Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

• Matthew 12:21-26

“One of the dangers of having a lot of money is that you may be quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give and so fail to realise your need for God. If everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God.”

• C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Whether people at our church think they are rich or not, maybe most churches these days in the USA, the idea of throwing money at a problem seems to be the easiest non-answer.  Non-answer in that it does not work.  Easiest because you feel that you have done something when you haven’t gotten your hands dirty.

I have mentioned that the head of our local food bank is in the Sunday school class where I teach.  He cares a lot.  He works hard.  And he gets his hands dirty often.  The church has more of that kind of people, but there are so many, especially among the church leadership, who throw money at a problem.

I think there is another C.S. Lewis quote that says something about the intent of a gift is so that the receiver does not need it anymore.

When you throw money, the money gets spent and the problem is still there.  This is why the government subsistence programs never work.  I have been to other countries, some where the beggar population is huge.  Begging becomes an industry all by itself.  Government subsistence does one thing.  It makes the would-be beggar sit inside a home and not panhandle.  The “beggar” is still needy.  The problem has not gone away.  These people are indeed slaves to the government – just non-working slaves.  But the government has them hidden.  Out of sight, out of mind, problem solved.  But that solves nothing.  It creates a smugness among those who throw money at the problem, but there is still insecurity about where the next meal comes from.

And the church often does the same that the government does, teaching people to beg, but do so in a dignified manner so that no one sees you do it.

But who are the workers in the church?  They are often those that “but by the Grace of God” might be close to the ones that need the help.  They may have been in that situation themselves.  Regardless, once you get your hands dirty, you have the capability to feel what they feel if you have not felt it before when it was your turn.

When you throw money at the problem, you feel none of that.  You feel the pride of having “helped” when the help only delayed the problem for another day.

The old saying goes that you can buy a man a fish dinner or you can teach the man how to fish.  Teaching the man how to fish will lead to getting your hands dirty.  And although fishing and talking usually do not go hand-in-hand, you might get to know the person in need.  You might start to feel for that person and realize the person is not a “problem.”  The “person” is a real person who has a different problem than what you have.

You have too much, and he does not have enough.

But don’t worry.  It is not impossible for a rich man to get into Heaven.  Sure, it is impossible under man’s effort, but salvation is something God does anyway, when someone is willing to humble themselves, and anything is possible with God.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.