The attitude that it is wrong for a Christian to accumulate wealth has been around for centuries. It has been commonly believed that the truly pious or humble have renounced all worldly goods to find favor with God. To enter into the good graces of God one must give all to the church or give away all worldly goods to the poor.

Here are a couple of quotes from the early church fathers:

You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397.

The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help. Basil of Caesarea, 330-370 A.D.

Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs. John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

These ideas come from misreading/wrongly divided understanding of many scriptures first of which is Mark 10:17 ff.

Mark 10:17-31 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

The problem is that most people that read this record quit in verse 25 and never read the rest. Not reading all the context sometimes causes great mistakes to be taught for truth.

And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Notice that the man’s problem was not that he was rich, but that he trusted in those riches. His possessions and prosperity, not God, came first in his life. He served the world, trusted in riches and loved his money more than he loved God. This is always a problem.

Also note that if he had been willing to give it all away and put God first, God would have given it all back one hundredfold. So, the issue was not that he was wealthy, but that he trusted in his wealth.

(An interesting note here: Abraham was very wealthy as was Job and many others, but they did not have the problem this man had. They trusted, loved and kept God first, not their possessions. So, when it says Jesus loved him, he saw what the man’s problem was and offered him the solution.

If the man had heeded it, God would have given it all back and much more. Abraham did not need to do that, neither did Job or many others. This was just for that man. It is a lesson not to trust in anything other than God. It is a lesson to keep Him first. Then you do not need to do as this man needed to do.)

Psalm 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

If we keep God first in our hearts, love Him and trust Him, He will add to us all that we need. What we need is what God has promised in His Word and what He will do for those that put their trust in Him.

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

According to Bishop K.C. Pillai from India, a teacher of oriental customs and mannerisms of the Bible, the word treasures here is put for your thoughts. We are to keep our thoughts on things above not on things of the earth. For where your thoughts are, there will your heart be also.

As with the rich young ruler, God’s will is to prosper you, but He wants to know where your heart is. As long as we keep God first in our life, we will be storing up treasure in heaven.

Another record that you hear many times is this one in Luke:

Luke 12:13-21 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Notice that Jesus is teaching about covetousness, the over desire for material wealth. There is no problem, as we have seen, with God prospering us, but when that becomes the focus of our life, we are out of bounds. So, the man tearing down his barn to build bigger in this parable was used to illustrate covetousness. The application of the parable is for those who do not keep God first in their lives.

If we are to understand what God has said about prosperity and the poor, we need to read exactly what His Word says and read it in the context and then apply it correctly.

We have no need to be envious of what others have even if we should have had part of it, such as an inheritance. Why? God has promised to supply our needs and fill our homes with His treasures so that we have no need of going to the law to force others to give us something.

Keeping God first is the first and greatest of the fundamental principles of prosperity. Practicing these principles of prosperity should be such a part of our lives that we barely think about it. Then we can spend our days keeping God first and prospering in this life He has given us.

We saw in Part 1 that it is not God’s will for any of his children to be poor. But God also pointed out that there will always be the poor with us. We also saw how God has provided for the poor and how we are to help them. But nowhere does He instruct us to give all we have to the poor. We also saw that the accumulation of wealth can be greatly beneficial to the poor. We could lend to them, give to them and provide them with jobs.

To manifest the prosperity He desires for us, we need to keep him first, operate the principles of prosperity He has laid out in His Word. We need to cast off the old ideas that religion, politics, and society have taught us and cling to the truth of The Word. As we do these things, we cannot but help manifest The Prosperous Life.

This subject is dealt with in more detail in the book Poverty vs Wealth available on Amazon.