“Do our ways derive from ‘the world, the flesh, and the devil’ of which we have been well warned for such a long time? Or do they serve life in the kingdom of God and the following of Jesus in which we have been given, historically and liturgically, a long apprenticeship?“
- Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way, p.2
While I was on tour with my former college choir last January, I had the unique experience of seeing many churches throughout the country. Many were Lutheran, some were not. One of the churches we visited that was not Lutheran was a very wealthy Methodist church in Tennessee (I am choosing not to name the church specifically). The church building itself was enormous with a very large sanctuary that only comprised (from what I could tell) maybe 5% of the total square feet of the building, and I was told it was the “home church” of several high-profile celebrities. It was and is reasonable to assume that the church has a rather healthy supply of money.
As I was exploring the church, I saw this this slide from the announcements. Take a second to click that link. You’ll notice that of the four “Core Values”, the underlined letters create the acronym R.I.C.H. Now, I understand that the word “rich” can mean more than monetary wealth, but I just don’t believe that’s what this particular slide was getting at. Either way, it points to a significant issue for universal church and its members. How are we to reconcile Jesus’ teachings on money and our own wealth?
It seems to me that the church has dealt with this conundrum by a tradition with which we are all familiar: tithing. Church members are encouraged practice the spiritual discipline of actively tithing a substantial portion of their income to the church (I usually hear 10%), and it is then the church’s job to distribute those funds as it sees fit. Church building maintenance and expansion, staff salary, program funding, etc. I don’t doubt that in many churches some of the tithing goes towards international aid and Christian relief organizations, but I can’t help but wonder if we (as the church) are either missing, or, I would argue, avoiding the point.
Clearly, the passage of scripture that should be referenced here is the parable of the rich young man/ruler, which can be found in all three synoptic gospels: Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18. While reading the parable, it is hard to find much room for a lenient interpretation. Jesus says very clearly, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; come, follow me,” and “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven,” and “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (this last quote is also a reference to economic status). These words of Jesus are rather convicting, and should resonate in the souls of many Christians.
I don’t pretend to have an answer to this difficult question, but the question itself grips me tightly. How do we, as Jesus’ followers, if we truly believe that He is the Way, Truth, and Life, remain loyal to His teachings on wealth in our 21st century, money-hungry, globalized context?
Readers are encouraged to leave comments and participate in discussion.
- Jake
June 22, 2007 at 1:51 pm
This post is an interesting thing for me to think about while I’m spending time in Africa in one of the poorer countries of the world. What I have seen that amazes me here is that people share EVERYTHING. You can walk into any house in this country (without even knocking) and ask to share a meal, and no matter how much or how little the family has, they will give you an equal part. Imagine the difference such a simple kindergarten moral such as SHARING would make in the states? With that being said, the idea of tithing is stressing to many American people who do not know how to share. Asking to give 10% is really not much, considering how much we spend on material things and how much we waste. One of the real passages that should be taken into consideration here is that of the woman who gives the only pennies she has (sorry I don’t know what verses that is)! I encourage everyone to regard tithing as an opportunity to share what you have rather than something that has to be done. And let’s get rid of words like rich and poor, because we are all rich in God’s love!
June 25, 2007 at 9:36 am
Good thoughts! Any thoughts on a practical application of the passage? How do we sell all we own give to the poor and follow Jesus? What does this look like?
Regarding tithing it seems that the actual greek word ἀποδεκατόω (according to the NAS Greek lexicon) can mean, “…to exact receive a tenth from anyone.” Or in Hebrew a, “tenth of the produce of the earth consecrated and set apart for special purposes.” In the New Testament we see that the Christian really should be willing to give all according to the Rich Young ruler episode, not to mention the concept of laying up treasures in heaven (Matt 6:19-20), the cheerful giver concept (1 Cor 9:6-14), and the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Not to mention imitating the example of Jesus (Phil 2:5-8), whatever is good (3 John 1:11), the Apostles (1 Thess 3:7-9), and the saints that have gone before us (Heb 13:7).
Good stuff! Keep it comin’
In Christ,
Noah
October 1, 2007 at 1:00 am
In the story of the Rich Man, I think it is important to look deeply into the dilemma this man found himself in and ask what exactly this dilemma implies. It seems to me that there are two important questions to be answered in order to appreciate this lesson:
First, why would Jesus ask this man to do give away everything he had?
Second, why did this man find it so difficult to comply with this task?
In my opinion, Jesus asked this man to give away all he had in order to determine whether his obedience to the commandments was due to external reasons or due to a genuine love of God.
I think the reason this man felt himself unable to part with his wealth was due to his belief that happiness could only be found through material possessions. If that was the case, then even his “keeping of the commandments” could be counted among his “possessions,” so to speak, something to boast about to others. He failed to understand that eternal life comes from a rebirth of spirit, a complete change of heart, something that cannot be lost and can never be destroyed, unlike material things.
In this sense, it is not just the “rich” who have difficulty entering into the Kingdom of Heaven, but all of us who seek salvation through anything other than a direct and genuine relationship with the Source of our being.
Conversely, if we first have an ongoing, unfaltering relationship with our Creator, then we can be rich, poor or anything in between and it won’t matter because God is our only love and everything else we can pick up or put down without feeling any “need” for it.