14 March 2007
Money, and the pursuit thereof - part deux.
- The Pursuit of Money: Part One
- The Pursuit of Money: Part Two
Last time, we talked about how I think that if you want to get rich, you’re probably gonna burn in Hell (and that’s Hell with a capital “H” so you know its serious). Okay, maybe that’s not exactly what I said, I guess you’ll have to go and read it (link above, I’ll wait).
But seriously, I shared about how I think the method by which someone earns gobs of cashola is much more worthy of discussion than focusing on whether its good/bad/neutral to desire to earn said gobs of cashola.
I wish we could leave it at that. Most people (well, I assume most) would agree with what I said on Monday. Today, however, we’re going to talk about something abit different - what you do (and don’t do) with all that hard-earned money once you have earned it.
So what do I think…
Enough intro and filler. Let’s get down to it.
I believe that Christians that have more than enough have a responsibility to sacrificially give to those who lack the basic necessities of life long before they indulge their own wants.
Let’s break this down:
“I believe that Christians…” - I hold Christians to a higher standard with their money than non-Christians. This has a tendency to make Christians look bad, especially when the non-Christians kick our ass at giving.
“…that have more than enough…” - We could discuss what ‘enough’ is for days. I define it as a place to sleep, clothing for whatever the weather is, and adequate and healthy food for yourself and your family. Entertainment, gourmet/restaurant food, fashion, electronics, etc, etc falls under the category of luxuries, and not under the category of “enough.” (Side rant: I love it when people come back at this type of definition and say, ‘But God wants us to have good things! We worked hard, we deserve good things!’ Alright, here’s some good things for you: Internet access. Climate controlled living. Running water. CLEAN Running Water. Freedom to do nearly any type of activity that doesn’t harm another human. That enough for you?)
“…have a responsibility…” - I’m not advocating any type of government intervention such as socialism for this responsibility. This has to be motivated by God, not by man, and be freely given by the giver out of love.
“… to sacrificially share…” - Ahh, sacrifice. Such a feel-good concept. By sacrifice, all I mean to say is that at the end of the day, there was something you wanted (but not needed to survive) that you could not afford to get because you gave something away. This could be as simple as a bottle of water and as large as a bigger house.
“…with those who lack the basic necessities of life…” - The Internet is a dangerous place. And by dangerous, I don’t mean because of pr0n, I mean in the sense that you can learn alot about the world that wasn’t as easily accessible before the Internet. For example, I can learn an enormous amount about the current situation in Sudan in less than 10 minutes without even getting up because of the Internet. This type of access allows me to learn very quickly where people in extreme need are, and often how I can help them… be it monetarily or by getting off my ass and going to help them directly.
“…long before they indulge their own wants.” - But I like my ‘own wants’! The rest of the above statement is fine with most people until you actually start asking they give something up to help others. There’s a name for this force that resists the desire to help others before yourself. It’s called selfishness. It’s pretty crazy-powerful stuff. We’ve been trained since birth that we deserve our money, and that the vast array of products in this world are meant to be ours because we deserve it. Vast amounts of marketing dollars, secular literature, and Christian literature have been written to justify this lovely desire.
What does it all mean, Eric, what does it all mean?
What it all means is that I don’t have a problem with people being rich…in the same sense I don’t have a problem with people being selfish. It’s part of human nature, and trying to preach that riches are ‘deh evil’ seems to be a fairly fruitless endeavor. It makes people defensive, and certainly does not motivate them to compassion.
This may seem fairly cynical. And you’re right, it is, cause that’s how I tend to be. But I do have hope. I believe that while some people have a thorough understanding of the extreme needs of people around the world, the majority live in an insulated bubble. The only understanding people have of extreme poverty is by a news snippet or some statistic that has no personal meaning to them. Why would they ever leave the country and go see it first-hand? It’s not exactly most people’s idea of a pleasant and relaxing vacation.
In an ideal world, we’d all have a better understanding of such things. But seeing it and understanding it are not enough. It requires (for the majority of us) a God-given compassion for people that are outside your own social circle for this type of giving to ever actually infiltrate your bank account and have you denying your own needs sacrificially for the needs of others.
And that’s that.
I hope I have challenged you to consider how you use your money. My goal is not to be divisive or preachy, but just to say as plainly as I can how I feel about such things.
Thanks for reading, I welcome your comments and discussion.
3 Comments currently posted.
Casey says:
d10 says:
you can learn alot about the world that wasn’t as easily accessible before the Internet.
This really is very true. “Plausible deniability” goes out the window the second you consider the internet. I think one question it raises is whether having the facts makes a difference to hard hearts. This is illustrated in Hotel Rwanda. A journalist snags some footage of people getting massacred, and as it’s being sent to the UK via satellite he comments to Paul Rusesabagina that he thinks “people will see this, think ‘God it’s awful’, and then go back to eating their dinners.”
Actually fairly overwhelming to think about.
britt mooney says:
I love your statement, although I would have left out “that have more than enough.” Remember the widow who gave all she had? Jesus commended her. Talk about a higher standard.
Very good stuff!
peace.
i hear what you’re saying.
i like what you’re saying.
a lot.
i wish it were as easy to do as it is to read/type…