The Savior's Teachings on Riches

Today I spent some time looking at the Savior’s teachings about riches.  The overall theme in my mind of these teachings seems to be a warning of spiritual danger to those who acquire riches.  He spake two parables which dealt directly with a man who was rich.  The first described “a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.”  He was contrasted with a beggar named Lazarus, a man who clearly suffered greatly throughout his life.  Both of these died, and their states were reversed: Lazarus was taken to Abraham’s bosom and the rich man went to hell.  When the rich man complained, he was told, “Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things” (Luke 16:19-25). 

The second parable is similar in that it speaks of a rich man who also died.  It was motivated by someone who came to Jesus asking for the Master’s help in getting his brother to divide the inheritance with him—the Savior showed He clearly wasn’t interested in solving disputes over money.  In the parable the man had ground that “brought forth plentifully” and he had so much that he didn’t have “room to bestow [his] fruit and [his] goods.”  So he decided, “I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.”  But unfortunately for the man, the Lord said to him, “Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”  The Savior then commented, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:13-21).  Both of these parables suggest that we should be much more concerned about what our state is going to be when we die than in accumulating worldly goods in this life.  The key is in what we “treasure up” during our life.  If our “treasure” is our money and possessions and things of this world, then we may find ourselves in a similar fate when we cross the bar.

                So is it against the Savior’s commandments to gain riches?  He certainly did not say that, but He was not very optimistic about the spiritual well-being of those who do.  In the parable of the sower He warned against the “deceitfulness of riches” for that was one of the causes of people not receiving the word of God (Mark 4:19).  In our dispensation warned the rich who would not give to the poor, “Your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (D&C 56:16)  In the Book of Mormon, Nephi spoke of the “rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts” and quoted the Lord’s reaction to them: “Wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!” (2 Nephi 28:15).  He commented to His disciples, “A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:23).  When the disciples questioned Him about this, He clarified that those who will “forsake all things for my sake” could be saved (JST Matt. 19:26).  That seems to be what He was trying to get the rich young ruler to do, and he “went away sorrowful” because of the difficulty of such a sacrifice.  In the Sermon on the Mount He said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 4:19-20).  And herein I think is the key: if we obtain riches, do we treasure them above the things of God?  I think the litmus test to know whether we do is given by Jacob.  Do we use our riches to “do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” (Jacob 2:19).  If not, then I think it is clear what we treasure and where our course is leading us.  Neither man in the two parables shared what they had with those in need.  If we are given riches and follow suite then surely our post-mortal reward will be like theirs.