for Christians re: Jesus preaching on wealth and poverty (Earth, Kingdom)

[Autodidact]

Originally Posted by jringer04

What the Bible reads and the meaning that needs to be extracted from it are two different things and is the reason for this debate. As I stated earlier, I tend to agree with Scuba on this. The Lord blesses those who serve Him and why does that have to exclude riches? When you say that to follow Jesus you HAVE to be poor just doesn't sit right with me. If I become a successful entreprenuer because I'm utilizing my God given gift in life, is that something to be ashamed of? If I horde my resources then I will agree that it should be. But what if I'm an active member of my church, contribute heavily to many causes, striving for a close relationship with God, and not allowing what I have dictate my actions, isn't that different? I think God calls us to be good stewards of what he has given us. To me, it seems fool-hearty to except somebody to support a family in this day in age without having things like a car, a roof over their head, food on the table, and an income to supply those things. Who knows? I could be wrong after all.

I know, Christians explain this to me all the time: The Bible doesn't mean what it says, it means what jringer says it means. Or what sojourner says it means, which just happens to be completely different from what jringer says it means. Not to mention what roli says it means, which is something else altogether. I'm going to convert to Christianity so the Bible can mean what I say it means--it would give me a lot more clout. What I don't get is why they persist in calling it "Christianity," do you?

So when Jesus clearly condemns wealth, and urges his followers to give away their goods, you take that to mean that God blesses you with wealth? I wish I could say that was the clearest example of reading the Bible to mean the diametrical opposite of what it clearly says, but I've seen worse.

I take it then that the way you interpret and apply these verses in your life then, is to completely disregard their clear injunctions, and live the opposite? Tell me, are you worried about getting into heaven?

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by jringer04

The Lord blesses those who serve Him and why does that have to exclude riches? When you say that to follow Jesus you HAVE to be poor just doesn't sit right with me.

Thing is, Autodidact didn't say it, and I didn't say it. Jesus said it. If you decide what Jesus says "just doesn't sit right with" you, and you think it would be more pleasant to be a successful entrepreneur who gives a lot of money to the church and other causes, I can't really blame you. It would be more pleasant. But if you decide to do the complete opposite of what Jesus says, can you really say you're serving Jesus? (And by the way, Jesus never said to give money to "causes." He said to give it to the poor. )