Life’s Disguises (Wealth)

September 20, 2004

Last week, I began a series of “Life’s Disguises,” exploring a dozen qualities almost everyone seeks in life. Unfortunately, these qualities appear as desert mirages, like an illusive oasis, not what they seem. I set forth the idea that love is not a feeling, an emotion, or sexuality, but TIME. We make and enjoy time with those we love, including God! Time, and its ultimate extension, eternity, are among the greatest of God’s gifts to us.

This week, I want to dispel the mirage of WEALTH. As with all these disguises, it may be easier to say what wealth is not. Wealth is not money or possessions. We chase the myth that the richest person is the one who has the most money, possessions, or things. (It is a fundamental mistake to equate wealth with money.)

I have had my share of “out of money experiences”. Growing up on Graball Hill in Yazoo City, MS, I didn’t realize I was poor until I learned what other people had. Therein lies the problem: we measure our wealth by what other people have, not what is inside us!

My Father often said, “I may not have a dime, but I have a ‘million dollar’ family”. (In honesty, he hastened to say, “But I wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for another one.”) That was a “spoken blessing” to my siblings and me. It taught us that in spite of our lack of earthly possessions, we were Yazoo City’s richest family when it came to things money cannot buy: love, family, faith, happiness and health.

John Wesley said, “When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.” Rather than one owning possessions, the possessions have a way of owning the person. When I was pastor in Georgia, a family donated a 27-foot boat to the church. I discovered why they donated it. We, like the donors, sank more money and time into trying to fix up that wreck than it was worth, and eventually gave it away.

Ralph Waldo Emerson reminded us, “The greatest man in history was the poorest.” Jesus instructed his disciples to travel lightly, and not encumber themselves with earthly possessions.

The truth is: The wealthiest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least!

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.