One of the major themes of President Obama’s State of the Union Address last night was the inequality between the rich and the poor. It made the main headline in today’s Washington Post. The president noted that something is wrong when Warren Buffett pays fewer taxes than his secretary. If you want to read a good article on the inequality and the issue, here’s a NY Times editorial by Paul Krugman.
I’m glad the president saw fit to bring inequality into focus last night.
As a Christian, I believe the problem is not that some people are wealthy. What the bible seems opposed to is not that some people would be wealthy, but that some people would be wealthy while others live in poverty. Scripture says:
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you” Lev. 25
Leviticus isn’t an isolated case. All of the prophets address this theme in one way or another. (Amos 2:7, Jer. 7:5, Ez 16:49 – that’s just a drop in the bucket. We could read these verses for hours – literally0.
My reading of the scriptures is that God does not have a problem with people having wealth, even lots of money. The problem is when people forget why they have lots of money. What is expected of those who have significant financial resources? What is expect is that they will work hard, and use significant portions of their wealth, to make sure everyone has enough.
The situation the scripture envisions is that some are wealthy because God has chosen them to care for those who are poor. If we are wealthy, our wealth is not meant for our own pleasure, but to make sure everyone in our society has enough.
I think the question we have to ask ourselves is: Do we believe God has created the earth with enough? Did God make it all so that there is enough for everyone… food, resources, opportunity? I believe the answer is yes. But the truth is that everyone doesn’t have enough in our society. Poverty is concentrated along racial lines. Opportunityfor work is not the same for upper and lower classes. Our entire economy, including the tax code, is skewed to take care of the wealthy. Even that would be okay, if the wealthy took it upon themselves to care for the poor.
In the end I don’t really care what the government does with the tax code. They should make it more just, but if we’re waiting on our current crop of politicians in Washington to act justly, we’re going to be waiting a long time. But the wealthy don’t have to wait in order to use their wealth to act on behalf of those who are struggling in our society. What should we do? We should do whatever we can to help those who struggle in poverty. What does God want from us? God wants us to do whatever it takes to make sure everyone has enough.
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