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stuck in sin: greed
Thanks I needed that break. Vacation did me a world of good as well as a mission trip to Costa Rica with our youth group. Costa Rica, where the average income is $250 per month. A week there convinced me of something: I’m greedy.
The greedy are nailed throughout the Bible as sinners of a serious variety. The prophets denounce the greedy. Paul has more than a warning or two. The greedy are among those who shouldn’t presume on entrance to the kingdom. Jesus didn’t make it easy for the greedy to follow without leaving much of their stuff behind.
Well then, who are the greedy? Ah, the pesky matter of definition! Could we say that greed involves taking more than your fair share? You’re at the dinner table and a pie is served. There are ten people who want pie and ten pieces of pie. You quickly take three pieces of pie. You are being, can we agree? greedy.
By this definition every North American is greedy. We consume more than our fair share of stuff. I’m not talking about how much wealth we generate. Wealth is something we can create. But stuff? There’s a limited amount of stuff, because, well there’s only one planet.
It’s been said that if all the people in the world used as much stuff as we Americans do, it would require about four planets worth of stuff. I heard once that if everyone in China used as much toilet paper as the average American, we’d run through all the forests on earth in short order–faster than we could renew the forests.
Speak For Yourself!
Let’s change the pronoun, then. I. If everyone on planet earth ate the kind of food that I do–food that takes a lot of energy to produce and distribute–well, the current energy crisis would look tame. People are starving around the world because people like me like our gas cheap, so we’ve got a government that doesn’t mind making it from corn. People like me are funny: you live just fine on rice and beans, but once we get a taste for chicken, then pork, then beef, we’re hooked. Each one takes more energy to produce, but what do I care?
Meanwhile, many of us are adding weight every year. I think I added a couple of pounds. I got married at 135 and haven’t grown a vertical inch since then and haven’t added muscle mass. Now I’m over 175, last time I checked. I’m apparently eating more food than I need. If they came up with a pill that would allow you to eat what you want at will with no weight gain or side effects, I’d be sorely, sorely tempted to get it.
I’m Stuck!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any easy way out of being greedy. I can be less greedy or more greedy, but how do I get to the place where I’m not greedy? I’m working on it. I bought some beans and rice and had ‘em on Monday night. I’m washing my hands with cold water, rather than let the water run for a minute to get warm. I’m getting out of the shower faster. I’m still driving my car, even though our little family of three has two. Because my lifestyle requires it and I can’t just leave my lifestyle without paying a price that I deem to be too heavy.
Oh, I could sell my car, get rid of my house and go off the grid. But what about my wife and daughter? This could really be hard on relationships.
Please tell me how it is that I am not simply stuck being greedy. I’m sure many creative interpretations of greed can be found to be quite comforting. But what do I do with this shaft of light shining on my greed?
As far as I can tell, greed is rampant, and we’re not even copping to it. Sin sharpens our recognition of the sins of others and blinds us to our own sins. What else is new, Adam and Eve?
What do I need?
As far as I can tell, mercy. I need a church which makes space for me in the meantime. I need a God who makes space for me in the meantime. I need a little breathing room. Mercy, me.
How would we think about others we deem to be sinners if we saw ourselves in the pure light of God?
Could we start finger point less and weeping more, and see what we become?
That’s what I learned on my summer vacation.
Tags: consumption, energy, food, greed, Jesus, kingdom of God, mercy, Paul, prophets, sin, warnings, weight
July 29th, 2009 at 8:27 am
greed-
Nice post Ken.
I am reminded of a paraphrase of a quote I heard:
“In the Kingdom of God, you only get to keep what you give away” Wimber
I suppose greed is not what you have but your feeling towards what you got. Who you serve.
I have read that if you can put your hands on $5. you are among the 20% richest people in the world. I am sure having been in Costa Rica you got a glimpse of the other side of this thought.
I have been ruminating and reading about our approaches to stuff for a while, it will be interesting to see how the comments to this unfold.
Someone else asked me when I was discussing this..”If we gave everything away who would pay the busboy?”
