I wrote on January 29 that the gospel of Jesus’ Kingdom was and is very inclusive. I just noticed a concrete example in Acts 16:

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16.14, 15, ESV)

Recall the inclusive list in Galatians 3.28:

• Jews and Greeks
• Slave and Free
• Male and Female

And what is Lydia? Greek, Free (and wealthy), Female.

The same day I read Acts 16, I read Matthew 11 where we find:

[Jesus said, ] “Why is it that when John came to you, neither feasting nor drinking wine, you said, ‘He has a demon in him!’? Yet when the Son of Man came and went to feasts and drank wine, you said, ‘Look at this Man! He is nothing but a glutton and a drunkard! He spends all his time with tax collectors and other affluent sinners.’” (Matthew 11.18, 19, TPT)

TPT translates verse 19 as “other affluent sinners” when most translations just say, “tax collectors and sinners.” But we know tax collectors were wealthy, and the TPT note says that “affluent” comes from the Hebrew version.

The point is that although Jesus came to preach to the poor (see Luke 4.16 – 21), he didn’t neglect the wealthy.

And just Paul pledged to remember the poor (Galatians 2.9, 10), God gave him fruit among the wealthy as well.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. (1 Corinthians 1.26, ESV) Queen Elizabeth is reported to have said, “I’m saved by an m. It doesn’t say ‘not any were noble.’ It says ‘not many….'”