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BBBCanada
Registered Member
Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 2763
| Posted 4/20/2002 2:03 PM (GMT -6) |   |
I don¡¯t even know where to begin with this discussion. So I will start here¡ªat the beginning.
In the evangelical Christian community I think there is an imbalance on the stance of riches and possessions. I don¡¯t have a problem with when Christians have excess, that they should empower and liberate the poor, but I tend to think we are more often then not negative toward those who have material gain. Could it be envy? Here are some questions.
What does the creation story offer us by way of ¡°seeing¡± the world that shapes and controls our beliefs about economic life? Does it give us an economic vision? For example, is matter good or is it evil and how does this relate to our present discussion?
CVM has a link to Ron Sider¡¯s website www.gregboyd.org/gbfront/index.asp?PageID=542
I am more inclined to think that Sider has an imbalanced view of material possessions (biblically and ideologically) and how we should be ¡°stewards¡±. For example, Sider¡¯s view of Lev. 25 seriously weakens Western society¡¯s tradition of property rights. This in turn strenghtens the rights of the community, be it church or nation (talk about nationalism!) to establish systems that distribute wealth across the board to meet the basic needs of people. I think Sider is more ideologically driven on this point and my understanding is that Lev 25 has more in common with the spirit of demorcratic capitalism than what Sider would have us believe. How does the Old Testament, especially the ¡°exodus¡± figure in to our understanding of wealth and possessions?
Seeing as Jesus is the ulitmate revelation of God, it is a must that we take his life and minstry into serious consideration. Did Jesus identify and unite himself with the poor and powerless (who are they really anyway?) over against the rich and powerful? I tend to believe we Christians think of the ¡°poor¡± or ¡°poor in spirit¡± as those who are economically disadvantage and this is flawed, not only biblically but also because it tends to incline us to despise the rich. I believe that Jesus was more ¡°middle class¡± contrary to Sider who says that Jesus was an immigrant and refugee and that he sent his disciples into extreme poverty (Rich Christians In An Age of Hunger). If this is so, does this create serious problems for interpreting the Gospels? That is do the Gospels give conflicting messages concerning economic life? What were the principles that guided Christ and ought we to follow them as well? Was Jesus as schizophrenic economist?
I would especially like to get into Jesus teaching regarding wealth and possessions through his use of parables. For example, I don¡¯t think that Jesus parable of the rich fool concerned itself so much with excess in material goods, though it is that, but again, contrary to Sider it has an even more important alarm against the poverty of our relationships with God and others.
How is the Incarnation relevant to our discussion? Sider doesn¡¯t distinguish between ¡°structural¡± evil and ¡°personal¡± evil. The incarnation has implications for our involvement in the market place. Questions raised by Meph such as ¡°Made in China¡± and ¡°sweatshops¡± are relevant in the context of this question. It also raises questions that were raised on the ¡°Christian and Politics???¡± thread concerning political involvement.
There is a lot more to talk about and so please don¡¯t take these questions as all encompassing. But I had to start somewhere. 
Brandon
"Nerds," incidentally, are almost always men." 6 Modern Myths About Christianity & Western Civilization
Edited by - BBBCanada on 04/20/2002 7:06:22 PM | | Back to Top | | |
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