The time is coming when people will be insane, and when
they will see someone who is not insane, they will attack that person saying:
‘You are insane because you are not like us.’
Abba Anthony
I want to challenge [Christians] to form a stance on how
one ought to walk the line between the creation of heavenly good and the
formation of earthly goods. Capitalism has been at the forefront of the world’s
largest beneficial leaps and behind the scenes in the perpetration of the world’s
grossest injustices. It has been a force for good and evil.
Grant Dunnavan
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus, as
quoted in Mark 10
____________________________________
It was like a bomb dropped into the midst of the
discussion
The foolish minister suggested that “blessed are the
meek”
might refer not to weakness
but to the posture of following the example of Jesus
and humbling
That it might mean letting go of the need to put oneself
forward,
To promote, protect, and benefit one’s self
And choosing instead to promote, protect, and benefit the
person in front of us.
And then suggested we think of it in terms of the
immigrants on the border
And the poor coming into the food bank
And in terms of our economic systems
And then he said the “C” word
Capitalism
Perhaps Capitalism, it was suggests
does not line up with the radicality of the Gospel
Boom
The foolish minister was of course me
And the discussion, actually, was healthy as we talked
about how capitalism
has driven a lot of good things (and it has). The world would probably not have seen the
advancements it has seen, in medicine, technology, and more, if not for
capitalism.
But we also had to face the fact that capitalism, for all
of the ways it benefits society, is driven by individual desires to “get
ahead.”
This was once pointed out powerfully by the conservative
economist Milton Friedman. He was asked by
Phil Donahue, “When you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you
ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed’s a good idea to
run on?”
Quick as a wink, Friedman responded, “Is there some
society you know that doesn’t run on greed? … What is greed? Of course, none of
us are greedy. It’s only the other fellow who’s greedy. The world runs on
individuals pursuing their separate interests.”
I have my issues with capitalism. And, if the truth were told, I have issues
with socialism. I have trouble with
pretty much every economic system that has been devised because they all, even
the most altruistic, have one flaw. They
are established and run by human creatures.
And it doesn’t generally turn out well. This is why, in 2021, the top 10 percent of
Americans held nearly 70 percent of US wealth, and the bottom 50 percent held a
mere 2.5 percent of the wealth.
Tickle-down doesn’t work.
When profit is the goal, and growth is the goal, the
tendency is for wealth to flow up.
So we have historic profit margins, and no increase in
the minimum wage.
We have people who have more money than they could ever
possibly spend
And people who have no home, not enough food
People who are barely making it
Or not making it
It is easy to say it is the fault of the poor (we do this
all of the time)
They make bad choices
They spend money on frivolous things
They….
Shame on them
I know about this
I have done it
Mea culpa
Mea maxima culpa
But this is where we are.
In a place where economic ideologies, and ideologies of power all take
us away from the radicality of the gospel.
Of selling all and giving all. Of
making sure we all get there together.
Of picking up our cross and following.
Which means embracing the cost and loss of the following
And some of that loss may be painful
A loss of money
Power
Safety
Comfort
Surety
Instead, we are driven by a need for power
And a need to accumulate
And a need to be in control (be safe)
And we chase after leaders who promise us
Power, control, domination, wealth
And promise to remove anything, or anyone, who makes us
uncomfortable
And so those furthest from God, out of touch with God’s
way
Have great power
And they point at those who are not like them
Those who would welcome the immigrant
Who would take care of the poor
Who would embrace people who are LGBTQI+
And say
They are weak.
They are sheep
They are insane
They are snowflakes
They are anti-American
They
Martin Luther King Jr was accused of being maladjusted
Because he refused to accept the things the world had
come to accept
Racism
Inequity
Violence
He responded by saying he was proud to be maladjusted
Because we cannot become comfortable with
We cannot adjust our minds and hearts to go along with
Racism
Inequity
Violence
We need to be maladjusted in a world where people have
become adjusted
To the wrong things.
I don’t have a solution for greed
Or Donald Trump and the cult of retribution (now he is
going to “get” MSNBC” All enemies are
now targets for annihilation)
I don’t have a solution for the desire for power and
safety
I just know that the radicality of the Gospel
Challenges so many of the things I have become adjusted
to, and comfortable with.
And I have to be willing to pick up the cross of change
The cross of humility
Even sacrifice
If I am going to be the kind of presence in this world
That Jesus wants me to be
