediness and inhumanness that comes as
result of the unloving human behavior. All of us are completely selfish and self-centered without God.
We are unwilling to give up our comfort for the sake of the less privileged brothers and sisters. We
should never let the poor die with hunger for sake of serving money for ourselves. Paul give a clear
guidance to his apprentice Timothy by saying, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to
be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all
things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of
that which is life indeed.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

1. The Rich should know that riches are uncertain, they must not put their hope in them.
2. The Rich must put their hope God who is certain.
3. The Rich should understand that their wealth is from God, for their enjoyment.
4. The Rich are commanded to do good and focus on true life.
5. The rich are to be generous and must be ready to share.
6.
In the New Testament, we encounter wealthy men who are praiseworthy. Note the care of the body of
Christ after the crucifixion by Joseph of Arimathea, obviously a man of means.

The New Testament does say that wealth imposes severe temptations. Jesus’ statement about the
camel going through the eye of a needle indicates that a rich man who would enter heaven faces a huge
task (Luke 18:25). Practically speaking, the maintenance and protection of wealth takes time and
concentrated energy. The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13–21) illustrates the perils of preoccupation
with riches. It is easy for the rich man to confuse his priorities. But it is also easy for the poor man. It is
not merely the rich who are susceptible to the siren song of materialism; its seductive power crosses all
socioeconomic borders.

What about the Christian’s responsibility to the poor?
To begin with, the question is not, Should Christians care for the poor? The answer to that question is
clear, whether we think in terms of the grand story of Scripture or the specifics of how that story
engages our individual lives. Christians should be people who display the love and mercy of God to all
they come in contact with, and that includes the poor. The Bible affirms the provision for the needs of
the poor to be Christian responsibility. In the Old Testament, some of the needs of the poor were met by
laws that included provisions for gleaners (e.g. Lev. 19:9–10). The New Testament also addresses this
matter. The collection of provisions by the Gentile Christians for famine-struck Jerusalem was one of the
most notable and dramatic episodes in the first century (Rom. 15:25–27). Paul praised both the

7 R. C. Sproul, How Should I Live in This World?, vol. 5, The Crucial Questions Series (Lake Mary, FL:
Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009), 53.

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