I must warn you that I’m embarking on this series in the hope to confront, expose and re-examine my own lifestyle in the affluent western cultural setting I find myself in – with the express intention of actually causing some practical application in my life. Like a good preacher (well, sort of like a good preacher), I’m preaching to myself first. The thought is that by doing so – I might be able to facilitate similar thoughts and actions in you, my reader. I might say things that could challenge to the point of offense, and I will almost certainly say something that is wrong. All I’d ask is that you don’t leave it at that, but that you engage in the conversation, tell me I’m full of horse-radish, but most importantly tell me why. Because I’m more than happy to be wrong, as long as I can understand why I’m wrong.
One of the central promises of the empire of the Western World™ is the concept of security, and finding security in the things of this world. Security is perhaps the most innocuous and yet one of the most sacredly held promises of the westernised, suburban lifestyle. Everyone wants to feel safe, and “won’t someone please think of the children!”. For the sake of attempting to “deconstruct” the promises of the empire, it’s probably easiest to dissect the promise of security into a few basic sub-categories. So, the empire promises:
- Financial Security
- Geographical Security
- Personal Security
Financial Security
We might as well tackle the behemoth first. Financial security is the cornerstone of the modern day western thinking towards achieving a sense of well-being and happiness. Our entire political conversation in this country centres around the question of who we trust to best manage the economy, because we all know that a poorly performing economy reduces our chances of achieving financial security. Deeply ingrained into the modern mindset is the belief that one must first ensure that their own future can be guaranteed, before we might think of the financial needs of others.
We might (start believing that we) mature beyond wanting endless amounts of “stuff”, because we can recognise that this stuff doesn’t fill the void in our lives, but we still need to save up all our money, put it into something “responsible”, like the bank or into the sharemarket, so that we’ve got something to fall back on in the event of “a rainy day”. This scenario plays out in the minds of almost all members of western society at one level or another, and it’s dominates our approach towards money. The suburban lifestyle lauds home ownership as being the great saviour of all uncertainty, because if all else fails “you’ll always have the house”.
And we as Christians have bought into the promise that financial security is a necessity. At times we’ve even bought into the concept that “I can help other people more if I work on being richer myself. We’ve started actually believing that it’s the responsible thing to do, to store up our money so that we can feel safe. Like any kind of yearning for security, the need for financial security is rooted in fear. Not a fear of God, but a fear of the world, and a fear of circumstances. It comes to a point where we stop recognising the source of our decisions, and simply start believing that it’s common sense. But, like it or not, it seems to me that any dependence on the ways of the world for our financial security must be as a result of a lack of dependence on God. Yes, that’s harsh, but I can’t logically come to any other conclusion.
The message Christ taught, and that Paul and the disciples preached, had no place for a reliance on savings and investment for “a rainy day”. I cannot read the words of Jesus any other way, than requiring a dependence on God for our financial needs into the future. This was a man who called each of his disciples to leave everything they had if they were to follow him.
Matthew 6:19 – 21, 31 – 34
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…. 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I see in the way Jesus talks, no thought of “Love your neighbour, as soon as you’ve got yourself into a position where you couldn’t ever need again”. There’s not any prospect of “hold off until you’ve got your own stuff sorted out” thinking that seems to be rife across the way that we western christians think. Being a follower of Jesus, has to be about trusting in him, and trusting that he can look after your long term needs. I’m not trying to advocate a widespread exit of the workplace, or even that you ought to no be in a high-paying position. But I do firmly believe that we’ve allowed ourselves to believe that our own financial security should rank more highly than giving to the poor, which I find to be a notion completely contrary to the gospel.
Imagine what the church could look like if instead of putting aside treasures on earth for ourselves, we contributed that money to invoke actual change in the lives of the poor and needy in this world. There’s a lot of money that goes into keeping Christians feeling safe, and I’m really beginning to get the picture that a change in this area could have a monumental effect on the world we live in. We could really give the empire something to sit up and take notice of. So, here’s the opportunity to fight back against the heresies I’m spouting: what place is there for concern about financial security in the kingdom of God? Tell me I’m wrong…
(Stay tuned for the next installment of “Dismantling the Empire” where I’ll tackle Geographical and Personal Security)
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” by Mike Frost, and it’s an idea that comes up in “Make Poverty Personal: The Bible’s call to end oppression”, which I’ve just finished reading a matter of minutes ago.
. It’s a little bit of a different format, but that’s partly because this will eventually (I hope) become the basis for a sermon-y type of talk.