Rich and Wealthy or Poor and Wealthy

These two buildings are the D.R. Horton tower and the Wells Fargo Tower. When I lived in Ft. Worth from 1983-1986 these buildings were owned by the Bass family. A couple of years ago they had a net worth of just under 5 billion dollars. Perry Bass was the father and there were 4 sons, a niece, and a brother. Robert is the oldest son at age 69, my age. I am not worth 5 billion dollars.

I mention this because I worked for them while I was in Ft. Worth going to seminary. I worked in these two buildings. My title was the assistant to the head of the mail room. He was a great guy to work for. I delivered mail all over these buildings. My boss and I had to be ready to drop anything we were doing and report to any of the Bass boys when they called, which most of the time was several times a day. Several times I would have to deliver things to their mansions. These homes were hidden behind locked gates with security men with guns guarding the grounds. They were always expecting me, and would open the gate so I could drive up to the house to deliver the package, envelop or whatever it might be.

In this job I got to see a bit of how extremely wealthy people live. It was amazing how much these people had that I don’t even think they knew they had. On the ground floor of one of these buildings there was a huge storage area. Behind large heavy wire enclosures all kinds of valuable things were kept. There was an area of nothing but expensive wines and liquors. There was a place when very valuable paintings, sculptures, and other art pieces were stored. You name it and the best that money could buy was there in a place where it was not used or seen by anyone but security people my boss and me. Oh, occasionally we would be asked to bring some item to one of the brothers, but most of the time when we went down there it was to take something they had bought or had been given. Once we took a giant Mickey Mouse there that they received after investing in Disney.

The Bass brothers were very nice to me and they apparently trusted me. I never knew much about them. I do know they were and still are noted philanthropist. But when I think about their mansions, and the large storage area in the bottom of one of those buildings I think about the parable that Jesus told concerning the man who had so much that he tore down his barns and built larger barns. His mantra was to keep it all for himself, enjoy life, and continue to get more and more. He was a selfish man, and God called him a fool and said that he would die that very night.

The Bass brothers may not be like this man at all. Just because someone is wealthy does not mean that they are selfish. People who have very little can be selfish. Anyone can be a fool because of the way they use their possessions. God wants us to be generous with what we have. We are to be giving people whether we are rich or poor. When we learn to do that our blessings will be greater, and our joy will grow. We are wise to be giving people.