I’m reading Jay W. Richards’s book “Money, Greed and God” and I’m really enjoying it. I came across this one paragraph that’s really jumped out at me.

In the same vein, after the U.S. Senate voted to raise the minimum wage in February 2007, the Reverend Jim Wallis announced that “God hates inequality.” Ron Sider’s book “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger” makes the same point.

Does God really hate inequality?

The first thing that comes to mind is the Parable of the Talents in which 3 servants are each entrusted with differing amounts of money to put to good use. The master doesn’t give his servants equal amounts of money – and Jesus doesn’t make that the focus of the parable. In fact, the object lesson of the parable has his money taken from him and given to the servant that had the most.

I’ve always thought the translation of this passage into English was fortuitous. Because the lesson can be applied not just to money, but to … well … talents. If God hates inequality, why is anyone better-looking than anyone else? Why isn’t everyone an equally great athlete?

Is this inequality a result of the fact that we live in a fallen world? Or is monetary (or physical or mental) inequality a given?

If God really does hate inequality, why are Christians warned not to save up treasures on Earth, but heaven? What does it matter if God hates inequality, then certainly we’d all get the same in heaven regardless of what we did on Earth.

And then there’s Revelation 22:12:

“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done….

If you’re being rewarded according to what you’ve done, that seems to imply different people will be getting different rewards – some more valuable than others.

What does God hate? Sin.

Monetary inequality? Hate? Not so much.