Occupy Wall Street: How Much Wealth is Too Much?

Many Americans are taking to the streets right now in a protest uniformly known as "Occupy (enter city name here). What started as a Wall Street phenomenon has mushroomed into a nationwide protest against corporations and the wealthiest among us. While these protests seem to lack coherency or uniform demands, the fact they exist at all may demonstrate quite a bit concerning our country's collective soul. The existence of these protests begs the question, "What is fair when it comes to how much one may or may not possess?" Roseanne Bar believes she has the answer to such question in the video link found here. Her dream of a maximum wage of 100 million fails to adequately answer our question since she seems to have pulled her number out of thin air; I wonder how close her own personal wealth approaches such a figure?

Scripture is full of men of God who possessed great wealth. Abraham was a very rich and powerful man during his lifetime as was Isaac and Jacob. Joseph was second only to Pharaoh in power and wealth during a time in which Egypt was perhaps the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Solomon was and is the wealthiest man the earth has ever known. Possessions and wealth are not inherently evil. It is not the possession of great wealth that is evil but the love of great wealth that is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10). And herein is the beginning of the answer to our question: A person is able to have infinite wealth as long as the possessions themselves never possess him; as long as "things" never take the place of God in his or her life.

God often gives great wealth and power to those whom He may trust to do His will. This does not mean every rich person is a Christian or even a righteous one; neither is it God's will to make every Christian wealthy. But, God often gives great wealth to individuals who have proven they will always turn the blessing back to God in praise, gratitude and obedience. Those who do not have such a capacity are often prevented, by God's grace, the temptation of having more wealth than they could bear. Therefore, as we consider how much is "enough" or "too much" wealth, there is an element of God's sovereignty to consider. You very well may be a person in whom God has determined He can place great resources for His Kingdom work. You may be one who has the generosity and capacity to hold loosely the gifts God has given and for these reasons He continues to bless you with more.

The communist Karl Marx popularized a motto in 1875 which stated, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need (or needs)." Many would champion this ideology as the most compassionate and "Christian" one could hold. In fact, many who are marching in the streets of the United States likely hold to some form of this message. But, this is not the will of God! From the above examples we see it is often God's will to place great wealth, well beyond the needs of any individual, in the hands of those who will be God's blessing and provision for His work on earth. With this in mind, we must admit there are those who have wealth and use it for evil or selfish purposes. Yet, even these self-indulgent individuals are in affect used of God as He directs all things to His appointed end. The wealth of the wicked and the plans of the unrighteous are never outside the purpose and plans of our God. Satan himself found this out when his most crafty of plans, the cross, used to destroy the life of our Savior, was in reality a means in the hands of God for the accomplishment of His plan; the salvation of mankind. Our personal need is never the determinant when it comes to what we may possess. The plan God has for us, is the determinant for what we possess.

How much is too much? For the believer in Christ there is really no answer to such a question because we have no idea the extent of God's plan for our life. We will have all we need to fulfill God's will and purpose for the life we live on earth.

So what about fairness? While the popular cry seems to be for everyone to have the same amount of wealth in order for fairness to be achieved such a notion has never been a part of God's plan for the world. "Fairness" isn't determined by the opinions of actors, politicians or pastors. Fairness is determined by God as He decides what is necessary for each of us to fulfill His purposes. If one receives great wealth in this life he or she also receives with it the great responsibility of using it for God's Kingdom plans on earth.

John Wesley was once quoted to have said, "Make all you can, save all you can, give away all you can." Perhaps this little quote is better summation of what I have written today than I could ever provide for myself. What you have is not nearly as important as what you do with what you have. May all we have and all we do be to the glory and for the purposes of God!

Pastor James