Wickedness is prevalent among the rich, but it is also prevalent among the poor. However, because the poor go through experiences of being broken, unlike the rich:–I believe the poor are automatically closer to repentance and faith than the unregenerate rich. But can a rich man be regenerated by the Holy Spirit at all? Yes: “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), but he will have to practice extravagant philanthropy to the poor to even things out–in Jesus’ name, as Scrooge did after his conversion. The rich, unlike the poor, will have to take special care to avoid THE SINS OF THE RICH warned against in the Bible: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). If a rich man can’t avoid the temptations, traps, foolish, and harmful desires of the rich–then it would be better for him to live totally BROKE, until he learns how to SERVE GOD WITH HIS MONEY, instead of hating God and serving money as an end in itself: resulting in selfish accumulation of possessions, toys, diversions, entertainments, and pleasures for himself. And a snobby attitude.

FOOLISH AND HARMFUL DESIRES

Gary North, commenting on 1 Timothy 6:9-10, said: “When it says they have erred from the faith it means ‘wandered away.’ They were sidetracked, in other words. They have also pierced themselves with pain, Paul says. These are self-inflicted wounds…Paul is saying that God-fearing people have been deflected from the true faith and have injured themselves, all for the love of money. He is not speaking here of covenant-keepers in general. He has in mind specific people…There are many who pursue riches. Christ made it as clear as possible that the attainment of true riches involves two things: trust in God regarding the availability of capital in history, and trust in the preservation of one’s accumulated treasure in eternity…The covenant-keeper therefore should act consistently in history with what he believes about eternity. He has faith in continuity: charitable giving in this life produces wealth for eternity. Doing with less in history means mansions in eternity” (Hierarchy and Dominion: An Economic Commentary on First Timothy, pp. 173-176).

CHARITABLE GIVING

DOING WITH LESS