Oct 29 2008
What is fair?
I keep hearing about “FAIRNESS” during the election campaign. It seems that many Christians are even falling into this trap. Where in the Bible does it talk about fairness? The Bible does talk about treating your neighbor as yourself. But when I read the Bible it talks about rewarding those who work hard and helping those in need. Nowhere do I see “redistribution of wealth.”
In Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV) it says:
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
”Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Now we can’t earn God’s favor but God does reward those who work hard. I have had the privilege at serving at some very wealthy churches. One church in particular had more millionaires then I’ll ever be around again. The people there were so transformed by Jesus Christ that they were extremely generous with their money. But they chose to give to the church, missionaries, Campus Crusade, Youth For Christ, Young Life, etc…
Those who want “FAIRNESS” would “TAKE” the money away from these generous people and give it away without giving them any say so. Is that fair? Life isn’t fair. I’ve never made a lot of money. I’ve never been near a 6 figure salary. I have family members who make lots of money and they give abundantly to Christian organizations. But the “Redistribution” folks would like to “TAKE” their hard earned money and give it away. Shouldn’t it be the person who makes the money’s job to decide how to spend it?
From my observation believers who have been blessed with wealth are more generous than others. They just want a say so in where it goes. If The “REDISTRIBUTION” folks have their way it will take away all incentives to work hard and give. Why would a person want to make that extra sale if they know the government is going to have it anyway? Why work an extra hour when you know the government is going to “TAKE” their money? That seems less “FAIR” than allowing people to show their generosity.
I’m amazed at followers of Jesus who are buying into this philosophy. From my study of Scripture it isn’t supported by the Bible. Life isn’t “FAIR” but God is good.
What do you think?
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12 responses so far
Brother Kevin,
No comment on how “fair” governmental “redistribution” of wealth is. But I will say that if God’s people lived according to Jesus’ teachings, there would be no reason for the government to step in.
Peace to you brother,
From the Middle East
from the middle east’s last blog post..being available
“Fair” is God punishing us for our multitude of sins. Trust me, people don’t want fair, they want grace and mercy. Or they would, if their pride wasn’t such a barrier.
Coveting is a sin, and is at the root of so many other sins. People like Obama think God hasn’t distributed things well so they need to fix it.
Of course, he is rather greedy himself - http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/obama-is-generous-with-your-money-not-his/
He is a true hypocrite. He wants to take lots of your money for his pet liberal causes - you know, spread the wealth around - but donates a pittance himself. Read the link and then see how Obama compares to the eeeeevil Dick Cheney when it comes to giving.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign.
Less than 1%. Can we remember that stat as the Left tries to deify the guy?
Once again, folks, charity is when you give your own money, not when you force others at gunpoint to support your causes.
Neil’s last blog post..Obama is generous — with your money, not his
From the middle east is correct…if Christian did as instructed, there would be no need for governmental intervention. Now, whether Christians are doing that or not is the subject for another post and debate, I suppose.
But the fact remains this, in a democracy like ours, we generally call redistribution of wealth–socialism! Or, at least throughout history, that’s the name it has been given!
Why would freedom loving Americans want to turn to socialism? Let’s leave that story to fairy tales–where Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. That ain’t America…or, at least never has been…but then again, change is coming, or so I hear.
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..You Provide the Caption
From the Middle East,
True. We could say that about anything. But since sin entered the world I don’t see that happening. And Neil’s point is true…if we got what we deserved it would be death.
The government needs to quit taking away our money and allowing faith based ministries to do ministry. We do a better job than the government.
Setting aside cynicism for the moment, a progressive tax system is about the government checking the divergence in wealth inequality (that naturally arises and causes significant problems) and making sure that the poor and powerless are provided for. It’s true that the church could accomplish the latter on a voluntary basis, but that’s not something the government can depend on…especially since only about 10 % of charitable donations actually go to the poor (link, the article doesn’t focus on giving to churches, but my experience with church budgets is consistent with that figure).
You’re right that scripture extols the virtues of work, but that criticism assumes that the poor are poor because they are lazy and I don’t think that is a fair blanket generalization.
Anyway…
“…literally having any government at all involves taking somebody’s money and giving it to somebody else…Even the more restrictive definition of redistribution–using government to create a less unequal distribution of wealth–has been going on for a century. If McCain is really opposed to redistribution, then that means he thinks the rich should get back a dollar in spending for every dollar they pay in taxes.” For the record, he doesn’t; his proposed income-tax structure is still progressive in nature, meaning that it taxes the affluent at a higher rate than the less affluent. And McCain still plans to channel tax dollars into government programs–Social Security, Medicare, etc.–that disproportionately benefit people who pay lower taxes. Again, you may prefer McCain’s plan to “redistribute” the wealth to Obama’s. By all means. But not because one is socialist and the other isn’t.”
