All of the great world religions have a strong emphasis on the need for detachment, avoiding getting caught up in the possessions and acquisitiveness that seem to be a common feature of humanity. The preacher Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23) could just as well be found in Buddhist scripture or in the writings of the pagan Roman Stoics. There isn’t even anything particularly “religious” about this perspective – anybody could tell you we can’t take it with us when we die. There was a popular tee shirt a few years back which said “who dies with the most toys wins”. I have to believe that was ironic.
So, if it is obvious that accumulating wealth doesn’t benefit us in the long term, why do we feel driven to do so? There is a natural desire for security, to have enough, but the temptation to want more seems universal. If we recognize this temptation we may be inclined to go down the path of worrying about how much is enough and trying to justify why whatever we have, or aspire to, is the right or proper amount.
Jesus is not interested in going there. Hence his rather sharp reaction to being asked to get involved in arbitrating on some financial matter (Luke 12:13-21). For him it’s a distraction. Paul also addresses this question of priorities, in an even more dramatic way (Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11). It’s not just a matter of recognizing that in the long run we are all dead, and therefore wealth is unimportant. Paul wants to be clear that this matters now, before we are dead – because, as he looks at it, we are already dead. We die with Christ and have been reborn with him.
Those who have been very close to death from an serious accident or illness very often see their life in a very different way. Jesus, Paul, the preacher from Ecclesiasties, are all aiming to get us to reorient ourselves, to help us understand where our priorities lie, to help us see life as though we had come back from the dead. The advantage Paul has over the preacher is that he can directly reference the one who did come back from death.
If we look at life from that perspective then none of the things we normally get hung up on – money, social distinctions, morality, places of origin – none of this matters. We detach ourselves from all of that because only one attachment matters – our attachment to God – which is a pale reflection of his attachment to us.