“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” – Matthew 19:24
As residents of a wealthy part of a wealthy nation in the wealthiest time in human history, we can’t flinch or look the other way at what Jesus says here. We must understand and apply it to our lives. What does Jesus mean? Is money bad? Does having money make a person bad? How can this teaching possibly make sense in light of salvation by grace? How can our bank balance interfere with God’s grace?
It can’t, of course. God’s grace received through faith in Jesus Christ overcomes all sin and every obstacle to accomplish salvation. However, in practical terms, having or deeply desiring material abundance can hurt our faith. When we enjoy great financial blessings, we can forget our deep need for God. We easily begin to fool ourselves into thinking we can take care of ourselves, provide for ourselves, and purchase everything needed to be complete, fulfilled, and happy. This is a lie! Whether large or small, our net worth can deceive us about our spiritual situation.
This is what makes it so hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God (of course, it’s hard for all of us, because we can’t ever get there on our own). Because our money can’t save us and neither can our generosity in giving it away. Our material comfort can’t save us, but it easily numbs us to the truth that we desperately need salvation. As the Bible warns so often, money can have a powerful spiritual impact on us. We can fall in love with it, be tempted to pursue it in ungodly ways, become anxious about losing it, become selfish about keeping it, forget Who truly gave it to us, and find strength in it rather than in Christ. Money is a blessing from God that can do wonderful things for His Kingdom. It can also be a powerful temptation used by Satan to undermine our spiritual condition.
As followers of Christ, whether we have much or have little financially, we must always remember where our blessings come from and what can truly and eternally rescue us from the brokenness around us and in our own lives. The US dollar won’t save us, but the Son of Man will. Trust in Him!