The November 2-4, 2007 Weekend Edition of USA Today included an interesting graph depicting the landscape of who believes in heaven.Listing the AARP as its source, the USA Today revealed a decrease in faith that appears to be somewhat in proportion to household income.
The graph (which I have reproduced at right-- click to enlarge) shows that 90% of people aged 50 or older with a household income of less than $25,000 believe in heaven. Just 78% of people 50 or older with a household income of $75,000 or more believe in heaven. The data in between these two points shows a consistent decrease as household income increases.
It has been said that you can use data to prove almost anything, and I suppose there is some truth in that. What does a study like this suggest? Well, I would suggest to you that the findings of the AARP's study are nothing surprising or novel to students of the Bible. When I saw this figure, the words that almost instantly came to mind were...
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:19-21, ESV
So does this data suggest our faith will decrease as our income increases? Is this an unavoidable fact of life? Not at all. When we understand the thrust of Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter six, seeing a graph like this in the USA Today is not at all unexpected.
For the majority, the more they earn, the more they are captivated by this world and what it has to offer. They place the greatest emphasis on earning and raising their own standard of living -- that is, laying up treasure on earth. However, when an individual or family does not enjoy all of life's finer pleasures, they are less likely to become fixated on the fleeting pleasures of this life; instead, they are more likely to seek the better life that is promises -- that is, laying up treasures in heaven.
Of course, we always ought to be cautious about painting with too broad of a brush. Is every "upper-middle class" and "upper class" individual materialistic and unconcerned with heaven? Of course not. Neither is every member of the "lower class" a spiritually-minded person. It all depends on the individual.
That being said, money and the pursuit thereof can cause otherwise rationally-minded people to lose all sense of reality and morality. Even the mere prospect of moderate wealth can lead one away from dependence on God and into a life of self-reliance.
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.
Ecclesiastes 5:10, ESVr2
