Reflections
WHOSE MONEY IS IT ANYHOW?
By Alan Gold
When it comes to money, Christians hear a chorus of contradictory voices. Some preachers promise prosperity to all who believe. Others insist we are morally obligated to fight poverty through deep, personal sacrifice. Or even political action.
Meanwhile, somewhere between those two extremes, the average marketplace Christian brings home a paycheck and wonders what to do with it. The good news is, you're not alone. Through-out history, Christians have agonized over the subject of money. They've wrestled with Scripture. With their culture. With their conscience. And they've come up with some fascinating, and (we hope) very helpful conclusions.
In the first century A.D., most Christians renounced all personal claim to their possessions. The dramatic witness this practice provided played a key role in early evangelism. These words from The Didache , an early Christian epistle of unknown origin, are typical:
"Do not hold your hands open for receiving and closed for giving. If you possess something by the labor of your hands, give it for the redemption of your sins...Do not turn away from the needy, but share all with your brother and do not claim that it is your own. For if you are sharers in immortal things, how much more in mortal." 1
By the second century, an increasingly prosperous church worried that radical anti-materialism would lead them down the road to poverty. Here, Clement of Alexandria reassures them (and us) that there is no special blessing in being broke:
"It is neither great, nor desirable, to be destitute, else destitute beggars...on the streets who know not God...would be most blessed, sole possessors of everlasting life! What is it the Son of God teaches? Not the outward renunciation, but more Godlike, more perfect, the stripping off of the passions from the soul...For he who holds possessions as the gifts of God...and knows that he possesses them more for the sake of the brethren than his own, and is superior to the possession of them, not the slave of the things he possesses; and does not carry them about in his soul, or bind and circumscribe his life within them, but is ever laboring at some divine work, is able with cheerful mind to bear their removal equally with their abundance." 2
In the middle ages, self-denial was a virtue and money (not just the love of money) was evil, a sinful by-product of a fallen world. It was during this period that the church took some of its most radical positions on economics--to the point of actually forbidding Christians to charge interest on loans. It was also during this period that Christians produced some of their most moving meditations on the value of a simple lifestyle. Here is an excerpt from the Imitation of Christ , by 15th century monk Thomas A Kempis.
"My Son, a man often striveth vehemently after somewhat which he desireth; but when he hath obtained it he beginneth to be of another mind, because his affections towards it are not lasting, but rather rush on from one thing to another. Therefore, it is not really a small thing, when in small things we resist self. The true progress of man lieth in self-denial, and a man who denieth himself is free and safe." 3
With the Reformation came a fresh appreciation for commerce and a more neutral attitude towards money--the important thing was not whether or not you had it, but how you used it. Here is Erasmus, the great 16th century scholar and theologian:
"I am not greatly impressed with those who dispossess themselves of everything they have, then run around for the rest of their lives begging shamelessly. It only becomes wrong when money is loved as an end instead of looked on as a means. If rich, act the generous steward; if poor, do not feel robbed, but rather as though a friend relieved you of a dangerous thing." 4
It may surprise you to know that John Calvin, often thought of as "all work and no play," felt very strongly that material things were a gift from God to be enjoyed for the sake of sheer pleasure:
"Let this be our principle: in the use of gifts of Providence, refer them to the end for which their Author destined them...If we consider for what end He created food, we shall find He consulted not only our necessity but also our enjoyment...(so with) colors, gold, silver, ivory, marble. Has God not given many things value without any necessary use? Have done then with that inhuman philosophy (asceticism) which...cannot be realized without depriving man of all his sense." 5
Like the early Christians, Martin Luther felt that spiritual salvation should express itself in the way we handle money:
"There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind and the purse." 6
But while Luther was no enemy of the rich, he did have a few salty words for anyone naive enough to think that wealth was a sure sign of God's favor:
"Our Lord commonly giveth Riches to such gross asses, to whom he affordeth nothing else that is good." 7
In his "Sermon on Money," John Wesley encourages Christians to go for it--by getting all the money you can, saving all you can, and giving all you can:
"The fault does not lie in money, but in them that use it. It may be used ill: and what may not? But it may likewise be used well...In the hands of His children, it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, rainment for the naked: it gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we...may be a defense for the oppressed...It is, therefore, of the highest concern, that all who fear God know how to employ this valuable talent: that they be instructed how it may answer these glorious ends, and in the highest degree." 8
Today, Christian positions on money are spread all over the map. Here, Robert Schuller's defense of the Crystal Cathedral is reminiscent of Christ's comment that "the poor will be with us always."
