Wealth should be worn like a light cloak—something that provides comfort while you carry out the work God has called you to do. This paraphrase of a Richard Baxter quote shaped much of American Puritan thinking. Hard work often resulted in worldly wealth, but Baxter warned that wealth itself is a temptation. It is far too easy to let what we accumulate—and the comfort it brings—become an idol. The light cloak, he cautioned, can quickly become an iron cage if it traps us into living for worldly pursuits rather than for the purpose God created us to fulfill.
The modern West has seen Baxter’s war...