Luke 12:13-21
This bible passage is about a man who asked Jesus for help in getting property off his brother. But Jesus did not feel that he had the right to divide the property and so he wisely warned the crowds not to be greedy because a person’s life should not be made up of material things- no matter how rich that person is. He then shared with them a parable about a rich man who encountered many problems because he didn’t have enough space to store all of his crops. But his solution was to build bigger barns and live an easy life for a few years with all of his food. But God called him a fool and told him that he will have to give up his life tonight and he asked the rich man – who would get all these things that you have kept for yourself? God said this to him because while the man was assuming life would be easy from now on, God wasn’t on his mind at all. This mans focus was squarely on goods rather than God. And so God chose the night to take back what belonged to him in the first place (the mans life and his gifts.)
1 Timothy 6:10
This bible passage explains that the love of money is the source of many wrongdoings that people get tempted to do. It is possible to love money too much, but money doesn’t buy happiness, it takes away happiness.
According to scripture we need to give constantly and regularly which is why charitable giving is very important. The following excerpts show different views on charitable giving, from different points of view.
Luke 21:1-4
This bible passage (although short) has a very important moral. It is about the differences in the amount of money (proportionally) that rich and poor people are willing to give to help others. Jesus tells us how rich people tend to only put the money they don’t require into the temple moneybox, whereas a poor widow gave everything she had, although it was only a very small amount of money. The widow is an example of someone who is spiritually rich through her detachment of material possessions.
Luke 16:19-31
This bible passage is about two men – one who is rich and another who is poor (Lazarus) and how their fortunes are reversed once they both die. Lazarus receives all the fortunes he ever dreamt of, whereas the rich man was sent to hell because he did nothing to help Lazarus in his time of need. The rich man asks Abraham to order Lazarus to relieve his suffering, and later to send a message to his brothers. He still views Lazarus as a slave who can be ordered around at his whim. He wants Lazarus to warn his brothers because the rich man knows from personal experience that his family does not take seriously what the law and the prophets say. Something more is needed. The moral of this story is that material things are useless to you, and if you don’t do something to help those less fortunate than yourself, then you will end up just like the rich man in the parable.
Matthew 6:1-4
In this bible passage, we are told that God doesn’t want us to show off about giving money to charity because he considers it boasting and glorifying yourself through the works you have done even though they were being done in his name. He wants us to do it quietly and without telling anyone about it so that he can bless us for what we gave.
Charitable giving no doubt is helping poverty improve all over the world, but what do different churches say about poverty?
The Baptist Union of Great Britain are in favour of programmes which enable people to change the things they want changed in their own communities. Baptists are against unfair trade imposed by richer countries because they believe it hampers the economic development of the poorer countries. So Baptists campaign for fair trade and prevention of rich countries being able to claim interest on debts owed by countries of the third world.
The Church of England supports the Brandt reports message which is of the mutual interdependence between rich and poor all over the world.
That basically means that for humanity to survive, then the world needs a fairer system of economic relationships between nations to benefit all countries.
The Roman Catholic Church believes that the poor, (who as a consequence of their status are forced to suffer oppression and powerlessness) receive special attention in God’s eyes and will be rewarded in heaven.
In conclusion, material wealth is unnecessary to get into heaven, in fact it is bound to ensure refusal to the Kingdom of God. It is important that we know this because for many people, going to heaven is their life’s ambition, and so knowing how to do it is a key feature. Also, knowing ones churches views on poverty and their solutions can help one to lead a fulfilling life according to the religion they follow, and knowing other peoples religious views can help one to understand why people do what they do. Understanding other people is important for the development of society.
Abbie Taylor
