On Avarice

Avarice is the inordinate love of riches, and is a vice that is especially prominent in the world today. We see it in the growing inequality between rich and poor, in gross displays of luxury, and in the many people who direct their lives to the pursuit of wealth. And yet this sin that drives our capitalist world is too rarely denounced.

The evil of avarice firstly has the effect of setting our hearts and minds on the corruptible things of earth, and so preventing us from rising up to contemplate incorruptible heavenly realities. As Jesus said,

‘Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal.  But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.’

I feel we’ve grown far too comfortable ignoring Jesus’s words, but He could not be clearer. We have to make a choice: do we want the riches of heaven or the riches of earth? Both is not an option.

Avarice then has the second effect of separating us from our fellow humans. We look at our property and say in our hearts, this is mine and not yours. We build up and fiercely guard a tiny kingdom of what is mine, and we allow no one else in. If you need something I might kindly give it to you, but I’ll make damn sure it’s known I am being gracious and have no debt to you. Here is me and mine, and outside this there is you and yours, and you can look after yours and I’ll look after mine.

This is why evangelical poverty is so important and so powerful. It tears down these walls we have placed around ourselves, and frees us to meet each other without the barrier of mine and thine, but just as people. Basically, it frees us to love one another.

St Basil says, commenting on Jesus’s parable of the rich fool (Lk 12:16-21),

‘But thou wilt say, Whom do I wrong by keeping what is my own? For it follows also, And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Tell me what is thine, from whence didst thou get it and bring it into life? As he who anticipates the public games, injures those who are coming by appropriating to himself what is appointed for the common use, so likewise the rich who regard as their own the common things which they have forestalled. For if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor.

…

‘But if thou confessest that those things have come to thee from God, is God then unjust in distributing to us unequally. Why dost thou abound while another begs? unless that thou shouldest gain the rewards of a good stewardship, and be honoured with the meed of patience. Art not thou then a robber, for counting as thine own what thou hast received to distribute? It is the bread of the famished which thou receivest, the garment of the naked which rots in thy possession, the money of the pennyless which thou hast buried in the earth. Wherefore then dost thou injure so many to whom thou mightest be a benefactor.’

(St. Basil, quoted in St Thomas Aquinas’s Catena Aurea)

The rule is simple, but extremely demanding, and many of us should immediately recognise that we are avaricious. We hoard so much that we do not need, and happily leave others to go without. We store up wealth against possible future misfortune, while our neighbours experience such misfortune already.

This doctrine is called the ‘universal destination of goods’, and says that all of creation was made for the enjoyment of all humanity, and in justice ought to be ordered to the good of all. No one has the right to claim anything as ultimately and exclusively his or her own, and to do so is nothing less than theft. This is the teaching of the Church. As St Thomas Aquinas put it, ‘Man should not consider his material possession his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need.’

This doesn’t mean we all have to take vows of poverty (although that is the ideal). But we do need to inspect and challenge our relationship with wealth. If it is anything to you more than a tool to meet your needs and love your neighbour, then it is avarice.

How do we fight this vice? Very simply, we identify the vice and then practice its opposite, charity. When we are holding too tightly to what we have already, we must consciously decide not to keep track of what others might owe us, and then to forget it entirely, even if they won’t do the same. In fact, we should abandon the notion we could ever have a debtor, since we ask God every day to forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. When we have more than we need, we must seriously ask ourselves how best to use it for the good of our brothers and sisters, and resolve to do accordingly. Essentially, refuse to believe it is really yours at all, and you will do fine.

God bless you 🙏🏽

P.S. For an example of avarice, I recommend this classic from Tom and Jerry, the Movie:

Caesar vs. God

“Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Separation of Church and state, right? Easy. God wants us to be good citizens, and good Christians. Everyone knows this, right?

Everyone is wrong

This isn’t about the entirely modern idea of the separation of Church and state, or the need to be good citizens. It’s about false gods.

“Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.”

The image is of Tiberius Caesar, and the inscription reads, “Ti[berivs] Caesar Divi Avg[vsti] F[ilivs] Avgvstvs”, i.e. “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus”. Now that Jesus has drawn attention to the claim that Caesar is the son of a god, is He really going to be immediately encouraging secularism and citizenship?

Or, is He saying to give back what is false to the false god? Let Caesar have his riches, not because he deserves them, but because they are no good any way. St Augustine said we must give Caesar money, that bears his image, and give God ourselves, because we bear His image. The Christian doesn’t live by wealth or power, but by love and lowliness.

I have been told that in Jesus’ day, the question of tax was extremely controversial: If Jesus accepted paying tax, the people would stone him, but if He opposed it, the state would kill Him. Jesus managed to not only avoid being killed, but also to accuse the emperor as a false god, in such a way that no religious leader could rat Him out to the authorities without being forced to agree with Him.

When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

God bless you!

P.S. here’s some more background, if you’re interested

Household debt lowers wages

This is something I recently realised, that I haven’t seen before, and, based on a quick google search, doesn’t seem to be common knowledge on the web.

