Reflections on God and Money: Giving & Funding (26)

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:38-48

Whatever you may think of the requirement on Christians to tithe, tithing itself is never the end of giving but only the start. Even people struggling to live on persistent low incomes are not absolved from the duty to be generous to others, even when they have no money to give.

Jesus of Nazareth talked about loving our enemies as well as our neighbours - although, sadly, our neighbours can sometimes be our enemies too! We do not use the word ‘enemy’ so routinely today but prefer words like player, competitor, rival or nemesis. By telling us to love these people, Jesus was referring to the neighbours who play loud music into the night, leave their rubbish to blow into our gardens and generally make life unpleasant for us. And the work colleagues who pursue the same promotions and bonuses we are but using unscrupulous tactics like manipulating statistics, hiding resources, claiming our credit, starting rumours – and the rest. And the business rivals we ‘battle’ for contracts and market share.

Inevitably, we should not necessarily respond to enemies as we might to friends. Jesus did not advocate naivety! If someone has a track record of deception, then we should not be quick to assume they really are in need just because they say so. We may have to be clear on the help they think they need and what they actually need and be careful not to give them to tools to do harm, either to themselves or to others. But when the truth is clear, and the need confirmed, then positive and supportive action is required.

Is this a duty we have to people in need, both neighbours and enemies? Or a duty to God?

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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.

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Giving & Funding (26)