The astonishing anomaly

(Jared Waterbury, "Piety, the Only Foundation
 of True and Substantial Joy" May, 1838)

It is a subject for serious inquiry--how far the pursuit
of riches is consistent with true and genuine piety?

Why is it that some Christian professors are found in
such constant contact with the world? Why are closet
duties abridged or neglected, while time is freely, and
even lavishly, given to business and to pleasure? Ah!
the question has been sadly answered, in the almost
unbounded thirst for gain, which, like a sweeping
epidemic, has found its way into the homes and the
hearts of professors!

The astonishing anomaly has been witnessed, of
men professing to live above the world--yet wholly
bent on acquiring its possessions! Many who profess
to renounce the world's pomps and its vanities, have
been seen foremost in plans to secure them, and even
ostentatious in the exhibition of them! They live in a
greedy and all-absorbing pursuit of the world, while
they dwell in fine houses, ride in splendid vehicles,
and feast on rich dainties.

If a Christian may embark in the pursuit of riches with
as unbridled an appetite as the professed votaries of the
world, and vie with them in the manifestation of external
grandeur; it must follow that Jesus did not mean what He
said, or that He was mistaken, when He declared, "You
cannot serve God and mammon." Luke 16:13.