It is not some subtle, esoteric truth that the Jesus of the gospel accounts is harsh in his condemnations of loving money or general wealth beyond what their nature renders valid. The more popular statement in Matthew 6 about how no one can properly serve God while equally serving money is hardly the most scathing thing Jesus says about the matter. He warns against greed and materialism before presenting a parable in Luke 12 to highlight how promptly and justly one's life could be ended because of greed, ironically depriving the sinner of the opportunities to enjoy their possessions as they have fantasized about. It is true that money and wanting money are not intrinsically evil according to the Bible, but that is not the point Jesus emphasizes the most in the parable.
Jesus replied, 'Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?' Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.' And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops."
'Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'"
'But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.'"
Clearly, the exact words warn against greed and being materially wealthy and yet lacking riches toward God. Possessing wealth is never a problem, yet misusing wealth, obtaining it illicitly such as by theft or environmental exploitation, or prioritizing it over grander matters like God is always erroneous. No one errs by being born into wealth or by obtaining it through any permissible method with any motivation that is not irrational or sinful. Exalting it to anywhere near the very central focus of one's life is stupid in an amoral sense (living for a social construct or mere material gain rather than ultimate truths is inherently asinine) and illegitimate in a moral sense.
Whereas the parable of the rich fool focuses more on the sin of greed, other parts of the Bible more sharply emphasize that having riches is not evil. Wanting to build larger barns and fill them is therefore not automatically a flaw. Material prosperity is a reward that might be divinely granted to righteous individuals (according to verses like Deuteronomy 15:4-6, 10, 28:4, 8, and 11-14), though it does not follow logically from being righteous that one will have a life of physical or monetary wealth. But the figure of Job whose name is the title of a crucial Old Testament book also illustrates this. Both before and after his extreme trials, Job receives extensive material wealth from God along with new children and a long life (Job 1:1-12, 42:10-17), which could not occur if having wealth or enjoying its benefits is evil. Again, having money or broader wealth is not a moral failure; how one prioritizes it, pursues it, and uses it can be vile.
Other portions of Luke itself elaborate on the ethics of wealth in a way that affirms such things. Four chapters after the parable of the rich fool, Jesus acknowledges that there are ways to use wealth productively and legitimately on God's behalf (16:8-12) while at the same time clarifying that greed is detestable to God (16:13-15). Among other people, prosperous Americans who asininely think their illusory reputation of being Christians exempts them from the need for correct beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding money are condemned by such verses (not Americans specifically, of course). They are rich fools like the central character of the aforementioned parable in Luke 12 and like the rich young ruler of the synoptic gospels who is seemingly unwilling to surrender his wealth despite it being a personal obstacle to his own future eternal life.
Loving money more than its nature merits as a social construct with pragmatic benefits is a horrendous logical and moral error. The Gentile city of Sodom is in part destroyed for sins rooted in greed and the arrogance that can so easily accompany it (Ezekiel 16:49)—something which I will quickly point out further contradicts the "Noahide Laws," Rabbinic Judaism's racist, relativist tradition of human invention, in that the supposed mere seven sins of Gentiles do not include even sins like those Ezekiel 16 directly ascribes to the inhabitants of Sodom. Greed and a multitude of things that underpin it (irrationality, egoism, etc.) and can spring from it (unjust violence, neglect of other people, disregard for God, and so on) are far more detestable than so many in my allegedly "Christian" or "once Christian" nation dare to accept.
Individuals and cities deserve annihilation for it, and still it remains a common pitfall of superficial devotees to Judeo-Christianity which can prove very difficult for them to let go of. Rich fools or fools who want to become rich for invalid reasons are plentiful and, while no one is stupid because they are rich, the wealthy must be careful to ensure they do not allow themselves to remain or become fools out of a disproportionate sense of security. For such people, greed is a reason for their execution by God, either in this life as in the parable and the case of Sodom or in the second death through burning to ashes in hell. Whatever wealth they possess does not signify divine favor.
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