The simplest way to have a quiet life, with an untroubled conscience and without gnawing questions, is to let the holy scriptures stand as what they are: holy and far away from earthly doings. This quiet life would be profoundly disturbed if we take the gospel seriously. Of course we have a high respect for the gospel because no author has ever been able to match this story and because so many people have given their life in the name of the gospel. But if we want to have a quiet conscience it is better to take a certain distance from the gospel because this text is not adapted to practice in our daily life.
The most troubling thing that could disturb our daily life is to take seriously some recommendations from the gospel. If we take the gospel for true, it would be almost impossible to be rich and having at the same time a quiet mind. How awful! Think on what Mark has written: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God”. What bad luck if the gospel should apply on us, because a camel can never go through the eye of a needle. Rich people should therefore never be able to enter heaven. Thus, if we want to keep our mind quiet, it is better to both relegate the gospel and the kingdom of God to the realm of fairyland. If we persist in this argument, it would perhaps be necessary to relegate more holy stories to fiction and it would be better if we see man as an animal without a soul. How awful!
It is perhaps not so bad as it seems to be. Mark was perhaps a little bit jealous because his brother in law was a rich man. So, Mark has invented this judgment of our Saviour in order to tease his brother in law a little bit. But if this is true, then we have also to accuse Matthew of fraud. Matthew has written (or perhaps ‘invented’) in the story about the rich young man: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions”. That’s too crazy for words.
In short, either we accept the gospel for truth or we keep our mind quiet. A rich man cannot say anymore that he beliefs in the gospel and he can never hope to enter the kingdom of God. If he still beliefs in a possible salvation without taking seriously what is written in the gospel, then he is a little mad.
It is even worse than it likes to be. If our Saviour announces who will enter the kingdom of God, then He is speaking about his commandments as the only way towards a meaningful life. To be honest, to be just, to love his neighbors, to pay his servants a fair salary, to accept marital fidelity and to honor his parents are His most important commandments. To be rich is not a commandment. This does not mean that to be rich is a shame or that to be poor is preferable. God forbid! Our Saviour had warned us against richness because He knew that richness could never be accumulated in an honest and equitable way. Richness and love for his neighbors can never go together.
The problem is that rich people think to be in heaven on earth. Their life is paradise. It is tempting for the rich to think that God has given them His grace and that their richness is a gift from God. In the perception of many of them, God is the ally of rich people. Their world is extremely well fashioned. Rich people prefer the status quo and revolution is in their view very awful. God mit uns: what an audacity!
I suppose that our Saviour would have some remarks about the rich people of the world today. E.g., if we take commodities like oil and minerals. Oil and minerals are gifts for mankind, but a few people has become extremely rich with the exploitation. That seems very odd to me. Another example: salaries, bonuses or other benefits for CEO’s and members of boards of management are sometimes gargantuan. I’m not begrudging the benefits for competent, creative and energetic workaholics. They must be well paid but not 130.000 $ a month.
Therefore, I want to help rich people a little bit, so that they can enter the kingdom of God after they will have left behind their bank accounts and possessions. My advice is based on common sense and on my own experience. I’m a doctor and I have 40 years of experience in my profession. So I deserve a good salary. I take as a norm the double of my own salary. That means that a rich man may earn a maximum of 13.000 $ a month. The benefit for a member of a board of management may be 200 $ per hour, not more. Besides such an income, a maximum of possession worth 1 million dollars seems reasonable to me.
What does this mean? Well, if some people earn more than what seems reasonable to me and if they possess more than 1 million dollars, then I grant them the pleasure of it. If a dictator should have the power, he may not have the permission to take from rich people their richness. But there is one thing that the rich should know: the limit of 13.000 $ income and 1 million dollars is the boundary between peace of mind and moral dilemma, between the kingdom of God and eternal damnation, between love for one’s neighbors and self-centeredness, between responsibility and selfishness.
Some people will perhaps say that I can go to hell with my judgments. They want to enjoy their life in peace. Nobody knows what will happen after dead; therefore nobody had the right to interrupt one’s tranquility of mind with fables. No problem, they can say to me all what they like to say. Even if they say that they have seen a square circle, that’s ok. But one thing is for sure and that is that after death there will be nothingness or the reward for a life full of love. There will be eternal regret and remorse or the blessedness of those who have lived in the service of Others. A rich man will never go through the eye of a needle.
What have we to do if we earn more that 13.000 $ and if we possess more than 1 million dollars? Well, we can create a foundation for the well-being of the Others and for development. A rich man who will read this will shake his head pityingly. He will find this appeal absurd and foolish. He will certainly think that I may go to hell. Such reflections of this rich man prove how impossible it is of the rich to find the true sense of life.
In short: RICH PEOPLE ARE A SHAME FOR OUR CIVILISATION