Does God want us to be wealthy?
Luke Humphrey
Transcript
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This is a great question and it’s one that Christians really need to think through. The world assumes that the answer is “Yes.” The world assumes that God wants us to be happy and then we assume that money will lead to happiness, therefore God wants us to be wealthy.
But the actual answer is far more complicated. God does want us to be happy, but money cannot be the source of happiness. In fact the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Going to money as the source of your happiness will not make you happy; it will make you evil. God does want us to be happy, but he is the one who knows what will lead to our joy—and that is himself. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that:
“The chief end [that is, the chief purpose] of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
Our happiness—our joy—comes through glorifying God. So the primary thing that God wants for us is to glorify him and thereby be eternally happy.
So, let’s come back to our question: does God want us to be wealthy? And the answer is not necessarily in this life. God has poured out eternal riches in Christ Jesus that are better than anything that we have in this life. The way Paul writes in Philippians 3 is helpful here:
Philippians 3:7–8 (ESV) — 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…
Paul is willing to count every earthly blessing that he has experienced as rubbish compared to the wealth of Christ. And it’s this perspective that allows for him to write later on in Philippians 4:
Philippians 4:11–13 (ESV) — 11 ... I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Because of Christ’s surpassing worth Paul can be content in plenty and in hunger, in abundance and in need. His happiness is not based upon his wealth but upon glorifying and enjoying God.
God is all powerful, all wise, and all good. In his sovereignty, he sometimes purposes that Christians would be entrusted with significant earthly wealth. They are called to not love money but to love God. In other instances, God purposes that Christians would be born in earthly poverty, raised in earthly poverty, and die in earthly poverty. These Christians are just as capable of experiencing happiness in God because of the surpassing worth of Christ.
At the end of the day, earthly wealth—or the lack earthly wealth—is an opportunity to glorify God and serve other people. Ultimately, God wants us to be happy in him and he gives wealth and withholds wealth so that we would have eternal happiness in God.