In view of the other post today regarding the nonsense of the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd, I would like to state that I do not think that greed is good. Pointing out the nonsense of Jim Wallis's "It's a Christian duty" and this "Give me what I want because you've got more than I do" movement should not be construed in any way to absolve people whom Scripture clearly indicates are a dangerous and sinful group -- the greedy and the wealthy. Remember -- and this would seem to apply to some on both sides -- "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."
Just in case it wasn't clear.
8 comments:
The greedy AND the wealthy? I'm not sure I agree that Bible is saying this. I think it would be more accurate to say "the wealthy who are(were) greedy". Wealth and greed are NOT synomous. The wealthy aren't any more sinful than anyone else because of their wealth (though it is clear they have the bucks to be more dangerous). Notice how most of the thieves in prison are not wealthy. Greed affects everyone and as there are clearly more NON-wealthy people, it affects the wealthy less (in terms of numbers).
I had in mind passages like these:
"Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 19:23).
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation" (Luke 6:24).
Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? (James 2:6)
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you (James 5:1).
Those who are able to be rich without laying up treasures on earth to do so are free and clear. Those whose hearts are set on Christ rather than their wealth are okay. Those who rely on God for their salvation rather than their money are doing fine. Those who don't love their money should be all right. The wealthy that meet these criteria are rare indeed.
I mention "the greedy and the wealthy" like that because the protests in question are aimed at those who are both greedy and wealthy. There are some who are not wealthy but are greedy and there are are some who are not greedy, but wealthy. I'm talking here about those in question -- those who are both.
"The wealthy that meet these criteria are rare indeed."
My position is simply that we who are not wealthy, nor know intimately anyone who is, have no legitimate reason for such judgment. For all we know, such constitute the majority of wealthy.
You are absolutely free to hold your position. You do so based on what you seem to describe as ignorance. "
My position is simply that we who are not wealthy, nor know intimately anyone who is, have no legitimate reason for such judgment." I disagree based on the Scriptures I listed (and others like them). Since it appears that you believe that "the majority of the wealthy" may indeed be just fine, I'd suggest that you might want to write a correction to the Scriptures that seem to think that wealth can be a big problem.
This is interesting, may I ask your opinion on this? It is puzzling me since long time.
According to dictionary judgment has two components:
1. statement of the crime (speck).
2. statement on the punishment to be inflicted upon the convict. (how to take out the speck)
So in view of this what we call judgment in everyday language is not always judgment only an opinion, isn't it?. (It may be of a dark eye, envy, anyway, but not necessarily.)
Regarding judgment Paul said, that our judgment is to be on those inside, and not on those outside.
There are two basic ideas for "judgment". One is the one you reference, where a crime (or something) is committed and judgment for that crime is passed. The other is simple judgment of the goodness or badness of something. If I taste some milk and it tastes sour, I judge that it's bad and I don't drink it. If I hear someone explain that the Gospel of John is the only actual book of the New Testament that is valid and all the rest are part of a vast conspiracy to derail Christianity, I judge that this person is incorrect (starting first with the Gospel of John). In these types of judgment, no punishment is inflicted. There is no "condemnation". In the same way, when Jesus warned about judgment (Matt 7:1), He went on to warn His followers not to not judge, but to judge rightly. They were to remove the log in their own eye and test the works of false prophets and such. The difference may be in our English terms, "judgment" and "discernment". I don't judge a wealthy person (convict them and pass sentence), but I can discern that some are wealthy due to greed and the love of money (no conviction or sentencing).
Thank you Stan for the detailed answer! : )) I believe the ability to judge and discern rightly is a great value in serving people.
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