I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
If we actually acquire wealth through intentional dishonesty on our part we ought to make restitution rather than spending it ourselves for any cause, however prudent. We are not being given permission to cheat others even for the sake of a praiseworthy goal. But Jesus does want us to understand the ways that all wealth is in some measure dishonest. This is partly because of systemic corruption that makes it almost impossible to participate in the economy without at least remote cooperation with evil. In regard to this problem with wealth we ought to do our best to avoid feeding the corruption and to invest in causes trying to make the world more just. But even this more noble use of wealth carries in it some measure of dishonesty. It carries the subtle hint the wealth itself has a power that can perfect the world. It insinuates the idea the problems are fundamentally problems of the markets, or of economic distribution, or of the divide between the rich and the poor. Wealth would have us believe that, although it caused these problems, it could solve them if we simply served it more faithfully. It tells us two things that are definitely false. The first is that money can overcome problems that are of a fundamentally moral nature. The second is that money can achieve anything permanently and definitively. In response to the first, we know that moral problems reside in human hearts where wealth is more likely to exacerbate rather than heal. And we know that even the most noble uses of wealth lead to solutions that are ultimately temporary. Even if a good project doesn't succumb to corruption its effects will eventually fade into history and no longer be felt in the present. This is why we must use our wealth prudently, as people with eternal destinies, for the sake of the Kingdom. It is the only goal that can last, and therefore matters so much that even other good things are trivial by comparison.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
Why must we even contend with wealth one way or the other? Because by doing so we demonstrate our readiness for eternity. When we use our wealth for the sake of the Kingdom we demonstrate a beginner level of self-possession, where we are not being manipulated by wealth, but using it in moral freedom. When we can deal with the temporary resources we have been given, without the need for deceit or concealment, we demonstrate integrity, signaling our readiness to live in the world to come, where all things will be revealed, and where nothing can be hidden. Little by little, as faithful stewards, we eliminate the shadows in which our egos hide and emerge into the light. By contrast, those who insist on remaining in the shadows even in the temporal affairs signal their unwillingness to dwell in the light, whatever they may profess with their words. Fearfully, these true intentions of theirs are the ones that may be honored if they persist to the end.
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
If we want treasure in heaven we can't allow the treasures of earth to rule us, and, to the measure that we have been entrusted with them, we must not squander them. Just as with our time and our talents we are called to be faithful stewards of our treasures, demonstrating that Jesus really is the Lord of our lives. As we move from serving the ego self to devotion to him we are prepared, through grace, to receive the only reward that can last, the one gift worth receiving, and the only true wealth: God himself.
Pat Barrett featuring Christ Tomlin - As For Me
No comments:
Post a Comment