Does God Want Us To Be Wealthy?

Summary

Ramsey Everyday Millionaires – Episode Summary: "Does God Want Us To Be Wealthy?"

Release Date: December 30, 2024
Hosts: Dave Ramsey, Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruze, George Kamel, Jade Warshaw, and Dr. John Delony

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1. Introduction to the Episode

In this thought-provoking episode of Ramsey Everyday Millionaires, the hosts delve into the intersection of faith and financial prosperity. As part of their mission to highlight how ordinary people build extraordinary wealth through disciplined financial practices, the episode focuses on a listener's inquiry about the biblical stance on wealth.

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2. Listener Question: Does God Want Us To Be Wealthy?

The episode kicks off with a heartfelt message from a listener named Joe from Albany, New York:

Joe (00:35): "I am thankful for God first and my 10 year old daughter."

Prompted by this, Joe poses a profound question to the hosts:

Joe (00:48): "Does God want me or us to be wealthy? I kind of wanted to ask you that because I feel like you have a pretty big business and you have ties to people who are in church. So maybe you could offer some biblical insight. That way my finances and my spiritual life can be aligned a little bit more."

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3. Ken Coleman's Response: Biblical Perspective on Wealth

Ken Coleman (B) provides a comprehensive and balanced biblical perspective on wealth, addressing common misconceptions within the Christian community:

Ken Coleman (01:15): "There are two ends of the spectrum in the Christian world, both of which create an inaccurate teaching of scripture. One end is the Prosperity Gospel, which suggests that God wants you to be rich and if you're not, you must not be right with God. The other end falsely claims that God requires us to be poor to be holy, which aligns with Gnosticism and is heretical."

He emphasizes that God's primary concern is the condition of our hearts and our worship, irrespective of our financial status:

Ken Coleman (03:00): "God doesn't care if you're wealthy or if you're poor. He doesn't care one way or the other. All He wants is your heart, all He wants is your worship."

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4. Stewardship and Responsibility

Coleman expands on the concept of stewardship, highlighting that all possessions are ultimately God's, and humans are merely managers:

Ken Coleman (03:45): "We're merely managing it for God. He's the owner, we're the steward. Managing wealth is a privilege. It is a responsibility. It's to be managed for the good of God and for His kingdom."

He references Paul from the New Testament to underline that both wealth and poverty can hinder worship if they become idols:

Ken Coleman (04:10): "Lord keep me from having one or the other if it gets in the way."

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5. Generosity and Inheritance

The discussion moves to practical applications of biblical principles in financial management:

Ken Coleman (04:50): "A godly man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. This isn't just about character but also about financial inheritance, ensuring that resources are used responsibly."

He advocates for consistent generosity, citing scriptures that encourage tithing and cheerful giving:

Ken Coleman (05:10): "There’s an indication all throughout New Testament and Old Testament to tithe a tenth of your income as your baseline for your generosity offerings above that."

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6. Avoiding Extremes: Balancing Wealth and Spirituality

Coleman cautions against both the pursuit of wealth for selfish reasons and the rejection of wealth as inherently sinful:

Ken Coleman (05:53): "We're suggesting that a prostitute who comes to Jesus, a murderer who comes to Jesus can go to heaven, but a wealthy person who comes to Jesus can't. And that's heresy."

He underscores that faithfulness in managing whatever resources one has is key, aligning with Jesus' teachings:

Ken Coleman (07:00): "If you're faithful with the little things, you're going to be given more to manage."

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7. Host Commentary and Light Banter

Dave Ramsey (A) and Ken Coleman (B) engage in light-hearted banter, bringing a human touch to the discussion. Ramsey humorously references the misconception surrounding wealth and spiritual standing:

Dave Ramsey (09:34): "The 1% are all going to hell. Let me scare you about that one. If you make $38,000 a year, you're in the top 1% of income earners in the world."

This playful exchange underscores the episode's theme: wealth in itself is not condemnatory or condemnative—it's the heart and intentions behind it that matter.

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8. Conclusion: Aligning Financial Management with Spiritual Life

The episode concludes with Ken Coleman reinforcing the central message:

Ken Coleman (08:42): "It's about your heart. So whether you have little money or you have a lot of money, it's about how you view the money."

He reiterates that managing money with a responsible and generous heart aligns financial practices with spiritual values, eliminating guilt and promoting a healthy relationship with wealth.

