Jesus and the Seventh Story

Brian McLaren, in an address at Eastern Mennonite University several years ago, spoke of seven major narrativies that shape people’s thinking and behaviors.

First there is the Domination Story, promoting an “us over them” mindset, one inevitably followed by the Revolution Story, one that is about seeking the violent overthrow of an oppressive empire--as in “us versus them.” 

Then comes the Purification Story, in which in order to gain or maintain power we seek to blame, shame and exclude a perceived dangerous minority, “us versus those.” This in turn gives rise to the Victimization Story, “us in spite of them,” in which an oppressed minority's identity is maintained through memories of past injustices.

There is also the Isolation Story, he says, “us away from them,” one in which communities define themselves by their withdrawing from what is seen as a corrupt and doomed majority.

Then, of course, there is the ever familiar Accumulation Story, in which we perceive happiness and security resulting from gaining ever more possessions in a competitive, greed-based economy, "us with more than them."

People tend to wrap their life and their faith around these all too familiar narratives, says McLaren, and then to co-opt Jesus, Allah or Jehovah as justification for their claim to empire and domination, for example, or to make God all about revolution, or about purification (pointing the finger at undesirables), or to describe God primarily as identifying with victims, or as an isolationist, and even to make God the champion of accumulation and all about blessing the wealthy.

In contrast to all of these, he concludes, is the Reconciliation Story, "us and them as one," one in which a loving and just Creator calls all people to live and work together to turn the world into a shalom of peace.

It is that seventh story I want to celebrate and pass on to my children and everyone else I can get to listen.

Have You Heard "The Sermon on the Mall"?

 

In spite of how many of us profess to be followers of Jesus, few take his actual life and words seriously, and too many of us live our lives in direct contradiction to his teachings.

As you see by the list of "popular posts" on Harvspot, the one entitled "Rand, Ryan and the Rich Young Ruler" has received the largest number of page visits, 250 so far. The post describes how many of the politicians and other supporters representing the Tea Party Right (many of whom consider themselves conservative Christians) have been influenced by the blatantly anti-religious and anti-Christian writings of Ayan Rand, author of the best-selling "Atlas Shrugged."

I was heartened recently by becoming aware of how much Chuck Colson, a highly respected religious conservative, has spoken out against her influence. And today I viewed a powerful YouTube piece showing how the message of Jesus would sound if he were preaching the Tea Party/Ayn Rand gospel.

Take time to listen to this "Reversed version" of Jesus' words, entitled "Tea Party Jesus: The Sermon on the Mall," produced by The American Values Network, followed by a brief but provocative synopsis of some important things Jesus did actually say.

Note: As always, your comments are welcome. If you can't post your a comment because you don't having a Google account that allows you to do so, feel free to just send me an email, and I can post it if you wish.

A Mere $110,000 a Day in Spending Money

He'll judge the needy by what is right,
render decisions on earth's poor with justice.
              (Isaiah 11:4a the Message)

Blessed are you who are poor, 
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be satisfied.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
             (Luke 6:20, 21, 24, 25 NIV)

According to Forbes magazine, there now are well over 400 billionaires in the U.S., and 3.1 million millionaires. And their numbers--along with their assets--are on the rise, even as millions of the rest of their fellow citizens are losing jobs, homes and health benefits.

In an article entitled “Breaking the Spell of Money” in the July/August 2011 issue of Orion magazine, Scott Russell Sanders has us imagine what a billionaire (and many of these actually own multiple billions) could do with his or her wealth:

Suppose you keep a billion dollars under your mattress, where it will earn no income, and you set out to spend it; in order to burn through it all within an adult lifetime of, say, fifty years, you would have to spend $1.7 million per month, or $55,000 per day. If you took your billion dollars out from under the mattress and invested it in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds at current rates, you could spend $40 million per year, or $110,000 per day, forever, without touching your capital. It so happens that $110,000 is a bit more than twice the median household income in the United States. If you do the math, you will find that the twenty-five hedge fund managers who pulled in $26 billion last year claimed an income equivalent to roughly 500,000 households, or some 2 million people.  

But these persons, we’re being told by some, are the nation’s “job creators,” therefore we dare not burden them with even slight increases in taxes or government regulations, lest we inhibit growth and further endanger our economy.

Dare not what?

Try telling something like that to Amos, Micah or any of the Hebrew prophets. Or run that by Jesus, or try convincing his young mother Mary, who in her “Magnificat” boldly announces:

He casts the mighty from their thrones
and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving with good things,
and sends the rich away empty.

