Being Rich in the Modern World

When I was young, in the middle of the last century, there was a television show called “The Millionaire.” As the years have passed, I have never seen the show in reruns, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

The episodes all had the common thread of a rich man finding a person or family in need and sending his agent to deliver a check for a million dollars. Back then, it was a rarity for anyone rich enough to have a million dollars or more at their disposal. It was fun to watch the reactions of the various recipients and how their newfound wealth would impact their lives.

The Growth of Consumerism

Growing up post-World War II, when televisions began to be a fixture in most living rooms, scores of commercials were welcomed into our homes every fifteen minutes or so to entice us to buy products and services. As a result, the number of possessions per household grew commensurately. New appliances, designed to make daily life easier and more enjoyable, were showcased as “must haves” to “keep up with the Joneses.” Unfortunately, our new black-and-white TV almost immediately became outdated when color models were introduced.

A new age of consumerism, fueled by innovation, technology, and advertising, went into “warp speed” and has not looked back. The result has been an accumulation of personal possessions never seen before in human history.

Forming Attachments

Possessions, especially valuable ones, can significantly increase a person’s net worth and social status. Attachments form as a result and, consequently, become hard to sever. Selling or giving away items you no longer want or need is one thing, but parting with things with monetary or sentimental value is quite another. Additionally, attachments can form around habits involving thoughts, words, and deeds that can be difficult to break. The following pericope punctuates how difficult it is for “one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven”:

Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:16-24)

Being rich in ancient Palestine involved possessing productive land and livestock and carefully managing those assets. Accumulating wealth over a lifetime and then passing it on to the next generation was the province of a tiny percentage of the population. There was no “middle class” as such, just the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Today, in the modern world, things are very different. Gainful employment, appropriately managed, can provide savings over time that can be used for retirement as well as for future generations.

The Rich Fool

Care must be taken to avoid allocating too much time and energy to provide enough to “eat, drink and be merry” for many years with money still left over to bequeath. The man who wanted to build “bigger barns” in the Gospel of Luke provides a sobering insight as it pertains to “storing up treasure” on Earth:

Then [Jesus] told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:16-21)

May we be given the grace to be thankful for God’s countless gifts in our lives and be good stewards of the wealth we have been given for our well-being and happiness in this life and the next.