Re: Money is a tool. A Message to Redistributionists

Pim,

I suspect Christians do not consider the Jubilee mostly because we
have divorced ourselves from the old covenant, which is a process Paul
began and maybe we have taken too far. I will go on record as saying
the Jubilee is not a command for all the nations, but for the people
of Israel so that they might be strong through the ages before the
coming of the Messiah. One can make an excellent case for such a
system being more effective for sustaining social equality, but that
does not make it the best economic system for today, especially
because the world is much more interconnected than in an agrarian
society like ancient Israel. I read recently that the challenge of
rich nations today is making sure that social equality remain in the
face of economic inequality: not impossible, but a challenge.

Jewish people even today make the mistake of believing God's favor
vicariously extends to them individually because he blessed them
corporately. A corporate view of charity commits the same error. Are
we individually storing up treasures in heaven when we leave caring
for the poor to the government? Caring for the poor is our
responsibility -- yours and mine and everyone else, and we could all
do a better job of it. I am not aware of Jesus saying anything else
on the matter.

Chris

On 3/9/06, Pim van Meurs <pimvanmeurs@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Interesting response, but missing the point again. My comment is one of
> wonder why Christians seem to be unwilling to implement some biblical
> teachings while adhering to others. Do we as Christians get to chose what
> part of the Bible we like or dislike? Is that your attitude towards the
> Bible or am I missing something?
>
> I am not sure where you got your idea about imposing my religious conscience
> on others, I am merely asking about how others interpret the Jubilee and why
> it seems to be totally ignored.
>
> Perhaps it's time for Janice to read more carefully before responding? But
> at least we seem to agree that imposing religious belief onto others is the
> wrong approach.
> The real question for me however is how Christians deal with the concept of
> the Jubilee and why it seems to have been mostly ignored? But perhaps my
> reading of the bible is too literal :-)
>
>
>
> Janice Matchett <janmatch@earthlink.net> wrote:
> At 11:58 PM 3/8/2006, Pim van Meurs wrote:
>
> How sad. The wealth gap is real and I wonder why Christians seem to be
> unwilling to apply the concept of Jubilee to rectify these inequities.
> @ I suggest that you get together with a bunch of other legalistic-minded
> professing Christians and put that idea into practice among yourselves.
>
> But don't think that anyone is going to allow you to obtain enough power
> and control to impose your religious conscience on the rest of us. -- which,
> like Pat Robertson, et.al., you would do in a heartbeat if you had the
> chance.
>
> ~ Janice
>
>
>
>
> So why do you love it Janice since I find few redeeming Christian aspects in
> the message, other than perhaps 'apologetics'
>
> Janice Matchett <janmatch@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I love it. ~ Janice
>
> "Money is a tool. And wealth, accumulation of money, is a bunch of tools.
> Now when one person, a carpenter for instance, has a bunch of tools, we
> don't say to him, "You have too many tools. You should give some of your
> saws and drills and chisels to the guy who is cooking the omelets." We don't
> try to close the tool gap."
>
>
>
Received on Thu Mar 9 08:57:54 2006