For a real mind boggler, a Libertarian candidate for Congress in our area sent me a link to a YouTube piece regarding a “$100 million dollar penny,” which helps us see how obscene--and insane--hoarding this kind of wealth really is (Note: You may or may not be interested in the controversial points made at the end of the clip on how some of the wealth of our nation is being managed, a subject I'll not weigh in on here).

Having said all of the above, to our world neighbors who are actually starving, many of us could be seen as the world's 1% who are way beyond blessed. At Christmas, we must gift with that in mind.

Is it Time to Bail Out Of Wall Street?

Regardless of our feelings about the “Occupy Wall Street” Movement, most of us are deeply invested in Wall Street traded companies. We have all become increasingly attached to an economic system heavily dependent on promoting self-indulgence and on amassing wealth through producing lots of products we don’t need and are often better off without. The level of consumption required to keep this kind of economy going is simply unsustainable for our planet.

The majority of Americans also do most of their investing for retirement in this Mammon-driven system.

In recent years Alma Jean and I have felt led to move more and more of our modest retirement funds out of Wall Street traded corporations and into microlending programs that benefit people in need by offering them a hand up rather than simply a handout. Glen Kauffman, financial consultant with Everence here in Harrisonburg, helped us do this.

Here are several of our reasons:

1) We believe such investments are more profitable. Even though the actual interest earned is a mere 1-3% (one can choose the rate), investments in microlending seem far more productive in terms of faith-based values. Since Alma Jean and I want our money to really “work for us” in ways that reflect Jesus’ priorities, we are no longer satisfied with just “socially responsible” investments (no alcohol, tobacco or military industries) that still largely subsidize and promote consumerism rather than being about meeting basic needs. We may not be able to be perfectly “pure” in our investment choices, but since we actually have a choice between becoming stakeholders in, say, some water bottling company somewhere versus in a food production coop that can help lift the poor out of poverty, the latter is our obvious preference.

2) Trading in stocks represents a form of speculation not unlike a legal form of gambling. Of course the odds are generally better, and we agree that all business investments involve risk, but business profits are normally made by at least producing actual goods or services. Trading in market holdings represents an attempt to create “wealth without work,” something Ghandi referred to as one of “seven deadly social sins,” in that no products or services are created in such trades, and no actual value is added. I can understand the concept of being paid a reasonable "rent" for capital used to grow businesses, and I realize there are shades of gray between simply being fellow investors (and sharing risk), on the one hand, and the other extreme of people engaging in speculative on-line or other trading that does seem like gambling to me (only with better odds--the house doesn't always win), and/or who are constantly checking their portfolios in hopes of fate or good fortune earning them record-breaking returns. And let's be honest, most of us haven't the slightest sense of actually being a stakeholder in the many companies that are using our retirement money, nor any real interest in affecting their policies. We primarily want one thing, optimal returns for our investment, as long as no obvious harm is being done.

3) We believe microlending programs are actually safer investments. When the economy tanked in 2008, none of our microlending investments were affected. While no investments are 100% safe, the default rate on these loans has been proven to be very low, while we see ominous signs of worsening national and international debt crises that threaten the security of our entire financial system. And when this Babylon falls, most current plans for retirement will collapse with it.

So we are left with the question of whether we will trust our fortunes with the already rich who are bent on becoming ever richer (and who are consistently condemned by Jesus and the prophets) or with the poor who are working hard to support themselves and their families.

For followers of Jesus, the answer should not be that hard to come by.

I welcome your comments.

Christmas Economics--How Both Pentateuch and Pentecost Promote Wealth Redistribution

 “Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; each of you is to return to his family property... It (accumulated property) will be returned in the Jubilee.” Leviticus 25:10, 28b

“At the end of every seven years you must cancel your debts...there should be no poor among you...be openhanded toward your brothers (and sisters) and toward the poor and needy in your land.” Deuteronomy 15: 1, 4a, 11b

“There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the money from the sales...and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Acts 4:34-35

“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply your need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He that gathered much did not have too much, and he that gathered little did not have too little.’” II Corinthians 8:13-15

     From Thanksgiving to the end-of-year deadline for charitable deductions, many North Americans become extra generous in their giving. Christmas gift giving alone provides the kind of boost to the economy that many retailers depend on for their survival. So like the Leviticus 25 Jubilee, the season moves us well beyond our usual charity.

