3A Attitude towards Wealth

EDUQAS The dangers of wealth (with reference to Mark 10:17-25; Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:33-34, 1 Timothy 6:10); apparent contradiction between biblical teaching on stewardship and the ascetic ideal; the prosperity gospel of the Word-Faith movement.

Wealth

The amount of money and possessions someone had

The teachings of Jesus encourage Christians to not strive for material wealth.
Some believe we should be voluntarily poor and others say God wants to bless followers with wealth.

Mark 10:17-27

“You know the Ten Commandments (…) you shall not defraud” “go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”

“it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”

-Jesus and the man were Jewish > believed that you should follow Mosaic Law (10 commandments)

-Traditionally in Judaism, wealth is seen as divine favour and Judaism urges those with wealth to be generous, but Jesus is going beyond the usual approach and telling him to give up everything and join Jesus movement.

-Some use the reference to ‘defraud’ (not a ten commandment) as evidence that it was specific to the guy

OR JC is encouraging we don’t follow the legalistic approach going beyond ten com (in goodsam the people ignored him due to this approach) (to the word) and interpret it (wealth can encourage this)

-Some believe the camel is a reference to a Jerusalaen gap camels had to squeeze through

Matthew 6:25-34

-Argues against seeking material wealth as God will provide

-We should prioritise God’s kingdom

“Look at the birds of the air […] your Heavenly Father feeds them”

“So do not worry saying ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘what shall we drink?’ Or ‘what shall we wear?’ […] but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”

Luke 12:33-34

-CONTEXT just before there is a parable about a rich fool (realises his mistakes in death) this passage encourages the opposite

-Depicts the spiritual world as being more significant

-Spiritual wealth cannot be taken from you in the same way (thieves can access earthly wealth)

-Physical wealth is finite and thus valueless

-You can be overly focused on the earth

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor […] a treasure in heaven that will never fail.where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

1 Timothy 6:10

-‘love of money root of evil’ was a common saying

-Part of the Pastoral Epistles which focus on heretical teachings+dangers of lax morality>devotion to gospels+JC

-Paul stresses desire to keep Church with true faith

-Money is not inherently evil but may lead to Greed (motivates bad actions)

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Stewardship

-In ancient times, a steward was a person with the job of taking care of a house.

-A view that wealth should be managed and taken care of.

The extreme of large wealth and greed is bad, BUT God did give the resources of the earth for us to make use of (ascetic rejected)

SCRIPTUAL SUPPORT

-The Bible contains a theme eg God has made humans stewards of the earth and its resources.

Genesis 1 God then created humans in his image to ‘have dominion … over every living thing’ anthropocentric view promoting humans dominion- may be interpreted as stewardship, God put man ‘into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it’ (Genesis 2:15) creation is said to belong to God, not us: ‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it’ (Psalm 24)

O+NTest are clear in their condemnation of greed.

-Bauckham argues Genesis 1 is 'the basis on which the whole discussion of stewardship ultimately rests'

-However, others say that the term steward is never actually used, and is only an interpretation!

-Does not encourage voluntary poverty but managing wealth wisely

Key principles for stewardship over wealth

1. God created the world, it belongs to him, but humans oversee it ("The Earth is the Lord's")

2. The material world must be 'good' because it was created by God> we shouldn't avoid managing it. - (asceticism bad?)

3. 8th commandment: 'do not covet' (desire), meaning we are able to have private ownership meaning stewardship applies to individuals and groups: possessions are not wrong

4. Stewardship/management involves giving to the poor as God is a defender of those in need.

5.A tithe (10% of income) act of stewardship

Prosperity Gospel

-View that Christians can expect to be blessed with wealth and good health if they make active declarations of faith, pay tithes (annual proportion of earnings, typically 10%) and give to religious causes.

-Television evangelists (like Kenneth Copeland) made the movement popular among Protestant, Pentecostal and charismatic churches.
-The prosperity Gospel is popular in economically deprived areas because it offers a sense of hope for mobility

-Sometimes called the ‘Word–Faith’ movement due to teaching that Christians need to actively proclaim/confess that they have health and wealth, even if they don’t, to demonstrate faith > for God to provide them.

SCRIPTUAL SUPPORT

-God’s initial covenant with the Jews when freeing the Jews from Egypt he would bring them “to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8).

promised material goods and resources in return for following his commandments.

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find” 

James 4:3 “You do not have, because you do not ask” 

Word of Faith Movement

-Evangelical Healing movement + New thought movement + Prosperity Gospel
-Christians should expect to be healthy and wealthy BUT not enough to believe the Bible says must claim/confession
-To get the wealth you have to sow the seeds e.g. giving (this ultimately means giving to the televangelists who end up beign very rich- potential issue with this view)
-They need to actively proclaim they have wealth even if they don't- this demonstrates faith in God that he will provide health and wealth for you and then he actually will.

Amos 5:11

-Having greed that oppresses the poor is wrong and striving for wealth over anything else

-The love of money can encourage selfishness (taking money from the poor for themselves)

"You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.”

Asceticism

-The refraining from available 'earthly' pleasures to attain a spiritual goal. The world and wealth can distract us from God's path so we need discipline

SCRIPTUAL SUPPORT

-St Paul in Acts (only direct mention)

"And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men"

intends to work on himself and his mind, not corrupted by temptation and greed

-Jesus in Mark (served as an ascetic model)

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

40 days in the desert

INFLUENCE

-In the early Christian history there were heresies e.g. Manichaeism (see the world as conflict between good and evil and the soul released through asceticism)

or Montanism (asceticism and imminent end of the world-belief in both)

some renounced marriage, having a home, property and practiced extreme forms of fasting eg The ‘Desert Fathers’ inspired by Jesus’ fasting in the desert.

