Can you be a rich Christian?

Capitalism is Perfect if appropriate regulations allows people who are willing to give it a go share in the spoils. Riches are fine and just reward if attained in legitimate and honest circumstances. A rich person who steals, deceives, lies, murders, exploits etc etc will obviously find themselves in a bit of a dilemma.

 

That's correct. But poor is not relative. If we take Jesus' teachings as he said, we might be able to say rich is really anyone who is not poor, since his whole ethos was about good will and altruism to those who are worse off than ourselves.

 

Jesus said quite a few things about wealth.

A simple fact the conservatives seem to ignore.... well that and close to the entire New Testament.

 

Codswallop - it means exactly what it says. You have given absolute power to your rich, and the result is the power of the Anti-Christ, as you must know. Look at their fruits: shock, awe, corruption, racist filth and child-murder.

 

But they all do!

 

lol.....you're just anti-american!!

 

Reading that scripture in isolation of what Jesus said after can give the impression that one cannot be a wealthy Christian. It is not God's intention for Christians to be poor. Even though the word Christian did not exist when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive, they were men of God and they were not poor. Its not money that is the problem that Jesus was talking about, it was the attitude of the rich man that was the problem......a poor Christian cannot help anyone. When some Christians seek wealth they don't do so with the intention of using it for the benefit of others but to serve themselves. But God expect His people to use whatever He gives them to honor Him and to bless others.

 

Can you be a rich Christian?

No

Can you be a rich Jew?

Yes........God holds Christians to higher spiritual standards than their Jewish cousins and distant relatives.

 

Where does it say in the Bible that it is wrong for a Christian to be rich? God does not have a double standard.


3 John 1:2 (ASV)
2 Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

 

Christians are not supposed to be rich. True Christians are supposed to hold all things in common. http://www.thebricktestament.com/acts_of_the_apostles/accept_communism_or_die/ac04_32p34-35.html

When you see a rich person who calls himself a Christian you are looking at someone who isn't a real Christian.

 

Abraham was rich...

... he had so many cattle an' sheep he an' Lot had to seperate...

... so's their herdsmen would'nt be gettin' into it alla time...

... an' look at Noah...

... he had this humongous yacht...

... that he used as a floatin' zoo.

 

The Bible says those who are of faith are children of Abraham. So all the blessings and rights of Abraham were passed on to Christians, if only they were willing to believe and act accordingly.

 

What a silly post. If we believe Paul and his listing of the Fruits of the Spirit, your three media moguls certainly don't remotely fit the bill, and there are countless numbers of wealthy liberals making enormous contributions to mankind.
This is simply the result of a poster who proudly announces himself to be a "hater" in his screen name. Not a trait that would give me great confidence in your Christian commitment or expertise.

 

A poor Christian can not help anyone?
Don't tell Mother Theresa!

 

They were Jews. Stick to the question.

 

Doesn't that seem to you total nonsense? What sense can it possibly make? The rich, as you know, are (*)(*)(*)(*)ed, and Judaism has nothing to do with it.

 

If she was wealthy she would have been able to help countless more.......what she did is just a drop in the bucket if she was not poor. Jesus never taught poverty as a sign of righteousness and neither did the apostles.

But it’s not just being wealthy in terms of money, its also being free from the 9 to 5 shackle of working for someone that Christians are to be free from. The apostles not only worked for themselves, which freed them to preach the gospel, but the retirement age was around age 40, so one would still be young enough to be able to travel and preach the gospel. It’s the reason why they were so effective in the spreading of the Church and the gospel. Today, most Christians are slaves of their employer and are unable to do what Christians were able to do back then.

 

The New Convenient and Judaism cannot mix and Abraham did not practice Judaism, which is why Jesus told the Pharisees that they were children of Satan, rather than Abraham's seed.

 

Actually, poverty was a positive good. He instructed people to work with their hands, to leave their homes with nothing but their sandals and their robe and go out and preach the good news. I have never heard anyone denegrate Mother Theresa for her poverty. You are a first, and I pray the last.
And the lifespan was about 40. Retirement didn't exist.

 

The Bible does it say that working with one's hands mean they must be poor. There is a difference between making a living for one's personal need and doing God's work of preaching the gospel…..Jesus is saying the they must trust God for what they need to get the job of preaching the gospel.


Jesus preached the gospel but He was not poor....the world was His wealth. So much so that He paid tax for Himself and His disciple, by telling one of them to catch a fish and he would find enough money in the fish's mouth for them to pay the tax. Not even the richest person in the world could do that.

That is not the point.....the point is Jesus never said it was a sin to be rich.....if it was, then God would be sinning since He has infinite wealth. Even the City that God will make for His children will be made of transparent gold and the street also made of gold and very large pearls will decorate the gates.

That is what you think.

 

It isn't what I think. It is the reality of the times. Look it up. Don't be afraid.
More is said in the bible about the poor and the dangers of riches than almost any other topic. You can look that up too.

 

First the physical then the spiritual. This is the difference between old and new testament. Everything was demonstrated in a physical sense in the old testament. Christians tend to confuse the 2. Riches in the spiritual sense is what God is talking about when referring to streets paved with gold? "Do not lay up your treasures on earth, for where your treasure is your heart is also". This is quite straight forward: it is fine to have riches but if the variables of the sinful nature define you and your riches then you may not fit in the "eye of the needle". Lies, deceit, greed, lack of compassion are just a few that are strong traits of riches. Robin Hood had the right idea....lol! It is obviously a fine line between being rich and making it to heaven, therefore Jesus quote about the eye of the needle.

 

I don't need to look up something that I already know.

That is not true. But the point is its not the wealth that is the heart of some of the rich, it is there attitude. If wealth was a sin, God would have made it a command not to have any. King Solomon was the riches king in Israel, because God gave him wisdom, and the reason why he got that wisdom was because he had the right attitude. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom and the rest will be added. Putting our priorities in order makes the difference.

 

Since your fear prevents you from serious study, I'll supply one citation. I can provide as many as you like.

http://tch995319.tch.www.quora.com/...disciples-reportedly-at-the-time-of-his-death

 

Average does not mean the maximum and it does not specify what would be the cause of the average person living only to 35. It does not specify if these people were poor or rich or in-between. One reason could be death caused by war or being killed as a result of an invasion or even persecution, drowned at sea as a result of ship wreck or a storm(since people had no need of a passport to travel, there is no doubt that many lost their lives at sea in their travel by sea to do trade or migrate) or even due to robbers on a lonely road, which Paul was robed several times in his mission to preach the gospel. But the fact still is there were people who live above the average 35 and those did and were self-employed retired around age 40+.