What did Jesus really teach about wealth and poverty? Perhaps you think that Jesus discouraged wealth and promoted a lifestyle of poverty and self-denial. Perhaps you believe that Jesus encouraged wealth, as many prosperity gospel advocates assume. Or, maybe you fall somewhere in-between.
The answer to this question matters because it gets to the very heart of who Jesus is — and what the Bible as a whole teaches about wealth and poverty. So let’s examine Christ’s life and ministry in the Gospels and seek to find an answer.
Establishing a detailed ethic of wealth and poverty from the example of Christ’s life is actually quite challenging, for it is possible to emphasize both wealth and poverty in Jesus’ life and ministry. Focusing on poverty, you could emphasize the following facts:
- Jesus was born in a manger (see Luke 2:7), and he was part of a lower, or at best, middle-class working family.
- Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, was a manual laborer — a carpenter (see Matt. 13:55), a trade that Christ himself apparently later adopted (see Mark 6:3).
- At Jesus’ birth Joseph and Mary were poor enough to qualify to offer two pigeons at the birth purification ceremony, rather than the usual yearling lamb (see Luke 2:24).
- During his earthly ministry, Jesus attended to and identified with many from the lower classes — including prostitutes, orphans, widows, and other social and economic outcasts.
- He declared that “foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). This verse was true of Christ’s life, as during his ministry he apparently had no home, no land and no regular income.
- Borrowing was a common practice during Jesus’ earthly ministry — he borrowed a boat from which to preach, food to multiply, a colt on which to ride, a room in which to meet and even a tomb in which to be buried.
Conversely, though, the Gospels demonstrate power and material wealth in Jesus’ life and ministry.
- Jesus frequently interacted with the religious elite, such as scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, as well as members of the Sanhedrin, including Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (see John 3:1-21; 19:38).
- Christ also ministered to powerful and wealthy individuals like the rich young ruler (see Matt. 19:16-24), the unnamed centurion (see Luke 7:1-5) and a number of tax collectors, including Levi and Zacchaeus.
- Jesus occasionally attended public parties and feasts (see Luke 5:29-32; John 2:1-11), accepted invitations to dine with the rich and powerful (see Luke 11:37; 14:1-6), used investment banking analogies in order to illustrate His parables (see Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27), and on more than one occasion, graciously received costly gifts from his followers (see Luke 7:36-39; John 12:1-3).
- By Jesus’ own testimony, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Matt 11:19).
- Moreover, Jesus taught that “there is no one who has left house… or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time… and in the age to come…” (Mark 10:29-30). Though this verse has surely been misapplied and abused, Jesus did seem to allude to the possibility of material increase for his disciples.
We would have a difficult time demonstrating that Jesus favored either the possession of wealth or a state of poverty in his practice and teaching, at least not to the exclusion of the opposing condition. In fact, though economic matters frequently arose in Christ’s life and ministry, he gave no systematic, detailed economic plan to his followers. Rather, Jesus’ example and teachings on wealth and poverty are wide-ranging, and the Gospel writers usually emphasize their spiritual impact. The economic citations from Christ’s life and ministry are, in fact, often peripheral to the main point of the narratives in which they occur.
Nevertheless, we can summarize the main emphases of Jesus’ economic ethic from his teaching. Here are two key themes:
1. Believers must care for the poor.
The creation ideal of laboring is not stressed in the Gospels, but the Old Testament emphasis on caring for the poor is readily apparent in the ministry of Christ. Poverty itself is not presented in the Gospels — or anywhere in Scripture, for that matter — as being inherently sinful. During his incarnation, Jesus was relatively poor, at times voluntarily so, yet was without sin (see 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). However, the Bible does recognize the causes and effects of poverty to be oftentimes sinful. Therefore, believers ought to work to alleviate involuntary poverty, for doing so is both Christlike and in accord with the gospel.
Note that Jesus began his ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. (Luke 4:18)
During his earthly ministry, this verse was Christ’s example. When believers care for the poor, they imitate Jesus and in doing so effectively minister to him (see Matt. 25:31-46). Such ministry is a fulfillment and depiction of God’s plan of redemption, which aims at the restoration of all things (see Acts 3:21; Rom. 8:21), including proper stewardship over material resources. While there will always be involuntary poverty before the return of the Lord (see Mark 14:7), laboring in order to meet the needs of the poor is a duty of members of the body of Christ.
