Did Jesus Really Say You Won't Get Into Heaven If You're Rich?

One way to think about Jesus and money is to consider the old joke about three types of people in the world.

1. Some people don't know what Jesus said about money and they have no interest in finding out.

2. People who care so much that they make the words of Jesus about money the standard of their financial lives.

3. The people who know what Jesus said about money-or at least they think they know-and wish they didn't.

Here is an example of the third type of person. I was at a seminar about creating a millionaire mindset. After a break, I was returning to my seat when I saw one of the students talking with the speaker. As I got closer, I heard the student ask: "How can you say it is good to be rich? Jesus said that a rich man can't get into Heaven."

Of all of the words of Jesus about money, the comment about the rich man is probably the most misquoted and misunderstood. If I were to pick the one Bible that creates more guilt about money than any other, it would be this one. This verse creates fear in people who think that they have to choose between salvation and being rich.

The story of the rich man occurs three times in the Bible. In each case, Jesus talked about a rich man and the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, Jesus did not say that a rich man can't get into Heaven. This means that the upset student at the seminar had misquoted the story. And by confusing the Kingdom of Heaven with Heaven, he had missed the real point of the story.

The Kingdom of Heaven concerns the economic reality of people alive on planet Earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the same as Heaven.

What is the best way to liberate people from such misunderstanding? The only way is to put the words of Jesus into context. What did the words mean in the context of the story? And what did the story mean in the context of the economic system?

Otherwise, you will be like the man at the seminar. He had misunderstood the point of the story because he confused Heaven with the Kingdom of Heaven. He was stuck in an "Eye of the Needle" of his own making.

Jesus was not saying that the rich cannot get into Heaven. Jesus was condemning an economic system that produced so much poverty. He was not insisting that people must be poor to get into Heaven.

Article Source: http://www.a1-optimization.com/articles

What if most of what you were taught about Jesus and money is not biblical? Don't let misunderstood words of Jesus prevent you from living an abundant life.
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