One of the bloggers I read is Greg Boyd. I have also read several of his books. Here is a post he made back in 2007 which deserves a repost:

It’s hard to deny that capitalism is the best economic system around. It creates wealth far better than feudalism, communism, som or any other system one could name. But for all its advantages, capitalism has one major drawback that Kingdom people need to be concerned about: capitalism requires people to stay perpetually hungry for more. If Americans as a whole ever followed Paul’s instruction to be content with basic food and clothing and not pursue wealth (1 Tim. 6:6-11), our economy would come to a grinding halt. The undeniable truth is that capitalism runs on greed.

So it’s not surprising that people raised on capitalism tend to be greedy. We don’t think of ourselves as greedy, for it’s hard for fish to notice the water inside their own aquarium. But the evidence is all around us.

Americans enjoy a lifestyle that is about four times the global average. Yet we on average spend 97 to 98 percent of our wealth on ourselves – despite the fact that close to a billion people live on the threshold of starvation with 40,000 dying each day of issues related to poverty, malnutrition and preventable or treatable disease. This is greed. We are hoarding resources while neighbors lack adequate food, shelter and medicine.

This should greatly concern followers of Jesus, for Jesus had a lot to say about greed and the need to care for the poor. Jesus lists greed as a sin right next to adultery (Mk 7:22). He criticized the religious heroes of his day for being preoccupied with maintaining a nice religious exterior while their hearts were full of “greed and self-indulgence” (Mt. 3:25; Lk 11:39). These people meticulously followed religious rules, but because they loved money (Lk 16:14) they “neglected the more important matters of the law” which include “justice” and “mercy” (Mt. 23:23). In other words, their religious appearance notwithstanding, these people hoarded resources and didn’t share with the poor. For Jesus, this omission rendered the rest of their religious behavior irrelevant.

Along the same lines, when a man wanted Jesus to settle a legal dispute with his older brother over how much of the family inheritance he should receive, Jesus said, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbitrator between you” (Lk 12:13-14). He was basically asking the man, “Do I look like your lawyer”? (Notice how Jesus refused to get pulled into politics!) He then warned the man, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (vs. 15). “However you work out your legal and political issues,” Jesus was saying, “never let greed get lodged in your heart.”

Jesus then drove the point home further with a parable about a farmer who “yielded an abundant harvest” — so abundant that he didn’t have adequate storage space for it. After thinking about the matter, he decided he’d simply tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store his surplus food. He could then “[t]ake life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (vss. 16-19). In other words, with his stored-up wealth he could retire and live “the good life.”

I suspect most of us Americans would have thought the same way. The man frankly seems to be guilty of nothing worse than being a good capitalist! You come upon some extra cash, so you enjoy life more and retire a little early. It’s called “the American dream.” What’s the big deal?

Yet, Jesus taught that God called the man a “fool,” for it turned out this man was going to die that very night. And then, most ominously, Jesus said, “This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God” (12:20-21).

The problem was not that the man happened to get wealthy. While riches are considered dangerous and the pursuit of wealth is forbidden (I Tim. 6:9-10), neither the Old nor the New Testament takes issue with wealth as such. The problem with the wealthy farmer was that he was not also “rich towards God.” He didn’t submit his (God-given!) wealth to God but instead considered only how he and his family could benefit from his fortunate harvest. In other words, he was greedy.

Jesus tells us that unless we give up all our possessions we cannot be a disciple of his (Lk 14:33). I don’t interpret this to mean that we can’t legally own anything, since most of the disciples he was speaking to continued to earn money and live in houses. But it does mean we can’t consider anything we legally own, or any money we legally earn, to be our possession. They belong to God, and as such, we are called to seek his will as to how our wealth should be spent. Whatever he allows us to enjoy, we should enjoy (I Tim. 6:17). But whatever he leads us to share with the poor and invest in our churches, we must obediently let go of.

There is no fixed percentage given in the New Testament about what percentage of a person’s wealth they are allowed to keep. But given that most of us Americans are the wealthiest people on the planet, and given that we’re surrounded by people who are starving to death, we need to seriously question whether we’re really listening to and obeying God if we’re keeping 97% of our wealth for ourselves.

