Add together the value of everything you own, plus the amount in your bank account and any investments. Then subtract the amount that you owe, any loans and debts.
If the result is a large number, you are a righteous person! If it is a small number, or even a negative number, you are not.
But, you say, what if the number is small or negative, and you know that you are righteous? How can this be?
There is a simple answer: Someone is interfering with the way things ought to be. Someone is getting between you and the blessings you deserve, and those people MUST BE STOPPED!
Unless...
Unless righteousness is not a number. Unless God's approval is not measured in dollars and cents.
Perhaps a person's wealth or lack thereof has little to do with their character. You can be poor and good, or rich and evil, or vice versa. Maybe wealth isn't a measure of holiness, and material blessings are not all there is worth striving for.
And maybe instead of tearing each other apart, we should lift each other up. Maybe we should reserve our anger for a system that promotes inequality, and a culture that worships greed. Maybe we really should swallow our pride and work together for the good of all.
That would indeed be righteous.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." - Luke 6:20
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