Money Adviser with Hopeton Morrison

Today is Christmas Eve. Many persons and organisations engage in special acts of philanthropy at this time, in the spirit of Christmas.

Amid the intense commercialisation and materialism that have overtaken Christmas, here are some thoughts on money, wealth and the true meaning of Christmas.

Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as God taking the form of man and coming to earth as the promised Messiah to save mankind.

Man originally made in God's image, according to Christian theology, entered into sin with Adam's fall.

Among Christian leaders today, there are divisions as to what is a proper money theology. Should those who are guided by a Christian ethic laid down by a Messiah that eschewed material possessions seek to acquire great personal wealth themselves?

Today various Christian leaders offer three basic theologies in this dialogue: poverty, stewardship and prosperity theologies.

Poverty theologians show disdain for material possessions and in fact consider this a curse.

Their main biblical reference is Luke 18 where Jesus invited a rich young ruler who yearned to become an apostle of his to give away all that he possessed to the poor prior to taking up apostleship.

The young man could not bring himself to give away his considerable wealth, prompting Jesus to make the much-quoted statement that it was easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Privilege

Stewardship theologians regard material possessions as a privilege.

They view this as a trust that is given to all in varying proportions and look to Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25 as their main point of reference.

Here Jesus applauds and rewards hard work and initiative as a cornerstone of wealth creation. On the other hand, he condemns slothfulness and laziness in the case of the man given one talent and who instead of earning an additional talent hid his in the ground.

The third group, prosperity theologians hold that personal wealth is God's reward to the righteous, and while being neither privilege nor curse, it is a right. They point to Matthew 7 where Jesus invites followers to ask and they will receive answers, to seek and they will find, and to knock and the door will be opened to them.

Prosperity theology, also called 'health-and-wealth gospel', is eloquently represented by a host of local and American televangelists. They argue that earthly prosperity is God's will for his followers and that someone suffering poverty is due to a breakdown of personal faith.

In all of this some are still confused. Is wealth a blessing or a curse? The Book of Proverbs, for example, says: "The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and He adds no trouble to it."

As in all references to scripture, context is always a crucial consideration. But there can be little ambiguity where Jesus warns his followers reported in John's Gospel: "In this world you will have trouble." It is texts such as that one which leads poverty theologians to go out of their way to deny themselves material pleasures. Their premise is that this behaviour speaks to the imitation of Jesus Christ himself.

Grist for the mill

All of this provides grist for the mill for some non-believers who argue that wealth is inconsistent with Christian living because only a very small number of persons ever become wealthy, whereas the vast majority are poor.

There is no doubt that great wealth is not easily explainable within this context of stark unevenness.

But the Bible is replete with God's call to faithfulness, prosperity and generosity. Solomon writes in Proverbs: "A generous man will prosper." The apostle Paul states emphatically that one reason for persons being entrusted with wealth is for them in turn to give generously to others, thus ensuring a level of equity brought about by voluntary sharing.

Addressing the Christians at Corinth, he writes: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously ... you will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion."

This has now become the essential premise of the most popular of the three theologies, the stewardship theology. And it is this theology that guides the majority of wealthy Christians.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Hopeton Morrison is general manager of St. Thomas Cooperative Credit Union Limited. Email: hmorrison@stccu.com