Jesus blesses the poor. Jesus also condemns the rich. It seems that our society fails to appreciate this condemnation. Culturally, we admire the wealthy and aspire to their lifestyles—whether through food, clothing, or entertainment choices. The rich also hold significant power in our world. Many leaders, including cabinet members in the government, hold exorbitant wealth. But Kara Swisher, a journalist who reports on the tech billionaires of Silicon Valley, flatly says the wealthy “do not care” about us.
It is amazing. In our collective consciousness, religion tends to focus so much on sex, but so little on economics. But sex is not the focus of Jesus. He does not talk about, specifically, masturbation, the traditional family, or homosexuality. Jesus mentions sex and sexual issues very little. But Jesus does talk about the dangers of money and condemns the rich: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” This condemnation serves to remind us to examine the role money plays in our lives.
For Jesus, the rich person suffers from a delusion. He thinks, because of his wealth, that he does not need God. The illusion can be labeled self-sufficiency. The rich person does not think he needs anyone. To those who amass great wealth, others may be viewed as tools in the pursuit of further prosperity. When an individual no longer serves this goal, they are cast aside.
Jesus saw how the wealthy of his time exploited and oppressed the poor. It is no different today. The rich contribute to social and environmental harm through insufficient wages, ecological degradation, and attempts to consolidate power. To be clear, not all wealthy individuals behave this way. I know some will say, “Not every single rich person is bad. Some are good people.” Why are we defending them? They have more resources than the vast majority of people. Why are we not outraged about how much they have when far, far too many have nothing? Our culture instinctively defends the wealthy and leaves little empathy for the poor. Those with little or nothing are told to lift themselves up by their bootstraps while the government hands the wealthy tax deductions and bailouts.
Still, some rich people may be generous towards nonprofits or give financial aid in times of distress such as the Los Angeles fires. But that does not matter as much to Jesus. The wealthiest people, even if they give away a lot of money, make a critical mistake. The rich person organizes life around money. All their time and attention go to wealth. Here is the damming problem with being rich: they do not pay attention to God; they worship prosperity. Rich people give their time, attention, and devotion to money. God and wealth compete for our allegiance, and the rich person freely gives his heart to financial concerns over God.
As scholar Eugene McCarraher says, “the love of money misdirects our sacramental desire to know the presence of divinity in our midst.” In his monumental book, The Enchantments of Mammon, McCarraher describes how money has become “the criterion of reality, meaning, and identity in [our] competitive commodity culture.” While the rich person, by reason of their vast wealth, confuses money for reality, we all can make the same mistake.
Pope Francis critiques “our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies.” He reflects, “The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1–35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” Our economic system, for Pope Francis, only serves the rich and continually excludes people from even the basics of life. “Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God.” Our economic system works by rejecting God.
When money and the markets “are absolutized,” says Pope Francis, “God can only be seen as uncontrollable, unmanageable, even dangerous, since he calls human beings to their full realization and to freedom from all forms of enslavement.” Paradoxically, surrender to God makes us truly free. Our economy of exclusion, which prioritizes profits over people, enslaves.
Before condemning the rich, Jesus announces the poor are blessed. This primary beatitude gives us the way out of the rich person’s critical mistake. Jesus consistently calls the rich to give away their money and power. Giving away, letting go, and embracing poverty are all ways of describing the Gospel path of downward mobility. All of us, rich and poor alike, must give ourselves up to God. We must organize our lives around the divine presence revealed in Jesus and that means money does not become a central concern for our lives. It means we give our attention, time, and devotion to God. Prayer, then, must take priority over money. Prayer is our great act of resistance to the worship of money as much as it is the way we open to the saving love of God, who has mercy and all – poor and rich. When we pray, communing with God in an inner silence, we experience the freedom and joy that money cannot buy. We know that no matter what happens in our country, God is with us, within us, and one with us.