Materialism: The irony of change

Author John Steinbeck wrote a letter to Adlai Stevenson which was recorded in the Washington Post on January 28th, 1960. He said --

 “A strange species we are. We can stand anything God and nature can throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, sick.”   

A leader of the persecuted church in Romania made this sobering observation: 

“In my experience, 95 percent of the believers who face the test of persecution pass it, while 95 percent who face the test of prosperity fail it.”

Ezekiel says --

With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth— gold and silver for your treasuries. Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud. - Ezekiel 28:4-5

We commit pride or conceit - the devil's sin - when we begin crediting ourselves with the skills, opportunities, and providential blessings that are in reality God's gifts, unearned and undeserved.  Hosea put it this way -

But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. - Hosea 13:6

Scripture suggests that the possession of riches is almost always a spiritual liability.  If Jesus was serious when he said how hard it is for a rich person to enter God's kingdom and if being part of the kingdom of heaven is the highest blessing a person can receive, then how can we imagine that having riches is always a blessing from God?

After the exodus from Egypt, God sent quail as a loving provision for the children of Israel.  But after they grumbled and complained about their circumstances, He said He would send quail again -

“And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it.  And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty.  You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” - Numbers 11:18-20

Material prosperity can begin as God's blessing, but when we treat it as a substitute for God, it becomes a curse.