There is a sobering story in the Gospel of Luke about a rich man who had a disordered relationship with the goods of the earth. Instead of receiving these goods as a gift by offering them back to the Lord who is their Source — and using them to serve others — his disordered appetites entrapped and blinded him. His sin, his wrong choice, his abuse of human freedom, was that he failed to see the need of his brother Lazarus. (Luke 16: 19-31)

Read the passage prayerfully. Notice that the Lord said nothing about the rich man’s material possessions. Rather, he addressed his wrongful use of them, and his failure to recognize the needs of others.

St. Augustine proclaimed in a homily on this text: “Lazarus was received into heaven because of his humility and not because of his poverty. Wealth itself was not what kept the rich man from eternal bliss. His punishment was for selfishness and disloyalty.” 

Having goods is not sin. In this parable, goods have the man. That’s the sin. His wealth has become an idol.

In an age of bumper stickers like, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins” and “I’m spending my retirement spending my children’s inheritance,” Christians are called to a different approach to possessions. I call it evangelical simplicity. This is not about the quantity of the goods we possess. Rather, it is about our relationship to them. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21).

How often have we have heard the saying, “Money is the root of all evil”? That is not what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. Ephesus was a city known for its wealth and luxury. Paul planted the Church there. He then established Timothy as the elder responsible for the community. Knowing that the believers would face certain dangers when dealing with wealth, he reminded Timothy:

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and  we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. (1 Tim. 6: 6-11)

To the Heart

Money is not evil.

The phrase “love of money” speaks to the heart.

Nor is having a lot of it necessarily proof of God’s blessing and favor. Both errors can reflect a self-centered rather than God- and other-centered worldview. The phrase “love of money” speaks to the heart. In biblical language, the heart is the center, the place where a person makes his or her fundamental decisions concerning life.

When we love the goods of the earth more than we love the One who created them — and who entrusts them to us — we commit the sin of idolatry. A destitute person can be just as obsessed with money as a rich person.

In a letter to the Philippians, St. Paul explained his own approach to material things:

I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. (Philippians 4:12)

Recognizing True Wealth and Poverty

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark both describe an encounter between Jesus and a wealthy young man. This young man had followed the commandments since his youth, but Jesus told him it was not enough. He instructed the young man to give up his possessions and follow Him. The man refused and went away sad because his possessions possessed him. The account continues,

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:23-27).

When we recognize our own poverty of spirit and voluntarily embrace it, we discover the true treasures of the kingdom. We are empowered to live lives completely dependent upon Jesus. When we have Him, we have everything.

The Economy of Heavenly Scale

We also discover what I call the economy of heavenly scale. Those who live in evangelical simplicity are the richest people on the earth. Jesus called them the “poor in spirit.” He promised them blessedness. He proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (Matt 5:3).

Our relationship to the goods of this world should mirror that of God’s Son whom we follow. Jesus was born in a manger. As an adult, he had no place to lay his head. (Mt. 8:20) He was raised in a simple home — by a woman whose heart recognized true wealth when she carried Him in her womb and held Him in her arms.

True Freedom in Evangelical Simplicity

Remember the words the angel spoke to Mary when she asked how it could be that she would bear the Messiah. “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) Mary understood that when you have the Lord, you have it all. She lived in the economy of heavenly scale. And, we can live it as well. By embracing evangelical simplicity.

In finding our proper relationship to the goods of the earth — not rejecting them, craving them, or turning them into an idol — we find freedom. Our eyes are opened. We learn to see Lazarus and are given the grace to see Jesus in Lazarus.