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Article Of Faith: Woe To The Rich, By Femi Aribisala - Religion - Nairaland

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Article Of Faith: Woe To The Rich, By Femi Aribisala by fkaz(m): 1:17pm On Dec 30, 2012
The kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims is only for the poor and the needy.
Which is better: to be rich or to be poor?  Jesus’ answer is without ambiguity; according to the dynamics of the kingdom of God, it is better to be poor.  Jesus says: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” (Luke 6:24).  When you bring these ominous words of Jesus to the remembrance of Christians, they attack you as if they were the words of Satan.
It is one of those paradoxes of Christianity that Christians are among those who hate the words of Jesus the most.  Anticipating this, Jesus warns: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38).
Jesus is unrelenting in his attacks on the rich.  In his most damning proclamation, he says: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24).   When Peter heard this, he became completely demoralized.  He complained to Jesus: “See, we have left all and followed you. Therefore what shall we have?” (Matthew 19:27).  However, Jesus had little to offer him in this life but the cross.  The main prize is eternal life in the age to come.
This message that the rich will not enter the kingdom of God is rarely preached in churches.  The usual practice is to give it a non-biblical sugar-coating so as not to offend the rich and those who aspire to be rich.  Some will tell you it means everybody must enter the kingdom by the grace of God.  But Jesus does not talk about everybody; he singles out the rich.  According to him, rich men who are not prepared to give away their wealth on earth cannot inherit the kingdom of God and lay hold on eternal life.  Jesus says: “If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11).
Kingdom for the poor
Christians need to be told the truth: the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims is only for the poor and the needy.  Therefore, he says specifically: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20).  James reiterates this: “God (has) chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love Him.” (James 2:5).  This implies in plain commonsense: God has not chosen the rich.
Indeed, the gospel itself is essentially for the poor.  In declaring his ministry, Jesus said: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” (Luke 4:18).  What about the rich?  John says they are appointed to wrath. (Revelations 6:15-17).  James says they will be humiliated. (James 1:10-11).  Mary says: “The rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:53).  Jesus says: “Many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:30).
Since the rich are the first in this world and the poor the last; that means the rich will become last and the poor first.  That is kingdom dynamics.  “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low.” (Luke 3:5).
God despises the rich
No matter how hard you search, you will not find any good news for the rich in the bible.  Instead, Amos says: “Woe to those lounging in luxury at Jerusalem and Samaria.” (Amos 6:1).  Neither will you find any biblical instance of anybody coming into wealth as a result of righteous living.  The general assumption is that wealth is ill-gotten by the rich.
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