Our Relationship To Money

I often think of the famous quote from Jesuit priest John Haughey, “We read the Gospel as if we had no money, and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the Gospel.”  I don’t know what it’s like elsewhere, but this would seem to be the case for most Christians in the United States.

If you attended church yesterday, you probably heard the story of Jesus saying, ”Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s.” He was responding to a question about money.

And in today’s gospel, money comes up again. Two people are involved in an inheritance conflict and ask Jesus to settle it. Instead Jesus tells a story about the dangers of greed and excess wealth.

Jesus, in one way or another, is ALWAYS talking about money and or economics.

It’s estimated that about half of Jesus’ parables relate to money somehow. Furthermore about 25% of his words somehow address economics/stewardship, and 10% of the gospel verses are about money.

I want to share with you a diagram that consistently haunts me. It’s from a mentor of mine named Paul Kivel (www.paulkivel.com) and comes from his article, “Social Service or Social Change?”

<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Qz17OdCTmjckmj6guoGPUP0ZZmNyblKRapTdIkI8tpXNo_LuJvGRX77ruIe23glz0_FBu7SXin5y_HURVOUqTS1HEEnOTmikUv-198bNlsiQhjoNUAEIi1YjY_lio1kRToI3E4DyozOmlPi_PstloOc" alt="

Just take in this reality for a minute. 1% of our population controls 43% of the wealth and the top 10% control more than ¾ of the net wealth in the United States. Meanwhile, 50% of the population owns just 1% (and that’s not counting people with negative wealth – meaning that they have more debt than wealth). Mind you, it only takes a net income of about $180,000 to be in the top 10%, a net income of about $100,000 to be in the top 15% and an income of $67,000 to be in the top 25%. This may help to -re-place some of when we think about “who is wealthy.”

What do you feel when you consider this? Where are you located in this mix?

There are so many historical and contemporary reasons that the pyramid is that way – which definitely require our time, attention, study and analysis. But that is the backdrop of everyday life in the United States. In Jesus’ time, he already saw tremendous wealth inequality and spoke of it often. What Jesus witnessed, however, is nothing compared with what we’re living in now.

Jesus is clear in the gospels that we “can’t serve God and mammon.” In Greek, the word mammon meant “wealth or riches” but it referred to wealth in a “personal” sense – meaning that wealth/riches were thought of as an entity. This entity, at least in the biblical imagination, had the power to rob us of our humanity because it could take us out of our character and get us doing things that we know are not good for us or others.

It seems the ancients knew what science is now telling us. Increasing wealth tends to be correlated with decreased empathy, clouded moral judgment, and changes in our sense of self (among othert things).

Which is why Jesus cautions us against greed (and wealth accumulation). He knows that the pursuit of money, the protection of money, the investment of money, the tracking of money and the spending of money all can spell disaster for our souls and our ability to care for each other as God envisioned.

Clearly we have a very distorted relationship with money in our culture, and in spite of the massive inequality, being ‘wealthy’ remains a fascination and pursuit of many. Moreover, given the rampant materialism of our culture, so many of us have more than we need. We have more food than we need. Bigger houses than we need. More luxuries than we need. More stuff than we need. More money than we need.

Meanwhile, more and more people (here and globally) have less food than they need. Less space than they need (if they even have space). No luxuries (most are missing the basics). No stuff and far less money than they need to even do the things they need to do to stay alive and well.

So where might this leave us?

There’s no one prescription that I can write in a blog that is going to speak to everyone’s situation. We each need to reflect more deeply on what this conversation might be inviting us to. But maybe we start with a few questions.

What’s your relationship like with money?

What messages about money (from your family or the culture) have shaped you?

Would you say you have more money or stuff or space than you need? If so, how did that happen?

If someone from a much lower income bracket were looking at your money and spending situations, what might they say or think?

What actions does this get you thinking about in your life?

In the biblical vision, money comes from God and is to be used for God’s purposes. It is meant to flow freely and serve the community and not get “stuck” in certain places. But that is what has happened. A lot of money has gotten stuck from serving the common good. St. Ambrose of Milan once said, “When giving to the poor, you are not giving what is yours, rather you are paying back what is theirs. Indeed what is common to all and has been given to all to make use of, you have usurped for yourself alone.”

May some resources get unstuck in our world!