Vince Deagler

hi out there.  i guess i’m in a blogging mood writing 2 days in a row.  please check out what i wrote yesterday.  the reason i say that is i’m pretty sure what i’m about to write is gonna get some people upset.  i don’t think it should…but i’m pretty sure it will.  why???  because it cuts across the grain of popular opinion.  here is what i’m getting at.

president obama has just introduced his first budget.  this comes on the heels of a stimulus bill, a second tarp bill, and an omnibus spending bill.  there is quite a bit of spending within these bills and budget.  there are many ways to categorize this spending, but i think it would be fair and accurate to say some of this spending is nothing more than a transfer of resources from the most productive members of our society to the least productive members of our society.  you do not have to agree with that assessment, but if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck….its a duck.  now here’s the question…what does the bible have to say about something like this?

let me point out it has become quite fashionable to jump on the social justice bandwagon of income redistribution among those claiming to follow jesus.  they are quick to point out there are other issues besides homosexuality and abortion that should concern christ followers.  generally they are so concerned with following jesus to address social injustice that they ignore the killing of unborn babies and the redefining of traditional family values by homosexual activists.  economic fairness is there goal, legislation is their method, and apparently christ is their justifying rationalization.  but is that was jesus believed?  is that what he stood for and taught?  i’ve heard their explanations…jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, cared for the downtrodden.  i have no argument with that.  but i would ask did he feed every hungry person?  in israel?  in rome?  and how did he feed them?  did he take from the have’s to care for the have not’s?  and if that was his mission why isn’t the great commission go into all the world and feed the hungry?  i told you i was gonna get some of you upset.  now don’t get me wrong, i am not opposed to feeding the hungry.  but i do have real concerns when people start hi-jacking jesus and the bible to advocate there political positions, especially when those positions do not line up with the teaching of scripture.  did jesus heal every sick person?  if not why did he leave some still sick?  in fact why didn’t he just eradicate all sickness?  really, if that was his mission, and if that is our mission as christ followers, why didn’t he just eradicate sickness as a problem?  again don’t read i am against caring for the sick.  i’m just trying to make the point that those who use jesus as a model of social justice are painting an inaccurate picture of jesus.  in fact think about the parable of the talents with me.

in matthew 25:14-30 we have a parable of jesus often called the parable of the talents.  in the parable a wealthy man is about to go on an extended journey, so he divides his wealth among several servants to conduct his business affairs while he is gone.   one servant received 5 talents, another 2 talents, and a third 1 talent.  now right off the bat i would point out if jesus is such an advocate of social justice, why didn’t each servant get an equal portion?  the text actually answers that question…each was given according to their ability.  wait a minute, that sounds unfair, who gets to make those kinds of judgments.  well in this case it was jesus.  anyway let me get back to the story.  the boss then went on his journey.  when he returned from his trip, he met with each servant to settle accounts.  imagine that, people actually being held accountable.  i know we are in a new era of responsibility, but so far what that appears to mean is if you have acted irresponsibly, we will take resource from responsible people and bail you out.  lets see if that is what happens in this story, remember this is jesus speaking, it’s his story, if he is in to social justice as i keep hearing i would expect to see it  right here.  well, the servant who had received 5 talents put the money to work and made 5 more talents.  the servant with 2 also doubled his money.  however the servant who only had 1 talent, took the talent, did nothing with it, and when the boss returned he reported he had been afraid to do anything with the talent and so he had not produced a thing.  of course jesus took the 15 talents and divided them up between the 3 servants each getting 5, right???  is that how your bible reads?  no, that’s not how the story goes.  the servants who made 5 and 2 talents were rewarded with more resource and responsibility.  the servant who did not put his talent to work was chastised as a wicked, lazy servant (can you get any more politically incorrect than that) and the talent he had was taken away from him and given to the servant with 10 talents already.  why would jesus give such a story, with such an ending?  how can that be just?  how can that be fair?  i’ll let you social justice advocates wrestle with that one, and i’ll ask another question.  how does this apply to the economic mess we are in???  going a step further, how does that apply to our everyday lives?

perhaps it may be time to start encouraging and rewarding the most productive elements of our society.  perhaps its time to stop rewarding and thereby encouraging irresponsible people to continue their irresponsible ways.  every time we take from the productive we have less productivity.  everytime you reward irresponsible behavior you’ll get more irresponsibility.  that has been proven over and over throughout human history.  do we really have to repeat the mistakes of the past?

now, as i said, i am not against compassion, charity, generosity.  i do think it is a vital part of the message of christ.  i just don’t think its the government’s job.  when the government redistributes wealth they will always do it through the lens of politics and it will always move us away from the principles of the parable of the talents.  because the parable or the talents is about as politically incorrect as you can get.  christ calls me and you as his followers to live as stewards.  i blogged on this a while back.  a steward purposely lives beneath their means so they can live a charitable life.  when i reach in my wallet and give to the needy, thats compassion.  when the government does it, well that’s socialism.  and as the parable clearly shows, jesus was not a socialist…i’d love to get some feedback on this.  maybe i’m way off, it wouldn’t be the first or last time, but i have heard way too many supposed followers of jesus jump on the whole social justice bandwagon.  but, that movement looks more like a political activity, than christ like compassion.  i’d love to hear what your thinking.  blessings.  vince