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As someone who is a devout Christian but also on the FIRE journey, I think the last verse is the key one. The issue is not accumulating wealth but if you are being greedy at the same time. Are you continuing to tithe while saving for FIRE? Are you generous toward others who are in need? Additionally, does your post-FIRE life look like something that is entirely self-serving or does it enable you to live out your god given purpose more completely? Those are all questions I would be asking yourself to make sure your heart is in the right place.
Thank you - honestly, this goal has been such a big part of my life and it has been my primary goal. That’s honestly what it takes to meet such an ambitious goal; you have to say no to a lot of things.
And the mere fact that this will provide such a large amount of psychological safety makes me questions whether I will end up as this rich fool or even the young rich man in that other parable.
I haven’t listened to Dave Ramsey in years, but I do remember him talking about building wealth so you can bless others. You can’t do that without accumulating wealth first.
I am not Christian but I would read this as a warning against:
- Greed
- Hoarding food
- Miserliness
- Arrogance (Not acknowledging the ephemeral nature of life)
- Materialism
Subject Expert
If you think retiring early is against your religion, keep working.
If you think wealth beyond some level is against your religion, donate the excess.
I'm not a practicing Christian but I also struggle morally with the idea of hoarding wealth. My solution for now is to donate a more significant amount to charity and increase that amount over time (I try to target organizations that benefit the most unfortunate people in the world and have the biggest impact from a utilitarian perspective — not just my local community or my pet issues). It's unfortunate that it feels like the only way to leave the corporate/capitalist rat race is to hoard and invest.
Luke 19:12-27
Reference:
Luke 12:13–21 (NASB)
13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."
14 But He said to him, "Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?"
15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
16 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive.
17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'
18 Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."'
20 But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'
21 So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Is Christ at the center of your life or is wealth? You don’t need to give up the latter to do the former
Remember the context of the time of Jesus - essentially all wealth of the time was downstream of violence and exploitation. You either got rich via sanctioned corruption (ie the tax collectors mentioned so frequently) or you were a landholder who held peons in debt bondage they were compelled to work off. Instead, make clean money and you’ll help build the kingdom in a financially sustainable way
Also remember Christ was a populist and pointed out how religious leaders were siphoning the people’s collective funds given to the church. Then Pontius Pilate had Christ executed.
Mentor
The idea of “not hoarding” comes from a scarcity mindset.
It’s possible that was valid in the year zero. There was only so much farmland, poor quality tool, etc.
Someone hoarding food could be dangerous.
Despite what some might say, that’s not the world we live in today. We live in abundance where able minded people who commit themselves to learning and work, can have a multitude of luxuries.
I do think there’s lessons to be taken from this bible section tho. Retiring to be lazy, and party is not a path for fulfillment or being a good community member.
You may have time for a wide range of activities in FIRE retirement, some of which hopefully will significantly add to your community.