- Andrew Romano (link)
“…characterizing Obama’s plan to tax the nation’s top earners at 39 percent instead of 36 percent as socialist is absurd. Dwight Eisenhower taxed top earners at 91 percent. Richard Nixon taxed them at more than 50 percent. Even Ronald Reagan didn’t lower the top marginal rate to less than 50 percent until the last two years of his second term. Were these Republicans secret socialists, too?”
- Andrew Romano (link)
Jonathan’s last blog post..Why are So Many Christians Supporting Obama?
Thanks for the links Jonathan. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of either candidate. I would never characterize the poor as lazy. Jesus said the widow who gave in the Temple gave more than the rich Pharisee. There will always be poor. I just get tired of hearing about “FAIR.” Nothing is fair in life. If we got what we “deserved,” it would be death.
Kevin,
How do you deal with the many examples of socialism in the New Testament and especially the Old Testament?
Anytime you see the example of a communal community, well that’s socialism.
All that believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
(Acts 2:44-45)
I’m not advocating socialism nor am I advocating an unfettered capitalism but I’m pretty sure that the tax system/rate that we had under Clinton and will have under Obama is not socialist.
Big Daddy Weave’s last blog post..Baylor University Hires Bush’s Faith-Based Czar
BDW,
I’m fine with Christian organizations sharing. That is what we should be doing. But I’m not for the gov’t “TAKING” money and giving it away. Both Republicans and Democrats can’t spend our money effectively.
I agree with Big Daddy WHEN IT COMES TO BELIEVERS VOLUNTARILY SHARING AMONG ONE ANOTHER, but not through forced government redistribution and to non-religious groups. The reason they were ’socialist’ in the eraly church was they needed to marshall the resources for the ultimate cause, spreading the gospel, not for anything else.
Also, I am somehwat torn on the increase in taxes at the top levels. On one hand, we should not make someoen who earns more pay a higher % just because they worked hard and did well. On the other hand there is a basic societal need to maintian the ‘environment’ where those riches were made and those who benefit the most should pay more (a la Provide for the common defense, promote the GENERAL welfare, etc.).
That said, I do NOT think that the 40% of americans who pay NO TAX should simply get a check from the government (the EIC, etc.) with no sort of responsibility for how they use it (to feed their addictions which make life worse for them and us, etc.). The Obama proposals would give those taxpayers another $1,800 per year for doing nothing; now THAT’s socialist! Why not do it through food stamps, medicaid or other programs that would give them a service and not cash (not to mention the fact that they should only be eligible for it for a limited time….)
Brother Kevin,
I agree with you that Jesus-following folks who practice the principle of honoring God with all financial decisions do a better job a stewarding their resources than the US government. However, we, as the American Church, are not honoring God with all of our financial decisions. We are not being effective, as a whole, with our financial decisions. Thus, we have no room to complain that the government should butt out. It is because of our failure that the got involved to begin with… when we start following Jesus’ teachings with regard to our finances, there will no longer be a need for the government to redistribute wealth.
Peace to you brother,
From the Middle East
from the middle east’s last blog post..being available
Big Daddy Weave: KUDOS!
There is already socialism in this country. It’s just backwards. We’re taking the low - middle class tax money and paying the rich (CEOs for one). It’s time to put it back into the hands of the people who are barely making do! It’s United Way/Combined Federal Campaign time - we had a guest speaker from Christmas Charities Yearround. She said it perfectly (IMHO) when she said she didn’t help the UNemployed, she helped the UNDERemployed. People are working more than one job in many cases, earning $7/hr. (or less) at each. When they get sick or their children get sick, they can’t afford to miss work, let alone pay for a doctor visit or medication. Yet you have CEOs making $6000/hr. You can’t tell me they’re working hard and earning it. Something is wrong with this picture.
Mrs. Osipov, I believe that definition is capitalism and though I don’t see where they deserve it either, someone is paying them and thinks they are worth it (without the intervention of the government).
If the world were fair, teachers, police and firemen would be paid the most, but it’s not and that is not the currency they trade in for their rewards. Money is traded where the treasures are (hence the large salaries) and they get full reward for it in that manner.
But at least we don’t have someone TELLING us from the government (which can be swayed by elections of the ignorant masses) how to do it at their whim and definition of ‘fair’.
I believe Jefferson or Franklin said that our democracy is doomed once the citizens believe they can vote themselves more money.
As my kids asked on our trip to Montana- “Are we there yet?”.