Property and Wealth is not evil! Starving is!

In an age of materialism, and a fairly dominant but fading North American culture I often have forgotten or misunderstood why the abundance of Property and Wealth disturbs me.

God has made all things good, so there’s nothing wrong with prosperity, wealth and materials correct? Correct.

I feel like my internal struggle has been to reduce for the sake of simplicity, less possessions to worry about, more money to send out. This was my biblical theological grasp of why I should have less. This doesn’t apply very easily. I am working on another house, that is mine, I have use of 3 means of transportation, could this really be my belief? It isn’t really and it has been great to put together the words and ideology to convey what and why my heart believes.

My real motivation that I have picked up not from within Christendom is that I must do all possible to figure out how to spread my wealth/possessions to other people. Christ has called us to love Him, and to Love others. I think it is easy for us to view food, clothes, and property as evil things. This is the way most probably think, when talking about possessions, and get really defensive. It is not that things are evil, but it is because people are starving. Some of us have no clue what that really looks like, and have no idea how fortunate we are to even have the opportunity of welfare from our government. In the Old Testament biblical culture is all about community and caring for one another, it is very much of the same way in the New Testament. OT examples, Jubilee, Sabbatical Year. NT examples collection of money to spread to other churches that are hurting (Gal 2:10) (Rom.15:22-28). So if you have been blessed, do not give up on finding ways to give back, even in the littlest ways. We have been called to share the wealth, that many of us can easily attain in America.

Americans consume most of the worlds natural resources, how selfish is that? Do we really attempt to share, give, or spread out our wealth so that others may get to enjoy even some of the simplest things in life such as adequate nutritional diets of protein and carbohydrates. Are we willing to share just so that little kids can have brains and bodies that can actually develop into well thinking adults? When kids are between 0-2 many are malnourished and are not able to have good brain development because their nutritional needs are not met. By not sharing we are somewhat purposely creating adults that will not be able to function at their fullest potential. We need band-aids and doctors to figure out what’s wrong not ignorance.

If you have always visited nice places for vacations, please go visit some slums. Whether stateside or overseas. There probably are some just on the other side of town. Then think of what its like when there are no resources, or strong buildings.