Dear Mike Bacon,Here is a reposting of a previous post. Since you brought up Jesus, there are a few things you should consider:
I have long asserted that what we are advocating on this board (economic justice) is consistent with the teachings of the bible, but I think that falls a little short. I now assert that it is the very basis of the bible, and to ignore that, you will miss the most important message: Help each other while we are alive.
God requires radically transformed economic relationships among his people, and instead has been shown personal selfishness, structural injustice, and economic oppression. A biblically-historical look back demonstrates how these failures result in catastrophe, and how when people have listened to the pleas of the poor, things turned out differently.
First, a word about private property. I believe in it, to a degree. My toothbrush is mine. I believe everyone should have possession enough to provide the basic necessities for themselves and family. But Weyerhauser owning more state land in Washington than anyone else? That is another story. And God is very clear that he really owns all the land, and that ôfamily ownershipö really meant stewardship.
The contrast between early Israel and the surrounding societies was striking. In Egypt, most of the land belonged to the Pharaoh or the temples. In most other surrounding countries, feudal systems of land holding prevailed. The king granted large tracts of land, worked by landless laborers, to a small number of royal vassals. Israel, on the other hand, was a decentralized egalitarian society with family ôownershipö. Joshua 18 and Numbers 26 contain accounts of the fair division of land. The story about NabothÆs vineyard (1 Kings 21) demonstrates the importance of each familyÆs ancestral land. Frequent Old Testament references about not moving ancient boundaries reinforces the idea that each family would have the available land needed to supply lifeÆs necessities. (Deut. 19:14, 27:17, Job 24:2, Proverbs 22:28, Hosea 5:10).
Which brings us to two of my favorites, Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15. Leviticus 25 calls for a return of the land to its original ôownershipö every 50 years! Physical handicaps, death of a breadwinner, bad luck, lack of ability etc. could lead a family to become poorer than others, and God doesnÆt want such disadvantages to lead to ever-increasing extremes of wealth and poverty. So he gave a law that returned land back to its rightful owner every 50 years. Leviticus 25:23, ôThe land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.ö In fact, the ôlandö was not sold at all, but the number of harvests (25:16).
Deteronomy 15 calls for the release of debts every seven years (!!!), and the ecological wisdom of letting the land rest every seven years. (And what spontaneously grew belonged to the poor, the traveler, and the beasts who happened upon it). It describes how one should not balk at the idea of lending to someone in the sixth year, that you may have the debt canceled in the next year. When was the last time you heard a capitalist support this type of arrangement?
Now, first century Christians took these lessons to heart, and demonstrated their beliefs by the way they lived. Communally, lovingly. They shared a common purse (John 16:6). In addition to the twelve, many women joined the community, sharing their financial resources (Luke 8:1, Mark 15:40). We have talked before about the Matthew 19:21 passage when Jesus advises the rich man to sell his property and ôCome, follow me,ö meaning join the community of sharing and love, where his security was not based on individual property holdings.
In Jerusalem :ôNow the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in commonö (Acts 4:32). Giving surplus to the needy was not enough. They regularly dipped into their reserves, selling property to aid the needy. Barnabas sold a field he owned. ôThere was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them;...and distribution was made to each as any had needö (Acts 4:34-35).
Acts 6 is like early affirmative action! The minority Hellenists spoke Greek, and their widows were neglected and overlooked. When the injustice was pointed out, the church responded by choosing seven men of Greek background to look after the matter. The church turned over its funds to the minority group, and this caused the ôword of Godö to ôincrease, the number of disciples multiplied.ö
Paul spent most of his life sharing and raising money for the needy and oppressed. Class divisions at Corinth horrified him, seeing wealthy Christians feasting at the Eucharist while poor folks were going hungry. ôAll who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselvesö(1 Corinthians 11:27-29). Paul also praised the Macedonians for giving ôbeyond their meansö (2 Corinthians 8:3). But he assured all that such giving was not to cause the hardships that many capitalism supporters assume will result. ôI do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, so that there may be equalityö (2 Corinthians 8:13-15). He also adds reference to the Exodus 16:13-21 account of the manna collecting, when greedy people gathered extra, but when it was all accounted there was just enough for everyone. ôHe that gathered much had no over, and he that gathered little had no lack.ö
What causes war? James 4:1-2 says this: ôWhat causes wars, and what causes fighting among you?... You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war.ö
Instances of forgetting the poor abound. (Isaiah 5:8-10, Amos 6:4-7, Luke 16:19-31, James 5:1-5 are a few.) Coveting without end causes poverty and our current economic system is based solely on unending coveting, ôgrowing the economyö and perpetually expanding markets. ôTake care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for oneÆs life does not consist in the abundance of possessionsö (Luke 12:15). Jesus was telling this to the rich man obsessed with material things, and whose land produced abundantly, and the man thought to himself, ôWhat should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?ö Then he said, ôI will...pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, æSoul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat drink, be merry.Æö But God said to him, ôYou fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?ö So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves, but are not rich toward God (Luke 12:16-21).
All of these examples demand action, not apathy. I donÆt understand how people who consider themselves Christians can ignore these examples. I donÆt understand how people who consider themselves Christians can support an economic system based on profit and collection of interest on loans for profit (see Exodus 22:25, Deut. 23:19, Leviticus 25:35-38). There are many many many more examples; it is impossible to list them all. The most frequent subjects in the Bible are Money, Property, Wealth, and Poverty (not in any particular order). If you believe that the Bible is the blueprint for how to live and what kind of society we should have, then start paying attention to its central message: Take care of each other, live fairly and free from strife, in peace, and help those around you to enjoy the bounty that is for all, not to be hoarded for a few. And that is also been my message on the Board, (but not quite so eloquently!).
Mike, The Everett Citizen
