Читать книгу Wealth Without Guilt - Roland Hill - Страница 7

We ended the last chapter with an indictment of the church for contributing to attitudes of economic ambiguity. Let us examine this indictment further. Historically, the church has been a primary source of knowledge, customs, beliefs, and ideals: Religion has always been one of the most powerful forces in history. Often religious teachings influence all aspects of a person’s life. All religions try to offer their followers a set of values by which to live. Through stressing ethical conduct, they give people a framework for judging right from wrong and for living a good life.¹⁰

The Christian’s worldview has been greatly influenced by the church. Thus, his attitudes about money and the material world also have been affected by the church: While the Christian church has no sharp moral absolutes to guide its members in the hard arena of economic decision-making, it does provide something infinitely more significant. This is the fellowship of the spirit in which is generated material self-criticism and support in confronting all decisions to be made. Too often the church has misrepresented itself to the outsiders in the world and consequently has been misunderstood. Instead of divine law for economic guidance, it offers provisional judgments of Christians, consisting of their very human sense of present responsibility. Under the modest claim it is the obligation of the Christian and the church to make judgments about the great issues of economic responsibility as the Holy Spirit leads and corrects them.¹¹

The church knows the influence it has on its members, so it institutes teaching programs to secure the greatest impact. That is, it institutes teaching programs in most areas except economics. The area of economics has remained a neglected subject, because the church believed for more than fifteen hundred years that the world is essentially evil and the withdrawal from it is the only way to practice the authentic Christian life.

Christianity, for many centuries, has been an other-worldly religion. As mentioned earlier, there is a tragic dichotomy between religion and daily life. Albert Rasmussen states, “The gap has been due to several radical misunderstandings of both classical Biblical Protestant faith and the process of economic activity.”¹²

The church must face its historic obligation in the crisis. In the final analysis, this economic dilemma of Christians is not simply a social problem but a spiritual one as well. It has always been the responsibility of the church to broaden horizons, challenge the status quo, and break mores when necessary. The task of resolving the economic impasse of Christians is an inescapable necessity confronting the church today.

Martin Luther King, Jr., so succinctly said: Any religion which professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the social and economic conditions that scar the soul, is a spiritually moribund religion only waiting for the day to be buried. It is well said, “A religion that ends with the individual, ends.”¹³

Can the church stand calmly by while economic insecurity strangles the physical, cultural, and spiritual growth of its members? Emphatically, no! The church is God’s appointed agency for the promulgation of the gospel, and the gospel is the good news that Jesus came to free man from spiritual and economic bondage. Did not Jesus say, “I am come that they might have life more abundantly” (John 10:10)?

…Churches most representative of Christian faith and witness are those that recognize that religion deals with both earth and heaven, both time and eternity. They recognize that the Christian’s gospel is a two-way road. On the other hand, it seeks to change the souls of men and unite them with God; on the other hand, it seeks to change the conditions in which men live so that the soul will have a chance after it is changed.¹⁴

The church must be concerned about the economic life of its members, because economic activity and discourse lie at the very heart of human experience.

There are several things that the church can do to assist in this crisis. First, it can reaffirm its responsibility for instruction in the social aspects of the gospel. This can be done by encouraging its clergy to assert their prophetic role in the community. Walter Rauschenbusch affirms that, If a minister uses the great teaching powers of the pulpit sanely and wisely to open the minds of the people to the moral importance of the social, he can be of utmost usefulness in ameliorating the social order.¹⁵

Martin Luther King, Jr., noting the importance of the clergy in attitudinal changes, writes, “Every minister of the gospel has a mandate to proclaim the eternal verities of the gospel, and to lead men from the darkness of falsehood and fear to the light of truth and love.”¹⁶

Attitudinal changes must begin in the church, where they come from. For centuries ministers have preached a foggy gospel, resulting in ambiguities among Christians. Now the church must reeducate and reindoctrinate the laity through correct Scriptural truth about money and the material world. The minister who has been historically given high credibility in the community will have an enormous impact in arresting this measure of ambiguity. Karlan states, “There will be more opinion change in the desired direction if the communicator has high credibility than if he has low credibility.”¹⁷

Secondly, the church must get to the ideological roots of economic ambiguity. All ambiguities come out of a struggle between conflicting ideologies. The church can be of immeasurable help in giving the confused Christian the needed right direction. Through the channel of religious education, the church can point out the myths and false philosophies – and show the correct view.

Thirdly, and finally, the church can end its dichotomous lifestyle. The church has talked out of both sides of its mouth. While it has condemned the material world, it has bathed in luxury. While its coffers have grown fat, the church has encouraged Christians to shun the world. Not only must the church teach a correct view toward the material world, it also must live it. Paul says, “Be ye followers of me as I follow Christ” (I Cor. 4:16). The church must offer not only an audio presentation, but also a video presentation of God’s expectations for us in the material world.

The church has a grave responsibility as it relates to the economic well-being of Christians. Many influences seek to shape the thinking of Christians, which we will discuss in the next chapter, but the church has the upper hand. It should use its great influence to put Christians on the road to financial freedom.