2. Wealth can be a spiritual stumbling block.
Believers need to be on guard against the temptations of material wealth. This emphasis complements the notion of caring for the poor, for if wealth is not idolized, then ministering to the needy becomes a natural application of right stewardship. This theme is evident in one of Jesus’ most well-known economic statements — his reflection upon interacting with the rich, young, ruler:
Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 19:23)
Contextually, I don’t think Jesus intended to make a univocal statement about the necessary evils of material wealth. Rather, he was evaluating the character of the rich, young ruler — a man whose actions showed that he valued material status above his own spiritual well-being.
Jesus also inferred that wealth can be a potential spiritual stumbling block when he traveled about Israel calling his disciples. They voluntarily left their material goods in order to follow him (see Matt. 19:27; Mark 1:18; 10:28). This appears to be a prerequisite, of sorts, for all of Jesus’ followers, for when instructing a great crowd outside of Jerusalem, Christ taught,
Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)
We can find numerous examples of individuals in the Gospels for whom wealth was a spiritual stumbling block, including:
- the Pharisees “who were lovers of money” (Luke 16:14)
- the money changers in the temple (see Matt. 21:12-13)
- Judas Iscariot (see Matt. 26:14-16; John 12:4-6)
Yet we shouldn’t interpret Jesus’ warnings about the trappings of wealth as a complete ban on the accumulation and enjoyment of material goods. As already noted, in his life and ministry Christ himself benefited from the wealth of others and even instructed his disciples in the use of material goods for their own spiritual pursuits (see Luke 22:35-36). Wealthy individuals — including Zacchaeus and Joseph of Arimathea — followed Jesus. Others — such as the Gerasene demoniac — desired to leave all in order to follow Jesus, but were prohibited from doing so by Christ himself (see Mark 5:18-19).
Jesus’ warning about wealth being a spiritual stumbling block are given as a sobering admonition, but they should not be broadened beyond their intended application. Perhaps a good summary of this economic theme in Jesus’ teaching are his words in the Sermon on the Mount:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven …for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21)
This post is a modified excerpt of Dr. Jones’ book Health, Wealth and Happiness.
Jesus never taught with money as a subject. He often used money, wealth and poverty as illustration to the true subject at hand. I’ve not found any case where Jesus truly taught on money. The closest He comes is Mark 12:41-44.
To conflate the issue by taking materialism and calling it the ‘prosperity gospel’ is to confuse the matter even more. Jesus himself advocated fruitfulness and blessings. If it’s more blessed to give than to receive explain how being poor and not being able to give is a blessing. Besides, American Christians with 2-3 cars in the driveway, hot/cold running water, 3-4 bedroom houses, central heat and air, 2 weeks supply of food in the pantry, drinking sodas and eating candy bars and spending $100 to go to a baseball/football game, and then trying to virtue signal by condemning prosperity is the height of hypocrisy. The scriptural ignorance is astounding seeing as the people who write these books bashing God’s promise of prosperity have been to school for over 8 years studying theology.
Wow! I never honestly thought of it thay way. Thank you for that. But I will say that being either prosperous materialy or in poverty; neither is a rule in the Chritian life. Should we be prosperous, should we be poor, should we be somewhere in the middle? The answer is that it depends what God wants for the individual. But there is no general rule.
I believe God certainly wants particular believers to be rich – for as you so well pointed out, how can anyone give and be charitable and care for the poor. But i also believe that He wants certain believers to be poor because maybe that’s the only way to humble them for their sanctification. And of course others to just be well-off.
But to say that denying oneself is the same as giving everything away is not a rule nor what Jesus is explicitly saying. He’s really addressing the heart and not actual possessions or position. He never told Joseph to give everything away for how would he of ever been able to afford the very tomb our Lord was buried. It’s all about who your heart declares is your master. So ya, depending on what God wants for your life you can still pursue that profitable job, but when the Lord is your master – enjoy what He has given but don’t make the thing given your master, deny it in the face of who should really be your master. I’ll leave with a good exmple from a movie called Chariots of fire. Eric Liddell deticated his life to not just running but to being the greatest runner in the world and Olympic gold. His life was permiated with running and racing and competing. He was very prosperous and famous which alliwed him a platform to not only show God’s glory to all who saw him win, but to preach the good news – and they listened. This was prosperity, this was good. But God took number one priorty in his life, not running and racing. When he was next called upon to put racing aside, after he had achieved great heights in the sport, and go be a missionary in China where he would later be killed, he answered the masters call. God wanted him to be prosperous, at least for a time. When Jesus said deny yourseld and leave all things behind, He meant give up on making yourself the master of your life and whatever possessions you had to either give it away or keep it and use it to further the Kingdom.
