A Thought on Wealth Distribution
There was a time before Karl Marx. A time before Maynard Keynes and Adam Smith. A time before the political theory of Locke and Rousseau. There was a time when Christians didn’t think in terms of individual rights or argue about the virtues of socialism versus capitalism.
Today many Christians inadvertently, although sometimes consciously, impose these modern political, social, and economic philosophies on their reading of the Scripture and in doing so they often miss much of what the Scriptures teach. Now, I’m not suggesting that in earlier times Christians lived without bias and external philosophical influences on their lives and interpretations of Scripture. Rather I’m saying that we might get a fuller picture of how Christians are supposed to live in relationship with others if we paid closer attention to those who came before us and lived in different times and places.
What if we set aside our bias for either capitalism or socialism and simply took the words of Scripture to heart when it speaks about wealth and caring for others? Some of the many texts include,
“Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” John the Baptist
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. … Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” Isaiah
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.” Leviticus
What if we listened to the leadership of the early church on this issue and took seriously the tradition of the church in its early years?
“Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.” John Chrysostom (c.347-407)
“You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common is for the use of all, you have arrogated for yourself. The world is given to all, not just to the rich.” Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (c.340 – 397)
“The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you put into the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help but fail to help.” Basil of Caesarea (c.330-279)
“Instead of tithes and offerings which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor.” Irenaeus (c.130-202)
“Share everything with your brother. Do not say, ‘It is private property.’ If you share what is everlasting you should be that much more willing to share things that do not last.” Didache (an early manual of discipleship written somewhere between 80-150 AD)
Of course when you’re thinking of writing something like this you have to allow it to challenge yourself. I was thinking about this post while driving home from lunch (socially distanced) with some colleagues. When I pulled off the freeway there was a man standing at the end of the exit ramp holding a sign that read, “Having a Hard Time, Please Help.” My initial reaction was, “Don’t catch his eye.” I quickly realized how hypocritical it was to be thinking about Christians and their responsibility to others and my reaction. I don’t often have cash on me, but today I did, so I called him over and handed him a twenty. His face lit up, he expressed immense gratitude noting that these are hard times for many, and offered an elbow bump before returning to his spot where he stood with what appeared to be a new look on his face, it looked like gratitude or joy rather than hopelessness and despondency.
If I need another twenty, I can go to the bank. It didn’t hurt me at all.
What if, “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it?”
