Posted on 07/21/2017 7:38:48 AM PDT by Salvation
Those are very good points.
Funny...for years, I have discovered I can sniff out a liberal if not in the first few words they write, in the first sentence. Occasionally I get it wrong (particularly when it is satire, or if the writer is making an intentional decision to mislead with the lead) but the ability to do it has served me well.
You learn to read between the lines, and to see it quickly.
Why ask?
He is/was a clergyman (Don’t know if Mnsgr Pope is dead). They have a different view. They look at all the hungry people and look at your car and think “How many mouths could you have fed with the money for that car? How many orphans could you have clothed?”
It is a different outlook. St John Chrysanthemum was quite famous for going to the Empress and blasting her for spending money on frills while the people starved. Made her so mad she exiled him. He was also famous for eating so poorly it made him quite ill. Guests to his place were shocked at the poor accommodations he gave them. Such people are a very good mirror on our own spending.
There needs to be a balance. At some point, enough IS enough. I struggle with that myself. If we were honest, we all do. The race for more will kill your spiritual life.
The flip side is often people in the “non profit” industry (and that includes churches) are VERY greedy. They use the funds they raised for massive buildings, housing, salaries, and all sorts of things. Very few pennies on the dollar actually make to those in need.
I have friends who worked for a time with a major charity. One raised money for it as his primary job. He had a very nice house (better than I can afford as an engineer), nice company car, and prided himself that five cents of every dollar went to the mission of the charity. Five cents.
Now I am VERY selective on who we give to. So much so I donate more directly (help out a family locally that needs it, pay for a repair that is needed, etc). That often makes some of those sweet people calling me greedy go insane. THEY want the power and money, and are very greedy when I use that money directly rather than giving them their cut. They accuse me of stealing THEIR money and lifeblood. In truth, they are leeches of the worst variety.
I couldn't agree more...being in a race for more WILL kill you spiritually. What is that old saying, money isn't evil, it is the LOVE of money that is evil.
That said, I am in full on mode for Capitalism with a capital "C". Capitalism has done more than any charity, church, or government in the history of the world to raise the standard of living and reduce poverty. I don't think Capitalism and Social Good are mutually exclusive.
Thank you for those quotes.
Monsignor Pope is very much alive. One of our FReepers goes to Mass at his Church.
I couldn't agree more...being in a race for more WILL kill you spiritually. What is that old saying, money isn't evil, it is theLOVE of money that is evil.
That said, I am in full on mode for Capitalism with a capital "C". Capitalism has done more than any charity, church, or government in the history of the world to raise the standard of living and reduce poverty. I don't think Capitalism and Social Good are mutually exclusive.
Please remember that Jesus spent 90% of his life as a middle class small business man.
He spent his last breath making sure that His widowed mother was taken care of.
Meeting our worldly obligations is not a sin.
I would say so.
Prosperity gospel preachers come to mind.
I agree, Castlebar.
I thought that was envy.
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Good question. I think there cannot help but always be tension between our trust in God and our desire to plan prudently for our future. It would be nice if there were simple rules to resolve it, but, as with so many other areas of life, there seem not to be. Oh, well.
I think we'd have to conclude from reading the Bible the answer is no.
Consider:
David and Solomon were very wealthy.
After his ordeal Job was blessed with twice the wealth he previously had.
There was a group of women in the NT who supported Jesus and His disciples (Luke 8:3).
Ministry requires finances. You gotta eat and sleep somewhere.
There have been many other wealthy Christians. I think of Truett Cathy, founder of Chik-fil-a. He keeps is business closed on Sunday and doesn't stay open past 10.
I know there are countless others.
I think the reason the US has been blessed so much is that we still send a lot of missionaries around the world to spread the Gospel. That requires money.
Where I think the greed comes into play is when you have the mindset of the rich man whose land was very productive (Luke 8:13-21).
From that account we learn the man stored up treasure for himself. He had made no preparations for his eternal life. Nor does it seem he was generous with his finances.
I think there is no problem being wealthy and is something we should all strive to be. We should just then use that wealth to advance God’s will.
JoMa
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