I was listening recently to a series of “courts of heaven” videos by Robert Henderson, and I came across one where he laid out how God wants us to be rich. He has his Bible verses to support it, and it struck me that he’s using what I call the “serpentine Bible reading” approach.
Here’s what I mean: when we snake through the Bible, weaving around to touch on certain passages and avoid others, choosing a verse here and a verse there, we can develop whatever doctrine we want. But instead if we just read straight through, collecting all the verses on any particular issue, we most often develop quite a different picture.
First, I’ll quote from Henderson on the subject of wealth. In this video (I’ve timestamped it), he says this about Jesus:
On the cross he took upon himself poverty, the Bible says, so we could be rich…Rich means “rich!” It means to have an abundance; it means to have a lot of money; it means to be absolutely self-sufficient.
— Robert Henderson
This was the first real “prosperity gospel” message I’ve heard, so I was surprised at how unfiltered this was. Jesus died so that I could have a lot of money, among other things. It’s hard to be more straightforward than this, and I appreciate Henderson’s clarity.
If all you read is this one passage (2 Cor 8.9) then it’s easy to come to that conclusion. And that’s an example of the serpentine Bible reading: read this verse, ignore others, and come to the conclusion that the death of Jesus results in money in my pocket.
Let’s read the Bible a different way; we can call it “block Bible reading.” We take a block of text, whether it’s the whole context of a verse such as a paragraph or chapter, or whether it’s everything the book (or the whole Bible even) has to say on the subject. For this exercise, let’s look at verses in Proverbs which talk about the relationship of wealth and righteousness. In this table, I believe I’ve identified all the verses.
| Righteous and wealthy Proverbs 12:27 the diligent man will get precious wealth. Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Proverbs 22:4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Proverbs 24:4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. | Righteous and not wealthy Proverbs 11:4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs 11:28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 28:6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me. |
| Wicked and wealthy Proverbs 11:16 A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches. Proverbs 18:23 The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly. Proverbs 28:11 A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. | Wicked and not wealthy Proverbs 12:27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game. Proverbs 13.22 The sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. Proverbs 21:17 Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Proverbs 22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Proverbs 28:8 Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor. Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. Proverbs 29.3 a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. Proverbs 21:17 Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. |
Proverbs has a lot to say about wealth; money appears to be just as important to the ancient Israelite as it is to us today. And I think the prosperity preachers would all over the top left box: God destines the righteous to be wealthy. I’m actually not sure what these folks would do with the bottom two boxes: what does God destine for the wicked? To be poor or to be rich? Do they address this at all? Honestly, I just haven’t taken the effort to find out.
But since Proverbs acknowledges that both the righteous and the wicked can have wealth, we must agree that there is not a unique positive correlation between righteousness and wealth. This same book say that the righteous can be wealthy (Pr 10.22) and they can be poor (Pr 28.6).
I suppose that prosperity preachers can try to wiggle out of the top right box. Robert Henderson would probably say that these folks who are righteous but poor have not figured out the courts of heaven, or have not claimed their wealth, or something similar. But Proverbs doesn’t blame the righteous poor for being poor; it just states that sometimes this happens.
It’s not evil to be wealthy; it’s not wicked to be poor…but neither is it righteous to be wealthy or poor. I wonder how much it even matters to God whether we are wealthy or poor. His focus is on our righteousness, not on our pocketbook. And regarding money, he seems to care much more about what we do with it than how much we have.