Justifying the Rich
I've been considering a question about the lifestyle of Christians in America. In the context of the New Testament I find it's interesting to search for some of the most pertinent examples of Christians in America. I find myself often drawn to Jesus' conversation with a certain wealthy man who asked for moral direction. I'm sure the demographic that reads my blog (my family) knows exactly which example I am speaking about. If your bible references have grown a little shady you can look it up in Mark 10. The rich man asks Jesus for instruction on how to live his life. He believes he is doing well and if we assume that he is honest he sounds like a pretty stand up rich guy. Jesus does not address any specific faults the man might have. Instead he gives him a simple suggestion. Sell your stuff and give it away to those who need it. Of course this simple command leaves the man completely depressed because as we are familiar with it's difficult to let go of the power and freedom that wealth gives you. My question, as you may have already guessed, consists of multiple factors. First, How accurate is the example of the rich man to American Christians in general. The rich man was wealthier than many around him. The wealthy man knew of a population of less wealthy individuals. The man found giving up his wealth very difficult. I think the similarities between his situation and many Americans makes this a valid analogy. Second, Is Jesus' command to the young man also pertinent to Americans Christians today. If we are to assume that Jesus had the rich man's best interests at heart then surely Jesus was attempting to free the young man from his love of wealth in order to allow him to really get to know what it's like to love God and your fellow man first. At the very least we can assume the rich man would be better off if he followed Jesus' command. I find myself considering this and I can't help but wonder what all these Christians are doing living in the top 5-10% of the wealthiest population in the world. At one point I could see how the limitations of travel, information, and cost would give American Christians an excuse to not to notice or heed the less fortunate. In our day and age it is easy to find the poor. It is well within the ability of most American's to sell their possessions and give that wealth to the needy. Looking at the New Testament I do not see many examples of Christians rolling in money. In fact most examples given show early Christians working to get by and serving much of the time. Some churches appeared to share much of their possessions in order to serve more effectively. I understand that there are exceptions to rules like this. We see many examples of God using people and putting them in wealthy situations for his service. I accept that as an important role. In those situations it seems to me that God either made his plan for that person clear beforehand or He would direct them through obvious opportunities into the places he wanted them to be. Basically this leads me to consider if American Christians in general have a valid example of what the love God and love others command means surely they should follow that example and give their wealth away. I hate not having money. I like the eating out, movies, TV, internet, video games, etc. When I think about giving everything I have away I realize how dependent I've become on those things. When I consider my place in society am I the rich man? As always I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the topic. Enlighten me!
posted by thegnat777 at 8:14 AM
12 Comments:
Ecclesiastes is an excellent book to read about wealth. I love it. It lays out a great financial plan, make enough to pay your bills, save a little for the future, and give away the rest. I know that I have to have enough money to provide food, shelter, and clothing for my children, just because that amount of money is comparitively extremely rich to someone living in Africa, doesn't mean I need to deny the basic needs of my children in order to even out the curve of wealth, I really don't think that is what the Lord intended. I think that we should all give our "first fruits" to the Lord and also keep our eye out for others that are in need. Many times we know of people within our church that just need a little extra financial help due to a sick family member, etc.. So we give accordingly to that need. Relationships within the church are vital to giving, how will you know of a need if you do not even know the person?? If God moves you to give, then give. If you know that you are not being a good steward of God's money (because technically it is God's), then you need to change the way you handle your money. I don't think that wealth is the issue (look at the parable of the talents) I think that when you remember that it is all God's, it makes you be much smarter with your money.