-In the Middle Ages it became more violent (self-flaggelation) as they focused on JC's suffering > unlike clear cut Stewardship there are many interpretations

-Most people today see the world as a place to pursue happiness.

Dangers of wealth

-Has negative impacts

eg exploitation, environmental impacts

JC TAUGHT ITS NEG IMPACTS ON THE SOUL
-Mark 10:17-25. JC “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”

-Traditional Judaism regarded wealth as a divine blessing generosity + charity cultivated BUT JC has a more extreme philosophy

-Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money us the root of all kinds of evil”

-Should value treasure in heaven, earthly posessions are spiritually inhibiting > addictive ways people can become obsessed with money which can prevent a focus on spiritual life and ethical living.

-Luke 12:33-34 “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”

-It shows a lack of faith to worry about these things God provides.

-Matthew 6:25-34. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”

Bonhoeffer

-Nazi Germany context (Christian, saved Jews, spoke out)
-Believed in the cost of discipleship, when JC says 'take up [the] cross' he means being a disciple and making sacrifices (which is what he did in nazi Germany)
-Taking up the cross means making sacrifice to follow jesus not necessarily giving up everything
-He calls the sacrifices costly grace

WEALTH

Should Christians follow the Ascetic model

-JC encouraged us to give up material wealth (“eye of the needle” “sell everythig you have”)- renunciation of wealth compat
BUT
Arguably just saying it is harder with wealth, he encourages charity which requires wealth

advice may be specific to that man because the 10 coms were failing him

BUT

Final statement seems generalised about all wealthy people- wealth is spiritually corrupting making salvation harder.

> It is only those who have been spiritually corrupted by wealth that should take the drastic steps of asceticism

-JC is an ascetic model "deny themselves, take up the cross"
People struggle with greed and harm others
BUT
Bonhoeffer redefines 'taking up the cross' as coming with sacrifice (not connected to ascetic)
If you follow asceticism you will be distracted from charity and spreading faith (stewardship is great)

JC only fasted for 40 days (not permenant)

Asceticism distracts from helping the poor and oppressed and spreading the faith (fast for 40 days then returned to helping) >these goals are better served by stewardship

his lifestyle was partially out of necessity

Prosperity gospel ignores teachings on the dangers of wealth, Asceticism ignores teachings on helping others stewardship takes both into account

People are different some have more issues with greed and asceticism is justified

Examples of Asceticism

-Popular with early Christians many renounces marriage, homes, fasted (eg John Baptist)

-Desert fathers- took it further than Origen (who lived in voluntary poverty).

They renounced an increasingly worldly church to focus on a simple life of prayer and devotion in remote locations.

They thought the 40 days in the wilderness and john the Baptist were models to live by.

-Antony of Egypt- 'father of all monks'.

Lived a solitary ascetic lifestyle in the Egyptian desert for 20 years.

Some disciples came to live near him so he emerged from isolation to teach them to be their leader. They were the first monastic community with him as the leader

-Simeon stylites: lived ontop of a pilar for 37 years in Syria.

-In the Middle Ages it became more violent (self-flaggelation) as they focused on JC's suffering > unlike clear cut Stewardship there are many interpretations

-Most people today see the world as a place to pursue happiness.

-In the early Christian history there were heresies e.g. Manichaeism (see the world as conflict between good and evil and the soul released through asceticism)

or Montanism (asceticism and imminent end of the world-belief in both) BUT still people who were embracing the world and getting married.

Christians believe that God is separate from the world so it needs to be taken care of BUT debate about what+how much discipline

Manichaeism

see the world as conflict between good and evil and the soul released through asceticism

covetousness

Extreme greed for material wealth
The bible is against this
But the existence of this suggests it is good to have (though we should defo strive for spiritual over physical)k

Wealth as a sign of god

YES

-declaring one's faith means a Christian today has a way to fulfil their part of the covenant (promise between Jews and God, faith > prosperity)

-There is biblical support

-Some view it as remaining compatible despite Blomberg’s claim as if we combine the importance of faith in JC and the covenant

-Some people misuse the doctrine, it is not exploitative.

NO

-Conflict with the teachings/example of Jesus who showed the spiritual corruption of money (‘eye of the needle’)

-Asceticism is compatible Jesus is a model, gave up early possessions, ‘deny themselves, take up their cross’

-It is unbiblical [Blomberg]. Jesus made new promises with the new covenant, he is clear on promising heaven not with material wealth.

-They exploit those in need for financial gain and promise wealth in return which they have no stand in doing.

evaluating the prosperity gospel

Unbiblical:

-Craig Blomberg- the covenant between God and the Jews for material well being didn’t depend on personal faith, It was made to the entire group if they followed God’s commandments.

The Christian view changed it to fit better with the prosperity Gospel (all humans who have faith in Jesus)

-The new Christian covenant promised followers of JC eternal life in heaven NOT WEALTH

(Prosperity Gospel fits with neither Jewish nor Christian requirements)

-Conflict with the teachings/example of Jesus who showed the spiritual corruption of money (‘eye of the needle’)

Exploitative:

-Televangelists are criticised for exploiting the faith of their audience for their financial gain

(encourge donations promising a return from God)

-Prosperity Gospel is most popular with the poor due to their economic desperation.

-Capitalism makes people vulnerable to promises of wealth and are thus susceptible to exploitation- It may not be suitable for today’s society.

BUT isn’t inherently exploitative