Richie Rich - Church Elder?
"The rich man takes a great deal of pains to get an estate together, and sits brooding upon it, but never has any comfort nor satisfaction in it; his projects to enrich himself by sinful courses miscarry and come to nothing. Let us therefore be wise in time--what we get to get it honestly, and what we have to use it charitably, that we may lay up in store a good foundation and be wise for eternity." M. Henry
Jim Wallis in his recent book "God's Politics" asks a penetrating question. He inquires in the first paragraph of the first chapter of the book: "How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and only pro-American?" I don't fully suscribe to Wallis's perspective, but I think he raises valid points (God corrects imbalances by contrary imbalances--in this case Right and Left Wings).
I am not discounting the dangers of living by the sword or nationalistic messianism, yet I think of the three, Wallis's comment about the distortion of the faith of Jesus being pro-rich in the U.S. is the most disturbing and devastatingly on-target. The love of money has ruined many. Like the Rich Fool is Luke, we store up money for our own ease and think little about how we can use it to enrich others. Full wallets often are indicators of empty hearts. However, wise charity looks a lot different than giving a drunk five dollars...that is not charity, that is subsidizing sin.
When acquisition of money becomes the ultimate goal (the idol), then the means to get money will inevitably lead to great temptations to do so dishonestly. It is possible to gain wealth justly--sometimes the camel can go through the eye of a needle--because Jesus said all things are possible for God. It is just hard to do. If a man puts sex on the highest pedestal, will he not lie to a woman ("Sure I love you, baby!") to get it? Let's be real...all he loves is his own member.
I did a web search yesterday on the comic character "Richie Rich" to further elaborate the "Poor Little Rich Boy" refrain (how the pursuit of money can make one's soul poor, although the comic book always showed the upside of riches). Instead of reading about Richie Rich the comic character, I came across this video from 1997 of the rapper Richie Rich asking "Do G's Get to go to Heaven?" I think by "G's" he means Gangstas (but I am a whitey, so forgive me if I am wrong). Click the title "Richie Rich - Church Elder?" to see it.
The video is jarring and sad. The return on the love of money in his inner-city culture is paid back with bullets. Although a church is shown in the video, it is telling that RR is alone in an empty church (and) the church is a building and not a community of people incarnating themselves on the street.
I am not done thinking about it. Further thoughts will follow in subsequent blog postings.
Jim Wallis in his recent book "God's Politics" asks a penetrating question. He inquires in the first paragraph of the first chapter of the book: "How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and only pro-American?" I don't fully suscribe to Wallis's perspective, but I think he raises valid points (God corrects imbalances by contrary imbalances--in this case Right and Left Wings).
I am not discounting the dangers of living by the sword or nationalistic messianism, yet I think of the three, Wallis's comment about the distortion of the faith of Jesus being pro-rich in the U.S. is the most disturbing and devastatingly on-target. The love of money has ruined many. Like the Rich Fool is Luke, we store up money for our own ease and think little about how we can use it to enrich others. Full wallets often are indicators of empty hearts. However, wise charity looks a lot different than giving a drunk five dollars...that is not charity, that is subsidizing sin.
When acquisition of money becomes the ultimate goal (the idol), then the means to get money will inevitably lead to great temptations to do so dishonestly. It is possible to gain wealth justly--sometimes the camel can go through the eye of a needle--because Jesus said all things are possible for God. It is just hard to do. If a man puts sex on the highest pedestal, will he not lie to a woman ("Sure I love you, baby!") to get it? Let's be real...all he loves is his own member.
I did a web search yesterday on the comic character "Richie Rich" to further elaborate the "Poor Little Rich Boy" refrain (how the pursuit of money can make one's soul poor, although the comic book always showed the upside of riches). Instead of reading about Richie Rich the comic character, I came across this video from 1997 of the rapper Richie Rich asking "Do G's Get to go to Heaven?" I think by "G's" he means Gangstas (but I am a whitey, so forgive me if I am wrong). Click the title "Richie Rich - Church Elder?" to see it.
The video is jarring and sad. The return on the love of money in his inner-city culture is paid back with bullets. Although a church is shown in the video, it is telling that RR is alone in an empty church (and) the church is a building and not a community of people incarnating themselves on the street.
I am not done thinking about it. Further thoughts will follow in subsequent blog postings.
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