anthony267
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Material Possession and the Good Life
Material possession has been something that Christians and non-Christians alike have argued over for centuries, all the way from Rome to the current western society. Many believe that it is necessary to have wealth in order to live a good Christian life, this is, in fact, false. Material possession is not an essential attribute of the good life. A Christian can still live a very good and fulfilling life in the eyes of the Lord without material possession. This is not saying that having material possessions is a bad thing, they are just not essential parts of God’s greater plan. Material possessions can be used for good in the eyes of the Lord. The Bible says on numerous occasions that the Lord will bless those who serve him with all of their heart. The blessing however, may not be in money, houses, cars, etc. So let’s go deeper in and examine the logic behind this claim.
ARGUMENT I:
True life is spiritual, not material. Your life does not have as much meaning as it could if you are living it without God. By living a spiritual life and not a strictly physical one, you are fulfilling God’s purpose for you.
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
(Revelation 3:15-18)
A Christian cannot have a foot on either side of the fence. You must choose a side to be on, either you are with God and without the world and all it has to offer. Or you have accepted the world and its evil and are without God. This is essential to realize while reading this. The entire argument relies on this principle.
“Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions”(Luke 12:15).” This quotation is very important. Jesus says to the crowd that life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. He says this meaning that life is something much more than possessions. It is purpose, and spirit not led by trivial human pursuit.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Matthew 6:19-21)
There are a few key things to break down in this passage. The first and most obvious being the first sentence where Jesus tells the people not to store their treasures on earth but in heaven. If we go back to the analogy of not being able to be on both sides of the fence, this goes along with that perfectly. If you store your treasure on earth, you lose the opportunity to store it in heaven. It is true that a wealthy man does not store his gold in many different places. He would keep it in a secure vault. Heaven is the most secure vault.
The second thing that Jesus says to the people here is that moths and vermin destroy. This is very important because moths and vermin are earthly things. I would imagine that there are no vermin in heaven to destroy things. Once one is able to transcend the physical pattern of thought he will understand that what Jesus is really meaning here is that we must store treasures in places where moths and vermin are not, that place is again, heaven.
The next part of this passage is where Jesus says to store things in a place where thieves cannot break and steal from you. This is crucial and amazing to be reading and breaking down. Thieves are not in Heaven! The unrepentant thief is rejected and outcasted by God himself! Therefore, storing treasure in heaven will ensure no one is able to steal and take what is yours.
The last part of the passage is the most important. Jesus says that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. We must ask ourselves and our brothers and sisters where their hearts lie, and by knowing where their hearts lie. We will also know where they store their treasures. This is likely a wake up call for many, because if you know one answer to the question you also know the other (if A, then B, Modus Ponens,).
“'Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” ( John 17:3). In this passage Jesus prays to his Father in Heaven. He says that if they know you, that is eternal life. This is another example of storing treasures in heaven. By knowing the One True God, you will have the most precious treasure there is: life. That's all anyone really wants anyways, life, and a good life. The best life is the eternal one, and the eternal life comes from God the Father who sent Jesus His Son to Die for the many.
ARGUMENT II:
Wealth can often hinder a good spiritual life. This is shown numerous times throughout the Bible and even in today's society. This is not the case all of the time, but wealth does often hinder a good spiritual life. The wealth of the world is often unnecessary as well, unnecessary, of course to the life that God wants us to have.
“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
(Matthew 19:20-30)
This quotation shows what Jesus is truly saying. A young man comes to him and he leaves distraught because Jesus tells him that in order to be perfect he has to sell all of his possessions, the reason that the man is distraught is because he has many great possessions. Jesus then says to his disciples that it is HARD for someone to enter into the kingdom of heaven who is rich, notice here how Jesus does not say it is impossible, he only says that it is hard. The Disciples then ask Jesus what of them. Specifically what will happen to them because they have given up quite literally everything in order to follow Him. Jesus replies saying that their reward will be the greatest of anyone else's and that they will inherit the most. We must ask ourselves why this is. It is because the disciples have not chased physical possessions but spiritual ones. The man who has more possessions than them is in ( a Christians eye) a worse place as he has more to leave and more to give up. This is a prime example of how material possessions make it harder for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
(1 Timothy 6:9-10)
In this passage the writer says that those who want to get rich will fall into temptation and traps along the way. He also says that money is the root of all kinds of evil (not evil in general). This is especially interesting to me because money is not an inherently evil thing to have (many Christians are wealthy both in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of God). The writer is simply saying that those who seek to be wealthy often fall into destruction and ruin themselves and their entire lives. This is important for a Christian to remember. Money is not bad, but it is a powerful tool of Satan to distract the followers of Christ from their true mission.
