Money Money Money

There is a lot of talk about taxes.... tax breaks for the poor, the middle class, for the wealthy, for corporations. I couldn't even begin to decipher the tax code, the economics of national debt, the pros and cons of the Democratic or Republican economic theories. (I could give it more effort than I have, but numbers bore me and it's not a priority to me, as I'll explain further in a moment). But I would hazard a guess that both parties have a hefty percentage of factual information laced with an equally hefty percentage of spin. I don't believe that either party has the solution to all of our economic and financial "woes" or that either is going to have the magic formula that will make everyone else happy.

The thing that struck me while I was listening to the speakers at the RNC was how much of the rhetoric was about money, economics, wealth, prosperity. I wouldn't say that these are exclusively American values, but they are distinctly American. Somehow the American dream of being free has been transformed into a dream of being wealthy. We want our money. We earned it. It's ours. Mine. I earned it on my own. By myself. Through my own hard work, sweat, labor. NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE MY MONEY!!!!

I understand the sentiment. I know that I, for one, would love to be financially stable. Although it's not my top priority, I worry about money. Like most Americans, if I lost my job I'd have trouble if I couldn't replace it immediately. I have a long way to go before I'm out of debt. I have a long way to go before I can just go out to the store and buy whatever my heart desires. It will be a long time before I really have a "rainy day" fund.

But up to this point wealth hasn't been a priority in my life. If it were, I wouldn't be working for a church. (Don't get me wrong... I'm not complaining. I'm just saying I would be more financially stable if I worked a corporate job.) I consider myself an intelligent person, but the accumulation of wealth has not been important to me.

I also know that focusing on my own money, my own problems, my own right to be wealthy (is that a right?) does nothing to make me happy. If anything, it makes me stressed out. I have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What I don't have is lots of extra money. But I AM WEALTHY. I woke up this morning in a comfortable bed, in a three-bedroom house that is mine (and the bank's), with two dogs who eat better than probably 95% of the world's population. I have flowers to take pictures of and Diet Cokes in my fridge and a computer to write blog posts on (not to mention the Kindle(s) and cell phone and TV). I have running water. Electricity. About 30 pairs of shoes. Clean clothes (or at least a washer/dryer in which to make them clean). I have stuff. And I am wealthy.

The government takes about 10-15% of my income each year. They use it for an unknown number of government programs, some of which are run efficiently and frugally (I'm sure there are some) and others of which are wasteful. I have paved roads to drive on. I feel safe, and when I don't there's a number for me to call to get help. I have an education that was provided (for the first 12 years anyway) by other people's tax dollars. There are people down the road from me that get their food from the government. I don't, but I pay for them to. There is so much infrastructure that goes into making a viable society... and all of those things cost money. I am happy to pay my part, because I don't think it's feasible for me to do it all by myself. I don't have the resources to do it alone - most of us don't - but together we can pool our money and support our demanding society. Money comes out of my paycheck each month, and much of it goes to help people that are less fortunate than me. I'm okay with that. I know it's not perfect, but nothing is.

What bothers me about the Christian "right" is the focus on the distinctly American value of accumulating wealth rather than the distinctly Christian value of sacrificing one's own right to "MINE, MINE, MINE" for the common good. When Jesus asked his disciples to feed the hungry, their first reaction was to say, "This is our money. OURS. We should keep it for ourselves and send these people to buy their own food." But in the end, they followed his instructions and the masses were fed. You would never have heard Jesus say, "I earned this money. It's mine. You can't have it." Never. He would have said something more like, "Do you need this money? Here, take it... and take my food and my shoes and my shirt too." I admit, that would be far easier to do in Jesus' day, when you could almost guarantee that there would be someone in your neighborhood that would invite you in for dinner and give you a new shirt (since you just gave yours away). But we don't really have that confidence today, do we? We know that if we don't take care of ourselves, no one else will. And so we hoard money. Understandable, I assure you.

We hoard money because there is no good answer to the question, "How much is enough?"

I don't see an easy answer to the haves/have-nots dilemma. There will always be people who don't do their fair share, who take advantage of the system, who take advantage of the generosity of others. And there will always be people who are in need, just like there will always be people who have more than enough. I want there to be wealthy people in this country... because those are the people who will have extra money to buy the products everyone else is selling... to give generously to their local food pantries and churches. But I also know that if we relied totally on the charity of the wealthy (i.e. if the government did not step in to help the poor), then many of the poor would be left to fend for themselves. I'm not okay with that.

You may be thinking, "If they would just work harder and not be lazy, then they wouldn't be poor." I understand the thinking, but unfortunately that's just not true. There are a lot of people who work really hard and are still poor. Many work several jobs. Some people aren't as smart as you, and therefore (through no fault of their own) really can't manage a job that nets them six figures. Some people have health problems, or mental problems, or addictions or *&!- happens and they end up unemployed, in debt, on the street, etc. If we lived in a utopia, maybe everyone could pull themselves up by their own boot straps and become Donald Trump. But we don't. As I said yesterday, we're dealing with reality here... and the reality is, some people are poor and need help.

So what to do, what to do?  For one thing, I think we can start by being humbly thankful for what we each have. If you live in America, you are better off than many in the world.  Secondly, I think we can try to face some of the fear that makes us want to hoard money. We can say, "Okay, God... I'm going to set my fear aside. I trust that everything is going to be okay... so I'm going to take this $20 that's in my pocket and give it to someone who is homeless or hungry or sick." What's the worst thing that could happen? You could be broke, then homeless, then die of a curable illness because you can't get healthcare. Really, that's the worst thing. But that's probably not going to happen to anyone who is wealthy enough to be reading this blog.

I'm not a big fan of taking a scripture reference out of its historical and social context and using it to support my theories, but on this point I don't think context changes the meaning and intent. Here are some scriptures you could read that would point you to a few instances in which people were prioritized over wealth:

• The story of the loaves and fishes, which I alluded to above, can be found in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:5-15.
• Jesus tells a rich man to sell everything he owns to follow him in Mark 10:17-27.
• 1 John 3:17 tells us that a person who has material possessions but does not help their neighbor in need "has not love."
• Proverbs, the book of wisdom, tells us that, "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Proverbs 14:31
• Other Proverbs that speak to prioritizing the needs of the poor: Prov. 21:13, 22:9, 28:27
• 1 Timothy 6 speaks in spades about trusting God, not wealth... about being generous and helping others, etc.

Obviously there are many, many more... but I'll leave it at that. 

I'm not suggesting that you sacrifice your own well-being or that of your family, sell everything you own and live on the streets. Then you would be a part of the problem, not part of the solution. What I am asking is that you... 1) love the people around you more than you love money and 2) consider whether your political leanings are grounded in faith or in fear. Have you placed the desire for wealth above your desire to love your neighbor? Are you making the needs of the poor a priority in your life, your wallet, your vote? 

Note: This is the third in a series of posts about my thoughts on social, political and moral issues of the day. Read others: #1 - "The Quest for Clarity" | #2 - "Choice? Life"