Monday, 05 December 2011
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Sometimes Money Divides Us: The Possibility of “Economic Friendship”
By Nick Don at TheopoliticalMoney is a way of turning unlike things (services, rare metals, time) into a common medium for exchange. In that way, money can bring together two people who are looking to exchange such unlike things. But sometimes money can keep people apart as well. Just picture two neighbors: one guy who fixes refrigerators for a living and needs his car fixed; one guy who fixes cars for a living and needs his refrigerator fixed. But in this economy, both have been laid off and neither can afford to hire anyone to fix his broken stuff. Money is a common medium keeping them apart. If they are going to get together, it will be because they stepped outside of the money economy.
In many of our churches, we shy away from discussing money for fear that the subject will offend parishioners, drive them away, and divide us from one another. Occasionally you’ll get a sermon about tithing, or about money managements or stewardship, but even in intimate small groups, where people will openly ask one another, “When did you last look at porn,” nobody will ask each other, “How much do you make each year? What do you do with your money?”
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove considers this reticence a strong division within the church. He suggests a practice of “economic friendship,” following Jesus advice to “use money to make friends (Luke 16:9).” He says,
[I]f your church is anything like most, you probably has some members with what we call “surplus capital.” Others in your congregation most likely carry some debt – a mortgage at six percent interest or a credit card at sixteen percent that won’t be paid off for forty years. Now, imagine a conversation if people from those two groups sat down for a family business meeting to talk about money.
Some exchanges could probably be arranged among this group at no cost to anyone. If the person with extra money invested in a mutual fund with an average six percent yield agreed to cash out her investment and pay off her brother’s credit card bill, she could save him an incredible amount of money in compounded interest. If he, in turn, paid her back at the same rate that the mutual fund had been paying, she would go none the poorer for it. But they would both probably get to know one another better. Who knows what gifts they might discover that they have to share with one another?
Wilson-Hartgrove observes that this isn’t even a generous act, it’s simply a decision to invest in relationships with fellow church members rather than investing in large financial institutions. Christians in the church are being divided from one another (or remain divided) by their daily decisions to deal with financial institutions instead of trying to follow Paul’s command to “bear one another’s burdens.”
What do you think? Does money sometimes divide us? How so (or how does it not?) Do such economic friendships have any place in the church? Do economic practices fall under the purview of the church?
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Comments (10)
As usual, the Christian Left has is all backwards.
It's not okay to include God in our government and in our schools, but it's okay for the preacher to guilt trip us about the way we use our own hard earned money.
Churches don't have any business telling people what to do with their money. In fact, it is the duty of disciples to keep an eye on their leaders as they go about spending the disciples' tithe.
Just as Occupy Wall Street revealed its true nature of wickedness by its fecal stench, disease and lawlessness, the Christian Left does the same with its perversion of the Gospel and with the destruction of language.
"Investment" always means using somebody else's money. And "relationship" always means that what you own actually belongs to someone who needs it more than you do.
And here's the kicker: The Christian Left tells us all the time that money is the root of all evil. Except when they're in charge. Then money is used to "invest" in a "relationship".
This sort of nonsense needs to be challenged and driven out of Christianity all together.
I think that shying away from talking about money is poison to the church.
I have a similar conviction as is stated above- to bear one another's burdens. In fact, I talk about this with my wife often, and we've decided that wherever we go to pastor churches, we will stress the importance of helping one another out. This is something that was a big deal in the early church, but we've lost touch with what we are about, I guess.
I dont see a person who has a surplus of money giving it or paying off a poorer mans debt. they would not see it as investing in a person but wasting it. They would ask why the person wa sin debt, tell them they worked hard for thier money, and tell them to go buy a David Ramsey book and take the seminar. even if a deal was made, it would come with strings attached, putting hte rich man abover the poor man, which is contrary to the Kingdom of God, which says they are both equals. It really is a problem of greed and trust, one I think would/will be hard to overcome.
I'm chewing on that. We really need to step back from the systems we're involved in so that we can rightly observe them and see how they connect and don't connect to this Way of Christ. Money can be used for him or for someone else. Learning how to see that around us can be difficult and requires a reframing of our perspective. Good stuff. Things like this make me, of course, think of Relational Tithe, micro-loans, and similar projects.
@homealivein45@xanga - There was a reason why I prefer come to Xanga to read discussions intead of Yahoo. One of the reasons was the people on Xanga and its affiliates would generally not lump people into one absurd category like "Christian Left" and then try to stereotype using one-liners that someone has read a dozen times before. I thought most adults had learned that people and situations are more complex and can rarely be lumped into such asinine terms as right or left. Thanks for proving me wrong.
@snarkius@xanga - I was doing a parody because many of Revelife's articles are written by people who ridicule the Christian Right.
Nevertheless, Sir Nick, wonderful man that he is, is a leftist. A dyed in the wool Marxist who studied his history from leftist Howard Zinn.
Leftists are currently doing a good job of infiltrating Christian religious institutions and are teaching Marxist dogma under the guise of the Gospel.
Xanga is leftist and won't publish any alternative opinion pieces. I've submitted quite a few posts but there isn't a snow ball's chance in hell that any of them would be posted. So I'm relegated to the comment section.
"If the person with extra money invested in a mutual fund with an average six percent yield agreed to cash out her investment and pay off her brother’s credit card bill, she could save him an incredible amount of money in compounded interest. If he, in turn, paid her back at the same rate that the mutual fund had been paying, she would go none the poorer for it."
Until he stops paying, she's she's SOL and he's laughing all the way to the bank.
@Doubledb@xanga - If you're asking someone else to pay your bills for you, then why shouldn't there be requirements to go with it? If you want the luxury of getting to do whatever you want, you have to earn it and be able to pay for your lifestyle - not go around thinking that you can do anything you want and others should be expected to pay for your irresponsibility.
@jmallory@xanga - "In fact, I talk about this with my wife often, and we've decided that wherever we go to pastor churches, we will stress the importance of helping one another out."
Helping people out is fine - but you need to make sure that you equally (if not more so) stress the importance of not freeloading and taking advantage of someone else's kindness. I've known plenty of "Christians" who like to go around being irresponsible and constantly begging churches / friends / family for money to get through life instead of taking responsibility for themselves - and no, I'm not just talking about some college kids, I'm talking people who've been doing this for 30+ years as well.
@BimmerPhile@xanga - I know some people who do that as well. And I know many churches that have gotten in trouble that way.
@BimmerPhile@xanga - my only problem with requirements is it turns charity into a business agreement, it puts the rich person above the poor, the have over the have-not. This is the reason family does not normally like to pay for another family member debts, because it messes up the relationship. My mother once gave my aunt money to pay her electric bill and you know what she did - she went out and bought clothes. I do like the idea, but I do not know how practical it actually is: Also, is the poor person still paying interest, because then you would have to ask if that would be supported scripturally.