One of the realities of our society is that there are outsiders everywhere. Even people we don’t normally think could possibly be considered outsiders are just that often. In this chapter we’re going to look at the wealthy outsiders. Yes, believe it or not, the rich can be treated like outsiders by Christ-followers.
Listen to what some Christ-followers have had to say about other Christ-followers who are wealthy:
Elevation Church pastor Steve Furtick recently came under media scrutiny for building a 16,000 square-foot-home for his family in Charlotte, North Carolina. After making news, he apologized to his congregation—not for the luxury of the home—but for the “uncomfortable conversations” resulting from the headlines and criticism.Furtick is one of many Christian pastors, preachers, and authors who have prospered from their ministry, whose wealth often does make us as Christians feel uncomfortable. Stanley Hauerwas, of Duke Divinity School, called Furtick’s lifestyle an “offense to the gospel.” Shane Claiborne implied that Christian leaders who’ve accrued wealth “missed the simple commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.” (Emphasis added. “Fellow Christians, I’m Rich and I’m Sorry”, Christianity Today, Oct., 2013, http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/october/fellow-christians-im-sorry-im-rich-really.html, accessed on Sept. 21, 2016).
The rest of that small article is an interesting read, by the way. Helps to put things in perspective for us.
I did a quick survey of the richest people in the world, to see what Christians have said about them. Here’s the list:
- Bill Gates is still the “wealthiest person in the world”, with a net worth of $81.2 billion dollars. According to this site, admittedly somewhat dated, he may very well be the anti-christ.
- Amancio Ortega is #2 on the list, with a net worth of $79 billion. According to this site, Amancio Ortega will be one of the “9 Emperors of the World” when the “New World Order” comes in.
- Warren Buffet, the world’s 3rd richest man ($65.9 billion net worth) is purportedly a member of “The Good Club”, who are part of “Rolling Out the Red Carpet for the AntiChrist” according to this book of the same title.
A little deeper digging finds that Christians sometimes teach a brand of Christianity that is “anti-rich”. This article, entitled, “Three Reasons Why Jesus Condemns Rich, Favors Poor” from EthicsDaily.com
seems to purposely misunderstand the teaching of scripture. The author (Drew Smith) states that, “…it seems that Jesus condemns the rich and favours the poor.” He then goes on to say that “[Jesus] clearly believed that God was not on the side of the wealthy, but that God favored the poor.” But this is not really what scripture says, is it? Mr. Smith also quotes Jesus as saying that “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” (Matthew 19:24). He then neglects to add that “with God all things are possible,”, which is an essential part of Jesus’ teaching here.
It may be a strange thing for many of us to think of the rich as being “outsiders”, however, it is sadly true that on many occasions the rich are rejected simply for being rich. There is irony in this for many of us, as many who read this article (including me), are really, globally speaking, the rich ourselves. If we reject those who are rich compared to us, how much more can we expect the rest of the world to whom we are wealthy beyond imagining to reject us?
But of course, that is not what the God advocates. Some of God’s most faithful followers throughout the ages have been wealthy. Look at Job, or David, or Joseph (in the end). God certainly does caution us about wealth throughout the scriptures. No where that I can find, however, does He advocate rejection of the wealthy simply because of their wealth.