English Standard Version
Modernity so closely associates wealth with financial resources. To be rich seems to almost always means to have a lot of money. It may also include a large house and a fancy car, but those are often simply evidence of deep pockets. Anymore, it may also include funding a spaceship, but that's a relatively new phenomenon.
2,000 years ago, Paul paints a much deeper picture of wealth. Paul tells Timothy to look at the people in the church, and if there are people who have a lot of money, Timothy is to instruct them to invest their lives in doing good, so that they may be rich in good works. Their wealth will come not from their money but from actions that benefit others. In their generosity and willingness to share, they will discover treasures previously unknown, and then true life will become apparent through service to others. They will be wealthy beyond compare, but not because of their money, but because of their service, which may (or may not) be enabled by money.
I deeply wish we had such a mature and nuanced view of wealth today. Imagine a magazine based on the lives of the wealthy that contained only stories of the good works they were doing, and the magazine didn't limit itself to people of great financial resources, but rather simply focused on the people who were most invested in serving others, and that these were the lives to be emulated. Imagine that our celebrities were not the people most skilled at publicizing themselves, but rather the people most able to elevate others. Imagine that our news stories were filled with inspiring stories of service rather than selfishness.
This is the image that Timothy is charged to cultivate in the church, and it's one for us to contemplate as well.
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