The people group: To those who are rich | The Biblical Fundraiser in Ancient Words

Story elements: Characters, Setting, and Backstory (Identity)

Biblical fundraising is a scriptural ministry to the wealth holders.
Ordinary fundraising is just a way to get quick cash to a charity.

1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy [. Instruct them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”¹

Prepare to be offended

Let’s face it. The Bible is offensive. Many parts are offensive to modern culture. Other parts were offensive in other ages and other times. Jesus’s teachings were so offensive that he was killed for them.

This passage in 1 Timothy is also offensive. But it’s offensive in a different way. It’s offensive to popular church culture. It’s offensive to modern-day Christians. It’s offensive to their norms and expectations.

To the rich

When scripture delivers an offensive teaching, it’s usually not subtle. That’s especially true when Paul is writing. When he has something offensive to say, he usually leads with it.

We see that here. English translations of 1 Timothy 6:17 typically start with the verb. This might be instruct, teach, tell, or command. The Greek does not. It starts with the offensive part. It starts with, “To the rich” [Tois plousiois].

This letter is a “Pastoral Epistle.” Paul is telling Timothy how to be a minister. Paul has already given special instructions for ministries to

Older men (1 Timothy 5:1)
Older women (1 Timothy 5:2)
Younger women (1 Timothy 5:2)
Older widows (1 Timothy 5:3-7, 9-19)
Younger widows (1 Timothy 6:11-15)

These are all sensible ministries. The modern church would happily embrace any of them.

But then, Paul gets offensive. He tells Timothy to do something that few churches find comfortable. Few are willing to follow. After warning against chasing wealth (1 Timothy 6:9) and the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10), Paul outlines a specific ministry to the rich.

No wiggle room

When the Bible gives an offensive command, our first instinct is often to resist. We’ve already formed our ideas about God and his expectations; thank you very much. Change is hard. We don’t like to listen to anything that contradicts our comfortable assumptions. It’s easier to explain that the words don’t really mean what they say.

Here, scripture anticipates this reaction. If the verse began simply with “To the rich,” we might invent some wiggle room. Perhaps Paul meant those who are spiritually rich? Perhaps “rich” means those with a rich prayer life? Alas, no.

To hammer the point home, scripture continues. This ministry is to “those who are rich in this present world.” It’s talking about worldly wealth.²

Isn’t this a contradiction?

A ministry to the rich? Surely, this can’t be! Doesn’t James expressly prohibit this? Is Paul contradicting James? What’s going on here? Let’s take a look. James 2:2-4 warns,

“For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

Two people enter the assembly. Immediately, they are separated. The message is clear: You don’t belong together. The word for “make distinctions” here is diakrinō. One study explains that this word,

“Literally means, ‘to separate throughout or wholly’ (dia, ‘asunder,’ krinō, ‘to judge,’ from a root kri, meaning ‘separation’)”³

This behavior is wrong. Why? Because it breaks the fellowship community. (It breaks the koinōnia.) It separates those within the assembly from each other. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 does the opposite. It pulls the rich into the fellowship community [koinōnia] through sharing [koinōnikous].

The passages don’t contradict. They match.⁴ Both target the same goal. Both strengthen the mutual bond of the fellowship community [koinōnia].

Wealth can be a barrier to fellowship. It can cause separation. Wealth holders can feel like they don’t need others. And wealth can make them distrust others’ intentions. It can isolate. Others can feel that the rich are different. They are better. Or they are worse. But they are not “us.”

The ministry to the wealthy attacks this isolation. It replaces isolation with active fellowship in the community.⁵ It replaces isolation with mutual sharing [koinōnikous].

Special ministries for special groups are scriptural. They need not divide the community. Instead, they can strengthen it. We can have special ministries to older widows. We can have special ministries to younger widows, older men, younger men, and younger women. And yes, we can even have a special ministry “to the rich.”

Who are these people?

So, we’re looking for people with big paychecks, right? Maybe a professional athlete or a brain surgeon? Probably someone with social standing? Someone who dresses fancy, right? Actually, no.

The word for “the rich” comes from ploutos. It means riches and wealth.⁶ It references an accumulated pile of assets. It’s talking about houses, land, livestock, businesses, gold, and cash. It’s talking about net worth. It is a ministry to

“Instruct those rich in this world’s goods” (1 Timothy 6:17a New English Bible)⁷

This ministry is for people with wealth. Wealth is assets, not income. Having a big paycheck doesn’t make a person wealthy. Many with big paychecks spend even more! Having fancy clothes or cars doesn’t make you wealthy. It usually does the opposite. These purchases quickly lose their value.

This ministry is for people with wealth. It’s for the accumulators. Wealth is assets, not social rank.⁸ Often, those who try to flaunt it don’t actually have it. Most wealthy people don’t want to be known as wealthy.⁹

This ministry can include those without any prestige, recognition, title or social class. Why? Because none of these are assets. None of them are wealth. This ministry is for people who hold wealth.

