Jesus’s Ethics of Wealth: Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be Also

I defend an interpretation of Jesus’s ethics of wealth according to which possession of wealth beyond what is required to satisfy minimal daily needs conflicts with the central commandment to love God with all one’s heart. On Jesus’s view, possession of (surplus) wealth inevitably leads to love of wealth – “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Accordingly, Jesus lays down a set of principles regarding wealth that, if followed, will quickly lead to the loss of at least most of one’s wealth. I defend this interpretation against some commentators who argue that Jesus’s more demanding statements about wealth are hyperbolic. Finally, I draw on contemporary work in psychology to show that Jesus’s principle that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” captures important truths to which everyone – Christian or not – should pay careful attention.