How could this Jubilee-like mindset, this holiday season thinking, transform our stewardship?

At a recent session of our Virginia Conference assembly we had an extended discussion of a plan to provide affordable health insurance for needy pastors. Delegates voiced their approval, but in light of leaner economic times, wondered whether the required number of congregations could afford to fund it, especially in light of growing concerns about meeting existing mission and conference budgets.

But I couldn’t help wondering why a church as well-to-do as ours should ever have even one needy pastor among us, or have a single outreach programs that is underfunded? And why should our church agencies have to increasingly depend on salaried fund raisers to help them meet their annual budgets?

One answer may be that we have been focusing on only half of what the Bible teaches about stewardship. We have taught well the half that has to do with contributing generously of our tithes and offerings, but have said or done little about the other Biblical mandate, that of radically and regularly redistributing our wealth in the spirit of Christmas and in celebration of a Jesus-inspired Jubilee.

Unfortunately, far from regularly redistributing our wealth, most us aren’t very generous in even contributing from it, according to sociologists Christian Smith, Michael Emerson and Patricia Snell, authors of a book called "Passing the Plate, Why Christians Don’t Give Away More of Their Money" (Oxford University Press, 2008). Their study finds that one in four US Protestants doesn’t give at all, and that the median rate of annual giving for that group is only $200, or less than half a percent of their taxable income. According to a 2005 study commissioned by MCUSA, the “typical” Mennonite member gives just less than 10 percent of income to some kind of charity.

According to the Passing the Plate authors, what makes churchgoing US Christians look especially miserly is that together they earn a staggering $2.5 trillion dollars a year. That would be enough wealth, they claim, to qualify for membership in the G7, a group representing the world’s seven largest economies. A modest ten percent of that sum, they point out, could do wonders to alleviate poverty and promote missions around the world.

Few of us would expect the unemployed and financially destitute to tithe. But the rest of us who live in one of the wealthiest economies in the world should be able to give far more. Regular giving, after all, is like paying rent for the privilege of enjoying life on a truly great planet.

But can simply giving from our surplus, without any regular redistribution of wealth that narrows the gap between rich and poor, be seen as an adequate expression of Biblical economics?

Ched Myers, author of "The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics," doesn’t think so. He argues that both the teachings of Jesus and the practices of the early church support a more radical stewardship, one grounded in Old Testament practices meant to periodically reboot and re-level the economic playing field.

Myers points out that in Jesus’s first recorded message (Luke 4:16-30), he highlights the prophet Isaiah’s announcement of good news to the poor and the release of prisoners, and reminds us that prisoners in those days were usually impoverished people who were unable to repay money they borrowed in bad years to keep their families alive. The Isaiah 61 text that Jesus uses appears to be linked to two passages in the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomy 15 teaching on canceling debts every seven years, and the Leviticus 25 Jubilee text, one that mandates that no profit be made from the land every seventh year, and that repossessed land be restored to the original owners every 50th year, a "year of the Lord’s favor.”

Today we hear almost nothing about regularly forgiving others their monetary debts or about restoring property taken in foreclosure. But Jesus promises salvation to Zaccheus when he commits himself to redistributing his wealth, and later asks the so-called “rich young ruler” to do the same. And in each of the first three gospels, the latter story is accompanied by Jesus teaching us to become like owner-less children in order to become a part of the Jubilee-based God-Movement.

It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that the Spirit-led early church went well beyond simply sharing contributions from their surplus. The book of Acts describes how believers joyfully practiced Jesus’s form of Jubilee justice by selling property and distributing the proceeds among those in need.

 In the same spirit, the apostle Paul appealed to the church at Corinth to practice a Jubilee-style sharing of their wealth with needy believers abroad. And the apostle had harsh words for those who ate and drank to excess at their community agape meals while refusing to share their abundance with poorer members of the congregation.

All of this makes it clear that followers of Jesus are not to gain ever more wealth for themselves while the Lazarus-like poor in the world become ever more destitute. In order for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” periodic redistribution is called for. Regarding the Lord's Prayer, John Howard Yoder, in "The Politics of Jesus" writes, “Jesus... tells us purely and simply to erase the debts of those who owe us money; which is to say, practice the jubilee.”