Paul
July 29th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Great post Ken. God has been speaking this to my heart for some time. As American’s we are paying for it. We have the highest rate of diseases associated with being overweight, we pour more into medical (man’s way) than natural (God’s way), our pollution is the highest, we have more landfills and dumps than any other country, we are consuming these things instead of being consumed by God. I posted something to this matter on my blog (june 1) shortly after your sermon on these issues. I emailed you too–not sure if you got it. I believe this is an important issue for every Christian for themselves first and the world around them.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I’m so thankful that Jesus did not entrust the thief on the cross to me.
I have given thanks for this fact a dozen times in the last week.
I have wanted to run from my vocation and find a nice, warm, campfire in the darkness, alongside Peter warming his hands and denying his Master. I have begged, threatened, cold-shouldered, argued, raged at God. Anything but my work.
You said the poor would be with us always. Fine! You’re God, You take ‘em! You feed ‘em. You love ‘em. And You hang with them on their stinking, bloody, self-imposed, crosses of selfishness – just like the thief on the cross.
That stinking thief got what he deserved. Because he was so selfish. Now look, Jesus, if You had sent him to me for legal services, or counseling, or alterative dispute resolution, then I would have told that selfish, slimy, stinking thief to haul his selfish-thieving carcass down off that cross, spend 50 years making restitution, get a job and pay all this back tithe which he stole from the Lord, and then eat some crumbs off the table like a dog for the rest of his years! And I would have used Jesus’ words calling the Syrophoenecian woman a dog, for precedent.
None of this, “paradise, today!” garbage.
I would have told him that I don’t care if his legs are broken. He get down from that cross. And crawl! – to make restitution, – to pay off his debts, – to squeeze a little generosity out of his selfish career.
And when he gets done with that list, I’ve got some more.
I’m not just making this up to fit the topic. This is my guts. For over a week.
And every day, every time, every rotten, stinking time I feel this way, I go through this rant ….
Jesus comes …
Quickly ….
And says,
“Jim, you’re the rich young ruler. You’ve done all those lists of things. But, you won’t give it ALL to Me.”
Well, I ain’t walking away. I’m standing here in His face: sad. Like the rich young ruler was sad. I hope my sadness is different. And stays different. I’m sad because of who I am. But, at least I can still see His Face. Because it’s in MINE!
And I can’t do this alone!
July 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
There is a cure for greedy. It is called a gift. A spiritual gift of Voluntary Poverty. Sadly not many profess to want it or exercise it.
July 29th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Why do you think that selling your car, getting rid of your house, and going off the grid would be hard on relationships? The Amish seem to do two out of the three (no car, no grid), and their relationships both within their families and within their communities seem very strong.
I ask this from the perspective of one who is asking the same questions. Not that I’ve done anything about it (yet). I must be too afraid or entrenched or attached to my way of life to do different.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:10 am
I’d think some more about that washing hands with cold water thing–not quite as effective as warm with getting rid of those pesky germs. I understand we often define greed to leave ourselves out when we probably belong in, but I’m fairly confident you can use warm water to wash your hands without being greedy.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:51 am
Warning, this is a big vent.
This is a type of navel gazing that really turns me off. This view of things really serves no purpose but to make people guilty for just living. How does me choosing to only eat rice and beans allow someone else to eat more chicken? Also, rice is extremely water intensive. I thought water was running out in these global warming days.
I am a family of 1 but I own 5 cars, should I sell them and be condemned to ride a bike? Should only simple agrarian societies be allowed to exist? What’s wrong with technology?
And based on what data are these claims about chinese toilet paper or taking 4 earths to support a world full of Americans?
Case in point, people have been saying we are running out of oil for decades, yet there is evidence oil actually can be created within weeks and that it is not running out. In the 70’s the big fear was global cooling, now it’s global warming, but we are not sure so we call it climate change.
It seems people on in our society don’t have enough to do so they become busybodies, telling others what to do with their lives, yet if I were to even suggest other people change their lives in other ways, like maybe stop having sex with folks they are not married to or that perhaps homosexuality is not a healthy lifestyle then I am trying to control their lives. I’d say stay away from my chicken dinners and
I’ll lay off the free sex lifestyle.
Sorry, I am venting, but I am so very tired of this society’s selective finger pointing, and you calling me to weep really does not produce anything of value in my life except depression.
