I am sitting in an overheated living room, surrounded by college age people. I thought I was here to talk about the work I do, but I was told by the host that I would get to talk after the “Bible Study” was over.
The topic was the rich young ruler. You may remember the story – the Gospel of Mark tells it this way:
As [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
And after hearing that story read, a young guy in the room – richer than 80% of the planet, born the predominant race and the most privileged gender in the most wealthiest country in the world – the very epitome of a rich young ruler to the majority of our planet – it was then that this kid said ”I think the important thing to keep in mind is to have a balanced view1. After all, God gives us our possessions for a reason, and…”.
It was then that I lost it.
“Hold on”, I said. “God didn’t give you your possessions. You have those things because you paid money for them. You had money to spend because you are employed. You are employed because you are well educated and look trustworthy to employers, two benefits of growing up white and male in a culture built on stolen land with enslaved labor.”
To see the look on their faces, you would have thought I drop kicked a kitten2 across the room.
Look – I have a friend who lives in a car. And at night, when it’s 25 degrees and she is shivering and shuddering and wanting to turn the car on for heat but knowing she does not have the money for gas – all the while crying out to God and praying for help… but no help comes.
So if you tell me that God has given this rich young ruler in that overheated living room his possessions while leaving my friend in the car to shiver, I call shenanigans. Because if that is true, then you are saying that God loves this kid more than he does my friend in her car. Or more than he does the 80% of the planet that lives on less than $10 a day.
And a God that would do that, I have no interest in.
1That he is clearly trying to say Jesus does not mean what Jesus very clearly says is not lost on me. But that is nothing new – we all try to tone Jesus down. Much worse to me is that he believes his good fortune is a sign of God’s pleasure.
2No kittens were harmed in the making of this post.
Oh, fuck yeah.
I hate this idea of 'balanced view.' A good and respected friend that I love always talks about 'moderation.' There is no moderation when it comes to love and grace.
I agree with your statement that God doesn't give us possessions. I think we shouldn't feel guilty about the things we are able to earn or buy, though, and we should use them for the best things we can. My Disciple study group just finished an overview of Luke and we discussed the parable of the “shrewd manager” for a long time. Jesus said the manager was praised by the boss who fired him because he had made good and clever use of the things he has. Jesus didn't say anything about the possessions being “from God.” Instead, we hear, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings (Luke 1:9).”
Amen! Wonderful post.
You are so badass. I would have thought what you thought, but my approach is so different. Your fearlessness and ability to say exactly what your thinking (even if it's an inability to stop yourself from not saying it) is one of my favorite things about you.
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Excellent insights!
Excellent insights!
Very true that much of what we own is due, not to our work or efforts, but to a position of privilege, that we enjoy in varying degrees, depending on our history, race, and gender. The part that we don’t earn is natural opportunities, especially the land that God/Nature has given to all humanity, but which has been monopolized by comparitively few, especially if you consider the whole world.
Some people have written about this and what to do about it. Most notably is a 19th century author/journalist/economist named Henry George, who wrote a book titled “Progress and Poverty”. It’s available on Google books, notably in a modernized version by Bob Blake. If you can’t find it, let me know and I will lead you to an electronic copy.
The basis of the idea is that the reason that poverty increases despite the advances in technology, is that land owners, with the support of most governments, are able to co-opt any increase in productivity and so the worker is shut out of the benefit of this increase.
If you look at the history of this country and how European colonists overcame the indigenous peoples and excluded them, not only from any progress, but often from the very land that they had occupied.
Some of my friends have more on line, such as:
http://whatwouldjesustax.com/ or http://www.wealthandwant.com/
I suggest that if we want to do something, in addition to lamenting, that we look into this.