Money: The Joy of Sharing

Last week we heard from Shane Claiborne, a founding member of the Simple Way (self described as a web of subversive friends, conspiring to spread the vision of "Loving God, Loving People, and Following Jesus" in our neighborhoods and in our world).

The video discussed money and faith, sharing and scripture, a theology of enough and income inequality (by the way, I found an interesting article on the topic, Economic Inequality: Should We Call it Sin?).  It was a challenging and thought provoking session.  Below is another video with Shane Claiborne expounding on the idea of enough.





No matter how you count the references to finances, wealth, or poverty in the scriptures, money is one of the most talked about issues in the Bible.  It's clear that it is an important topic to the faith.  The challenge is that there is no overarching unified statement about money in scripture.

• Some parts seem to imply that you should give 10% of your earnings.
• Other parts speak of a jubilee, a release from debt and redistribution of wealth
• Some parts refer to individual decisions while other parts speak to communal or societal guidelines
• Jesus tells some to give away all that they have and yet he does not say that to all

While there may not be a simple formula for how we are to use the money we have, there are some clear and consistent messages related to money.

• There is a clear message that how we practice our faith and how we use the resources we have are interwoven.
• There is a consistent message that God cares a great deal for the poor.
• There is a unified consistent message about love, about loving others and about drawing the circle of that love wider still, about plumbing the depths of that love.

It is clear that the questions of who we love and how we love must always be before us.  And if Christ is our model for how to address these questions then some other truths become clear.

• We see that love will lead us to give.
• We see that love will lead us into relationship with those labeled as the least, the lost, the abandoned and the marginalized.
• We see that love will be our source of strength as we journey in faith.

There is a wide spectrum between hoarding all that we have and giving away all that we have to the poor.  Rather than throwing up our hands at the overwhelming idea of giving it all away, perhaps we can listen for the next small step of faith Christ is calling us to take in regards to our wealth and the world's needs.

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For our last session we will be discussing the video, Service: The Needs Right in Front of You with Enuma Okoro.  You can learn a bit about Ms Okoro from the video below promoting her book "Reluctant Pilgrim".