“It is not the fact that a man has riches which keeps him from the kingdom of heaven, but the fact that riches have him.”
John Caird (1820-1898) Scottish theologian in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 523.
As I explore the handling of riches in sermons and commentaries of famous preachers, this theme emerges: a person’s relationship with riches shapes their earthly living and their eternal destiny.
While wealth and riches often come to faithful stewards, those that relate rightly to riches do not hold on to them, but rather, enjoy and share them, showing that they cling not to riches for security but to God.
The famous preachers also echo Jesus in stating that there is no middle ground! People either serve God or serve mammon (cf. Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). Do you have riches or do riches have you?