“Jesus provided guidance on how to free us from sinful patterns related to our attitude and behavior toward material possessions. Jesus offered a new way of life when he addressed the economic dimensions of their lives. Jesus did not reject personal property but instead rejected selfishness, greed, hoarding, and lack of generosity. Living simply and trusting God to meet our needs frees us to practice generosity and seek justice for the poor and hungry.”
James W. Henderson in “The Christian Perspective on Economic Scholarship” in Faithful Economics: The Moral Worlds of a Neutral Science, ed. James W. Henderson and John Pisciotta (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2005) 13. This is a wonderful scholarly book with economic essays from which I will offer quotes over the next week or so.
Do you think the reason Jesus talked about money so much was because it was the thing people tended to trust in other than God? In that sense, he’s not trying to rob us by instructing us to detach from possessions, but rather, help us. Are we responding in obedience?