Claude Rosenberg and Tim Stone, in a December, 2006, article in the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, make the case for giving based on our assets, and not simply on our incomes, a principle they believe is clearly taught in the Torah and amplified in the New Testament. Our common practice of a tithe- and offering- based stewardship, they say, provides false justification for believers becoming as wealthy as they can as long as they give regularly and generously from their surplus.

A current illustration of this is the case of Dave Ramsey, considered one of the nation’s leading advisers on Christian money management. Over a million people in 5,600 churches recently tuned in to his 90-minute televised infomercial-style “Town Hall for Hope” broadcast. His DVD-based “Financial Peace University” courses are offered in churches everywhere, including Mennonite congregations. Profits from his book and DVD sales and from his many seminars have made Ramsey a multimillionaire, and he has just built a lavish home on a $1 million lot in a gated community overlooking Tennessee's richest county.

One of our problems is that we find it hard to make the case that this is even a problem. After all, Ramsey earned his money legally, saved it carefully, and no doubt has given much of it generously, just as we are all taught to do.
What is missing is a theology of stewardship that deals with the other half of the Biblical teaching on wealth, that of periodically and systematically redistributing and reinvesting it in ways that give a hand up to the underclass. We have overlooked the fact that the Pentateuch actually commands this, and that the church of Pentecost and of the apostle Paul clearly promotes it.
Here are some modest examples of how congregations and individuals might celebrate seasons of Jubilee:

1. Create a congregational Jubilee Fund to support an urgent local or international need, and invite members to sell something of significant value to them--or to draw substantially from their savings or investment accounts--to invest generously in such a fund.

2. Freeze or reduce congregational and conference staff salaries and benefits for a chosen year and contribute the savings to a Jubilee Fund, and urge each member to make similar investments.

3. Place a moratorium on church building or remodeling projects for a year (or longer), focusing instead on meeting direct people needs in the community and abroad.

4. Adopt a third world, inner city, or other needy congregation or community with whom to exchange information and/or work and study teams.

5. Promote members making gifts of some of their current IRA holdings and other investments and/or to transfer them to interest-free or low interest micro-loan funds.

6. Engage in serious Bible study and worship on the theme of redistribution stewardship.

7. Match our spending for Christmas and other gift giving each year with equal investments in missions, relief and other means of outreach, and on every seventh year, dispense with Christmas and other gift giving to the non-needy altogether, then double what we redistribute to the poor.

8. Invite members of third world congregations to become honorary members of the governing boards of our congregations and church institutions, regularly consulting with them by phone or e-mail about our spending and investment decisions.

9. Rewrite our wills so that they represent a more just form of Jubilee redistribution of our accumulated assets.

In order to be faithful to Jesus, we need to think and act in the spirit of Christmas rather than of capitalism, investing less in our own comfort and security and more in what delights the heart of God.

In this way we will joyfully trumpet liberty throughout the earth.

(this was first published in the December, 2009, issue of The Mennonite)

The Wealthy 1% and 5%

What's the first thing you do after buying a $43.5 million, 6,000-square-foot oceanfront estate on 6.5 acres in Sagaponack, Long Island, the country's most expensive zip code?

According to a June 2, 2010 post on the AOL homepage, if you're hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, you tear it down -- along with its guesthouse, swimming pool and tennis court -- to build an even bigger mega-mansion.

According to the Southampton Patch, Tepper bought the home in 2009 from ex-wife of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, in the area's most expensive transaction of 2010. In April, he got a permit for the demolition, and two months later the site was completely cleared.

The new house is about twice the size of the original, with ocean views from every room, "a sunken tennis court, a three-car garage, a widow's walk, second-floor decks, including one with a Jacuzzi, and a covered porch," according to the minutes of a recent town board meeting at which the construction was reviewed.

From Wikkipedia, we learn that in 2009, Tepper's hedge-fund firm earned about $7 billion by buying distressed financial stocks (including acquiring Bank of America common stock at $3 per share) in February and March of that year, then profiting from recovery of those stocks. $4 billion of these profits added to Tepper's personal wealth, and in March 2010, the New York Times reported that Tepper's success made him the top-earning hedge fund manager in the world in 2009. In 2010 he was ranked by Forbes as the 258th richest person in the world, clearly in the top 1% of America's privileged.

Before we point our fingers at others, though, we middle-class Americans should realize that we are all in the top 5% of the world's wealthiest people.

So we all need to reflect on the story Jesus once told of a well-to-do farmer who had an exceptionally good harvest one year, then said to himself, “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.’”

