Is it Wrong to be Wealthy?
Day 11 of 40 in 'The Art of Dying Well' by St. Robert Bellarmine
The Art of Dying Well, chapter 2 “TO DIE TO THE WORLD” (Part 4)
“But it cannot be denied also, that many are to be found, not only not dead to the world, but ardently fond of it, and lovers of its pleasures, riches, and honors: these, unless they resolve to die to the world, and in reality do so, without doubt will die a bad death, and be condemned with the world…
But perhaps the lovers of the world may reply, "It is very difficult to die to the world, while we are living in it; and to despise those good things which God has created for our enjoyment." To these words I answer, that God does not wish us entirely and absolutely to neglect or despise the riches and honors of this world. Abraham was especially favored by God; and yet he possessed great riches. David also, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, were most powerful kings; and at the same time most pleasing to God: the same may be said of many Christian kings and emperors. The good things of this life, therefore its riches, honors, and pleasures are not entirely forbidden to Christians, but only an immoderate love of them, which is named by St. John, " the concupiscence (lust) of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life."
Abraham certainly possessed great riches, but he not only made a moderate use of them, he was also most willing to dispose of them, when and how the Almighty willed. For he who spared not his only beloved son, how much more easily could he part with his riches, if God so wished? Wherefore Abraham was rich, but he was richer in faith and charity; and therefore he was not of the world, but rather dead to it.
The same may be said of other holy men, who, possessed of riches, power, and glory, and even kingdoms, were yet poor in spirit, dead to the world, and thus living to God alone, they learned perfectly the Art of dying well Wherefore, not abundance of riches, nor kingdoms, nor honors, make us to be of the world; but "the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which in one word is called cupidity, and is opposed to divine charity. If then we should begin, the grace of God inspiring us, to love God for His own sake and our neighbors for God's sake, we shall then not be of this world: and as our love increases, our cupidity will diminish; for charity cannot increase without the other diminishing. Thus, what appeared impossible to be done, when our passions reigned within us, "to live in this world as if we did not belong to it," will be made most easy when love resides in our heart. What is an insupportable burden to cupidity, is sweet and light to love.
As we said above, to die to the world is no light matter, but a business of the greatest difficulty and importance. Those find it most difficult who know not the power of God's grace, nor have tasted of the sweetness of His love, but are carnal, not having the Spirit: all carnal objects become insipid, when once we taste of the divine sweetness… He who seriously desires to learn the Art of dying well, on which his eternal salvation and all true happiness depend, must not defer quitting this world, and entirely dying to it: he cannot possibly live to the world and to God; he cannot enjoy earth and heaven.”
In the Gospels, Jesus tells the Rich, Young, Ruler to sell all of his possessions and follow him if he wants to find eternal life. The Rich, Young, Ruler walks away sad (See Matthew 19:16-22) not willing to choose Christ over his life of influence. Does this story mean that Jesus despises wealth and wants every well-off person to sell off all of their investments and companies in order to enter into full-time ministry? Absolutely not. (Although He could call some to this). Some people in the early church did sell everything and enter into full-time missionary life, but others continued running their businesses and used their profits to invest in starting new churches, feeding the poor, and paying salaries for the church staff. St. Paul even used his own tentmaking business to personally fund his missionary efforts at times so that he didn’t have to rely on anyone. (This is similar to the monastic model where monks bake bread, make cheeses, roast coffee, or brew beer to fund their lifestyle. This is how the world famous Trappist Beers came about. Btw, you can help fund some of my favorite Eastern Catholic monks at Holy Resurrection Monastery by purchasing their delicious coffee. My favorite is the Ethiopian.)
As Bellarmine reminds us, “The good things of this life, therefore its riches, honors, and pleasures are not entirely forbidden to Christians, but only an immoderate love of them.” Our Lord puts it succinctly, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). This is why Bellarmine focuses so much on the ‘love of God’ in the final paragraphs of chapter 2. When we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and that he satisfies our every dream and desire, our wallet and investments will soon follow!
Many of us have experienced this reality when we fell in love. I can remember when my heart was first ‘captured’ by my wife to be, Sarah, and we began dating. Night and day, I couldn’t stop thinking of her! Even though I had little money at the time, I wanted to make sure I could budget every dollar so I could take her on nice dates and spend quality time with her. I remember working extra hours in my little front desk job selling pop-tarts and popcorn to college students in my dormitory so I could take her to a high-end seafood restaurant on our first Valentine’s Day date. This eventually led to spending money on a wedding ring, honeymoon, a home, and today, 6 beautiful children from above. Where our heart is, our wallet soon follows!
If we allowed everyone on social media to see our online bank accounts (and every purchase we have made), they would quickly see what we love. They would learn a lot about our values, habits, and perhaps, even addictions. We become what we consume.
This is Bellarmine’s main point—love of God is death to the world. Love for my wife means death to dating the rest of the world. My romantic affections for any other woman were crucified, died, and buried on my wedding day. So it is with God on the day of our baptisms when we were wedded to Christ and His Church. Our love of the world-system is crucified, died, and buried. What comes out of the grave is a passionate love for God and for what He is doing in the world. Nothing else ultimately matters.
Tomorrow, we will move on to chapter 3: The 3 Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, & Love).
Be entirely His,
Kyle