Command The Rich

Command those who are rich in the present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:17–21)

The Scriptures have much to say to rich people—and that is a word for us, because we happen to be very, very rich, even if we don't see it.

The Rich Young Ruler

In the Gospels there is a well-known story, recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. A young man came running to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked an important question: "Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17). Putting the accounts together, we learn this man was young, rich, and a ruler—and it is highly likely he held his position and possessions by inheritance, not by his own efforts at such a young age.

So his question is intriguing. Everything he had came to him in a will, but this good teacher was talking about something he did not have. He effectively bows before Jesus and says, "What do I have to do to get into your will? I want what you have."

Jesus answers, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God." Then he lists the commandments—do not commit adultery, murder, steal, bear false witness, defraud; honor your father and mother. The young man makes an audacious claim: "All these I have kept since my youth." Jesus does not argue. Mark says, "Looking at him, He loved him," and said, "One thing you lack: go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up your cross and follow me."

How Hard It Is for the Rich

But the man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus turned to his disciples, who had left everything to follow him, and said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were astonished, because in their worldview riches equaled God's blessing. That hasn't changed much—plenty of people today look at worldly wealth and figure, "Hashtag blessed; of course they're going to heaven."

I went to Mark's Gospel because it adds a line. After the disciples' astonishment, Jesus says, "How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 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." Not because he has riches, but because of the great temptation to trust in those riches. They asked, "Who then can be saved?" And Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Laying Hold of Eternal Life

That man came looking to lay hold of eternal life—a phrase that appears twice in our passage. Last week we saw Paul exhort Timothy to "lay hold of eternal life." That does not mean earning or striving for it. God gives it as we put our trust in him for salvation. It is promised in eternity, but Jesus wants us to experience it now. As he said in John, "I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." We are not in suspended animation merely waiting for Jesus to return; we can experience the peace, joy, and blessing of eternal life now.

Is there anything you would rather securely lay hold of than eternal life? It has been called one of the first desires of the soul—to live on and on. Billions of dollars flow into life-extension programs today. Yet I have to confess that, looking at my life day to day, laying hold of eternal life does not always appear to be my chief passion. I have a divided heart. I want God's blessing and presence, yet so many other things entice my desires. I feel like a desire factory, churning out desire all day long.

A Seven-Figure Reminder

Theologically I know that godliness with contentment is great gain, and that the love of money is a snare—like a tempting piece of meat over a trap for a lion. Yet I still find envy and covetousness in my own heart. Last Wednesday a good friend in another state texted me for godly counsel. When I called, he said, "Out of the blue I got an unsolicited job offer for a seven-figure salary." My first thought was, "Is it illegal? Is it immoral? No? Then take it!" But he was genuinely struggling and wanted God's wisdom.

After we prayed, I found myself thinking, "Seven figures—that's amazing." That's why people play the lottery. I felt the pull, even though I will almost certainly never see a seven-figure income, and most of you won't either. But here's the real problem: I already have great wealth—significant riches that can already be a snare and have a devastating grip on me. I can be blind to how much I have, and ungrateful for it.

A Mirror, Not a Microscope

When we read "command those who are rich," we fall into a fallacy: "This isn't for me; it's for the other guy." Then we use it to judge other people—and we are very good at judging. Even people who never read the Bible quote, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1). But Jesus said more: "With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.… First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

I once took a biblical counseling class built on this very passage. Before you give counsel, remove the plank from your own eye. My flesh is inclined toward comfort, so when I hit a convicting passage like this one, I instinctively shine the spotlight on the "wicked one-percenters." So point one: use the Bible as a mirror, not a microscope. James warns us not to look into the mirror of God's Word and then walk away and forget what we saw.

A Reality Check

Here is the mirror. If you own more clothing than what you are wearing right now, you are in the top 25% of wealth holders in the world. If you drove here in a vehicle you own, and live in a place with running, drinkable water—even though you'd rather pay six dollars a gallon for bottled water—you are in the top 15%. If you made more than fifty thousand dollars last year, you are in the top 0.31% of wealth holders in the world.

Remember Occupy Wall Street—young Millennials with thousand-dollar phones tweeting "down with the 1%"? The irony is that we are the 1%. So when this passage says "command those who are rich in the present age," that is us. God has something to say to us here.

Do Not Be Haughty

The first command is that the rich "not be haughty"—proud, or high-minded. We say, "That's not us." But have you ever looked at someone who doesn't have what you have and thought, "They need to get their act together; if they worked a little harder they'd get ahead"? If so, we've fallen into the snare of being high-minded with our riches. Point two: the mirror of God's Word exposes my concealed pride.

And what foolishness this pride is. My wife and I have worked hard, but certainly no harder than the farmer in East Africa, or the textile worker in Indonesia earning thirty-nine cents an hour. I am the recipient of what's been called the lottery of life—the "postcode lottery." Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men of all time, says anything he gained came because he was born at the right time and place. That's a humble acknowledgment.

This is nothing new. Three thousand years ago Solomon observed, "The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle, the wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy.… It is all decided by chance and by being in the right place at the right time" (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NLT). There's a danger of falling into fatalism, as Solomon did—"it's all vanity." But there is real truth in recognizing how much of what we have is simply being in the right place at the right time.