I have been taking steps to reduce my energy use, recycle, etc, but I feel nothing I do will ever be enough. There will be always something I’m not doing or doing wrong.
And if the issues you mention are really true, then do we have the luxury of mercy? If the sky is falling as is the presently believed, do we he time for breathing room?
Oh, it’s late, I love ya Ken, but sometimes….
July 30th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Brian, thanks for the dispensation, but I learned recently that running water and a little soap really is the key to washing your hands and not the temperature of the water.
July 30th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Though I have a different take on the details–e.g. don’t see the prospect of creating oil in weeks as a likely solution to energy crisis–I can identify with your response to my post on greed. It’s an issue I’ve resisted facing for the very reasons you mention.
July 30th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Jim, your post touched me deeply. Thank you for your honesty and transparency!
My family and I have always lived in the poverty level of American society (not by global standards I must add). I figured out recently that since my wife and I married 20 years ago we have lived on on average of $18,000.00 a year. We owe no debt but our house payment and that will be paid off in 6 years. We have everything anyone could truly want. We live VERY simple lives and don’t spend money on excesses. We have had our house made as energy efficient as possible. We recycle twice as much as our neighbors. We buy locally produced milk, vegetables, fruits and meats whenever possible. We are part of a coop of believers that try to buy only products made by small farms and small businesses.
But when I go to Uganda, or Cambodia or Thailand I realize how very wealthy I am. We are a rich people. I feel saddened every time I return. I feel guilty for where I live and what I have.
Then I read Acts 17:26 – “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”
God determined what time in history I would live. He determined what family I would be born into. He decided what nation I would grown up in. I didn’t ask to be an American, God placed me here as part of His plan. I don’t know why, nor may I ever understand it.
I think the only other solution is to do what Mother Theresa did. She left all and gave everything she had to the poor. When asked what she liked best about America, her response was “Your garbage”. We are a wasteful and greedy people. I think we can do what we can to be less greedy, but ultimately, I think we need God to visit us! That’s what I pray everyday! God, come and visit our nation!
July 30th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Refreshing! It is good to see ourselves as we are. We are sinners. Greed is one of the big ones. Let us deal with the log of this in our own eyes. Let us understand that we are all of us incapable of judging others from a position of righteousness. Let us wrestle with this sin we have and ask for God’s help with it. This is our cross: Greed. Let the squirming begin or continue, as the case may be. I think a great deal of good can come of it.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Ken-
Excellent, and thought-provoking post, as usual.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Oh, never mind the ‘oil in weeks’ comment. I did not mention it as a solution for the energy crisis, I just mentioned it as an example of a counterpoint to generally accepted facts people seem to just assume are incontrovertible without actually studying them, like the ‘evidence’ that the earth was cooling in the 70’s and we were heading towards a new Ice Age.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I don’t think most of us (myself included) really believe that Jesus meant what he said or really understands the difficulties of modern life. We certainly don’t take what he said seriously. We act as if he was a little dim-witted or a lot unrealistic.
Seriously, Jesus, there is no way you could have meant for me, here in the 21st century, to actually love my neighbor as myself. I mean, that’s just silly. If I did that, well, when I heard about his having a need, I would be just as motivated to take care of that need in his life as I would be to take care of that need in my life. So, you know, if my car breaks down, I have the guys at Tuffy fix it. If it costs $500, well, that sucks, but I need that car to get to work and stuff. But if the car of my underemployed friend at church breaks down, well, I’ll pray that he’ll find a good car to replace it. Or maybe that you’ll miraculously heal his car. Because my paying for his car repair? That’s crazy talk. You can’t have meant that. Oh, you were quoting the Torah? Well, you know, your Father’s kinda got his head in the clouds too — pun totally intended. Yeah, Jesus, you’re a nice guy and all, but you’ve got some pretty whacked out ideas.
And loving your enemies, that’s about faraway people I’ll never actually come into contact with, right? Like Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong Il and stuff. I mean, it doesn’t mean that guy who cut me off in traffic, right? And it definitely doesn’t mean that body-pierced purple-haired teenaged checkout person at the grocery store who was more interested in chatting with her slacker buddies than in ringing me up so I could get out of that store. Or that annoying bleeding-heart vegan Democrat at the office who’s always interrupting my work to tell me some stupid thing. Those aren’t my “enemies”, so I’m clear to despise them and mutter under my breath or curse at them (euphemistically, of course).
