The question of whether it’s theoretically possible for the well-off to attain the Celestial Kingdom is not that interesting to me because it seems pretty obvious that it is possible. Most people like to distance this issue from themselves by intellectualizing the whole thing, showing how much good rich people do, what righteous people they are, and maybe giving a few scriptural or real-life examples.

But this misses the point. The question in Gospel Doctrine should not be “does wealth corrupt?”

The question should be “Has it corrupted you?”

When this question is asked, the listener is denied all the stock Mormon answers. No more intellectualizing, no more dry hypotheticals, no more remote annecdotes.

Is wealth a good thing?

Who cares!

Is it a good thing for YOU? Is it a good thing for me? That’s what I’m after.

I will tell that for a portion of my life I found it hard to pay tithing. I lived in much more humble circumstances at that time. But since I have become a full tithe payer I have been blessed with greater wealth. I know it’s a cliche in the church to point out such a fact but it’s still hard for me to understand that, as quoted by a firend of mine, “90% of X is greater than X.” Maybe that accounts for your perception of the living quarters of stake presidents and bishops.

I think every American to some degree is addicted to money, wealth, spending whatever you want to call it. Say I am a porn addict or alcoholic or drug addict but am a very good person with earnest intentions, a love of God, and other people but simply have an addiction. If I were to hang out on a computer all day with full access to any porn I wanted, spend all my time with alcoholics or use my time making meth one would reasonably assume that to be a bad idea. Why? I am a good person with good intentions and God knows the contents of my heart.
Money is the same to me. I think a lot of it over a long time changes a person. The further we get away from it the better. I also think you can live on very little and still save for your future.

The Book of Mormon seems to suggest that the way to deal with wealth is to acquire it, and then use it to bless the poor. If being rich was inherently evil, why would the Lord continue to bless the Nephites with it? I would add though, that if this is in fact how riches are to be viewed, mormons as a whole are doing a miserable job. Sure the Church helps those in need with fast offerings, but when was the last time the average church member was involved in easing the suffering of the poor?

Now the question…

Why does it seem that every stake president and many of the bishops I’ve known live in huge ostentatious houses?

(I guess there are three questions in this post, but the first two are rhetorical, so they don’t count.)

If you have a big bank account, it doesn’t mean that you “hoarded” resources. Quite the contrary, it means that you chose not to consume resources, even though you had the opportunity to do so. It is quite possible to go through life living very frugally (living in a small house, eating inexpensive food, wearing old clothes) and end up with a very big bank account. This behavior leaves more of the nice clothes, food, and housing for other people to consume. If you want to find people using more than their share of resources, you should look at what they consume, not what they invest.

What happens to your financial savings when you die is another question…should you leave it to your kids, donate it to charity, or what?

I think a fat bank account shows a heart insufficently concerned with our brothers’ welfare, therefore lacking in obediance to scripture and covenants, and also lacking in love and charity. And without these, how could we bear to enter heaven?