What do you think. Is he right, or can we just call him a “sot” and go back to purchasing everything we set eyes on?

So many people are tired of life, but they are more afraid of the end of life, so they just do whatever they can to get by. I know that we Christians think we have the answer to this, though I am not sure we always do a good job expressing it (or living it ourselves).

Here is a song a I heard recently on the radio which captures the feelings that most people around us have. The song is “Waiting for the End” by Linkin Park. (I don’t quite understand the video…anybody want to take a shot explaining it to me?)

As you listen to the song, you can follow the lyrics below. Notice especially the parts I have put in bold.

Lyrics:

This is not the end
This is not the beginning,
Just a voice like a riot
Rocking every revision
But you listen to the tone
And the violent rhythm
Though the words sound steady
Something empty’s within ’em

We say Yeah!
With fists flying up in the air
Like we’re holding onto something
That’s invisible there,
‘Cause we’re living at the mercy of
The pain and the fear
Until we dead it, Forget it,
Let it all disappear.

Waiting for the end to come
Wishing I had strength to stand
This is not what I had planned
It’s out of my control….

Flying at the speed of light
Thoughts were spinning in my head
So many things were left unsaid
It’s hard to let you go…

(Oh!) I know what it takes to move on,
I know how it feels to lie,
All I wanna do
Is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven’t got

Sitting in an empty room
Trying to forget the past
This was never meant to last,
I wish it wasn’t so…

(Oh!) I know what it takes to move on,

I know how it feels to lie,
All I wanna do
Is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven’t got

What was left when that fire was gone?
I thought it felt right but that right was wrong
All caught up in the eye of the storm
And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on
And I don’t even know what kind of things I’ve said
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead
So, picking up the pieces, now where to begin?
The hardest part of ending is starting again!!

All I wanna do
Is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven’t got…

This is not the end
This is not the beginning,
Just a voice like a riot
Rocking every revision
But you listen to the tone
And the violent rhythm
Though the words sound steady
Something’s empty within ’em
(Holding on to what I haven’t got)

We say Yeah!
With fists flying up in the air
Like we’re holding onto something
That’s invisible there,
‘Cause we’re living at the mercy of
The pain and the fear
Until we dead it, Forget it,
Let it all disappear
(Holding on to what I haven’t got!)

There is nothing more needed in Christianity today than creativity.

We don’t need more doctrinal precision and biblical knowledge, more conferences and programs. We don’t need more cookie-cutter youth groups copied from the megachurch down the street. We don’t want to hear another worship song with the same beat, the same tempo, the same words, and the same three chords as every other worship song.

Christianity suffers from the pandemic disease of just copying each other in what we do, what we say, and how we look. As the world struggles with the ethical dilemmas of whether or not we should allow clones, Christianity should just be shrugging our shoulders; We’ve been making clones for hundreds of years, from the way our buildings look to the way our people look. Sure, there are “cooler” versions out there, but they still gather at the same old places at the same old times to do the same old things for the same old purposes.

When are we going to break out of the mold and do something that shocks, surprises, and amazes?

Let me back up and start from the beginning. The very beginning.

In the Beginning
Christianity must be creative because first and foremost, we follow a creative God. The very first act of God recorded in Scripture is creation. An eye-popping, universe-exploding, noisy, colorful, cacophony of creative power unleashed into darkness and chaos.

But when we see darkness and chaos all around us, all we can think of doing is gathering together in our huddled masses, circling the wagons, and praying for the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ who will ride in on His white stallion with thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fist, and cast down all our foes, restore peace and justice, and finally set all things right. Then He will rule and reign and wipe away every tear.

Doesn’t that sound great? Of course it does. But I sometimes Jesus is watching all this, shaking His head and saying, “What do they think I left them there for?”

And we cry out, “But what can we do? There are so few of us against the gathering storm! We are weak; they are strong! We are few; they are many!” Hmm, that sounds an awful lot like some cries I’ve heard out of Scripture in various places. I’ll let you find them on your own.

Jesus, I think, tells us the beginning place. The way to find the solution is not with refortifying our defenses, preaching longer, or singing louder. When chaos and darkness descend upon us, the first step toward light and order is creativity. This is what Jesus meant when He said that we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless we become like little children.

