Remember flubber, that weird substance invented by an absent-minded professor that cancelled a wedding, bounced a basketball team to victory, provoked a Model T burglary, and shut down Washington, D.C.? Reminds me of a similarly weird substance we call money. Money breaks up families, pays athletes, motivates robbers, and rules D.C. It also fluctuates about as fast and far as flubber does.
Because money sits front-row center in American life, economics sits front-row center in political dialogue. But it’s not just John McCain and Barack Obama debating dollars; homeowners mourn mortgages, investors chat capital and Torrey freshmen reading Dante’s “Paradise” examine economics, too.
“Is it okay to buy a brand-new yellow Ferrari when there are kids starving in India?” John Mark Reynolds, director of the Torrey Honors Institute, asked this probing question of 14 freshmen perched on his office chairs and sofa.
Answers vary from adamant affirmation to guilt-heaping condemnation. The discussion polarizes. A few advocate a subtle form of the name-it-and-claim-it prosperity gospel. Alternately, others adhere to the you-cannot-enjoy-your-money-until-there-are-no-more-kids-starving-in-Africa mindset. The first sounds a bit like Joel Olsteen telling you to live your best life now … or like big business. The second sounds slightly like your mother telling you to eat your vegetables … or like Obama.
Yet the middlers assert that a responsible worker who earns his money honestly and wants to buy a Ferrari can legitimately do so without guilt – and that this honors God – whether or not children are starving in India or the inner city.
The fact is that God has a lot to say about money, the downtrodden, the affluent, covetous poor people, unsatisfied rich people, business and accounting principles, distribution of wealth, and government’s role in economics. The Bible’s economic policy is like a jack-in-the-box. No matter where you are or what the situation, you will crank and crank, listen to the music, crank and crank more … and the exact same doll will emerge. It’s consistent, identifiable. It never gets old.
You can bank on it.
Solomon, the wisest preacher ever, instructs us to “cast thy bread upon the waters,” or to do good to others, expecting a return “after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). He also tells us we should eat brownies joyfully, wear good clothing and use quality shampoo, as long as we work hard “in the morning” and “in the evening” (Ecclesiastes 9:7-8, 11:6). These Scriptures encourage giving as a godly trait among the rich, and also emphasize the rich man’s right to enjoy his goods.
Our Savior and example, Jesus, teaches, “Beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things” (Luke 12:15). He speaks this in the context of a poor man who begs Jesus to make his brother divide an inheritance with him. Jesus rebukes the man and implies that just because his brother had good fortune to inherit doesn’t necessitate forced redistribution of wealth so everything will be equal. The rule here is contentment, not fairness. The dogma is richness towards God, not uniformity among men.
The apostle Paul charges “rich” believers to not be “high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches” but to trust “in the living God” and to enjoy “richly all things.” Simultaneous to enjoyment, they should “do good,” be rich “in good works” and “distribute” willingly (I Timothy 6:17-18). Paul encourages voluntary charity and trust in God, not compulsory hand-outs and hope in available funding.
Involuntary redistribution of wealth is not a biblical standard. Graduated taxation is not a socially beneficial code. Love – given by one person to another – is the basis for all forms of assistance. Only personal relationship provides the personal responsibility God demands when he says, “love one another” (I John 4:7).
Surprise! Jesus did not come to guarantee healthcare for everyone, balance the budget, tax the rich to feed the poor, or bail out Social Security. He came to give us abundant life – whether we are rich or poor or in-between – and to teach us to love our neighbors – be he rich or poor or in-between – as ourselves.
