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EDITORIAL

WHAT LUKE REPORTED ABOUT FINANCIAL INTERESTS

“But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.” Luke 6:24

“ For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Luke 18.25

“ He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” Luke 16:10-14

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” Luke 12.11-21



Those are only a few of the verses which show us Jesus speaking about the wealthy. There are a lot more; far more than any verses about homosexuality (a topic about which Jesus said nothing and yet some Christians seem to be obsessed with). These verses are not in dispute. They are not unclear.

To go along with this, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of verses about taking care of the poor.

So, as a Christian surely it is mistaken to believe that the “free market economy” will make rich people who will then take care of the poor. It is obvious from recent history that that does not happen. (See also: the housing market crash, where few if any rich people lost their only houses.) The rich take care of the rich. Thus it has ever been, in Jesus’ day and in ours.

Strange that those who support these economic policies are also the same ones who would want to (publicly, at least) wrap themselves in the cloak of Christianity and “family values.” Seems like some people haven’t been reading their Bible, but that’s no surprise. Far more people read with avid avarice the property prices and interest dividends.

(Adapted from an article on a US website called Restless Christian, by MWD. Probably not dissimilar to our home-grown “shipoffools.com” which describes itself as “The magazine of Christian Unrest”.

Pieces which stimulate debate are always welcome. Please feel free to share interesting, thought-provoking or controversial articles about the relationship between faith and life if you come across any.)