Like a Child
One of the things that characterize little children is creativity. They do not think about what they can and cannot do. They do not tally the forces arrayed against them. They simply imagine another world, a place where people never die, where nobody goes hungry, and the lion literally lays down with the lamb. In their creative world, dreams become reality.

Does imagination make the dreams become reality? Of course not. It’s naive to think so. But this does not mean we should not creatively imagine. Without creative imagination, we will continue to tackle age-old problems with dreary and decaying solutions: “Bomb them!” “Tax that!” “Hoard this!” “Sell those!” “Gather the wagons! Get out the guns!”

There has to be a better way. A way of light and love, peace and unity, healing and service. A way of flexibility and freedom, wonder and imagination.

What is that way? Honestly, I don’t know. But we’ll never find it, until and unless we begin with creativity.

* * * * *

This blog post was part of a Synchroblog on Creation and Creativity. Here are the other contributors:

• Bethany Stedman – How God Creates
• EmmaNadine – Creativity and Christianity
• Bill Sahlman – Created, Continued Creativity
• Heidi Renee – Synchroblog Creativity and Christianity
• Annie Bullock – Old Things are New
• John O’Keefe – What is Half of 11
• Tim Nichols – Artist-Priests in God’s Poetic World
• Maurice Broaddus – The Artist and the Church
• Steve Dehner – The Divine Projectionist
• Ellen Haroutunian – Creativity and Christianity: It Matters
• Tammy Carter – His Instrument His Song
• Steve Hayes – Creativity and Worship
• Marta’s Mathoms – Mythos and Create-ivity as a Spiritual Act
• Peter Walker – Creativity and Christianity?
• William Lecorchick – Heaven and Hell
• Jacob Boehlman – God’s Magicians

Free Book Offer! Read Below…

For people who are gay but who also want to follow Jesus, “coming out” to church people probably feels very close to what lepers felt in the days of Jesus when they first found out they had leprosy. A gay Christian often experiences the same rejection. People who used to love them now fear them. People who used to be friends now avoid them. People they don’t know condemn them.

And frequently today, just like then, after all the rejection and pat answers, gay Christians experience deep loneliness, shame, and fear. Sometimes they wonder if the religious people are right…maybe God is judging them. Maybe God is angry at them. Maybe God does hate them. Maybe they really are lepers.

Wesley Hill struggled with all of this. He is a gay Christian, and recently wrote a book called Washed and Waiting about the struggles and experiences he has faced. I don’t know what your viewpoint is on someone being gay and a Christian, but let me suggest that you read his book before you talk about the “choice” Wesley Hill made to be gay (he didn’t), or how his father was abusive or absent (he wasn’t), or how Wesley should just “man up” and fall in love with a woman (he’s tried), or get “cured” by reading the Bible and praying more (he probably reads the Bible and prays more than you or I).

He shares his story in the book, explaining how he struggled with living according to the Gospel as a gay person, and how he experiences deep loneliness and shame in nearly all of his relationships. I think that every person struggles with these same issues, whether or not we are gay, but from reading the book, it seems such struggles are amplified and magnified for gay Christians.

I’m not sure his answers will satisfy everyone (gay or not), but Wesley came to these conclusions:

• The call of the Gospel is that he not fulfill his homoerotic sexual desires. Celibacy is the route Wesley has chosen.
• The loneliness he feels can be alleviated in the same way it should be for all Christians: in a loving and trusting community of other followers of Jesus.
• His homosexual orientation is not something to be ashamed of, but is a gift from God. God uses Wesley’s homosexuality as a way to love and bless other people–especially gay people–who do not know where they stand before God.

If you know someone who is gay and trying to follow Jesus, or simply want to understand the fear, pain, loneliness, and struggle that gay Christians feel, I highly recommend this book.

FREE BOOK OFFER: If you post a thoughtful reply to this post (not just “Nice post, Jeremy!”), or share a story about yourself, or how you are showing love and acceptance to gay people, I will enter you in a drawing on February 14 for a free copy of Washed and Waiting.

For everybody else, here is a Free Preview PDF.