Rich vs. Poor

Jesus spoke more about money than he did any other topic in the New Testament. Clearly, it is a subject that he felt strongly about. While we may not like the dirty word "money" to be spoken in our holy churches, we have to know that even in Jesus' time, he understood the power of money.

For me, the subject of money has been repititious in my life. Over and over God has spoken into my heart on the topic. But today, without my prior knowledge, God hit me with the proverbial ton of bricks. The sermon subject for today was money. Specifically, it was about being rich.

Who among us would say they were rich? I live in a nice upper-middle-class neighborhood. I drive a car similar to that of my neighbors. My house is red brick and looks very similar to the others in my neighborhood. Our kids attend the same schools. We would look around to one another and think that we were blessed, but we would never say we were rich. But what is it to be rich? Is there a magic number that, once attained, one can say they are rich? If a person has assets at a certain value, does that make them rich? What is rich, exactly? Most people view "rich" as just having more than they currently do. "Rich" is a moving target. If you don't feel rich, you'll keep trying to get there. But being rich isn't about income at all; it's about what you do with the money you have. It's about having more than you need. God has blessed me with more than I need, therefore, I am rich.

At the end of the pay period, when the bills are paid, I look at what's left and mentally divide it up: groceries, clothing, gas, etc. It goes pretty quick. I might even be guilty of wishing I had more. But my needs are already met. Therefore, I have more than I need. Rich.

Here's a few numbers to chew on: The average annual income in the United States is roughly $37,000. For the rest of the world, the average annual income is around $675. Yup, you read that right. If we assume that each person in the world works about 45 years of his/her life, those numbers work out to be about $1,665,000 for Americans, and only $30,375 for the rest of the world. These are lifetime numbers, friends. That means the rest of the world will work their whole lives to make what Americans make, on average, in a year.

How rich are you?