The Danger of Prosperity

Is there anyone you envy?

If there is, we usually don’t like to admit it. But most of us, if we’re honest, have looked at someone else and thought, “I wish I had what they have.”

Often, the people we envy are financially successful. If we ask others, “Who are the most envied people?” we’d probably hear a lot of billionaire names. From a certain perspective, that makes sense. Money brings benefits. But what’s not so obvious is that it also brings dangers.

That’s something we see repeatedly in Luke’s Gospel.

One place those risks are made very clear is in Luke 16. Jesus begins the chapter by telling his disciples to think differently about money. He teaches that we’re to use our resources to build eternal relationships (v.9), that faithfulness with money reveals our character (v.10), and that how we handle wealth shows whether we truly serve God or money (v.13).

That is a kind warning. It is helpful. It’s in line with Old Testament teaching. Someone who is concerned about honoring God and listening, should be nodding their heads in agreeement. The Pharisees instead start mocking him.

Why? What was making them so defensive? Luke says it plainly: “They were lovers of money” (v.14). This is a surprising thing to say. The Bible clearly condemns greed. How could they think they were religious and be living like this? What’s more, the fact they responded by ridiculing Jesus indicates they still felt superior to him. I think the next verse tells us how that was possible.“You are those who justify themselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” They made excuses and those excuses made sense to them because they had what people exalted and assumed that meant they were fine with God.

And that’s one the big dangers with material prosprity.

People put a big value on money. If someone has wealth, they are often respected. They can begin to assume people’s opinions must be the same as God’s. As a result, material prosperity can lull us into a false sense of spiritual security. It can make us feel confident when we should feel convicted.

A Story to Shake Us

So Jesus tells a story. “There was a rich man…”

That phrase tells us we’re entering a parable. Some people have wondered if this was a real story because Jesus names Lazarus, but it’s told like a parable, using familiar storytelling patterns.

Jesus describes the rich man in extreme terms: clothed in purple and fine linen—a first-century symbol of extreme wealth and status. He feasts sumptuously every day, throws banquets, lives in luxury. He’s the kind of person people admire, envy, and assume is successful.

He even has a gate—a large, impressive one, more like a palace entrance than a picket fence.

And outside that gate? A man named Lazarus.

Lazarus is the total opposite. He’s not just poor—he’s sick, covered in sores, too weak to move. He’s laid (literally “thrown”) at the rich man’s gate. He’s hungry, yearning just for crumbs. Dogs come and lick his sores—he’s helpless, exposed, and alone.

Jesus is making a clear contrast. Here’s a man exalted by the world and one the world ignored. .

And then, they both die.

The Great Reversal

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment…”

In other words, the man who had nothing is now honored—carried by angels to a place of fellowship, comfort, and joy. The man who had everything is now in agony, desperate for a drop of water.

This is the great reversal. And it’s a theme all through Luke. From Mary’s song in Luke 1 (“He has brought down the mighty… and exalted the humble”) to Jesus’ blessings and woes in Luke 6, we’re warned: the way things look now is not the way they are, and it’s certainly not how they’ll stay.

If you evaluate your life by worldly standards—wealth, comfort, status—you might completely miss how you’re actually doing.

What Made the Rich Man Wicked?

Jesus doesn’t give us all the details about why Lazarus was saved—but we see clearly why the rich man is condemned.

It’s not just that he was rich. It's that he used all his wealth on himself and ignored the suffering man right outside his gate. Day after day, he walked past Lazarus—maybe even stepped over him—to go enjoy his feasts. And never once did he help. This is someone who knew Scripture—he calls Abraham “Father.”  Yet he’s living in clear disobedience to Old Testament law. But still he was prospering. He seems to have been respected by his community. After all, they show up at his burial. And yet his heart was far from God and ends up condemned and judged.

That’s what makes this story so devastating. You can be rich, respected, and religious—and still be completely lost.

False Security Is Deadly

Why did Jesus tell this story?

One reason was because the Pharisees were blind. They weren’t listening. They were prosperous, confident, and self-assured. And Jesus was trying to wake them up. Everyone envied the rich man. Everyone pitied Lazarus. They may have thought Lazarus’ earthly condition reflected God’s attitude. They may have felt like the rich man’s prosperity meant God was pleased with Him. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

You absolutely cannot use the standards of this world to evaluate how you’re doing with God. If you do, you might feel great when you should feel terrified. While our world treats wealth as the ultimate indicator of success. God’s perspective is different. What is exalted by people may be detestable to God (Luke 16:15).

What Should We Use to Evaluate Ourselves?

Knowing what we know about what God values should completely change the way we evaluate things.

Many years ago John Chrysostom wrote,

“The unbeliever surveys the heavens and worships them, because he thinks tem a divinity; he looks to the earth and makes himself a servant to it, and longs for the things of sense. But not so with us. We survey the heavens and admire Him that made them; for we do not believe them to be a god, but a work of God. I look on the whole creation, and led by it to the Creator. He looks on wealth, and longs for it with earnest desire; I look on wealth and condemn it. He sees poverty and laments; I see poverty, and rejoice. I see things in one light; he in another.”

While many in the world evaluate how their lives are going by how they are doing financially, how we do so must be very, very different. It is not by our bank accounts. Not by our comfort level. Not by what others think.

Instead, we should ask ourselves two questions:

What’s your relationship with Jesus? The most important thing isn’t whether you’re rich or poor, but whether you’ve believed in the One God sent. John 3:16 makes it clear: salvation is through faith in Jesus alone.

Are you submitting to His Word—especially in how you use your money? This is an important question not because we’re saved by generosity, but because how we use money reveals our hearts. Sacrificial giving to those who can’t repay us is a powerful test of whether we really believe the gospel.

If you are in Jesus and demonstrating that through obedience to His Word, you are truly rich because you can be assured of God’s love and favor, no matter what your earthly circumstances might be like.

Final Warning—and Hope

Jesus told this story to warn the religious and comfortable. To show how easy it is to be prosperous and blind—to live your whole life in luxury, completely unaware that you are one day away from judgment.

Poverty doesn’t save. Wealth doesn’t condemn. But material prosperity can make it very difficult to see your true spiritual condition.Don’t let comfort lull you into a false confidence. Don’t use the world’s standards to measure your soul. Look to Jesus. Obey His Word. Invest your resources not in what men think is important, but in what God does.

Because this life isn’t all there is. And what comes next will be nothing short of a total reversal for many.