Wealth is not income

A defining fact about wealth is this: Wealth is not income. It’s a basic distinction, but it’s often missed. People often confuse wealth and income.

They seem similar. Both are described in terms of money. People with great wealth often have great income. People with great incomes are at least thought to be wealthy. But wealth and income are different.

In math terms, income is a “flow” variable. Wealth is a “stock” variable. Income is like a river. Wealth is like a pond. Income is new. It’s something that arrives fresh. Wealth is old. It’s something in storage. Income is a basket of fruit from an orchard. Wealth is the orchard itself.

A property tax is a tax on wealth. If the property generated no income, the tax doesn’t change. An income tax is not a tax on wealth. Even a billionaire might have no income. He might lose money during a year. He could have both negative income and massive wealth.

The point is this. Wealth is not income.

The Greek words: Wealth not income

In English, wealth is not income. Greek makes the same distinction. Greek has several words that reference income.¹⁰ Paul could have used any of them. He doesn’t. Instead, he begins by using the words for an accumulated pile of wealth. He starts with plousiois [rich], plousiōs [richly], ploutou [riches], and ploutein [rich]. These all come from the same Greek word, ploutos. It references an abundance of possessions. It’s a pile of valuable stuff.¹¹ It’s riches or treasures.¹² It’s wealth.

Our passage is not about income. It’s not rent. It’s not production or profit. It’s about an accumulated pile of stuff – valuable stuff. It’s about wealth.¹³

No, we aren’t all rich

Wealth is not income. This seems simple enough. But messages on this passage often ignore this basic fact. This message is for the wealth holders. It’s for a small group.

Preachers prefer messages that apply to the whole congregation. So, often, they’ll introduce this passage by saying that we live in a rich country. They’ll quote statistics about income. Then they’ll say,

“We’re all rich! So, this ministry is for all of us.”

No, it’s not. High income does not mean high wealth. Living in a high-income country doesn’t make a person a wealth holder. The US is a rich country. Yes. And the lower half holds about 1% of that wealth.¹⁴ Credit card debt is over $1 trillion.¹⁵ For the bottom quarter of all households, median net worth is less than $120.¹⁶ (Read that again. That’s not a typo.) Even in a high-income country, not everyone is rich.

The rich are different not only in their circumstances. They’re also different in their behaviors. These are the accumulators. They’re the collectors. They’re the holders. Sometimes, they’re the hoarders. This is a distinct group. It’s a special group. It’s not everyone.

Of course, it is still possible to ignore this reality. Look at the starving children in famine. We’re all rich compared to that! But being rich isn’t about having more than someone in a far-removed place or time. It’s having more than those around you.

The richest men in the Old Testament were kings. But would you trade your lifestyle for theirs? Would you give up modern medicine, hospitals, running water, air conditioning, glass windows, automobiles, airplanes, movies, the internet, and your phone?

Solomon had none of these things. So should we say he wasn’t actually wealthy? Of course not. That’s ridiculous. He had more than anyone around him. If others in a different time or place have it better or worse, that doesn’t change anything.

Conclusion: What’s the point?

The point is this. This passage describes a ministry to the rich. The rich are a specific, narrow group. But we already knew that. The only reason to resist it is because it feels uncomfortable.

Scripture commands a ministry to the rich. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. Yes, it’s offensive. But that’s still what it says.

