Can A Rich Man Get Into Heaven?
On the matter of Jesus and money, there are three types of people in the world.
1. The first group of people have no idea what Jesus said about money, and they don't care to know.
2. People who care profoundly about what Jesus said about money and do their best to be obedient to those words.
3. The third group are people who know what Jesus said about money and wish they didn't.
Here is an example of the third type of person. I was at a seminar about creating a millionaire mindset. After a break, I was returning to my seat when I saw one of the students talking with the speaker. As I got closer, I heard the student ask: "How can you say it is good to be rich? Jesus said that a rich man can't get into Heaven."
Of all of the words of Jesus about money, the comment about the rich man is probably the most misquoted and misunderstood. If I were to pick the one Bible that creates more guilt about money than any other, it would be this one. This verse creates fear in people who think that they have to choose between salvation and being rich.
The story of the rich man occurs three times in the Bible. In each case, Jesus talked about a rich man and the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, Jesus did not say that a rich man can't get into Heaven. This means that the upset student at the seminar had misquoted the story. And by confusing the Kingdom of Heaven with Heaven, he had missed the real point of the story.
The Kingdom of Heaven concerns the economic reality of people alive on planet Earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the same as Heaven.
What is the best way to liberate people from such misunderstanding? The only way is to put the words of Jesus into context. What did the words mean in the context of the story? And what did the story mean in the context of the economic system?
If you don't put these words into context, you can spend a lifetime feeling guilty about wanting to have money. This seemed to be what happened to the man at the seminar. The first reason for his inner conflict was that he didn't even have the words right. He was stuck in the "Eye of the Needle" about money because he had missed the real point of the story.
When Jesus told the story, he was condemning an unjust economic system because it created poverty. He didn't say that the rich cannot get into Heaven and he didn't say that the only way to get into Heaven is to be poor.
What if most of what you were taught about Jesus and money is not biblical? Don't let misunderstood words of Jesus block you from enjoying an abundant life.
This and other unique content Jesus and money articles are available with free reprint rights.
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