Being rich a Sin??

[AdriaanM]

Hi all,

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31 has always fascinated me in that it presents

and interesting moral dilemma. Let me summarize:

There was a poor man called Lazarus. He is not described as righteous or religious, but emphasis is placed on his

suffering and poverty on earth. He had no home, clothes nor food but lay outside the gate of the rich man.

Then there was the rich man. In the parable he is not depicted as righteous or unrighteous, but emphasis is placed

only on his wealth and sumptuous life.

They both died. The beggar, Lazarus was taken to paradise and the rich man suffered horribly and flames of hell.

At no point in time does the parable mention the sin for which the rich man ended in Hades apart from the fact that he

had all the best in life. Now I can only assume that his sin was the following:

During their lives the beggar laid in the entrance to the estate of the rich man. The wealthy man must have passed

the suffering man daily. Now despite being able to relieve the suffering of the beggar the rich man ignored the

suffering at his gate and enjoyed his life.

If my interpretation is correct the parable spells a dire warning to those of us who are more fortunate than the

beggar. If I ignore the suffering of my fellow man I might end up where the rich man from the parable did.

On the other hand, if I give of what I have to every beggar that I pass in town I will soon be a beggar myself.

Let me know how you see this.

Adriaan

[brothaman]

Even the rich man is called to bare fruit. He should of helped however he could, but he did not and that is not pleasing to God. The way I see it, the more you can do to help, the more fruit you bare. Remember though, only ones who except Jesus can bare fruit. Good deed without Jesus is just a good deed, not fruit. We are all called to bare fruit.

B Blessed, Stay Blessed, and Much Love, brothaman

[MightyIsTheLord]

I cant remember where i heard it, i think it was in a video or an article online somewhere what said something along the lines of:

"Being rich isn't a sin, and theres nothing wrong with being rich just as long as you put the Lord before it".

Jesus should come first before anything else in our lives.

You could always donate money to a missionary of some sort to help spread the word of the Lord.

[OneLight]

I personally see this as Jesus telling us that we are not to put anything before Him. If we put God first, then we will not be like the rich man. Scripture tells us a few things pertaining to this scripture.

Mark 12:30-31 (New King James Version)

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

[Guest HIS girl]

In my humble opinion - we don't own the money - the money we have starts with God - He has given us the ability to work and earn the money - so all Glory goes to the LORD first and foremost. If you think of it in that respect - it leaves you with a sense of you spending God's money -not your own.

If you were spending someone else's money, wouldn't you spend it wisely?

Of course you would - same goes with the money you earn. (God's money).

Money is an ever flowing commodity and it should never remain still - as in stashed under your bed -

Give your tithe, pay your bills, feed/clothe your family - I gaurantee you, you will have cash left over - of course bank some but you will STILL have money left over, I gaurantee you - and with that money you put it aside and ask God to show you how/what and on who to spend it and again I gaurantee you that the Holy Spirit will guide you where the money should go- the more you are willing to spend, the more cash God will provide for you to do that....and it's NOT about hoarding it for your own purposes - God has that money planned out for HIS purpose.....

So to answer your original question - being rich isn't a sin - but lavishing one's wealth only on oneself and not using it for God's purposes is a sin.

[Anne]

Just adding my thoughts to what has already been said:-

The rich man had ample funds and opportunity to make Lazarus' life a little more comfortable, if only for a moment, he could have eased his suffering.....but he didn't take the time, nor during his lifetime, by all accounts from reading Luke 16 v 19 -31 does he appeared to have given Lazarus a second thought nor cared.

The rich man didn't go to hell, because he had more money than Lazarus, the rich man went to hell because his heart was hardened and unkind.

What would it have cost him to plate up an extra dinner and give Lazarus a hot meal to eat, to fill his belly? What would it have cost him to take the least finest of one of his garments and give it to Lazarus?

Take all that we have and give it to the poor man, so the poor man can be rich and the rich man can be poor, is not what God asks of us. God asks us to give what we can to the poor, to do to others what we would have them do to us, to love each other as He has loved us.

Just my thoughts

God Bless

Anne

[EricH]

Being Rich is not a sin. It is the attitudes that frequently go along with abundance that can cause problems (self sufficiency, pride, selfishness etc.)

[Emanuel]

IT IS A PARABLE!!! Relating to where our heart lies regarding to our attitude

towards God in Salvation, not necessarily about the rich being good or bad because of

money, but rather about his attitude as to where his heart is, in relation to the kingdom

of God. Here in the parable Luke 16:19-31, because the end is his eternal suffering - it

depicts a man in this Church age who has rejected Jesus Christ as personal God having

countless occasions to repent BUT...due to his pharoah-ic hardness of heart is

comfortable in his mammon (anything we trust more than God in this earth life). The rich

man's mammon was riches, ours could be something else maybe a tv soap opera we

have watched religiously for many years

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21)

A parable is a story taken along side of the real issue at hand, but the parable is not the literal though both Lazarus and the rich man are certain people in the parable.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Emanuel

[stacey c]

In my humble opinion - we don't own the money - the money we have starts with God - He has given us the ability to work and earn the money - so all Glory goes to the LORD first and foremost. If you think of it in that respect - it leaves you with a sense of you spending God's money -not your own.

If you were spending someone else's money, wouldn't you spend it wisely?

Of course you would - same goes with the money you earn. (God's money).

Money is an ever flowing commodity and it should never remain still - as in stashed under your bed -

Give your tithe, pay your bills, feed/clothe your family - I gaurantee you, you will have cash left over - of course bank some but you will STILL have money left over, I gaurantee you - and with that money you put it aside and ask God to show you how/what and on who to spend it and again I gaurantee you that the Holy Spirit will guide you where the money should go- the more you are willing to spend, the more cash God will provide for you to do that....and it's NOT about hoarding it for your own purposes - God has that money planned out for HIS purpose.....

So to answer your original question - being rich isn't a sin - but lavishing one's wealth only on oneself and not using it for God's purposes is a sin.

Awesome post His girl Right on the money!!!!!

[bethog]

Being rich a Sin??,

No