I never meant to imply that it is wrong to acquire and to have wealth - I only said that God does not value it. You are right in saying that accumulating money is not wrong, but rather achieving it through unscrupulous means.

However, the real issue is a bit deeper than that. The real danger is that wealth can become a person's god - in fact it is probably the most common idol in all ages. Notice that we aren't told how the rich man in the story accumulated wealth - for all we know he was a straight-up honest businessman. The problem was that he made it his primary focus and the goal of his life, to the point of neglecting the needs of others. In short, money became his god and master.

Why do you think that Jesus, when asked by another rich man what he needed to do to enter God's kingdom, responded that he should sell all he had and give it to the poor? Jesus understood the reality of the man's heart - that his wealth was his god, and that he could never connect with God until he got free of it. Jesus was trying to free him from the wealth that had become his prison.

Whatever we choose to be the consuming focus and primary goal of our lives - whatever we ultimately look to for success and security - that becomes our god. Money is the most popular choice among all of humanity, whatever else we tell ourselves. It is this that drives the selfish and dishonest means sometimes used to gain it.

It's not wrong to have wealth. But it should never be an end unto itself, and it shouldn't be allowed to have a place of supremacy.