God labeled him a fool, one whose life was about to come to an abrupt end.

And as with all of us, he left it all behind. Every bit of it.

Should This Economy Recover?

At a meeting I attended over a year ago on coping with the recent economic recession, one of the presenters asked, “Which do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?”

We all wanted the good news, which went something like this: If we can weather the current crisis, get the right kind of stimulus going and manage to restore consumer confidence, we should eventually see our economy recover and life return to normal.

I had to wonder, though, should we actually welcome the “recovery” of any economy so dependent on overconsumption, waste, and exploitation of the world’s poor? Is that really “good news,” and if so, for whom?

In the apocalyptic book of Revelation, chapters 17-19 introduce us to an image of a luxurious and powerful seductress named “Babylon,” a symbol of economic systems based on greed and oppression. In contrast to the Radiant Woman of Revelation 12, who represents the humble and holy people of God, this Great Prostitute is dressed in the finest purple and scarlet and sits elegantly astride the powerful “Beast” representing the world’s political powers (introduced in chapter 13). All of the nations are in bed with her, since “all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth” (18:19).

When Babylon finally collapses in disgrace, the kings and merchants of the earth “weep and wail” in anguish. They are desperate to have her recover so the status quo disparity between the very rich and the very poor can continue unabated. In the same way, we North Americans want to restore (and grow) our incomes, our institutions, our accustomed ways of life, to the level we’ve come to believe is our birthright.

But the Babylon of Revelation is doomed by God Almighty, is clearly beyond any recovery. And in the Bible, this is hailed as good news. At her demise all heaven breaks loose in outbursts of praise, “Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” (19:6).

I’m not suggesting that all of today’s entrepreneurs have sold out to Babylon. There are many business men and women who operate with integrity and who offer invaluable services to their community. They provide decent jobs at fair wages and don’t assume that their managing more capital wealth entitles them to a greater share of consumer wealth. Because they choose to live frugally and share sacrificially, they should be blessed and celebrated as signs of Jesus’ new order.

But to pray for the “recovery” of our current consumer-driven economy is to counter Jesus’ brand of “good news.” In his upside down kingdom, where his words about wealth represent both law and gospel, it is the world’s hungry who are to be filled with good things, and it is the too-well-to-do who are to be left empty-handed. In his new community it is the poor, and "the poor in spirit," who are truly blessed with happiness, whereas the rich (those who claim the right to ever more consumer wealth) are promised only woes.

This means that what is really needed is not a recovery of an old economy, but the restructuring of a new one, first through a radical reordering of our values (what we consider to be true wealth) and then through adopting lifestyles that represent fairness and justice for everyone on the planet.

Our U.S. economic downturn needs to be seen as a gigantic wake up call, reminding us that to continue to live like Babylon--instead of more like Jesus--is not only wrong, it is unsustainable. It would take additional whole planets to provide enough resources (and enough landfill space for our waste and pollution) for all six billion of the world’s people to consume at the rate most of us do who are among the top 5% of its wealthiest inhabitants.

In that light, does the recovery of a Mammon-driven, “trickle-down” global economy represent good news?

No. If it’s not first of all about good news for the poor, it’s not the kind of “recovery” Jesus has in mind.

Old Order Savings and Thrift

According to an NPR story aired after the 2008 financial meltdown, not all financial institutions took a hit following that crisis. Banks in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with lots of Old Order Amish customers kept doing just fine.

"We've never lost any money on an Amish deal," noted Hometowne Heritage banker Bill O’Brien in the NPR interview. He explained that Old Order farmers and business people seldom take out loans except for major purchases like building construction or real estate, and pay for most other things by cash or from their savings or checking accounts. They use no credit cards, avoid fancy wardrobes and high tech entertainment centers, shun automobiles and most fuel guzzling farm equipment and are generally known for living a frugal and simple life. No sub prime loans here.

Banker O’Brien noted that even if his bank had wanted to, it could not have “bundled” its mortgages and resold them elsewhere for the easy profits other banks pursued. His Amish holdings wouldn't qualify anyway, he said, because in order for a mortgage to be securitized a home has to have electricity and be covered by traditional insurance. The Amish have chosen to do without electricity, and the primary insurance they have is their commitment to help each other when fellow members have any kind of major property damage or medical expenses.

