Over at Boundless, Heather Koerner makes the point that when Jesus talks about “the rich” in his sermons and parables, he’s talking about… us. (“Us,” for the sake of dicussion, being “typical American”—which describes me and most of the Christians I know.) Koerner describes her moment of realization:

...if you and I have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment and have a reasonably reliable means of transportation, we’re among the top 15 percent of the world’s wealthy.

That challenges my perspective. After all, I had all those things when I considered myself a “poor as a church mouse” college student. If you had told me then that I was wealthy, I would have probably laughed. But all I could see were those immediately around me. Just as a 6’5” NBA player may feel comparatively short, we may feel comparatively average, less than average or even poor.

But our wealth perspective is skewed….

If I have the education to write this article and the tools to get it to you on Boundless, there’s just no question that I am the rich. And if you have the education and technology to read it, you are too.

It’s easier to read Jesus’ comments about wealth when we imagine that he’s talking about somebody higher up on the economic ladder than us. But the reality is that if you’re writing or reading a blog today, you are probably closer in terms of economic power and freedom to “the rich” of the Bible than to “the poor.” Does that change the way you read Jesus’ words? Read the full essay; Koerner goes on to make some practical suggestions for Christ-followers who also happen to be “the rich.”