Results of people age 50 or older who say they believe in heaven, by household income:
Less than $25,000 - 90%
$25K - $49,999 - 88%
$50K - $74,999 - 84%
$75,000 or more - 78%
The trend seems to be that the more money you have, the less likely it is that you'll believe in heaven.
Any poll like this has questionable reliability, but it's hard not to think of the reliable words of Jesus Christ: "It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (ESV: "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!")
God has saved many rich people - the patriarchs weren't so bad off, Job was doing well there for a while, and both David and Solomon had every conceivable advantage. Of course, David and Solomon saw injury to their souls based on those advantages. But in any case, God does not say you have to be poor to be a Christian.
However.
The Bible does make it clear that we must expect wealth to pull at our souls. And in many other ways, our physical and outward life will affect our spiritual and inward life. We must guard against anything that "wages war against the soul" as Peter says, and for every American the issue of wealth is one of the biggest.
1 comment:
I once read a study that said if someone's basic physical needs (food, shelter, and health care) were provided for, that the less money they had, the happier they reported being. I think the more we have, the more it can distract us from the spiritual. The reason Paul said it was better to stay unmarried if possible. The more we have, the more maintenance is required, whether it be for finances, cars, homes, boats, whatever, and the more we have to worry about. In Jerusalem, the passage known as the "Eye of the Needle" required the drivers to remove the baggage from the camels before they could fit through. The more we have, I think the more baggage we have to remove to focus on the Lord. Don't you think?
Post a Comment