Meanwhile, too many of us borrow and spend as though there were no tomorrow. The result is our nation experiencing an overall negative savings rate for the first time in American history. We have charged way more than we can afford, spent far more on instant gratification than we’ve been willing to save, and have too often accumulated debts greater than our net worth. We assumed that the value of our investments and real estate could only go up, and that there would always be a larger income and more credit where the last came from.

Those days appear to be over. More than ever we are being denied access to the bountiful buffet of easy, cheap credit and endless consumer goods we’ve been feasting on for so long. And now that it’s time to pay the piper, we find ourselves seriously short of cash.

As more of our collective bills are coming due, average American incomes are falling and unemployment rates are still unacceptably high. And to bail ourselves out and to get our economy back on track, the federal government is about to borrow even more trillions our grandchildren will be burdened with.

Maybe its time to take some lessons from our Amish and Old Order Mennonite neighbors. They, like our grandparents and great-grandparents who experienced hard times and the Great Depression, have learned to get by without expecting the good life to be handed them on a silver platter. They exercise fiscal restraint, wait to buy things until they can afford them, and routinely make and grow many of the things they need.

Putting Christ Back Into Xian

In what must have been my first stage performance, I recited a four-line poem about putting Christ back into Xmas. This felt important to me as a first grader in my one-room school in rural Kansas, both because I got to take part in my first real Christmas program and because growing up the way I did I couldn’t imagine leaving Jesus out of anything.

Today I'm even more concerned about how little of Christ or of his teachings are typically associated with concepts like a “Christian world view,” “Christian values” or our “Judeo-Christian heritage.” We may cite leaders like Moses, Joshua, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther or Daniel to support a kind of Christian nationalism, for example, but fail to even mention Jesus in the process.

I recently had an email conversation with a friend of mine in which I contrasted Jesus’ teachings about wealth with the views held by the late philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand. My friend had read “Atlas Shrugged” and knew Rand was adamantly anti-religious and believed that altruism, not the love of money, was actually the root of all evil (she was fond of wearing a pin in the form a of a dollar sign). Nevertheless he defended many of her positions as consistent with a Christian world view, based on the following:

1. The Bible teaches that those who will not work should not eat.

2. Likewise, the Bible states that those who will not support their families are “worse than infidels.” 

3. Also, the tenth commandment clearly states that we are not to covet what belongs to others, a mindset that leads to “a sense of ‘entitlement’ to what others have earned.

 4. Above all, a Christian world view teaches that charity should be totally voluntary – and only for widows, orphans, and others who are “poor through no fault of their own.”

There is much here one can agree with, but none of these particular points happens to be based on the actual teachings of Christ. This in spite of the fact that Jesus had more to say about wealth and about giving generously to the poor than almost any other single topic.

I’m not one of those "red-letter-Christians" who pays little attention to anything but the actual sayings of Jesus in the Bible. But dare we opt for a "white-out-Christian" perspective, in which many of his teachings are seemingly blanked out or ignored?

For example:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.

You cannot serve both God and money.

If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you wil have treasure in heaven.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me...'

Of course many of us may find these teachings hard to accept and even harder to follow. But I don’t believe Jesus intended them to be "hard sayings." One of the gospel writers notes that when Jesus confronted the “rich young ruler” he loved him. He knew he would be liberated and blessed by  obeying his command to share his wealth with the poor, and then to enjoy vast holdings in the “treasury of heaven.”

This is the real “prosperity gospel” Jesus wants celebrated and shouted from the housetops.

Interview With a Galilean Financial Advisor

It may feel strange thinking of going to a first century Jewish rabbi for financial advice. But in these uncertain economic times, anything seems worth a try.

So let's imagine meeting one Jesus of Nazareth along a lake where some of his closest followers are partners in a family owned fishing business, and in view of a hilltop area where he once taught extensively on good money management

Our conversation with Jesus starts with questions about his credentials.

“Most people have a lot of respect for you, but aren’t you a little out of your league when it comes to economics? On spiritual issues you’re great, of course, but finances are so complicated these days that even experienced investors don’t seem to know what to tell us to do.”

“Fair question, but being involved in the creation of the entire universe, and then having been officially put in charge of it, should count for something.”

"A valid point. But with all due respect, do you really expect us to take seriously talk like ‘Take no thought for tomorrow,’ or ‘Live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field’? That just seems irresponsible.” 

