An Admonition About Wealth

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is an admonition about the dangers of wealth.  Wealth is not a function of virtue.  There are virtuous poor and morally vicious poor.  There are virtuous rich and morally vicious rich.  But the accumulation of wealth creates dangers and potential pitfalls in our discipleship.

Studies consistently demonstrate that the more wealth we accumulate, the greater the propensity for narcissism, self-righteousness, and greed.  This is not to say that there are not many persons with great wealth who do not demonstrate these propensities, in the same way that there are those without wealth that demonstrate them.  By analogy, when we choose to climb a mountain, we encounter dangers that we do not encounter when we are on level ground.  Whether or not we choose to climb the mountain is up to us; but if we are going to climb it, we better be aware of the dangers and bring the right tools.