And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘And
you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare
to her all her abominations. You shall say, Thus says the Lord God… In you they
take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your
neighbours by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.
Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the
blood that has been in your midst… I will scatter you among the nations and
disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of
you.’
Ezekiel 22:1-15
My concern
about the absence of any reference to usury in the passages in Revelation about
Babylon extends beyond the list of goods that it trades in. In fact, I
recognise that it may have been difficult to include modern financial products
in that list. But I would have expected to see something similar to what we
read in the above commendation of Jerusalem by the prophet Ezekiel.
‘In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbours by extortion… I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made.’
Taking
interest seems to be as wicked as taking bribes! Interest is seen as dishonest
gain!
I realise
that we are entering difficult territory with these Reflections because it
would be very easy for bankers and any other readers who work in the financial
sector to conclude that they earn their livings dishonestly. But, of course, it
is potentially worse than that! Anyone with a bank account or other investment
that increases by interest is implicated.
How
should we deal with that situation? A career change to a more traditional
vocation? Withdraw our savings and keep them ‘under our mattresses’? Rashness can be as dangerous as complacency!
Every
generation has had to grapple with similar issues. Why should we think it
easier for Christians to live under capitalism than, for example, communism or fascism?
There may be no easy answers or clear ways forward, or obvious changes to make, but there are options and opportunities to be prayfully explored.
I plan to
return to this theme next weekend.
_____________________________________________
You
have been sent this e-mail because you subscribed to Reflections on God & Money.
Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Handling
money and dealing with debt can be complicated and neither the author nor
anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for
any action you take, or fail to take, based on what is written here. You are
invited to put a link on your website to these Reflections. You are welcome to
copy these Reflections for personal study or for circulation to family and
friends on a non-profit basis. For any other purpose, whether or not for
profit, you will require written permission in advance from the author before
copying, reproducing or transmitting extracts in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or using any
information storage and retrieval system.