And that thing about it being worth it to exchange every possession and relationship for following you and living in your Kingdom? That’s pretty much just a metaphor, right?
And you know how you said the Father will provide everything we need if we just devote ourselves to living according to the upside-down Kingdom? Well, the “need” bar has been raised a lot since the year 30. So I’m sure you’ll totally understand if I kinda take things into my own hands. Just give you and the Father and little help, you know. So that will mean I can’t really live by those upside-down values. But I know you didn’t really mean for me to do that anyway. It was more of an inspirational thing, right?
I mean, you and I both know, what you really want is for me to keep living my life as comfortably and as safely as I can manage without sinning too much until you come and get me and we can blow this joint. And you’re around to keep that plan on track. You and me, we’re in this thing together. Right? Right? Hey, Jesus, I don’t think you’re listening to me.
July 30th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Hey Joao. The problem with any kind of general exhortation (or rebuke) is that it can’t be tailored to the individual reading it.
Jesus was really harsh on some kinds of sins and seemed to go really easy on others. Not because sin isn’t sin, but because he knew that some were already under a burden of guilt, while others didn’t feel even a tinge.
So with this kind of stuff I think we have to take the details (e.g. number of cars, pounds overweight) with a grain of salt. That may or may not be an issue for the person reading this. I think the underlying issue–greed–is the key point, not that you should have more cars. I know you personally, and I know that you’re not a greedy person. You have cars because you’re a car enthusiast and it’s your hobby, not because you’re wasteful or just accumulate things for their own sake. You’re very generous with what you have, and give a lot to many people. I also know that you come from Brazil, where the discrepancies between those who have a lot and those who have hardly anything is breathtaking, and I know that grieves you.
I think the bigger issue is that many of us come from guilt-driven religious backgrounds, so anything like this just triggers some deeper things. I might put at the top of this post [Warning: if you suffer from chronic religious guilt, please stop reading. This doesn't apply to you]
July 30th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
It’s been my experience that when I’m motivated by guilt to do good, my ‘good deeds’ don’t do any good. When I’m moved by love, a small thing can be pretty powerful, though.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Joao,
If you’re serious about offloading some of those cars, I’ve got a couple friends that are trying to dig their way out of troubled financial situations: single mothers in need. I could offer you a trade on a great bike; its a good one, you likely won’t even feel condemned to it. Who knows, might add a few years to the life span!
…since you brought it up.
August 1st, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Ken,
I love where you’re trying to go, but have great difficulty with how you’re getting there.
I for one don’t think you’re greedy. I’ve never seen you take more than your fair share of pizza. Sure you may struggle with greed, but to put yourself in the position of the person Paul commands others to shun is pushing it, don’t you think?
It’s not that hard to define greed in the bible. The word is used fairly consistently. The ideas around it involve taking advantage of others for personal gain, lusting after material things, putting trust in things rather than God.
Do you struggle with those things? Perhaps, but greed is clearly not part of your character.
Then there’s the issue of “what is my fair share?”
Yes, we live in a country driven by materialism. We are surrounded by greed and idolatry. The earth will not sustain an American lifestyle spread globally.
But what is our “fair share?” If we define equality by dividing up material things equally, aren’t I succumbing to materialistic worldview? Do the people in the third world “deserve” to live like us? No. They deserve much better.
The people I know in poverty are, more often than not, far wealthier than I am in a key ingredient of a happy life—relationships. I work hard to help them overcome their poverty, but I also know that as they “climb the ladder” they risk losing the richness they have. Our materialism and idolatry drive us into isolated lives. God forbid they should aspire to what we have. (There’s a great video from Free Range Studies about “The Good Life” that you’d enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvCJley78A)
Clean water, a secure food supply, access to healthcare, just representation in society—these are things we have in America that they want and deserve! (I’m sure I’ve left off some things).
We should work toward creating a sustainable global society.
But to declare that we’re all greedy seems to me to water down the word to the point of meaninglessness. There are greedy people in the world. They are driven to gain at the expense of others. The only way I know to overcome them is to build the Kingdom that is counter to theirs.
