What's Mine Is Mine!

Day 201: Micah 1-4

I have heard the following arguments throughout my life:
     *Individuals, not the government, should give to the poor, the oppressed, the needy.
     *My money is my money, and I don't want the government taking my money and giving it someone else.
     *I already give my money to noble causes, and the government has no right to take my money and give it away to someone who doesn't have any.

At certain points in my life, I, too, believed that the government didn't have a right to take money away from an individual. Individuals who work hard and earn money shouldn't be penalized by those who don't work hard and don't earn money. At the times I believed these things, I was a giver. I gave money to churches and other organizations, and I also gave of my time. Still, I believed that we shouldn't have so many government programs that help people who aren't working hard, like I was.

I hope you can see that I don't believe this creed anymore. While I still believe that hard work and hard effort can pay dividends, I also believe that people "without" are not necessarily "without" because they aren't working hard. Instead, many other factors are at work, including family background, educational opportunities, race, and gender. 

Many people I know--good people, Christian people--still believe that the government "should not take my money and give it away." Just last week, for instance, I heard a friend of mine say, "I don't want my money going to pay for someone else's healthcare." This comment came from a Christian. She is a good person, but I think she misses the point.

First, my money isn't really my money to begin with. The Bible tells us that everything we have comes from the Lord, so it's really not ours in the first place. It's God's money. He's given it to us. We haven't earned it. He's given to us. So when we start becoming possessive about our money and everything else we have, we need to remember that it's all God's to begin with. He can give, and he can take away.

Second, and I think more important, is something I have learned in my journey through reading the Old Testament prophets: that this notion of mine and yours is less biblical than the notion of "what I have can be given to you"--not only in the Jesus sense but also based on God's relationship with Israel.

We are an individualistic culture. Everything is about me and my. But God's relationship with Israel was communal. They were all responsible for the mistakes of everyone else. The entire nation was responsible for taking care of the least among them. As a nation, they were even responsible for not oppressing and taking advantage of lesser nations, weaker nations.

These prophets, including Micah, talk about how Israel will be judged and condemned because of their oppression. Those with the money and power will be judged because of their oppression of those who don't have money or power. The nation as a whole is judged, not just individuals who have money and give. It seems that God, through these prophets, condemns how the tax system is unfair, how it privileges the wealthy and exploits the poor. For these reasons, I no longer can believe that God doesn't have a side on taxes--how the rich should have higher taxes so the poor can live a better life. God punishes Israel--he judges and condemns them--for not taking care of the oppressed and the poor, and God might punish America, too, for these same reasons, especially if Christians do not start fighting for the poor.

I know this subject is a sensitive one. All sides think they are doing right and that their values and beliefs coincide with God. What scripture tells us again and again is that God cares for the weakest amongst us. My question here is: "Do we?" And if we do care about these people like we say we do, then what does this mean in terms of how we think about our money?

What's mine is mine?
What's mine is God's?
What's mine is yours?