Sadly Self-Sufficient
A center of trade, the first century city of Laodicea was known for its wealth. Once shaken to pieces by an earthquake, its people famously rebuilt the city without any external financial aid from Rome.
To the outside world, they seemed the picture of prosperity. So the message John the apostle was charged to give the church of Laodicea is jarring:
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
- Revelation 3:15-19 (NLT)
The people if Laodicea had everything, but their lived-out faith was anemic. In God’s eyes, they were poor in the ways that matter.
One reason it’s hard to live in the Kingdom of God as a rich person (Matt 19:24) is because money tends to give us a false sense of self-sufficiency.
If we keep or spend much of the money we earn, we can start to think we are the ones providing for ourselves. We easily forget or altogether dismiss our need for the God who created everything we have.
The people who are most at home in God’s Kingdom are the humble in heart: children, the poor in spirit, the repentant. They are aware of their neediness in a way that a rich, prosperous, successful person can be blind to.
When we are not humbled in any way by our circumstances, there is a real danger that we will not be humbled at all.
We may find ourselves trapped in an illusion that we are “self-made” people, when indeed--no matter how much success we attempt to attribute to our hard work--we are not. Thus, the more money we have, the more intention it takes to live in the Kingdom of God.
Is there a place in scripture where Jesus says it is better to be a rich person in the Kingdom of God? I struggle to find one.
Rather, he frequently warns of wealth's ability to distract us from life in the Kingdom of God. (Luke 12:15)
The point is not to demonize money, but to acknowledge the power it can have to distract us from a truly rich life. Wealth is more often a great hindrance to our faith than a great aid.
How can we best live in God’s Kingdom with our money?
This is a hard question not because it has a hard answer, but because it has an answer most of us do not want to hear.
The first step is to remember our money is his money.
He invites us to join the restoring and healing work he’s doing in this world by using the resources he’s given us to build his kingdom rather than our own.
Instead of insulating ourselves with stockpiles like the rich fool (Luke 12: 16-21) or falling in love with our possessions like the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22), we invest in God’s kingdom.
In the process of opening up our wallets to God, we learn to open the rest of our lives to him.
The more we learn to depend on God, the closer we grow to him. The closer we grow to him, the more like Jesus we become.