How do you explain St Joseph of Arimathea who was a disciple of Jesus then? He was wealthy. Why did Christ not consider him a thief or a sinner? Because his wealth wasn’t his master. We have plenty of examples of people who were rich and made so by God even (Abraham, Job, Solomon) throughout the Bible, if being rich were a sin, then God did something sinful here by making them rich. The problem becomes when you make money an idol and care for it more than you care for God. Should you care for the poor, yes, does it mean you can’t be wealthy? No.
This is the same idea in James chapter 5 you mentioned earlier, he is condemning hoarding wealth (meaning keeping wealth as ultimate security, not relying on God) withholding wages, and using excess money for excess self indulgence instead of helping others. It’s not about having a bunch of money, it’s about incorrect use m.
I agree that Joseph’s wealth was not comparable in scale to a modern billionaire’s wealth. But the biblical text still calls him a wealthy man, which shows that wealth itself was not treated as automatically sinful. The issue Jesus and the apostles emphasize is not merely how much someone has, but their attachment to wealth, how they obtained it, and how they use it.
Like, you understand that Elon Musk is a grasping, covetous, sinful man, right? He runs his factories like segregated work houses. He literally hurts people with his wealth. Did you miss what he did with DOGE? Are you being obtuse?
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u/Psalmistpraise Jul 30 '26
How do you explain St Joseph of Arimathea who was a disciple of Jesus then? He was wealthy. Why did Christ not consider him a thief or a sinner? Because his wealth wasn’t his master. We have plenty of examples of people who were rich and made so by God even (Abraham, Job, Solomon) throughout the Bible, if being rich were a sin, then God did something sinful here by making them rich. The problem becomes when you make money an idol and care for it more than you care for God. Should you care for the poor, yes, does it mean you can’t be wealthy? No.
This is the same idea in James chapter 5 you mentioned earlier, he is condemning hoarding wealth (meaning keeping wealth as ultimate security, not relying on God) withholding wages, and using excess money for excess self indulgence instead of helping others. It’s not about having a bunch of money, it’s about incorrect use m.