For a poor man, Jesus sure talked a lot about money.
Luke 14:33 says, "You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own." The King James version states that we must "forsake all" that we have. How is it that we have missed this?
In the gospels Jesus tells the rich man that he must sell all he owns in order to follow him. In Luke chapter 16 Jesus again talks of money and how we must be good stewards of our money. It blows my mind that so many Christians have missed this important message. But have we really missed it? Or have we just chosen to ignore it? I, for one, can humbly confess that more often than not I have chosen to ignore Jesus' message concerning money. I cannot even get by with a well thought of excuse. I keep my money because I have things that I need, and I can only get these things with money. But then, if I gave that money to the poor, could I not trust that God would provide for my needs through some other means? Sure, God has gifted me with a job so that my needs may be provided for, but the test comes with the paycheck. Where does the first portion of my money go? To me, or to God? And where does the greatest proportion of my money go? I'm pretty sure you all know the answer...
I don't think the money issue is merely a matter of trust. Obviously, it is a matter of where our heart is as well. The Bible touches on both of these points, saying that we must trust that God cares for us more than he does the lilies of the field and that he will provide us with food, drink, and clothing. It also says that we are to store up our treasures in heaven, not dwelling on our earthly valuables.
But trust and treasure aren't necessarily at the heart of the money issue. Personally, I think that love is. The whole point of our existence on earth is to first love God, and then to love his people. We cannot do this if we are consumed with money. Issues of trust and treasure merely contribute to the idea of money competing with love. Steinbeck said it well,
"It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second."
If we are in love with money we cannot be in love with God (Luke 16:13). If we are not willing to part ways with our money so that we might better love God and our neighbors, then maybe we aren't ready to really love God with all of our heart, mind, and strength.
Rich Christians... seems like somewhat of an oxymoron to me.
These ideas have been haunting me for a while now... An example of how I'm struggling with grasping these concepts is the poem I wrote, "The Other Side". One concept I've thought about is the standard of living in Canada vs. developing countries.
ReplyDeleteFor example, a cheap, run-down house in Canada might be a lot more absolute dollars than a nicer house in a different country. But when you consider Canada's health care, national security, public safety, education, economy and job opportunities, then the absolute dollar difference might represent absolute differences in standard of living.
In other words, it seems that a Canadian working a minimum-wage job, and living in a cheap apartment, has a higher standard of living than a lawyer from one of the nicer subdivisions in Panama City. This is because of the things listed above. Therefore, we are living in a land full of queens and kings. And I'm haunted by the thought that it's not alright.