19 Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
20 You know the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother.’”
21 And he replied, “All of these I have observed from my youth.”
22 When Jesus heard this he said to him, “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 But when he heard this he became quite sad, for he was very rich.
How much wealth inequality was there in the U.S. in 2023?
- "The top 10% of households by wealth had $6.7 million on average. As a group, they held 66.9% of total household wealth.
- The bottom 50% of households by wealth had $50,000 on average. As a group, they held only 2.5% of total household wealth."
How does Luke 18: 18-23 apply to Christians in the U.S.? Does it mean that those households with wealth above the bottom 50% should sell all of their possessions and give the proceeds to the poor? Not necessarily.
What about those Christians who are in the top 10%? Where did their wealth come from? Where did the wealth of the rich man in Luke 18: 18-23 come from? I believe that our wealth comes from God.
What about those of us whose wealth is between the bottom 50% and the top 10%? We can show are gratitude to God for what God has given us by offering some of our excess wealth back to God.
Should we have a "rainy day fund"? Perhaps. What about what's left over after we die? Once we've raised our families and met all of our obligations, should we take what's leftover and give it back to God in gratitude? It's something to think about.
attribution: Martin Beek and flickr
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