Which gets me back to where I know we agree—a merciful community that gives generously and supports one another in the love of Christ is the best hope for the world.
August 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am
Ken – Have you thought about a sermon series on justice for the poor? Just a thought. You never know what ideas might arise in peoples’ hearts.
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Does this mean I need to scrap the “He who dies with the most stuff wins” bumper sticker off my Maserati?
August 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Dontcha just love all this chest-beathing over greed posted on a fiber-optic network that cost $BILLIONS to create…
BD
And all in just the past 20-30 years…
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 am
martha, guilt alerts, love moves
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:54 am
Bob, “The earth will not sustain an American lifestyle spread globally.” Agreed, pun intended. I was making a distinction between consumption and wealth generation, the former being the thing that’s bothering me. Our excessive consumption, is not, I think, so easily exempt from greed as a moral characterization. If we compare consumption rates among ourselves–among the highest consumers of all time–we can duck into a better relative spot, which is comforting. Many consume more on that scale than the more modest consumers among “us” (us who are relative to the globe, off the charts). Help me understand how the moral characterization, “greed”, does not apply there.
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Mike, I work with single moms and I don’t think they could do much with a 1978 Triumph Spitfire that no longer runs, a 1965 VW with no heat and a 1950 Dodge with no brakes as well as a 2000 Chevy with no transmission…plus I need the 5th car, my Corvette, to drive to work
As far as the topic at hand…if I were to only eat rice and beans (which I love, I grew up in Brazil with the stuff every day), sell my possessions live ’simply that others may simply live’, how would that work out in relieving poverty?
How would my simplifying my life put food on the table of a poor person in Haiti?
If we all decided to turn this country into an agrarian society, with every one living in a shack, only subsisting, wouldn’t that cause massive unemployment across the world? The US feeds millions of poor across the world, what kind of food productivity would be there if every chose to live on a subsistence level?
If people would decide they did not need cars anymore and would just walk everywhere, I would have no job and would join the ranks of the unemployed, so any help I could provide to the poor would now be gone.
Do we see any biblical condemnation of king David for his wealth? King Solomon? Abraham? I mean aren’t over 1000 wives/concubines a bit excessive?
I know the concept of consumerism is materialistic and has many negative effects, but what is the alternative? Look at the misery that just a slow down in commerce has caused? How could a government support itself without taxes from working people in industries that produce goods that people want to buy?
I have no answer short of Jesus returning and fixing human nature.
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Martha,
Ditto to what Ken says (@ 10:48 am). Though, I think you, Martha, make a great point as a stand alone truth. It’s intuitive. And true. A great aim too.
My problem with love in any pure form is getting there; or, never. In a pure form. It’s a sort of sense of act-and-let-God clean me up in process of badly mixed motives. And I love/hate God for it. Which is why I’m not saved by my love. Thank God.
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Happylad (@July 30th, 2009 at 8:34 am ). Thanks. Sorry, missed it earlier. Your Uganda, Cambodia, Thailand tour is probably the tour I’m unwilling to make. Your Mother Theresa credit is for sure way out of my league. Which is probably why He is on me. One thing I liked about Martha’s original post is that I don’t want to take, make, shake-and-bake that Uganda, Cambodia, Thailand tour, nor drive aound the block, just to prove I can. Without love
On greediness: I visited an extremely sad and downtrodden church in remote rural Nevada this last Sunday. Five members; down from fifty. They had questions re. arbitration, mediation, etc., responding to a former pastor who ripped off the church treasury. Ripped and skipped. Including widows’ mites. They decided on mercy. As their local mining industry decides on severity and poverty (shut downs). A prayer, I think. And they need them. God, how is this possible.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Ken,
First, I think you know, but others may not, that this whole topic is an issue I wrestle with. I don’t have definitive answers. Like you I’m trying to work this through. It’s also true that you’re dancing around a very, very complex topic. Globalization and sustainability invokes a myriad of issues and there will always be an anecdotal example to counter each others anecdotal examples. So I’m going to tried to avoid getting too far astray and focus on one issue: doe the moral characterization, “greed” apply to excessive consumption.
