Idols Of Wealth

Idols of Wealth

Read: Mark 10:17-27

“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Mark 10:23

“That to which your heart clings is your god.”

—Martin Luther

IN WORD Jesus has harsh things to say about wealth. “Woe to you who are rich,” He says in Luke 6:24. “You cannot serve both God and Money,” He says in Matthew 6:24. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” He says in Luke 12:15. He tells parables that cast a bad light on the wealthy (the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, for example). And here in Mark 10, He tells His disciples that “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” (v. 25).

Many of us who read these verses are incredibly wealthy, by worldwide standards, and so we spiritualize them. Jesus is really talking about those who place their hope in riches, we determine. And because we know that salvation is a matter of the heart and not of the bank account, we are right to do so. But we miss an important lesson if we dismiss these warnings too quickly.

The lesson is this: There is false worship in every human heart, and Jesus knows that all of it has some component of wealth. We either seek wealth and materialism as an idol in itself, or we have other idols that we cannot support without more money (approval of others, achievement, education, lifestyles, hobbies, food, fashion, etc.). Almost any idol we can conceive of revolves around money as its object or for its sustenance. And when we harbor such idols, the kingdom of God is like the eye of a needle to us. We just can’t fit.

IN DEED What idols grip your heart? Whatever they are, cut off their supply. They are fed by wealth, and they consume the kingdom’s resources, giving nothing of substance in return. If we are to live as kingdom citizens, we must turn our hearts toward kingdom purposes. Our wealth, our time, our abilities—all resources God has given us—must be invested in lasting goals. Our treasure will be where our heart is. And our hearts are in the kingdom.