Are wealthy and healthy inevitable blessings?

 Being wealthy and healthy enables you to serve better.

That's a pretty straightforward idea. A statement that's fairly indisputable. But it often leads to a more dangerous sentiment. One that leads to this thought.

Being healthy and wealthy means you're blessed. If you’re not what’s wrong. This causes all kinds of problems. It causes the trap of the prosperity gospel. 

The idea that wealth is connected to righteousness leads to the idea that wealth is a sign of righteousness. That's the logical follow on. 

We begin to see prosperity in health, fitness, family, home, occupation, wealth all as signs of righteousness. 

But we all know that's not true, and that it's problematic but it happens. And it bleeds across out interactions. 

It leads to various issues, various troubling thoughts like.

Thinking that your mental health is tied to sin. Not seeking professional help by trying to tough it out or repent your way through it. 

Struggling with people telling you to have the faith to be healed. Watching and waiting and wondering why you have a chronic or severe condition that won't end.

Struggling with those who don’t recognize the privilege in their life and the blessings that brings. Blessings others may not be able to have. Especially troubles in childhood. 

Not feeling comfortable in having people in our homes. Feeling that our homes being a measure of faithfulness and a barrier to participation. The comparison games. 

We have multiple examples and  pushing back against these ideas, but the idea remains. If you're wealthy and healthy, more capable of service, you are somehow more righteous. Let's change that paradigm.

Three ways we can do this. 

First. Look at the privilege we have when we are able to serve. I know that's a loaded word but let's be honest, somethings in life make us privileged than others. Especially when the work or fortune of others blesses us. If we have parents with money and circumstances above our peers, we have opportunities they don't. If we have health blessed without genetic conditions or trauma we're privileged to be physically capable in ways others are not. Recognizing privilege does not mean we ignore our hard work. It means recognizing how we are fortunate in ways others are not. 

Second. Stop assuming a sick or poor person is responsible for all their misfortune. Bad things happen to good people. If I had a dime for every time someone made an assumption that a disease or financial misfortune was due to someone doing the "wrong" thing I'd be wealthy. So much more wealthy than I am. And that worries me. There are times our misfortune is do to our actions. I'm not trying minimize personal responsibility. But let's not act like doing the right thing is the pathway to financial success and wellbeing. It's often not, especially in business and academic circles were unethical behaviors can be profitable. They're not. Same with how natural disaster, health, and previous circumstances can effect how we are now. Poverty and poor health are not universal signs of wickedness or laziness. It's a sad factor of our modern society. We will have good people in our lives who are less fortunate than us and we need to change how we view them.

Three. Recognize the little acts of service and contribution around you. Recognize how much more effort it takes for other people to do what you are able to do more easily or naturally. This is the widow's mite scenario. Some of the best people in our lives will be less fortunate than us and there effort to do something easy for us may be superhuman. Not just dollar amounts, but physical mental and emotional effort. We we realize how hard people around us work, we will be amazed. I know I have been throughout my life. 

I think if we recognize our fortune and privilege, not assume bad action, and look for the effort of others we can avoid the pitfalls of a prosperity focused culture. Easy in theory not so easy in action.