Dave Ramsey (09:34) wraps up with a final thought-provoking statement, challenging listeners to reconsider their perceptions of wealth and spirituality.

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Key Takeaways

• God's Indifference to Wealth: Wealth and poverty are neither inherently good nor bad in the eyes of God. What matters is how individuals manage their resources and the intentions behind their financial decisions.

• Stewardship Over Ownership: Believers are stewards of God's resources, entrusted with managing wealth responsibly for the benefit of their families and the advancement of God's kingdom.

• Balanced Financial Principles: Adhering to biblical principles such as avoiding debt, building wealth, generosity through tithing, and leaving a responsible inheritance are crucial for financial and spiritual well-being.

• Avoiding Extremes: Rejecting both Prosperity Gospel and anti-wealth ideologies ensures a balanced and biblically sound approach to finances.

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This episode of Ramsey Everyday Millionaires offers a nuanced and biblically grounded perspective on wealth, encouraging listeners to align their financial practices with their spiritual beliefs. By emphasizing stewardship, generosity, and responsible management, the hosts provide a roadmap for building wealth that honors both personal and spiritual growth.

Transcript

[A]

This episode is sponsored by SmartVestor. Connect with an investing pro for free at RamseySolutions.com invest. You're listening to Ramsey Everyday Millionaires where we talk investing, retirement, building wealth and outrageous generosity.

[B]

Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co host today. Thank you for joining us, America. What are you thankful for? Joe's gonna start off this hour. Joe's in Albany, New York. Joe, what are you thankful for?

[C]

Hey, Dave. I am thankful for God first and my 10 year old daughter.

[B]

Awesome. What's her name?

[C]

My daughter's name is Aubrey.

[B]

Very cool, very cool. How can we help you today, sir?

[C]

So I guess my, my question is kind of centered around God. So main question is, does God want me or us to be wealthy? I kind of wanted to ask you that because I feel like you have a pretty big business and you have ties to people who are in church. So maybe you could offer some biblical insight. That way my finances and my spiritual life can be aligned a little bit more.

[B]

Yeah, okay. Well, there's two ends of the spectrum in the Christian world, both of which create an inaccurate teaching of scripture. One end of the spectrum we call the Prosperity Gospel, that God wants you to be rich. And if you're not rich, you must not be right with God and all this kind of stuff. And that's not biblical. You can't back that up scripturally. The other end of the spectrum is that God says you have to be poor in order to be holy. And that's actually not scriptural either. That's a form of heresy called Gnosticism. So what actually happens is it's not really a spectrum between those two, but it's maybe a third point on a triangle off in a different direction. I was on a TV show with a pastor one time and he asked me what he thought was an underhand pitch question, is it okay for Christians to be wealthy? Kind of what you said. And I said, no, we have to all be poor. And it kind of freaked him out. Cause he thought I was gonna say, yes, it's okay to be wealthy. But my point. And then I went on and expanded. So here's the true idea, okay? God doesn't care if you're wealthy or if you're poor. He doesn't care one way or the other. All he wants is your heart, all he wants is your worship. And if poverty gets in the way of your worship, that's a problem. If wealth gets in the way of your worship, that's a problem. And that's stated by Paul in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, I've been rich and I've been poor, and Lord keep me from having one or the other if it gets in the way. If you remember reading that Scripture, Joe, you probably have heard that. And so the point is that those of us that are people of faith, that are people of the book, believe that we don't own anything. We are merely managing it for God. He's the owner, we're the steward is the Old English word that has been Christianized because it was in the King James version of Scripture. So we're merely a manager. So we don't own anything. We're managing it. And managing wealth is a privilege. It is a responsibility. And it's to be managed for the good of. Of God and for his kingdom. The first thing he says to do is to take care of your own household, feed that daughter, or you're worse than an unbeliever. It says a godly man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. And that's not necessarily just an inheritance of character. It's also an inheritance of money, because Solomon built the temple, but he built the temple of God in Jerusalem with his father David's money. David was prohibited from building the temple because of Bathsheba and his order of the murder of Uriah. But Solomon used David's inheritance to build the temple with. So a godly man leaves an inheritance to his children's children is fine. And of course, you don't want to leave an inheritance to your kids if they're misbehaving because you're just going to fund their misbehavior. But that's what we're talking about here. So we've taught our kids that we're managing this money for the good of our family, to eat. Eat the good of our family, to enjoy some of it, to be generous with. God loves a cheerful giver, says in Scripture. So this continuous generosity, there's an indication all throughout New Testament and Old Testament to tithe a tenth of your income as your baseline for your generosity offerings above that. So we've got these. We've kind of got. We got a job. When you get money, and your job is to manage money, and then God gives you the directions on how to do that, how to manage his money. You take care of your own household, you're generous, you leave an inheritance, you stay out of debt, you build wealth. But this idea that I'm getting rich for me to be a snotty rich person, no. But are all rich people going to hell no, that's heresy. Because anything that teaches that the blood of Jesus is not powerful enough to cover any sin is heresy. And so we're suggesting that a prostitute that comes to Jesus, a murderer that comes to Jesus can go to heaven, but a wealthy person that comes to Jesus can't. And that's what the Gnostics taught and that's what some of these people who teach theology on Twitter think.

