Did Jesus Really Say You Won't Get Into Heaven If You're Rich?
by Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD
On the matter of Jesus and money, there are three types of people in the world.
1. People who either don't know or care what Jesus said about money.
2. People who care profoundly about what Jesus said about money and do their best to be obedient to those words.
3. The third group are people who know what Jesus said about money and wish they didn't.
I overheard the third type of person at a seminar about money and wealth. He was asking the speaker a question as I was returning to my seat after a break. He said: "Jesus taught that a rich man can't get into Heaven. How can you say that is it good to be rich?"
This one comment about a rich man and the Kingdom of Heaven is probably the single most misunderstood verse about money among all of the words of Jesus. And it is my candidate for the Bible verse most likely to produce people who are afraid of becoming rich out of fear for their own salvation.
The story of the rich man occurs three times in the Bible. In each case, Jesus talked about a rich man and the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, Jesus did not say that a rich man can't get into Heaven. This means that the upset student at the seminar had misquoted the story. And by confusing the Kingdom of Heaven with Heaven, he had missed the real point of the story.
The Kingdom of Heaven concerns the economic reality of people alive on planet Earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the same as Heaven.
The only liberating remedy for people who know-or think they know what Jesus said about money-is to put the words of Jesus into the context of the story, and to put the story in the context of the economic society in which Jesus lived.
If you don't put these words into context, you can spend a lifetime feeling guilty about wanting to have money. This seemed to be what happened to the man at the seminar. The first reason for his inner conflict was that he didn't even have the words right. He was stuck in the "Eye of the Needle" about money because he had missed the real point of the story.
Jesus told the story as part of his condemnation of an unjust economic system. He was not glorifying poverty. He did not say that the rich cannot get into Heaven.
What if most of what you were taught about
Jesus and money is not biblical? Don't let misinterpreted Bible stories block you from enjoying an
abundant life. This and other
unique content 'Jesus and money' articles are available with free reprint rights.