OK, let’s start by defining our terms. You started by establishing a biblical context for the term “greed” but then go on to provide your own definition, namely “excessive consumption” or “taking more than your fair share” (which are subtly different but close enough).
You can choose to define it how you want, but if you want to invoke the Bible and its condemnation of greed I think it’s important to stick to the way it’s used in the Bible. To equate “excessive consumption” with the biblical term greed is to elevate it to a mortal sin. I don’t think the two equate. (See my earlier comment for what I see as the characteristics of greed in the Bible).
For example, does excessive consumption involve taking advantage of others? From an economic standpoint, one could argue that it’s the opposite—our consumption provides jobs for many people. Greed clearly manifests in the value chain between the consumer and the producer (unfair labor practices for example), but this isn’t the fault of the consumer.
If anything, excessive consumption is a possible indicator of gluttony, another mortal sin for sure, but defined the way you do (using toilet paper and having too large a carbon footprint) doesn’t seem to fit gluttony either.
As Joao points out, it’s hard to tie my consumption directly to ill-consequences for others. I also think he makes an excellent point which highlights the complexity of all this—if Americans stopped consuming there would be dire economic consequences for the rest of the world. Even now, the hardest hit countries by the global recession are in Africa.
So we’re damned if consume and damned if we don’t consume. Hmm.
I think you’re right to say the greed is a core problem at the root of many of the social justices. I think painting all ingrained excessive consumption as greed is painting with too broad a brush. In fact I think it obscures more than it clarifies.
There is a root problem that you rightly point to. I just wouldn’t call it greed (since then I couldn’t have lunch with you and be faithful to the Bible
. Selfishness perhaps? Gluttony? Lack of stewardship?
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Joao, I agree 100% with your post. As consumption has decreased, look what has happened to the global economy.
Most everyone desires to be wealthy and this includes people in the church. We must always be generous with others, but go out and spend wisely and then give it away if you can.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
“Then who in the world can be saved?” I love the transparency of the disciples in this passage. Even the disciples desired wealth. They were astounded. So use your wealth to do good and realize that even the disciples struggled with desiring riches, and they lived with Jesus. Give to others and God pours blessings into your life. There is a consumption cycle in all this giving and there in nothing wrong with it.
The only other advice for pastors comes from the least of all apostles.
“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I think the value in posts and topics like this is in breaking us out of our blindness, American smugness and emphasizing that our neighbors include those in other countries. We need the reality check about how much we’re consuming. But I know I can’t live on a diet of outrage, guilt, or feeling overwhelmed into paralysis, depression or whatever. I’m with Martha—love produces better fruit. So does living more simply, with more contentment. But for me, the only thing I can do is daily live a life of offering, surrendering, listening, leaning into God, listening, praying for grace, trusting in his mercy. I used to can 100 quarts of tomatoes a year—now I would have to quit doing the things that I’m clear God’s called me to do if I were to live that lifestyle. I’m just trying to follow and trusting him for the rest that I don’t have all figured out. The point is all belongs to God—our finite resources of time, money, talents.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Ken, when I initially read the blog post, my first thought was you have a bit of reverse culture shock. It’s not a bad thing to have a healthy dose of now and then, but it’s easy to grow resentful of Western culture and in the long run I don’t know if that’s helpful. I wrestle with culture shock most every time I come back to the States.
However, I had a revelation of God’s blessing on our nation after returning from the Somali areas in East Africa a year and half ago. I realized there’s a balance somewhere between the two extremes – 1. thinking we’re a greedy, gluttonous culture, and 2. thinking we’re doing a fine job stewarding what God’s given us. Neither characterization is exactly accurate. I do think it’s fair to call people to be better stewards of their resources, and this isn’t limited to money or “stuff.” And it’s fair to challenge people to give as excessively as God asks them to, up to and including giving away all they have and own. That’s not everyone’s call, though.