“Notice that when I teach people not to worry about the future, I don’t mean they shouldn’t work. Think about it, most birds actually work a lot harder and put in longer days than we humans do, and even the wild flowers aren’t like dead bouquets in a vase. They are constantly drawing nutrients and moisture from the soil, sometimes under harsh conditions, actively turning sunlight into color and growth. It’s the 'don’t be anxious' part, the trusting part, I want my followers to learn more about. But to work, as the very first humans were instructed to do from the beginning, has always been a part of the plan, just as in the later instruction 'six days you shall labor.' And remember, the Creator’s very first command was for people to tend the earth and to take good care of it--which, by the way, most of you haven’t been doing very well.”

“I know, I know. But back to finances, I’ve never understood the part about investing in ‘the Company of Heaven,’ instead of in enterprises here on earth. How can you ever do that, practically?”

“First of all, this is about the wisdom of not investing in more and more earthly stuff, consumer-based perishables that don’t really satisfy, or in self-enhancing status symbols that inevitably depreciate, rust out, wear out, or get moldy and moth-eaten. Instead, invest in what's more lasting, that truly helps meet the basic needs of people--including yourself and your family, of course--and that demonstrates your concern that everyone on earth should have enough to eat, decent clothes to wear and adequate health care. Such gifts just keep on giving. Even in the next life you’ll be experiencing lasting returns, since the folks you’ve helped, along with your Father, will forever thank, welcome and bless you for having made truly wise financial investments. It’s part of my fail-proof eternal retirement program.”

“Yes, but we do have to first make it through this life, don’t we?”

“Of course. For starters, my plan represents the most effective stimulus package possible for ailing economies. The rising tide of improved standards of living from the bottom up lifts all boats, quickly and efficiently. And contrary to what some people think, I’m not naive about the need for prudent capital investments that provide the means of earning money. For example, my human parents had to invest money in tools and supplies for their construction business in order to provide for all of us. My friends in the fishing trade have had to invest in, and maintain, boats and nets to keep their enterprise going. And remember my illustrations about the ‘talents’ and the ‘pounds’? That’s all about people making capital investments for the purpose of increased profits in the 'Company of Heaven.' That worldwide enterprise is headquartered with my Father, but operates very much in this world. So that’s what I advise you to invest in, rather than your speculating in stocks in companies that are mostly about promoting consumer wealth.”

“OK. So you are saying it makes the most sense to invest heavily in enterprises that directly meet human needs and promote the worldwide Empire-of-God Movement, thus having more of God’s will being accomplished here on earth as it is in heaven.”

“Exactly. And don't assume that just because you manage large sums of capital wealth, even if dedicated to a God-blessed enterprises, that you are automatically entitled to more consumer wealth as a result. My business model is based on every man, woman and child on earth becoming wiser and more just stewards of wealth that's meant to bless everyone on the planet. God has no favorites, some who deserve a larger share of the consumer pie than others.”

“But I can’t help being concerned about providing for my family's future needs. Someday I'll no longer be able to earn, and I may even need some long term nursing care.”

"Well, remember all of my teaching on money is in the context of people belonging to covenant communities that are so committed to each other that no one will starve unless they all do. That represents the one and only real assurance of lifelong security. My followers will pool their money in such ways that everyone will have enough and no one claims too much.”  

End of interview.

See also https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-economics-how-both-pentateuch.html

Two Levels of Poverty

When Jesus spoke of “the poor always being with you,” he was likely describing people who were reduced to begging for their survival. By that standard, few of us can claim to be poor as in actually destitute. But more and more Americans are becoming financially stressed to the point of being unable to make ends meet, resulting in increasing numbers of people foreclosing on mortgages, having to default on credit card and other debts, and/or filing for bankruptcy.

How do these two kinds of “poor” compare?

Third World Style Poverty              The Financially Stressed Poor

 - Few possessions, only bare             - Often have too much stuff,   
    necessities                                               storage can be a problem

 - Cars, cable TV, cell phones, etc.,    - Cars, computers, cell phones, TV,
    often out of the question                    etc., are seen as necessities

 - Medical and dental care are often   - Health care generally available
     unavailable                                           but not always affordable

 - In debt mostly for food and            - Often in debt for general
    necessities                                             consumer purchases

 - Frequently without food needed    - Weight control a frequent problem
    for good health and body weight      due to overuse of convenience and
                                                                     fast foods

 - Per capita income may be under     - US poverty line is $10,000 a year
    $1000 per year                                   for an individual, $20,000 for a family
                                                                   of four

     While most financially stressed Americans have much to be grateful for, and have more assets than they realize, harder economic times may mean we could all join the ranks of the truly destitute in the not so distant future. We need to think creatively and generously about how to best help each other, and others, in a way that offers a hand up and not simply a handout.