This is a mind blowing question that I've never been able to come up with a concrete answer to. In Richard Foster's book Freedom of Simplicity he talks about how making dollar to dollar comparisons btwn ourselves and what people in Africa make is ridiculous because it's not the amount of dollars it's living within your means and dealing with the cost of living where you are at. So no matter how much we say "Well people in Africa live on $200 a year we should be able to do that" it isn't realistic. It probably costs you over $200 a year just to get to work everyday so that you can make money to support yourself. There is a verse, I think it is in Ephesians, that talks about bearing each others burdens but that we should all each carry our own load. I think this means to manage your money in such a way that you are not an unnecessary burden to others in the church or community. How can we help others if we can't support ourselves? At the same time, because this is life, blows come that make it impossible sometimes for people to carry their own load and that's when carrying each other's burdens comes in. How are you going to do that if you are in debt up to your eyeballs and have no money to help the other person. So yes a lot of it is being a good steward. I don't think the story of the rich man is figurative though. Jesus was not just figuratively telling him to sell his stuff and give it to the poor. Her really meant it. At the same time, Jesus called very few people in his ministry to live this monastic type life. He called his 12 disciples to leave everything and follow him. He called this rich young man to do the same. He did not call Mary, Martha or Lazarus to do this . He did not call the centurion to do this, he did not call the woman at the well to do this. So I think it is just about the position in your life and God's calling for you. Is he asking you to work and be a part of your community and support yourself as well as others or maybe you are one of the people he's calling to give up worldly possessions. God asks us to give up other stuff besides wealth and I think that a big point of the story is that are we willing to give up what's in the way of our relationship with God or is it too important to us that we can't get past it for something better. I just read The Great Divorce by CS Lewis. It is a good book about giving up things to be with God. I also like how Lewis emphasizes that God created pleasure and means for us to enjoy things here on this earth, we just often twist the pleasures around and let them consume us and be our God instead of looking thankfully to the source that they come from in the first place. Okay way too much blabbing. Time to shut up.
I read an article in the Dallas Morning News this weekend by a staff writer who along with her husband has made the decision not to buy anything new the entire year, with the exceptions of food and toiletries. They will get anything else they need from thrift stores, Craigslist, etc. It was a very interesting concept to me, yet something that I think would be almost impossible for me to do, as trapped in consumerism and materialism as I am! How much more difficult even would it be to follow the call that Jesus laid out for the wealthy young man? Your blog as well as the article is a cause for some much needed self-reflection...
Matt says:
Great post Nat. I think it is very important for every Christian to think about this issue and make sure we are listening to God's instructions for the wealth He gives each of us. It is a difficult issue because the word "rich" is always relative. Rich in Africa is poverty in America. Rich in America depends on who you talk to; almost no-one, even millionares, consider themselves to be "very wealthy" because there is always someone else who has more.
My personal opinion is that Christians should always give away their wealth, but it is up to each individual to decide HOW to God wants them to do that. I think it was Chrissy who made the excellent point that the amount is not important; this is well illustrated by the story of the widow's mite (2-cents, etc.). Jesus said she gave more than everyone else even though the absolute amount was miniscule.
Great post Nat and great comments by everyone. Very beneficial to discuss this topic.
MATT
By Aaron-
Wow I have never seen such long comments ever on a blog. Holly took the cake on length and all have been very well written. I don't have any new revelations into what has already been said, so I will only rehash what others have said a little. I feel that giving of your wealth is great, but I really think that looking for ways to give is just as great. The old adage goes it is better to give to receive. The reason is that when one is looking for ways to give they are actually looking for ways to help others; therefore, they are putting others in front of themselves. This is very sacrificial, not b/c you gave away money you worked hard for and didn't buy something you wanted, but b/c you genuinely looked, watched, hunted, and researched for ways to help somebody else.
The purpose of giving is to put others before yourself. I think God knows/believes that when you are able to put others before yourself you will also be ready to put God before yourself as well.
Aaron again-
Just reread my post...should have done that before I submitted. Realized that I made it sound like just looking for ways is good enough...not at all the case in my mind. I meant to say that looking and researching is as important as pulling the trigger itself. However, if you don't give to the person in need or to the work of growing God's kingdom then you have given into selfishness when you were sooooo close.
Oh and the adage goes more like:
It is better to give than to receive.
"This is a test and only a test of the 'where is your treasure stored system'"
Jesus said it is HARD for a rich person to enter the Kingdom. I don't think this (rich young ruler account) is a direct command to us today, it is in the Bible for the lesson we can learn from it. Obviously this man TRUSTED his riches more than Jesus. And Jesus wanted to draw out that point, in an extreme way.