Misplaced Trust

The command continues: do not "trust in uncertain riches." Point three: in the mirror I see my misplaced—or displaced—trust. At its core, that is what the Bible calls idolatry. In 21st-century America, what is idolized more than money and wealth?

Paul calls these "uncertain riches"—ultimately untrustworthy. We're tempted to trust them because we think security is found there, but when you peel it back, that security is about as reliable as those little chain locks on doors—my nine-year-old could defeat one in a second and a half—or those late-night TV scissors that cut through anything. We saw this in the financial collapse of 2008. For years people put their hope in their mutual funds and home equity, and then, just like that, it was gone.

Trust in the Living God

Does this mean we shouldn't save or invest? No. It means we don't trust in uncertain riches "but in the living God." Amazingly, Paul says don't put your hope in what's tangible—our "tangible assets"—but in the unseen, Living God. There is more danger in trusting tangible assets than in trusting the intangible, unseen God, "who gives us richly all things to enjoy."

Point four: the truly rich acknowledge God's blessing for all that they enjoy. If everything you enjoy were the product of your own ingenuity, tenacity, and determination, then it would make perfect sense to be haughty, envious, greedy, miserly, and unthankful. But here's something I've observed: you cannot be happy while being greedy, envious, and high-minded. Those don't go together with joy. That's why so many people have so much and yet so little happiness. Gallup has tracked daily happiness for over thirty years, and it rises and falls with the Dow Jones.

But if you acknowledge God as the source and sustainer of all you possess, you will enjoy the blessing he has provided. Note that he "gives us richly all things to enjoy." Some Christians live as if enjoying what they have is wrong—but that's not what Scripture says. You can enjoy God's blessings if you acknowledge him as the giver, stay humble, and remain charitable. If you recognize that you own none of it—you are simply a steward of what he has placed under your care—you'll be more humble, grateful, and generous, and less covetous and greedy.

Rich in Good Works

Paul continues: command them to "do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." Point five: enduring blessing is found in giving as you have been given.

Recall the rich young ruler. The Scripture says he went away sorrowful because he had much wealth. That word "had" is important—what he had was keeping him from what Jesus had for him. By clutching it so tightly, it became the only thing he would ever have, until he was willing to hold it with an open hand and accept Jesus' wonderful call: "Come, follow me," the source of all blessing and joy.

This brings us to a slightly altered Peter Parker principle: with great blessing comes great responsibility. Everyone knows John 3:16—"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." But do you know 1 John 3:16? "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Verse 17 is challenging: "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" And 2 Corinthians 8 says Christ was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. That is the pattern he calls us to.

Storing Up for the Time to Come

The church at Ephesus had gone off course. It was a wealthy trade city, and likely some had become high-minded, trusting their riches rather than the Living God. So Paul says to exhort them to "store up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come."

I think there are two ways to read this. Certainly it means storing up for eternity. Jesus taught that this life is not all there is; in Matthew 6 he urged us to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," where they are more secure. But I think Paul also means a time to come in this life. The generous person who gives freely when they have much will be generously blessed by others—and blessed when they have little, because riches are uncertain. As Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over… For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." It's striking that he uses identical words about judgment and about giving.

A Word Against the Prosperity Gospel

It is providential that the final word is verses 20–21: "O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding… what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith." One of the biggest exports of American Christianity over the last fifty years has been the so-called prosperity gospel. It falsely claims the knowledge of Scripture, pointing to verses like "give and it shall be given to you," teaching that God reigns in heaven purely for your pleasure and enjoyment in this life. They can cite chapter and verse, but the heart behind it is wrong.

We must take heed: we who are rich are not to be high-minded or to trust in uncertain riches, but in the Living God, who has richly blessed us with all things to enjoy—because he wants us to be rich in good works. May it be that your greatest net worth is your net worth of good works, so that people will see them and glorify your Father in heaven. And note carefully: this is "so that you will lay hold on eternal life"—not earn it. You do not earn eternal life by good works; Jesus earned it. But walk as Jesus walked, who gave and gave to the uttermost. That is what he calls us to.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank you for your Word. It is challenging, but it is good. All Scripture is given by inspiration from you and is useful for doctrine; it shows what is right and true, and in doing so it exposes our error, rebukes and reproves us, but also corrects us and brings us back to righteousness. The church at Ephesus had gone off course, and in some ways our hearts and minds can be off course too. So God, cause your Word to set us right. When we leave this room, may we not simply be distracted by jelly-filled or chocolate-covered doughnuts, but think on these things. Transform us. We thank you for the blessings you have given; we richly enjoy them. But help us see that every good and perfect gift comes from you, and that there will be a day when I give an account for how I've used what you've given me. Help me to be rich in good works for your name's sake.

We thank you that on this day, nearly two thousand years ago, you birthed your church and gave the gift of your Holy Spirit. Pour out your Spirit freshly upon us, your church, and empower us to walk in these things and to share the good news of your grace. We pray for the event tonight with Franklin Graham; fill him and his team with your supernatural grace and power, and draw people to yourself through the proclamation of the gospel. Make us lights to a dark world wherever you take us this week. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, may He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. In Jesus' name, amen.