Many people making small changes in daily life can make a difference, but we can think bigger. Instead of telling those teens on the Costa Rica trip to use less toilet paper, why not challenge them to think about their careers in such a way as to advance the kingdom in poorer parts of the world? They can be generous with their educational knowledge and skills, not just their money or stuff. Nicholas Kristof is my favorite NYT columnist. He wrote the following article about a guy in his early 30s who started a bottled water company where the proceeds are used to provide clean drinking water in Africa and Asia. They’ve helped more than 1 million people so far. He was motivated by his faith, having volunteered with Mercy Ships (formerly associated with YWAM). He has a business and marketing background. The body can be more creative in thinking of business in such a way as to advance the kingdom in the least developed parts of the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/opinion/12kristof.html?_r=1
I was just in a T-b-tan village this past weekend where the home we stayed in had a “toilet” hole where our raw sewage ran out into the courtyard. This week I have Montezuma’s Revenge, and it’s no wonder. I kept thinking: What if a young college grad with a community planning, biology, health, or other degree devoted one year of their life to educating villagers about health issues and helping design and build better outhouses in safe places away from living quarters and food? What if? Or what if we challenged more people like S.G. who took his family to Namibia for one year to help design a computerized system for the justice department so they could track repeat offenders? What if? These kinds of things bring lasting change to communities.
In terms of Western knowledge, resources, ingenuity, etc, I think the church can do a better job imagining how we steward what we have. It’s not just about money and things, it’s about education, expertise, time, and sacrificial love. Serving internationally, even for a year, isn’t for everyone, but if even a few more responded to a vision, it could make a major difference. And those people (and folks like me) will always need supporters and cheerleaders. I thank God for the folks in my life who make a healthy living to sustain people in my profession, and for their large homes where I can rest and their extra cars that I can drive. I see those things as blessings from above. I hope they keep making money and I hope they continue to have homes that are a piece of heaven on earth.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I searched just this ONE blog post for references to America. Here’s some choice cuts…
“Every North American is greedy”
“The earth will not sustain an American lifestyle lived globally.”
“American…have the highest rate of diseases associated with being overweight…our pollution is the highest, we have more landfills and dumps than any other country, we are consuming these things instead of being consumed by God”
“American smugness”
Wow! I wonder if you guys have any idea just how HATEFUL you really are…
BD
PS Sorry, Self-hate is still hate…
August 4th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Ken, your post raises systemic questions about greed and poverty. Not just personal questions: though personal choices constitute parts of a system (we cannot evade personal responsibility).
I feel the way so many others do – systemic factors are way beyond my resources, way over my head, as a mere individual (more below). My gut (my bias) rages to know hard facts and data about poverty, systemic greed, normative beliefs about wealth, greed, and poverty across cultures, whether there are inverse relationships between wealth and giving a rip about the poor (across a population: not for anecdotal individuals), whether and how our consumption constitutes indirect aggression against poor nations (akin in effect to Buddhists in Indonesian islands hailing to Buddhist norms of pacifism, but then, using the only remaining weapon in their arsenal of indirect violence, namely local boycott and protective trading, to freeze Muslims out local island economies) – all these factors, even down to whether impulse buying in our culture is such a strong implied and expressed norm that we’re bias-blind, so that preaching against it amounts to a law of diminishing returns (I’m talking about facts for this question: not anecdotes); or, whether we’re just plain guilty of bystander behaviors and we know it. Or, all the above. And on and on – I personally go nuts raging for facts and data about these kinds of systemic questions. I’d like to see hard facts on whether generalized preaching generates its own curse in diminished emotional reactions. Or, if it helps.
I say we’re called to be people of the truth. And truth at systemic levels means systemic facts. My greed is that I’d rather ramp myself up in some self induced corticosteroid rush in my private devotions, feeling high and holy, than pay the long and hard price of getting, analyzing, and doing the work required at this overwhelming level of systemic facts and systemic truth.
