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The questions of wealth and poverty are some of the key ones in the narratives of early Christianity. The characters of the Biblical scriptures attempt to measure each others worth through indirect assessments of wealth and material possessions, manifested in their ability to worship notably. As the majority of religions, Christianity includes a significant ritualistic element that holds a deep spiritual importance for all the practitioners. Yet ones capacity to engage in said ritual is often limited by material resources, as they often involve the purchase of candles and oils and large amounts of charity.
It is therefore not uncommon for a somewhat sinister competition to ensue among the faith practitioners. Ones love for God and gratitude to His sacrifice can sometimes be mistakenly measured by the financial value a person may contribute to the church or their community. It is indirectly implied, that those whose offerings are poorer and appear to be less special do not feel their faith and conviction to the same degree as other, richer individuals. And yet this sentiment, although prevalent, severely contradicts the principles and convictions of Jesus himself as exhibited throughout different versions of the scripture. This paper attempts to examine Christs relationships with wealth, money and poverty and provide an analysis of these relationships.
The manufacturing, trade practices, and accumulation of privately owned wealth are the foundations of market economies that in turn facilitate the modern way of life. This fact is so pervasive in many communities that the chase of wealth has become a goal in itself without any particular reason behind it. From a Christian point of view, however, wealth is a phenomenon that is to be treated with suspicion. The sources of such fortune and the practices with which it has originated and is currently maintained attract Christs questions and observation skills.
Jesus does not consider the growth of wealth to be a worthwhile goal in and of itself, which puts the Christianitys position on the subject in opposition with the dominant cultural paradigm. Just as ones work must demonstrate a deep care for others and a refusal to utilize job-related power or influence only for personal benefit, so too must money be used with a deep concern for neighbors. He insists that the real richness is found in love and spirituality that gets spread around the people a player interacts with.
Furthermore, he is concerned for wealthy and prosperous people around, due to a fact that, in Jesus eyes, wealth has started to replace god for them. Jesus wished people would understand that their lives are defined by Gods love for them and his call on their lives, not by what they have come to possess. The aim of protecting wealth dominates the internal spiritual lives of some of the most prosperous, compromising diplomatic persons.
The contradictory dynamic between material possessions and spiritual harmony has led to a rather strong sentiment famously exhibited by Jesus in the Bible. Christ addresses one of his disciples claiming that t is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew, 19:24). This statement indicates the degree of the already mentioned distrust and even dislike Jesus has felt towards the majority of rich people. This dislike, although not aimed at the people themselves but at their wealth and privilege contains interesting implications. If one argues that wealth and material possessions increase the distance between a persons soul and heaven, then by the reverse logic the poorest worshippers are the closest ones to paradise.
To bring it back to the questions of worship and rituals, Christ believes a poor persons genuine offering to be more valuable than a shallow gesture made by a wealthy patron. Even when bringing the comparison and the exchange in strictly monetary terms for multiple parties involved, the implication remains consistent. Between the two worshippers who have made a financial contribution to the cause of the church the one of a poorer people is more valuable in Christs eyes. The significance of said gestures is relative, determined primarily by the weight of a sacrifice they have committed. And since for a poorer worshipper an average donation feels significantly more impactful then perhaps a bigger sum of money pledged by a wealthy patron, the point remains relevant.
Yet all of these negative views on the topic are primarily an attribute of the New testaments. As many other elements of the Christian canon, the biblical stanza on wealth and material possessions changes substantially between the Old and the New testaments. Old testament leaves a room for wealthy people to maintain strong morals, emphasizing that not all forms of wealth are doomed to be gained through evil deeds. Old testament asserts, that some people may be simply born with riches or have the riches placed upon them by the fate. Metaphorically speaking, Old Testament states that riches might sometimes be a gift from God to those worthy of it.
Overall, Jesus views on wealth are closer to the negative end of the spectrum due to the tendency people possess of idolizing their possessions. The greater said possessions, the stronger the tendency, and the greater is the distance between the people in question and the heaven as the Christian worldview suggests. It seems appropriate to recall how Jesus Christ himself walked the Earth dressed as a beggar, enduring the life hardships of the poorest among poorest. Wealth is seen by Christ as means to an end that can be noble, but the pursuit of wealth for the sake of it is unequivocally condemned.
Work Cited
Balentine, Samuel E. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology. Oxford University Press: 2014 (The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology).
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