'The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature (Luke 8:14).” This is another important point to make. The first part of this passage is a bit cryptic and hard to understand so let us go through it. When Jesus says a seed who falls among the thorns I would believe he is referring to someone who has gone astray chasing life's pleasure and riches.
By chasing riches ourselves we are falling into those same thorns that trapped our brothers and sisters. We must also acknowledge here that Jesus says worries, riches, and pleasures. All of these things arise from the pursuit of earthly things and the neglect of spiritual ones. Jesus also says that these kinds of people (seeds gone astray) do not mature. This is quite interesting.
The people who go astray do not mature, this would make sense because a seed that has fallen into thorns cannot grow (or at least cannot grow as well as a seed outside of the thorns). It is important to keep in mind here that the thorns are of the world and that there are no thorns where Christians go (Heaven). There are only things that will benefit the spiritual journey. Material concerns suffocate faith.
ARGUMENT III:
The good life can be defined as being content and having a strong dependence on God. The ideal Christian life does not idealize the accumulation of assets, but sufficiency. It is important to remember that having assets is a good thing but the accumulation of them is not. What this means is that if you are storing all of your treasure here on earth you cannot be thinking about the afterlife with God. It takes a lot of energy to store all of your things here and the energy is wasted at the end of things.
“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
(Philippians 4:10-13)
This passage talks about being content with everything you have and do not have. The first part of the paragraph is the most important. I rejoice greatly in the Lord, and he has renewed his concern for me. The second most important part of the paragraph is the statement that whatever you need you shall have plenty. This is very important to me and it should be important to you as well. Dependence on the Lord is the most important thing one can have (other than his or her salvation). We must be dependent on the lord instead of relying on ourselves. You can see this in day to day life. If you are a type of person that relies solely on themselves you will not get much done but if you rely on a friend or a brother or sister, you will be able to put your trust in something else other than yourself. If you rely on the creator of the universe you are in even better hands. This is because it will be the will of God that shall steer your life, and not by your own hand but by His. Not having material possessions deepens the relationship between a person and the Father. By not having these things we are free from all distraction and are able to pursue the Lord will all of our heart.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that (1 Timothy 6:6-8).” This is another important paragraph to understand. When we have food and clothing we are able to live quite comfortably in a modern day society, but anything more, is too much in the eyes of the Lord. It is important to understand that if we have God, we do not even need food or clothing, for the Lord will clothe us, for the lord will satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst. A good relationship with the Father relies on repentance and submission. In order to submit we must have nothing or very little. I am not saying that it is essential but it certainly does help.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
(Acts 2:42-47)
In this passage it says that the people devoted themselves to the apostles and everyone was filled with awe at the holy spirits. It also says that many sold their possessions and property in order to give to those in need. This is very important to understand. Some of God’s best followers gave away everything that they had in order to follow the Lord. This is very notable. It is something that we should be thinking about in our day to day life as well. It also says that they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, it says that they praised God and enjoyed their fellow believers. This is very important to understand.
These people had a dependence on each other, and each person had a dependence on the Lord. By having a dependence on the Lord, they were able to be both glad and sincere. Being glad and sincere is something that most people wealthy in the eyes of the world do not have. These people had good hearts for the Lord. We should be asking ourselves how we also get glad and sincere hearts that desire to honor God. The answer is being dependent on him and not being dependent on the ways of the world. The idea Christian emphasized sufficiency not accumulation of material wealth.
In order to properly follow God we must properly have him in our hearts. This is a very important thing to keep in mind. Dependence on the world is not a good thing, dependence on the Lord, however, is a good thing. Material possession has no determining factor in our status as a Christian, so why should we care about it. Material possession is not an essential attribute of the good life.
This is a 3000 word thesis on why material possession is not an essential attribute of the good life. Other high iq users tap in and find flaws in the logic as I will likely have this published. If your here to hate, you may now leave.