[C]

And torn between.

[B]

Yeah. And it ends up, you get this mixed message, like you are spiritually inferior if you become successful, and yet you're not because the Bible says the diligent prosper. What is diligence? It's excellence in the ordinary. You're good at your job, do your work as unto the Lord. Corinthians 3:20 or Colossians 3:23 says, and how would you do your work? You would do it wide open, like, I'm working for Jesus. I'm going to go crazy, man. I'm going to give it, I'm going to leave it all on the field, you know, and so, and if you're faithful with the little things, you're gonna be given more to manage. If God was against wealth, why would he give you more to manage? And that's out of Jesus own mouth. So there's all this biblical evidence that we're not supposed to worship wealth and that wealth can be dangerous because it can become an idol. But if we can maintain the distance from it as a manager instead of an owner, if you don't say, my, my, my, my, my, instead you go, I'm holding this with an open hand, what do you want me to do with it? It's yours. And then you're managing it. If you're faithful with the little things, you'll be given more to manage. And so then you don't have to live under this ridiculous communist left wing guilt trip for successful people. And then they try to put a Bible spin on it, which is really hilarious.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But on the other hand, you're not, you're not better than someone else. I know some, some of the highest character, smartest people who are not wealthy. And that does, you know, you're not better than them if you're managing more money than they're managing, you just have more responsibility. Does that make any sense?

[C]

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I didn't realize that there was two, I guess, crazy sides of each spectrum. And just knowing that God really doesn't care, it just matters in my heart is, that's tells me a lot.

[B]

Yeah. I Mean, he wants you. That's what he wants. He can give it. I mean, like I always tell people, it's like, you know, people get so torqued out about this or that. Listen, you know, I'm giving money to my church. Well, listen, if God wanted your money, he would just take it, and there'd be a greasy spot where you were sitting. I mean, you know, it's like he's not worried about the money. You know, this is God. So. So, you know, so it's. It's almost, you know, you got to think sometimes he's sitting up there, Ken, with Gabriel, just laughing at us.

[A]

Absolutely. And I feel like after that sermon, there's only one thing to do, and I should take an offering right now. That was really good. Three points. We should have a little three points.

[B]

It was almost a Baptist.

[A]

I could do an altar call and a love offering at the same time. It's. It's a rare talent, but some of us have it because of the amount of hours I've logged.

[B]

Since you're kind of growing your hair out, you know, that would probably fit. You know, you could probably.

[A]

Oh, are you worried that I'm heading over to the health and well crowd.

[B]

With the longer life thinking I'm. No, no. You keep slicking that on back there. I'm telling you.

[A]

Well, it's the new toupe. I'm trying to get it figured out.

[B]

The glue.

[A]

The. The glues. It's obnoxious. You know, you got to really work it out. But, yeah, I think that's a good word. Dave and I. I love that he locked on to really. I think the simple thing. If anybody's grasping this for the first time, I think what you said in one line really captures the whole thing, and that is. It's about your heart. So whether you have little money or you have a lot of money, it's about how you view the money. And that's just really good theology. And it just. It cannot be, by the way. That's not debatable. It's about managing the money. There's too much scripture that just lays it out that we're stewards of everything he gives us. And so that's just a beautiful answer to that question. So no guilt, no overthinking. Just lock in on what Dave said there, because that's about as strong a teaching on that as you'll get.

[B]

The 1% are all going to hell. Let me scare you about that one. If you make $38,000 a year, you're in the top 1% of income earners in the world. Whoops. You're not going to make it if you believe that toxic gnostic heresy.