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?

Rambling Idiots

Day 182: Ezekiel 20-24

With all that is going on in our country today--a bad economy, a massive debate about healthcare for all, poverty, injustice, and on and on and on--I read Ezekiel with a mind towards God and all that he can do to save our country. God can solve all our problems. He will do so when he comes. All the stupidity, idiocy, and hatred will be gone and replaced with love. Come, Lord Jesus, please come soon and save us from all this. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of America thinking that they alone are your people. I'm tired of people not looking out for the poor, the orphans, and the widows. I'm tired of people equating Christianity with America and seeing the values of both as one and the same. Please, Lord, come soon. But if you don't, please show Christians how to live in this culture but to be different from it. Please, Lord. Please.

Deuterono...WHAT?

Day 38: Deuteronomy 21-25

Have you ever wondered why we (as Christians) believe and abide by certain passages of scripture while other passages of scripture are chalked up to being cultural and we therefore don't see them as relevant? For example, the reading for today discusses what happens when a man: marries more than one woman, hangs someone on a pole, needs to kill rebellious children, takes a woman captive, flogs someone in the presence of a judge, has to marry his sister-in-law because his brother dies, wants to find proof of a woman's virginity (I have to admit that I hate the idea of this one), and loans money to people and shouldn't charge interest to someone from the same country while he should charge it to "foreigners".

After reading this list, what do you think of these laws? Don't most of them seem outrageous to you? Outdated, even? They do to me. But why is this the case? Why do we view some laws, particularly in the Old Testament, as being outdated, ancient, and purely connected to Jewish culture, while others within these same passages are viewed as laws for us today? Hard and fast rules we need to follow?

I can only guess at the reason here (and I'm sure there are many, with one being that Jesus changed and extended many of these laws), but it seems to me that the answer has to do with our own current notions of right and wrong. That is, when we view a practice as "right"-eous today, we thus view the biblical practice as outdated and associated with the Israelite culture; however, when we view the practice as sinful today, we view the biblical practice as right (and therefore relevant, appropriate, and current).

For instance, today, I think we can all agree that we view it as wrong to flog, hang, or murder people. As a result, we view the biblical commands related to these "sins" (or practices) as something that was cultural to the Israelites and therefore not relevant to us today. However, when we view a behavior or attitude today as "sinful," we refer to the passages in the Bible (where it is also deemed sinful), and we justify our way of looking at the world through the biblical lens.

But, why isn't everything cultural? How do we decide what's cultural and what's not? I don't know, but I think it's something we should all consider as we decide what we believe and why we believe it.

And, just in case you're still wondering about the kinds of passages that have me thinking about these issues, I leave you with Deuteronomy 25:11:

"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Uh, was this a common problem? Do we need a law for everything?

America, America

Day 18: Exodus 18 to 21

In the reading for today, God continues to develop his relationship with Moses. Moses and God seem to be pretty tight, particularly because Moses obeys God and fears him. They have several conversations and Moses functions as the go-between between God and Israel. In a way, Moses foreshadows Jesus. Although Moses is by no means Jesus, Moses serves some of the same function as Jesus does, particularly in terms of speaking to the people.

I really admire Moses. He seems like a great guy who lives his life trying to do the right thing. He’s also the one that God entrusted to take His laws to the Israelite people, laws which included the Ten Commandments.

As I was reading the Ten Commandments tonight, I was struck by how these laws don’t seem so much like “God’s laws” per se as they do laws of human nature, natural laws. It seems that these laws make our world better, no matter in what religion you believe. For instance, the law of Sabbath is not so much about religious practice as it is about the need for humans to rest and reflect so we can function better and be more at one with God, ourselves, and others. In addition, when we have no other gods except the one true God, we realize what other things in our life take up the space that God should hold. These laws, if we follow them, lead us to a greater and fuller existence. One where we sacrifice ourselves for God and for others.

In the United States, we have all these debates about whether or not we should put the Ten Commandments up in our courtrooms, our schools, or our parks. Although I understand why some want to fight so that the Ten Commandments remain in these places so that we can see them and so that our society can be ruled by the, first, we must understand that these commandments are already natural law—whether they’re in government buildings or not.

For me, I don’t think it’s so important that we fight for the Ten Commandments to remain in these places. Rather, I think it’s more important for us to live our lives by following them.

Not killing.

Not coveting.

Not stealing.

Not lying.

Not having other gods.

Not making idols for ourselves.

Not committing adultery.

Not cursing God.

Honoring our parents and grandparents.

And resting and reflecting on God and His word.

If we write these laws on our hearts, we don’t need to see them in government buildings to know what they say. The true testament of our faith isn’t that we’re fighting for them to be written in print; the true testament of our faith is how we live out our lives. Do we obey God and follow the laws that He has established for us—laws that are meant to protect us and not to hurt us? Or do we focus more of our time on trying to preserve an America that probably never existed in the first place rather than truly reflecting and meditating on the laws themselves.

If we live our lives according to the laws, America might see God in us; but if we spend too much energy fighting for the preservation of the laws in our buildings, then they may never see what’s truly inside our hearts.

Regardless, God is in control.