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Ministry to the Rich
145
There is another danger to which the wealthy are especially ex-
posed, and here is also a field for the medical missionary. Multitudes
who are prosperous in the world, and who never
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that be-
lieveth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Romans
1:16
.
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stoop to the common forms of vice, are yet brought to destruction
through the love of riches. The cup most difficult to carry is not
the cup that is empty, but the cup that is full to the brim. It is this
that needs to be most carefully balanced. Affliction and adversity
bring disappointment and sorrow; but it is prosperity that is most
dangerous to spiritual life.
Those who are suffering reverses are represented by the bush that
Moses saw in the desert, which, though burning, was not consumed.
The angel of the Lord was in the midst of the bush. So in deprivation
and affliction the brightness of the presence of the Unseen is with us
to comfort and sustain. Often prayer is solicited for those who are
suffering from illness or adversity; but our prayers are most needed
by the men entrusted with prosperity and influence.
In the valley of humiliation, where men feel their need and
depend on God to guide their steps, there is comparative safety. But
the men who stand, as it were, on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because
of their position, are supposed to possess great wisdom—these are
in greatest peril. Unless such men make God their dependence, they
will surely fall.
The Bible condemns no man for being rich, if he has acquired
his riches honestly. Not money, but the love of money, is the root
of all evil. It is God who gives men power to get wealth; and in the
hands of him who acts as God’s steward, using his means unselfishly,
wealth is a blessing, both to its possessor and to the world. But many,
absorbed in their interest in worldly treasures, become insensible to
the claims of God and the needs of their fellow men. They regard
their wealth as a means of glorifying themselves. They add house to
house, and land to land; they fill their homes with luxuries, while all
about them are human beings in misery and crime, in disease and