Marc you said: believe God certainly wants particular believers to be rich – for as you so well pointed out, how can anyone give and be charitable and care for the poor. But i also believe that He wants certain believers to be poor because maybe that’s the only way to humble them for their sanctification. And of course others to just be well-off. What scripture are you basing this believe on? God is not a Respecter of person.
Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
This promise belongs to every believer who makes Jesus there saviour.
Any Christian leader who accumulates wealth while a single person goes hungry or homeless or sick due lack of money for medication is a hypocrite if the worst kind. They are like whitewashed tombs. . . beautiful on the outside but rotten inside.
Hi all. I think there is something fundamentally misguided about a pastor asking a congregation to help him raise USD 65M to buy a second private jet to be used to transport him to preach about Christ who borrowed a boat to preach,borrowed fish and bread to multiply to feed the congregation and kept nothing for himself, a Christ who did not have a single humble home to his name, a Christ who was even burried in a borrowed tomb, a Christ who specifically instructs us not to store our wealth on earth,for where our wealth is there will our hearts also be. We need to get back to the place where we prayerfully and honestly can discuss the adage: What Would Jesus Do/Say? The only way is to be able to distinguish between sound doctrine and the hogwash the televangelist spew on a daily basis. The only way to be able to distinguish between doctrines is to go back and study the word for our selves in order to find the truth and therefore find the true way to the Father. Jesus is the Word.Jesus Christ is the Word.And He is the Truth.And He is the Way. Lets study Christ.His character,His words.His actions as recorded in his word the bible. Then we will not struggle to tell light from darkness.Truth from mis/disinformation.
wait, so you think jesus wouldnt appreciate someone using his name to enrich himself personally?
Care for the poor
What about scriptures like blessed are the poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Woe unto you who are rich you had your consolation. Jesus comforted the poor and did not say that the rich will not have the kingdom of God.
the perfect will of God is that all believers be like Jesus who made himself poor in order to make others rich the kenosis, anything short of this is compromised disobedience. the saints in Abrahams bosom were just men not made perfect and joseph of arimathea was a secret disciple who didn’t confess Jesus before men. the poverty gospel is sola scrptura
I think that if someone doesn’t give serious personal reflection concerning themselves and “wealth”…whatever that may represents to them, their interest in salvation through the sacrifice of Christ is at best, superficial, and at worst, hypocritical.
I think having too much money or too little money has nothing to do with real happiness in life that comes only when Holy Spirit ignites the feelings within us when we believe in Jesus Christ. This is what I think when someone talking about so called rich people, in reality, their money is obviously sitting in the banks proving livelihood to so many bank employees. Money is being used by all humans in one way or the other as long as it is not buried under the earth or burnt by fire. It is humans immaturity to believe that money can fill the emptiness of ones heart the way Holy Spirit can. My understanding of life is that I work enough to stay mentally and physically healthy and can’t wait to be with Jesus Christ in eternity. He clearly says what is seem is temporary and what is unseen is eternal. Now, I am 40 and it’s been very tough experiences to get to this level of understanding and I only feel good for about 100 days out of 365 days in a year. And I am sometimes feel glad that my son doesn’t have to go through this roller coaster ride in life since I choose not to bring him into this world I call animal kingdom. I can go on and on but …….
As concerning the Word of life, Luke 10 section 25-28 says: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Luke 18 section 18-25 says: A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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 5 section 43-48 says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In Old Testament, the Jewish people and their ancestors were given the Law to observe. First, What Adam and Eve should observe was that they could not eat the fruits from the tree of wisdom. Then, their son Cain was told that he should not kill. As sins became increased, the laws were also added more. Up to the generation of Moses, the Law in Old Testament was given to Israelites. We know that the Law is good and the Law is used to punish people who commit sins, but people cannot obey the Law because the sinful spirits are in people. Even that we know stealing and giving false testimony are sinful, but greedy and pride spirits in us drive us to do sinful things. So as Old Testament prophesied we need to get rid of our sinful nature from our spirits.
Jeremiah 31 section 31-33 says: “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Ezekiel 36 section 24-27 says: “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
The prophecies are fulfilled when Jesus begins to teach love. The two greatest commandments are ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Love is above the Law and if people have love they are free from the law of sin and death. If people who are full of love will not think about stealing or giving false testimony but feed hungry people or give thirsty people something to drink or invite strangers in or clothe people who need clothes. The Law is for people who commit sins. Nobody will say that he will get reward because he does not steal before. But love is the grace we get. And with love we will get eternal life.
Romans 13 section 8-10 says: Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Luke 17 section 20-21 says: Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say,’ Here it is,’ or ‘ There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
John 4 section 23-24 says: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”