How to cite this article: Joshua N. Tilton, “A Satisfied Mind: Jesus’ Attitude Toward Wealth,” Jerusalem Perspective (2026): [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/33431/].
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In honor of David Flusser, twenty-five years after his passing. |
This past fall the world’s richest man was awarded a one trillion-dollar pay package from the shareholders of an electric vehicle company.[1] That’s a staggering sum of money, and much good may it do him, although I, for one, am skeptical of its salubrious effects. The Beatles reminded my parents’ audience, “Money can’t buy me love,” while Bob Dylan interrogated the Masters of War with the words, “Let me ask you one question: Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could?” And in my grandparents’ generation the cowboy prophet Hank Williams, Sr. warned, in reference to monetary wealth, “My friends, it won’t save your poor wicked soul.” Nothing I’ve ever heard about the recipient of this trillion-dollar payout convinces me these songwriters were wrong in their estimation of the limits of what riches can do for him—or for anyone else, for that matter.
One good thing to come out of Musk’s trillion-dollar bash, however, is that it affords us as good an opportunity as any to revisit the issue of Jesus’ economic views and his attitude toward wealth in particular. And what a challenging, troubling, and unsettling attitude it is!
In my experience there are two prevailing attitudes toward wealth and money. Some of us are tempted to admire those who have it, as though wealth were itself a virtue. Others of us are tempted to envy it, feeling as though money is wasted on the rich in much the same was as those of us who are aging can feel that youth is wasted on the young. Still others of us oscillate between these alternatives, which is easy to do because common to both sentiments is a positive valuation of riches. Whether it’s admiration we feel or envy, the basic attitude is desire for more, originating from a perception of scarcity. The world’s resources are regarded as limited, the accumulation of wealth is viewed as a zero-sum competition, and we want to be on the side that’s winning.
Jesus’ attitude toward wealth offers a refreshing alternative. Born from a mindset of abundance, Jesus’ attitude was not driven by competition for resources but exuded an ethos of sharing and generosity in the relaxed confidence that there would always be enough. Because he trusted in God to provide for his daily needs, Jesus regarded the accumulation of wealth as unnecessary. Ownership of property was not a goal for Jesus, rather he saw having possessions as an impediment for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Acquiring a treasure on earth depleted one’s access to treasure in heaven. In short, Jesus evinced a skeptical, if not entirely negative, view of wealth. He was wary of money and embraced poverty as a spiritual good.
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Notes
- See Camila Domonoske, “Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay package,” Morning Edition (National Public Radio: 6 November 2025) [https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/nx-s1-5596440/tesla-musk-2025-trillion-dollar-compensation-vote]. ↩