My rant is directed: toward a wish that the church as a corporate body had an identity motivated to pool study resources to tackle systemic questions, at a factual level – this stuff is beyond any individual. Gideon at least had a little corps. And toward generating this kind of corporate identity for the church, I think that your calling attention to this overwhelming – overwhelming – systemic stuff (like Hamilton’s “interconectivity” thread), and like your pool with Ocean Blue, is Spirit motivated. Toward a new church …
August 5th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Jim, Yes, a key point. This isn’t just an individual issue; it is corporate. We can’t solve it individually, though we do have individual responsibility to do what we can. Unfortunately, because we are biased so much in the direction of individualism, we have trouble dealing with matters like this that require us TOGETHER to respond. Much of Jesus teaching in the gospels is directed to Israel as the people not, not simply to individuals. AS well as the teaching of the prophets. But first we have to face the problem. We are using more stuff than is sustainable, and if that’s not greed, we need another word for it. I too find the word “greed” to be jarring. I’m used to measuring myself on a sliding scale surrounded by people who are better off than most of the planet. I too am concerned about sliding into a guilt laden obsessiveness that doesn’t get anyone anywhere. And yes, it’s complex, because we’ve organized an economic system around high rates of consumption and when that shifts people are hurt. Nevertheless, it keeps staring me in the face and won’t go away.
August 5th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
BTW, Christian Churches Together may have done some of the analysis you are looking for. They are a new interdenominational organization–RC, Orthodox, Pentecostal-Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, and Historic African American churches. They tackled poverty as one of their early concerns. Vineyard is part of this group.
August 6th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I have tried like hell to not sound to churchy here. But cant figure out any different way to say this.
In my previous post I said: “I suppose greed is not what you have but your feeling towards what you got. Who you serve.”
My understanding of Kingdom economics stems largely from my life experiences over the past 20 years. I wont bore you with the details, but in summary: even though I was unemployed and underemployed for 15 years we never went hungry, never went without. We survived, largely because others were generous with their stuff. I ran a food bank and soup kitchen where we never ran out of food because others were generous with their stuff. Even when we did run out, occasionally at the end of the day, there was enough food for next time people came for food.
One of the food banks just celebrated 1 million pounds of food given away.
Where did we get the impression God is not abundant?
I operated on a self-imposed challenge that I couldn’t out give God, which was proven true over and over. God supplied what we needed.
As soon as I (we) started to “count the cost”, when we focused on what we couldn’t do because of the budget, we ran out.
We must not leave God out of His Kingdom, he delights to give good gifts to his people.
I believe, greed comes from leaving God out of the equation.
I will say again, we only keep what we give away.
Are we ignoring the elephant in the room?
Matt. 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
August 6th, 2009 at 10:57 am
B.D., I agree with you completely. We should reserve our harshest critiques for others, not ourselves. After all, it’s much easier to see a speck in another’s eye than our own.
Also, following your lead I’ve taken some choice cuts out of your recent posts to prove that you’re actually one of the kindest and friendliest people posting to this blog:
“Nice eloquence Ken…”
“Now THAT is a GRACIOUS response!”
“With all due respect.”
“I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share my take.”
“I totally respect Eric’s position…”
“Don’t feel bad, though.”
“Why thank you!”
August 7th, 2009 at 8:15 am
It’s good to get a perspective of just how well off we are in the west. This rich list calculator is an easy way of checking
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
August 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
DJ, that global rich list has some serious issues, I typed in ‘0′ as income and I still came out as one of the richest in the world.
August 8th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Joao…it has issues with reloading (or failing to do so) but it worked for me…quite interesting.
August 13th, 2009 at 11:34 am
I am sure you got the idea all the same.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:18 am
I know Don Bromley. Laidback dude.
And you know when B.D. gets under HIS skin…he’s striking with a HOT iron.
But, I won’t respond in kind. As you’ve noted Don, BD is a complicated & often misunderstood KenWilsonOnLine BlogPoster. Much as you would expect from someone who refers to himself in the 3rd person.
So rather than be snarky in a kind way, I’ll be kind in a snarky way and remind you that
neither You nor Ken speak for ANYBODY but YOURSELVES.
*You DO NOT speak for evanglicals.
*You don’t even speak for Christians.
*You CERTAINLY don’t speak for Conservative Evanglelical Christians.
Yet they are PRECISELY the targets of some of the most VENOMOUS, hateful attacks emanating from posters on this blog aided & abetted by Ken’s meddlesome, worrisome, can’t-be-too-sure-of-anything, false-spirituality-trumped-only-by-false humility hand wringing!
So, for the most part, you are NOT taking the mote out of your OWN eye. Rather, you’re using scripture to provide a rather transparent figleaf cover.
B.D.
Hey – Someone had to say it…