So, have you all read Jack Good’s article, A Progressive Christian Faces Death? It brought to my mind the first time I really (and consciously) contemplated God not being the all powerful (omnipotent in old church speak) benevolent being of my youth and middle age. Someone in a bible class I was in stated that he did not believe in 1(the virgin birth, 2(the miracles surrounding the birth, or 3(the physical resurrection of Jesus. I remembering thinking: “...what is the purpose of being a Christian if you don’t believe those things?” What indeed? I have considered that question for a number of years now.
I spent a lot of time this past week thinking about what to write for this post. The subject, money, is simple enough. But considered in the light of being a Christian the subject of money and wealth becomes complicated and rather difficult. And then how to write about it without coming off as either a perfect idiot or a sanctimonious jerk is difficult. Over the years I have had many conversations about the subject with various churched people. Especially vivid are the memories of conversations concerning the story of the rich young man told in Mark and Luke I had as a teenager. The story is about a wealthy young man (or young ruler in Luke) who asks what he must do to obtain salvation. He is told to sell everything and give the money to the poor. What I remember most about those conversations is being assured that it didn’t mean that I had to give up everything to follow Jesus. Being rather fundamentalist at the time and talking with people that were biblical literalists, I was left a bit confused. Much to my surprise, my confusion about the subject hasn’t changed all that much in my shift from reading the bible literally to becoming the sort of progressive Christian that Jack Good writes about.
Just as I am troubled by loving my enemies and having mercy, the idea of being a wealthy Christian bothers me to no end - maybe just well off, in my case. My discomfort with these ideas has not been lessened at all by my changing beliefs about the divinity of Jesus or in the purpose of his life. As a progressive Christian I certainly do not have the same beliefs about Jesus, the purpose of his life or what it means to be a follower of Jesus as I did as an evangelical. I might point out here that “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” are not exactly interchangeable. An evangelical is someone that believes in a personal relationship with God (and Jesus who is co-equal with God). Evangelicals ask if you are saved. A fundamentalist generally believes in the inerrancy of Scripture because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. From that it follows that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin; Christ's death was the atonement for sin; Christ was resurrected in his body; Christ's miracles are historical fact. Of course many are both and the lines have blurred and the exact beliefs shifted and been refined in the years since they originated (ca 1780 for evangelicals and ca 1905 for fundamentalists). While I am not now either, I have been both.
Volunteering at the Justa Center does nothing to ease my uneasiness with not having sold everything and given the money to the poor before following Jesus. The Justa Center is a day center for the over 55 homeless. I was there Friday morning. As often happens as I direct traffic and hand out towels out for showers, I meditated on wealth and poverty. There are some misconceptions about being homeless (poor). One misconception is that obtaining food and shelter are the most difficult challenges. Food is the easiest part of it. Food is so plentiful that there is much waste. I don’t know of any people starving in this country. You may not like what you eat when you are on the street and it may not be good for your health (especially for your diabetes) but there is enough food available. Every do gooder (me included) always thinks of feeding the poor first. Shelter is almost as available. No, I think the real challenge is making life something more than a meaningless endurance contest.
Without fun and enjoyment life becomes a boring burden. What do you do for 16 hours if you have no job, no home or money? There is one man that plays solitary with a worn deck of cards. A woman just sits quietly napping intermittently. Others read or sort through small lockers holding all their possessions. The more up to date clients check email and charge cell phones.
Sometimes, like last Friday, I wonder if the Justa Center is there as much for me as it is for the clients. I do know that I need to show up there for my salvation even though I don’t believe that I will be sent to hell without any supper for not.
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