"We are trying to make a big, beautiful impression upon the affluent non-religious American who is riding by on this busy freeway...But suppose we had given this money to feed the poor? What would we have today? We would still have hungry, poor people and God would not have this tremendous base of operations which He is using to inspire people to become more successful, more affluent, more generous, more genuinely unselfish in their giving of themselves." 9
On the other hand, many Christians today are reflecting Jesus' special concern for the poor with a commitment to social action. Here is Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action:
"Western Christians...must be careful, not to distort the biblical teaching that God sometimes rewards obedience with material abundance. Wealthy persons who make Christmas baskets and give to relief have not satisfied God's demand. God wills justice for the poor. And justice, as we have seen, means...economic structures that check the emergence of extremes of wealth and poverty. It means massive economic sharing among the people of God. Prosperity without that kind of biblical concern for justice unambiguously signifies disobedience." 10
In more personal terms, French theologian Jacques Ellul argues that true faith should leave a permanent dent in our savings accounts:
"Facing the uncertainty of tomorrow, the risks of life, people put a stash aside to serve as a screen between themselves and reality...And for unbelievers, materialists, people in general, this is an absolutely legitimate thing to do. But...if we are persuaded that God directs our lives (Psalm 139), then to pile up savings is to refuse this direction, to protect ourselves against God's decisions concerning us...For assuming that the only function of savings accounts is to assure our future, if we do not trust this means, why do we use it?...But in reality, what we call trust in God is only a word, and without daring to admit it, we really put our trust in money." 11
Of course, these views are no substitute for your own, personal search of the Scriptures. But it's comforting to know that all Christians in all times struggle with money just as we do. It's also comforting to realize that there is one, basic idea about money they've all shared: ultimately, God is the true owner of all that we have. That's the bottom line. And for centuries, that belief has been not only a cause of debate--but a source of inner peace. Theologian Richard Foster:
"Being aware of God's ownership can free us from a possessive and anxious spirit. After we have done what we can to care for those things that have been entrusted to us, we know that they are in bigger hands than ours. When John Wesley heard that his home had been destroyed by fire, he exclaimed, 'The Lord's house burned. One less responsibility for me!'" 12
1 Dicache vi 2, Quoted in R.E.O. White , Christian Ethics, John Knox Press, Atlanta, 1981, p. 53
2 Quoted in White, pp. 54-55.
3 Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Collier, New York, 1909, p. 316
4 Quoted in White, p. 147.
5 Quoted in White, pp. 184, 185
6 Quoted in Richard J. Foster , Money, Sex & Power, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1985, p. 19
7 Quoted in Best Quotations for All Occasions, Lewis C. Henry, ed., Fawcett, New York, 1945, p. 246
8 John Wesley, "The Use of Money," John Wesley's Fifty-three Sermons, Abingdon Press, 1983, p. 635, 636
9 Robert H. Schuller, Your Church Has Real Possibilities! Regal Books, Glendale, 1974, p. 117
10 Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1984, pp. 114, 115
11 Jacques Ellul, Money & Power, InterVarsity Press , Downers Grove, 1984, pp. 104, 105
12 Foster, p. 42
Reprinted from Marketplace Networks, May/June 1988,pp. 2,3, published by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Alan Gold is the Creative Director for The Puckett Group, Advertising in Atlanta, and was the managing editor of Networks.
Print
Email