I truly believe yes, if your riches are taking precedence over your faith, you should get rid of them. (if your eye offends you cut it off... etc.) And the test of the rich young ruler is the test we should use. If you absolutely cannot do without your riches, what does that tell you? Hmmmm?
I do not like the fact that so many people that claim to be Christians drive luxury cars and live in mansions. Why not buy two cheaper cars and give one to some needy family. Hey, you would even get the tax deduct! Now, to me it is wasted resources and a missed opportunity to do a good work, not necessarily a moral or sinful problem. Only the Judge and the person can know for sure if it is.
I assume based on the comments that you guys do not agree with my analogy. Understandable because how terrible would it be if that's actually what was expected of us as Christians? I'd like to address the comments made about comparing money between areas. Cost of living between different areas varies in vast amounts. I do believe that biblically God is fan of working to make a living. Who would starve their family to help strangers? That doesn't seem reasonable at all. The demographic I compared too in the U.S. does not starve. They get their needs met and exceeded. It is the excess that my analogy applies to. The excess in America and the struggle for meeting needs elsewhere. American Christians in my experience give only until it begins to effect their level of comfort. This is where the rich man becomes sad. He finds out the way to live but it will affect his level of comfort. The one thing he values above God. The one thing that American Christians value above God. This didn't really make as much sense as I wanted but biblically I see very little evidence in the life Jesus advocates that shows we should live like kings when there are people we know of who are lucky to get food everyday.
Matt said:
I appreciate your point Nat, but I think it is very dangerous to decide for other people what "comfort" is. When I do that, I suddenly have to decide how nice of food they are allowed to eat, how nice of clothes they are allowed to wear, etc. and there is no objective way to do that. Each person has to decide that for himself. One person decides that if they live on beans and rice for a year, they can save hundreds of dollars in food that can be given to the poor. Good for him. If another person decided they need some hamburgers in their diet, are they sinning because that is extra money that could have gone to the poor? What about the person who lives in a 1200 sq ft. house when they could have chosen to live in 500 sq. ft. and save more money? It is impossible for me to draw those lines for anyone but myself. I think Romans 14:4 is very relevant here, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."
MATT
I echo Matt's thoughts at the end here. Good post, Nat. I would also struggle with giving money to the "poor" that have decided not to work, when they are able to. How is that being a good steward of the riches God has given us? God says that the man who doesn't work doesn't deserve to eat. So should we give money to those that are taken care of the government already so they can get a bigger cable package? hmph. I also think that throwing money at people and never getting off your butt and helping doesn't really say that much. Giving of resources is a great thing, but one of our most precious resources is time. We should be willing to sacrifice our time to others to help and love them. Just my two cents
I have noticed that we do see some conflicting messages about wealth in the bible. Nothing wrong with Abraham, Job, Solomon being extremely wealthy. Also in the N.T. Lydia was wealthy and nothing was mentioned about her having too much. Annanias and Sappharia (sp?) were wealthy and only died because they LIED about their money. Even Peter said, "while you had your money, was it not your own to decide what to do?"
Of course the whole account was about the early Christians selling what they had and sharing. So here we go again. Don't listen to me...cuz I don't know! Tough questions Nat.
I enjoyed this immensely as I have struggled with the same thing. What is enough? What is plenty? And when I really hash it all out, God has met and continues to meet every physical NEED that I have. I didn't say WANT because we all WANT so much stuff. However, I have been realizing yet again that things are not important -- relationships are important. Often we can give of what we have without it hurting or without giving of ourselves. We give out of the "excess" rather than the firstfruits even before bills. I say we, but I really should use I. I give money every month to a designated group to help someone in need. But I have to say that I have sadly neglected the giving of self and time. i think this reflects my attitude more than anything -- my time is more precious to me and is to be hoarded, but my money doesn't mean as much because I don't have to invest anything when I simply give money. So, I think that again it all comes down to attitude and how we approach the issue. I think to some extent it needs to hurt when we give -- whether that means time and forgoeing a movie or eating extravaganza, or money and doing the same. I have been realizing that I am not good about giivng my time to those who need it, so I know what I need to work on. Anyway, I guess I agree with a lot of what was said and don't have many original thoughts to add to it, but I thought I would throw in my two cents :)
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