{"id":83,"date":"2011-03-09T19:51:47","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T00:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=83"},"modified":"2013-05-31T18:51:26","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T02:51:26","slug":"money-tithing-and-greed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/money-tithing-and-greed\/","title":{"rendered":"Money, Tithing, and Greed"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> which deserves a repost:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not surprising that people raised on capitalism tend to be greedy. We don\u2019t think of ourselves as greedy, for it\u2019s hard for fish to notice the water inside their own aquarium. But the evidence is all around us.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cgreed and self-indulgence” (Mt. 3:25; Lk 11:39). These people meticulously followed religious rules, but because they loved money (Lk 16:14) they \u201cneglected the more important matters of the law\u201d which include \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201cmercy\u201d (Mt. 23:23). In other words, their religious appearance notwithstanding, these people hoarded resources and didn\u2019t share with the poor. For Jesus, this omission rendered the rest of their religious behavior irrelevant.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cMan, who appointed me a judge or an arbitrator between you\u201d (Lk 12:13-14). He was basically asking the man, \u201cDo I look like your lawyer\u201d? (Notice how Jesus refused to get pulled into politics!) He then warned the man, \u201cWatch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for life does not consist in an abundance of possessions\u201d (vs. 15). \u201cHowever you work out your legal and political issues,\u201d Jesus was saying, \u201cnever let greed get lodged in your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus then drove the point home further with a parable about a farmer who \u201cyielded an abundant harvest\u201d — so abundant that he didn\u2019t have adequate storage space for it. After thinking about the matter, he decided he\u2019d simply tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store his surplus food. He could then \u201c[t]ake life easy; eat, drink and be merry\u201d (vss. 16-19). In other words, with his stored-up wealth he could retire and live \u201cthe good life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s called \u201cthe American dream.\u201d What\u2019s the big deal?<\/p>\n

Yet, Jesus taught that God called the man a \u201cfool,\u201d for it turned out this man was going to die that very night. And then, most ominously, Jesus said, \u201cThis is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God\u201d (12:20-21).<\/p>\n

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 \u201crich towards God.\u201d He didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us that unless we give up all our possessions we cannot be a disciple of his (Lk 14:33). I don\u2019t interpret this to mean that we can\u2019t 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

There is no fixed percentage given in the New Testament about what percentage of a person\u2019s wealth they are allowed to keep. But given that most of us Americans are the wealthiest people on the planet, and given that we\u2019re surrounded by people who are starving to death, we need to seriously question whether we\u2019re really listening to and obeying God if we\u2019re keeping 97% of our wealth for ourselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s hard to deny that capitalism is the best economic system around. It creates wealth far better than feudalism, communism, som or any other system […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[19,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-83","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-discipleship","8":"tag-theology-salvation","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nMoney, Tithing, and Greed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Americans enjoy a lifestyle that is about four times the global average. 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