Church Voices

This article about a man who gave up using money entirely in 2000. He recounts an experience in the Peace Corps that changed his perspective.

But what good would it do for me to be a sadhu in India? A true test of faith would be to return to one of the most materialistic, money-worshipping nations on earth and be a sadhu there. To be a vagabond in America, a bum, and make an art of it—the idea enchanted me.

While I disagree with the cure Daniel Suelo has found for himself (especially since its an unsustainable lifestyle if everyone were to do it), I do admire his ability to diagnose the disease. If you live in the United States you live in a place that worships money. At times, we punish white collar crime more severely than murder. The sheer dollar figures of contracts for athletes are enough to make news stories, the take for the opening weekend of a movie is news for the masses, and the opulence of celebrity lifestyle is itself entertainment.

There’s a lot of concern within the church about gay marriage, who’s elected to high office, and abortion, and certainly there’s a lot of scripture that deals with those issues. But, there’s also a lot of scripture dealing with how we view money. One in particular I want to bring to mind.

The first is in Luke 12, where Jesus tells us about a farmer who has a windfall harvest. He reasons to himself:

Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

The problem is that the farmer has miscalculated what his harvest is worth.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

A good friend of mine told me once, “the more crap you buy, the more people die”. That may put a little too fine of a point on it, but the general idea is true. The more money you spend on useless crap, the less money you have to spend on the kingdom of God. Lets put aside the obvious observation that the money you save by buying a used car instead of a new one could be put to use in helping the poor, or some other advancement of the kingdom.

Instead, lets focus on a much more pervasive problem: debt. Many people carry a lot of debt. The reality is that if you carry so much debt that you have to take a high paying job in order to service it, then you’re not going to be able to take a position that might be your dream job.

Its no secret I enjoy the writing of Michael Spencer. In some ways I’m jealous of his life. Oh, not the internet superstardom, or the book deal he recently scored. I mean the obvious fulfillment he has in the work he does. The thing is that the job he has doesn’t pay a whole lot. He works as a teacher and minister at a private boarding school in an impoverished area. They get by on the generosity of their donors. In fact, most of the schools like his have gone under leaving only three left in the entire nation (if I remember correctly). As a result everything is done as frugally as possible. Including paying staff. Most of the staff at his school are there because, like Michael, they have a passion for the work. The thing is, if Michael had to pay on a large amount of debt, he’d be stuck in conventional ministry where the pay is better. Not that that’s a terrible thing, but its not what he’s doing now, which he obviously loves and as a result has blessed those of us who read his writing.

As followers of Jesus we are called not just into any place, but every place. Places where a conventional ministry can’t reach, places where a $50,000/year salary just won’t happen.

If you need $50k/year to pay on your debt then you won’t be doing the following:
Church planting of any kind
Long term mission work of any kind
Missional living in an impoverished area
Taking a ministry position in anything but conventional ministries
Care for a disabled parent or child

Be a bad consumer and put off or scale back purchases as part of living in the kingdom of God, and ultimately, most of the crap corporations and businesses want to sell us end up gathering dust or in the trash anyway.