P. S. Check with your local church and other agencies about ways of alleviating poverty in your community. And here are some agencies through whom you can provide urgently needed help for people in drought-stricken and war ravaged parts of the rest of the world.  
http://www.care.org/
http://www.mcc.org/
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

You might also check out my posts on "Welfare Waste Versus Warfare Waste,"
and "What You Can Do For Your Country."

Click here for another informative take on this topic.

Rand, Ryan and the Rich Young Ruler

I just got off the phone with our oldest son, the singer/songwriter who lives in Pittsburgh. He and I got into one of our father-son discussions on some of the differences between Jesus' message on economics and that embedded in most of the current national budget debates. We both noted the fact that, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website, politicians like Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, who wrote the Republican Party's budget proposal, are avid admirers of the late philosopher Ayn Rand. Ryan says she is "the reason he entered politics" and has asked his staff to read her amoral (and unashamedly godless) 1200-page novel, Atlas Shrugged. Many members of the Tea Party are also great fans of her writing.

I then emailed Brad a copy of a letter to the Daily News-Record I had submitted to the paper eleven days ago (and which as of yet had not been published):

Editor, DNR:

I commend you for doing an editorial critique on the renewed attention being given to the writings of Ayn Rand. 

Gary Moore, in an article in the September, 2010, issue of Christianity Today, quotes economist Milton Friedman, one of Rand's disciples, as supporting her kind of amoral philosophy that the "only social responsibility of a business is to make money." 

Moore also cites the following from the book "Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right," by Jennifer Burns,  "Whereas traditional conservatism emphasized duties, responsibilities, and social interconnectedness, at the core of the right wing ideology Rand spearheaded was a rejection of moral obligations to others."  

Not surprisingly, according to Moore, by the time she died she had "alienated most of her friends and was deeply depressed."

Harvey Yoder

[4/18/11 P. S. In response to a call to the DNR, they said the above letter had mistakenly remained in their "unconfirmed" category and that they will print it this week, in a slightly revised version, at my request.]

Brad then emailed me the following lyrics of a song he'd written earlier this month:

a rich young man came to ask a question,
he didn’t get the answer he was expecting,
  so he went away sad, yeah, he went away sad..
he thought he knew what the law required,
but love was the law and a burning fire,
  he went away sad, yeah, he went away sad..
    you and me, we’re hanging on by a thread,
    there’s nothing that we can’t forget,
    we’re just trying to fill the hole,
    you and me, we’re waiting for our bird to sing,
    still acting like we pull the strings,
    as if we were in control..

I sought love, ‘cause I thought I’d earned it,
the one that I loved did not return it,
  so I went away sad, yeah, I went away sad..
love sought me, I was quick to dodge it,
the last thing I needed was another project,
  she went away sad, yeah, she went away sad..
    you and me, we’re waiting for our bird to sing,
    still acting like we pull the strings,
    as if we were in control..
    you and me, we’re hanging on by a thread,
    there’s nothing that we can’t forget,
    just trying to fill the hole..
      we take the bait so easily,
      the soft escape, the shiny scheme,
      as I live and as I breathe
      I need you to unsettle me..

I asked God for a rhyme or reason,
I fell to my knees and I tried to please him,
  but I went away sad, yeah, I went away sad..
I heard a quiet voice on a crowded corner,
but we all hurried past, trying to ignore her,
  we went away sad, I think we went away sad..
    you and me, there’s nothing that we can’t forget,
    we’re hanging on by a thread, just trying to fill the hole,
    you and me, we’re acting like we pull the strings,
    still waiting for our bird to sing,
     as if we were in control...

                                                                                                    -all rights reserved 

P. S. 2 Daryl Fries posted the following on dnronline April 20, 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uHSv1asFvU    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6jkQKAv13A During her lifetime, Rand advocated “the virtue of selfishness,” declared altruism to be “evil,” opposed Medicare and all forms of government support for the middle-class and the poor, and condemned Christianity for advocating love and compassion for the less fortunate:    Rand also dismissed the feminist movement as a “false” and “phony” issue, said a female commander in chief would be “unspeakable,” characterized Arabs as “almost totally primitive savages,” and called government efforts to aid the handicapped and educate “subnormal children” an attempt to “bring everybody to the level of the handicapped.”