Notes and references

Tois plousiois en tō nyn aiōni parangelle mē hypsēlophronein mēde ēlpikenai epi ploutou adēlotēti, all epi Theō tō parechonti hēmin panta plousiōs eis apolausin, agathoergein, ploutein en ergois kalois, eumetadotous einai, koinōnikous, apothēsaurizontas heautois themelion kalon eis to mellon, hina epilabōntai tēs ontōs zōēs. (Note: All Greek text is ALA-LC Romanized throughout including quotations.)
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“In the three places in which o nyn aiōn occurs it has a definite material physical sense; whereas o aiōn outos has a more notional ethical force.” [White, N. J. D. (1912). Commentary on 1 Timothy 6. In W. R. Nicoll (Ed.), The expositor’s Greek testament (Vol.4, pp. 1897-1910). Eerdmans.]
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Hill, G., & Archer, G. (2021). HELPS Lexicon [Software]. HELPS Ministries Inc. www.thediscoverybible.com
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This is a consistent theme throughout 1 Timothy. Professor Craig Blomberg reviews this long series of connections, beginning, “Interestingly, some of the most striking parallels to James occur in 1 Timothy.” [Blomberg, C. L. (2022). The perfect law of liberty on poverty and wealth: A precursor to Paul? Tyndale Bulletin, 73, 171-199. p. 182.]
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In his commentary on this passage, Professor Ronald Ward explains, “When the church is as it ought to be, the question of wealth does not determine fellowship, which is in Christ and not in wealth or in the absence of wealth.” [Ward, R. A. (1974). Commentary on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Word Books. p. 121.]
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“The plousiois refers to people who have ‘an abundance of earthly possessions that exceeds normal experience’; thus, they are categorized as ‘rich’ or wealthy.” [Hoag, G. G. (2015). Wealth in ancient Ephesus and the first letter to Timothy: Fresh insights from Ephesiaca by Xenophon of Ephesus (Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement Vol. 11). Penn State Press. p. 195. Quoting from Bauer, W. & Danker, F. W. (2010). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. University of Chicago Press. p. 831.]
“Simply put, the word choice of the Pastor reveals an extraordinarily affluent audience.” [Reinhardt, J. (2021). “God, who giveth us richly”: Wealth, authorship, and audience in 1 Timothy 6. Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society, 2(1), 101-114. p. 106.]
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The New English Translation Bible uses the same phrase: “those who are rich in this world’s goods”.
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This was true in the early church as well. In his book, The rich Christian in the church of the empire, William Countryman writes, “People of various social ranks may be wealthy.” [Countryman, L. W. (1980). The rich Christian in the church of the early empire: contradictions and accommodations. E. Mellen Press. p. 33.]
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One study asked ultra-high-net-worth people if they wanted people to know they were wealthy. Only 11% said “yes.” [Taylor, J., & Harrison, D. (2008). The new elite: Inside the minds of the truly wealthy. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. p. 19.]
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For example, prosodos references income or rent in contrast to stock or principal. In an oration to a jury, Lysias says, “the sum which he did eventually confess to holding,—seven talents and forty minae: not counting in any income [prosodon],” [Lamb, W. R. M. (1930). Lysias with an English translation. Harvard University Press. 32.28.]. In another oration, Demosthenes references, “Then he has also in his possession thirty minae besides, which he received as the revenue [prosodon], from the factory, and of which he has tried to defraud me in the most shameless manner possible. My father left me a revenue [prosodon] of thirty minae accruing from the factory;” [Murray, A. T. (1939). Demosthenes with an English translation. Harvard University Press. 27.8.]. This also differs from the Modern Greek word eisodēma, referencing income, revenue, or crops. This word is used, for example, in a Modern Greek translation for “income” in Proverbs 15:6, “Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked.”
Gignomenon, “of things, to be produced,” described the earliest income taxes – as opposed to property taxes on wealth – in Classical Athens. For example, Thucydides describes a tax on income in History of the Peloponnesian War, where income or revenues is gignomenōn – “of things, to be produced.” The passage in Thucydides 6.54 is “kai Athēnaious eikostēn monon prassomenoi tōn gignomenōn …” translated as “and taking of the Athenians but a twentieth part of their revenues …” Similarly, a 10% income tax is referenced in the Athenian constitution (Aristotle, Athenian Constitution 16.4) using the phrase “ginomēnōn dekatēn”. [See discussion in Fawcett, P. (2016). “When I squeeze you with eisphorai”: Taxes and tax policy in classical Athens. Hesperia, 85(1), 153-199.]
Chrēmatistikos references money-making, profit, or the person who makes money or has high income potential. See, e.g., “Now it is clear that wealth-getting [chrēmatistikē] is not the same art as household management,” [Ross, W. D. (1921). Aristotle, Politics. Oxford Classical Texts. 1.1256a.]
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Some interesting uses include a translation as “property” [Godley, A. D. (1925). Herodotus - Histories. Harvard University Press. 1.29.] In Homer’s Iliad, 1.171, Achilles complains, “while I am here dishonoured to pile up riches and wealth [aphenos kai plouton] for you.” Homer uses two different words, plouton and aphenos. While these are synonyms in most ways, aphenos can also include the idea of revenue, along with riches, wealth and abundance. In contrast, plouton does not appear to reference revenue, or a flow of money. Plouton, instead, is an accumulation of valuable items.
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See ploutos in Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., & Jones, H. S. (1940). A Greek-English lexicon. Clarendon Press [Also in Liddell, H. G., & Scott, R., (1889). An intermediate Greek-English lexicon. Clarendon Press.] The meaning is consistent in Homeric Greek as well. [See Autenrieth, G. (1891). A Homeric dictionary for schools and colleges. Harper and Brothers.]
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Misunderstanding this distinction can lead to erroneous descriptions of the passage such as, “A typical charge to the high-income earner is found in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.” Halteman, J. (2007). The clashing worlds of economics and faith. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 68.
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For example, from 1990 to 2015, the share of total wealth held by the lower half averaged 1.04%. This share varied from 0.40% to 1.59%. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2023). Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/
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Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (2023). Household debt and credit report (Q2 2023). https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
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The median amount of household net worth for the bottom quarter of households varies from year to year. In 2016 it was $110. In 2013 it was $0. In 2010 it was also $0. The highest ever was in 2004 when it briefly rose to $2,300. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2023). Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989-2019. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/table/#series:Net_Worth;demographic:nwcat;population:all;units:median
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