It does no good to throw around supposed theological terms (which you have misused, by the way) to explain away clear violations of Christian doctrine. The point that RedScare was making (and he was making his point rather well) was that many American Christians claim allegiance to the Bible on the one hand but on the other hand reject the clear teachings of what the Bible says. Look, as a devout protestant, I'm as orthodox as they come but I'll take RedScare's side in this portion of the argument, at least. I'm not going to do lenghty posts of Bible verses in the forum, that would be counterproductive. However, I'll give you the link in case you want to look it up yourself. You didn't say Jesus was poor, he said it himself. Wow. This is "Christianity" you're talking about, right? Because in this one statement you've challenged the veracity of the Bible more than anything RedScare has said. He's said it's an untrustworthy collection of folk tales (my summary of his position, not his own), you've called it a flat-out lie. This would make an interesting sociological study. Rooted in American independence and anti-authoritarianism, churches in all sectors of Christianity (liberal and conservative [theologically speaking]) have "modified" what's clear for what's convenient. HOUCAJUN, I'm not trying to rip you a new one, but please strive for consistency with the foundational tenets of Christianity. I'm pretty sure that opulence isn't one of the great Christian virtues (or, should I say, it shouldn't be one of the great Christian virtues). The danger for many churches, but mega-churches especially, is the subtle seduction of wealth and power (or, in traditional terms, avarice and vanity). If a businessman or rapper or sports star lives royally, they're living out the socially accepted lifestyle of their profession (right or wrong). If a minister lives like royalty, it gives others reason to question the minister's devotion to what he espouses. Excess is going to mean something different for each person; what I'm trying to do is to show that excess actually is something to consider rather than something to "live up".