You're rich! Did you know that? Before you react with an emphatic "NO!" you need to read the rest of this blog. Now, when I say your rich I don't mean you're rich compared to all of the other people in the United States. Although, you may be if you look at the numbers. Here lately, in the US, there's been an increasing amount of talk about "income inequality". Evidently, there are those who think that the "haves" actually have a disproportionately greater amount than the "have nots". We could argue this all day, although I would point out that as long as there have been material possessions, there have always been those who have had more. There's no way you can get around that. So, when it comes to me saying you're rich, I can't say that with any certainty when comparing you to others in the US. However, according to some recent statistics, if you're an American then compared to the rest of the world you are most certainly rich.
Check this out. America's poorest still live better than many in other countries. In fact, "America's poorest are, as a group, about as rich as India's richest." Let's say you're in the bottom 5% of American's, based on income. Your standard of living is about equal to the top 5% of Indians! Hard to believe? Further, even if you're in the bottom 5% of American's, income wise, you're still richer than 68% of the world's inhabitants! What that means is that if your family income is around $10,000 a year, then you are wealthier than 84% of the world's population. If you're family income is more than $50,000 a year, you make more than 99% of the rest of the world. Seriously, the upshot of all of this is that, unless you are homeless and have no income at all, YOU ARE RICH!!!
Now, I realize this may be hard for us to hear...especially in a nation where we are, all, chasing an American dream that pits us against our neighbors and drives us to be materialistic and self-centered. In fact, we're convinced that we deserve the same things as everyone else around us. That's created an entitlement mentality in our nation. So much so that, now, our nation is handing out free cellphones because everyone deserves to have the basic necessity of a mobile device satisfied. I wonder how much of the other 99% of the world have such a convenience? Anyway, this isn't a rant against handouts...it's actually a rant against all of us who have so much, yet still feel entitled to more!
My point is that, despite the fact that you may not be doing so great a job at keeping up with the Jones', you are definitely pretty far ahead of, at least, 68% of the rest of the world's population and, if you're just an average American you're way ahead of almost everyone else in the world. So, now that we've established the fact that, regardless of how we compare ourselves to other Americans, we are, in fact, rich from a global perspective, lets turn ourselves to a pertinent issue that applies to all of us rich folks.
JAMES has a message for us...you guessed it, right! In chapter 4 of his letter he has some pretty serious words for those he classifies as rich. He cautions them about putting their confidence in wealth. He vividly makes the point that their wealth is going to perish and, if that is where their trust lies, they'll perish right along with it. He echoes something Jesus once said about storing up treasure on earth. Of course, Jesus made a point that one should do just the opposite of that, instead laying up treasure in heaven. In my last blog, I suggested that there is a resource much greater than money...that of time. It's the one resource we can't get back. So, the question that hangs in the air with both Jesus and James is, "What are you spending your time on?" Are you spending all of your time amassing for yourself a little treasure trove of temporary trinkets such as houses, cars, clothes, cash, etc. or are you spending your time amassing for yourself a treasure of eternal worth and significance? Both Jesus and James would say that if you're of the former crowd then you'll find, at the end of the line, that all you have is a temporary treasure...eternity will elude you! All of this is made much the worse if, while indulging in your excess, you have ignored or even mistreated the neglected and the needy in the process. In other words, if you are rich (which we are, remember) and you use the resources God's given you for purely selfish means to please your selfish ambitions while ignoring the need that surrounds you then you "have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter." Sound like a fun day to you? Nah, me either.
So what does this mean? Well, obviously, where you place your trust matters! Regardless of what you may say with your lips, if the pattern of your lifestyle points to the fact that you put more faith in what you have than in who has you then you're in deep trouble my friend! The sad part of all this is that you probably don't even realize how lost you really are! The true believer realizes that riches are just resources to be used for God's Kingdom!
Does this mean that if you're not trying to remedy some of the need and neglect in the world with what you have then you're not a true believer? Does it mean that true salvation is somehow tied to the work of giving? Well, no...and yes. No...giving doesn't save you. In fact, there are more than a few non-believers who out-give believers precisely because they're trying to earn better Karma for themselves. They shouldn't expect eternal life just because they give! What you do with Jesus is what determines your salvation. However, a true believer will find it difficult, impossible even, to self-indulge, all the while, knowingly ignoring the needs of others. I know this to be true because I know who Jesus was and is. He is, by nature, a Giver. In fact, He gave all! What that means is that those who follow Him will do the same. So, a true believer WILL be a giver instead of a taker and, in that way, giving marks a "Christian" as a true believer.
So...surprise...you're filthy rich! You should really thank me for opening your eyes to this fact! The question remains, however...now that you know this, how will it change what you do with all that treasure?
**Articles cited in this blog:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/01/astonishing-numbers-americas-poor-still-live-better-than-most-of-the-rest-of-humanity/
http://www.oregonlive.com/hovde/index.ssf/2012/08/income_in_perspective_americas.html
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