Material Reduction

Jesus had tough words for the wealthy. Think of his words to the rich young ruler to “sell everything you have and give to the poor . . . then come, follow me” (Luke18:22). Or consider his “woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” (Luke 6:24). The inauguration of the Lord’s ministry is framed by the words of the prophet Isaiah: “the Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Is. 61:1; Luke 4:18).
It is not surprising that the wealthiest culture in the history of the world would be uncomfortable with this aspect of the gospel. We prefer ignoring this teaching or, if we cannot ignore it, domesticating it. Yes, we say to ourselves, Jesus said these things, but we know that wealth and possessions are not the real problem. It is our attitude toward money and things that Jesus is really concerned about. After all, Abraham was a wealthy guy, etc., etc. In some circles we are even told that God wants us to be rich. Now my point is not to argue against a nuanced understanding of the biblical teaching about wealth and possessions. Nor is is to set a Christian standard for “maximum earned income” or to advise you to give away your retirement savings. Rather, my concern is that as well-off western Christians, we should not get comfortable with the Lord’s teaching about wealth.
His first hearers were shocked by his teaching (“who then can be saved?!). But we are not shocked. That we are so comfortable with his words suggests that there is some serious reductionism taking place. Our culture is driven by the “need” to spend, acquire, and consume far beyond what is healthy for any of us. The constant bombardment of slick advertising fans the flame of desire. We are consumed by consumption. But in our quest for more, we find that we have less, particularly in the realm of the Spirit. Jesus, of course, knows full well how distracted we are. We should expect that he would address these questions, expect that the gospel would lay the ax at the root of the tree of our consumption. We should also expect that as western Christians our tendency would be to avoid the cutting edge of the kingdom message at just this point. And so we do. What would happen in our churches if we were more open in speaking with each other about how we use our money, how much “stuff” is enough, or how our daily lives are structured around the pursuit of things? I suspect that much of our silence on these issues is also a reflection of the Christian narcissism which says that spirituality is about my private relationship to God but has little place for mutual accountability within the body of Christ. Written by: David Dunbar