What Jesus says about the curse of ownership

Christians regularly deny, avoid, sidestep and water down the sayings of Jesus. I could easily produce a long list of ignored Jesus sayings. Just now I ask you to consider one of my top candidates for most ignored sayings of Jesus: “Do not store up treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.”

Ownership and economics are top subjects in the Bible. They are important themes in both the Old and New Testaments. Economics and social justice were the most prominent topics of the stories that Jesus told. Christians dance around the Bible teachings about wealth with incredible skill. There is a serious disconnect between what American Christians own and the faith they profess on Sundays. Most Christians say they take seriously what is said in the Bible with special attention given to the words of Jesus. Many insist we read the Bible “literally” to get its fullest meaning. Multiple times the gospels report Jesus as saying “sell everything you have and give it to the poor.” Rather than taking the words of Jesus seriously, American Christians are full participants in a rapacious, violent and destructive economic system that tramples on the poor, destroys families, violates communities and even threatens the natural environment.

The economics found in the Bible is a vital part of the Israelite story that developed over a period of hundreds of years. The Bible starts the story with reports about the family of Abraham, a wandering tribe of herders. They fell prey to sophisticated and powerful Egyptians who turned them into slaves. According to the story, the slave tribe escaped Egypt under the leadership of Moses. By tradition, Moses gave them laws by which they were to live. Many of those laws dealt with wealth and ownership. An underlying theme of the Old Testament is “never forget Egypt when you had nothing but faith in your God.”

After escaping Egypt and conquering Palestine, the Israelites became farmers. They became landowners with limitations set, they believed, by God. Land was not to be sold in perpetuity. Periodic, equitable redistribution of land was a part of Mosaic Law. Israelites were not to own land permanently because their God owned the land. History records that Israelites forgot the rules and became greedy, rich and power grabbing under kings such as David and Solomon. Like all greedy rich people of history, eventually they lost everything. They ended up a small group of slaves, this time in Babylon. Again they found themselves without land and without wealth and power. The message of old returned — “never forget Egypt when you had nothing but faith in your God.” The new form of the message was “Never forget Babylon.”

The Old Testament story can be summed up as an argument between two points of view. One point of view was people need to become rich and powerful. The other point of view was that the Lord our God is one Lord, and the Lord owns everything.

When Jesus appeared in Galilee in northern Palestine, he found poor Jewish day laborers farming land owned by greedy men who cared nothing about those who tilled the soil. Galilean farmers were economic slaves. Jesus saw Egypt and Babylon all over again. According to Jesus, it was God who delivered his people from Egypt and from Babylon. There were those who advocated violent overthrow of their oppressors. Jesus took an opposing point of view. Poverty and faithfulness to God would lead to the establishment of the reign of God on earth. Jesus taught that wealth is a trap. What we own eventually turns the tables and owns us. We struggle when we hear the words of Jesus, “blessed are the poor.”

Can lessons about wealth and economics from ancient civilizations have any relevance to our behavior in a modern world with sophisticated economies? For people of Christian faith, the answer ought to be an emphatic “yes.” But for the “yes” to be valid, Christians must recognize the undeniable Bible assertion that God is the owner of all things.

In the Israelite/Christian story there are always people, probably the vast majority, that fight against that basic teaching. Therein lies a repeat of the ancient conflict. Once people begin the accumulating exercise, it becomes easier and easier to believe that human beings, not God, own all things. Christians confess God’s ownership, but in practice deny it with bigger houses, bigger barns, locks, fences and guns.

The most outrageous denial of God’s ownership is found in the practice of tithing. Tithing is the practice of giving a percentage of one’s income to church or charity. The poison of the tithing system is that it gives the impression that the tither is free to do as he pleases with the 90 percent.

When we look at American and world economics, it is apparent that Bible tradition and Christian teaching is completely at odds with the economic systems that are in place.

It makes no sense to try to impose on the world the economic system that is found in the book of Leviticus, which was written more than 3,000 years ago. However, one article of faith remains in place for Christians. God is the owner of all things. We who hold title to this world’s wealth do so not as owners, but as stewards.

Every property, every asset and every bank account held by Christians are to be available for the doing of God’s good in the world. When Christians claim ownership, they have forgotten Egypt, Babylon and the teachings of Jesus. For Christians personal ownership will always turn out to be a curse.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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