Debts must be repayed: Failing to repay debts has bad consequences, such as repossessions and higher debt; Debt repayments are a cost to individuals, and, as there is nothing in return, lower standards of living; Because there is a higher cost of living including the repayments, work is needed more, increasing the supply of labour, which increases competition over jobs and over-time, and therefore lowers wages.

I don’t know why this isn’t more well established economic knowledge. There is very little difference between the notion that lowering unemployment benefit will increase work and decrease wages and, what is the same, increasing a cost such as paying off debts will do the same.
I suspect it may be that the wealthy, who set policy, don’t wish to reveal their advantage. It wouldn’t be popular to tell people they will have higher debt and lower income. And the economists are generally in love with the rich, and wish to present them as kind and helpful in all they do. Ultimately, they will see this as an increase in productivity.

Student debt (in many countries) is different, as it doesn’t last forever and is only paid by those on relatively high earnings. This is paid in proportion to earnings over a threshold, and so works as a tax. It should, therefore, disincentivise work over the threshold, and so increase wages (before tax & debt repayments).

Mortgages can be particularly bad, as the cost of missing repayments is extremely high, even if just a short period is missed.

Interest is the key problem here, as receiving a loan would initially improve cash-flow and help absorb falls in income. But as more will have to be paid back due to interest, the dependence on wage-slavery is increased, overall, rather than decreased.

Basically, the important thing about capitalism is that the more needy a person is, the less they are given and the more is demanded of them. And the capitalists still dare to refer to themselves as kind benefactors (however, occasionally one genuinely is).

God bless you.

Free your mind

A strange thing happens when children no longer have to wear uniform to school. You occasionally hear one or two saying that they miss uniform.

If they really, really wanted, they could wear uniform voluntarily, but that’s not an option either. It would appear, they don’t want this small freedom over clothing.

The problem is, they haven’t taken this freedom as their own. Not really. Clothing is chosen to avoid social repercussions. And this means that this dress code changes and isn’t written, and requires far more thought and effort to obey.

There’s nothing really wrong with following fashion, as long as it causes no problems. But when it does, I believe we shouldn’t be afraid to leave it behind.

Jesus once said,

‘and about clothing why are ye anxious? consider well the lilies of the field; how do they grow? they do not labour, nor do they spin; and I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.’
Matthew 6:28-29

I think it’s important we don’t make the opinions of men, the measure of our lives.

But, I don’t think we should do all things for only our own purposes. I believe, we shouldn’t subject ourselves to the madness of others. It’s not healthy.

‘but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.’
Matthew 6:33

The scriptures I quoted above are actually more about trusting God’s provision and not serving money than not conforming, but I think they’re applicable.

‘None is able to serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other; ye are not able to serve God and Mammon.

‘Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing?’
Matthew 6:24-25

Free yourself from serving money. All that it can buy you, is of no real worth.

Serve God, and trust in Him. He will provide.

Serving Mammon only brings anxiety and trouble. Even if you become rich by it, you will have lost far more in the process.

God bless you.

‘Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow shall be anxious for its own things; sufficient for the day is the evil of it.’
Matthew 6:34

Mortgages

Once upon a time, lending money at interest was completely illegal (for religious reasons). Later, it was legalized for Jews only, which led (among other factors) to strong anti-semitism. Eventually, it was legalized for all.
Those who couldn’t afford a house right away, took the chance to have a mortgage (roughly translated, a “death-pledge”), in order to have the house they couldn’t immediately afford. This helped the poor.
But, of course, the practice spread. And with everyone able to pay more thanks to mortgages, prices rose. So what once helped a few poor, came to enslave nearly all.
Today, most people in the “developed” world are unable to buy a home without accepting decades of debt, with half the real house price going to interest payments. The worst part is, those least able to repay are charged most of all and run the risk of having their house repossessed.
Without this system of mortgages, would we be better off? We would be paying less in the long run, because of no interest. We would be paying less excluding interest, because of reduced demand. Society would be far more egalitarian without the banks taking interest.
Economists might say that the reason for the reduced demand and prices was everyone being less able to purchase, so people would be without what they wanted. But what is forgotten, is the egalitarianism of no bankers, would reduce the land wasted by the usurers, so that supply would increase for the needy and average man. Even if this didn’t fully compensate, cooperative systems of lending and giving and sharing, in and between families could fill the role, and ensure proper housing and freedom for all.

So what’s the practical conclusion? We should withdraw our money from the bank, to stop lending at interest. We (Christians, anarchists, socialists) should attempt to form new, fair, egalitarian systems of living, taking many varied forms (perhaps based around Churches or other associations). No anti-interest law is necessary if we all reject and replace it. Refuse the old world, and build the new in its shell.
These societies may lack at first, but after a while without interest, they are bound to prosper.

Here are some scriptures on money lending and usury.

The rich over the poor ruleth, And a servant is the borrower to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7

a servant—wast thou called? be not anxious; but if also thou art able to become free—use it rather
1Corinthians 7:21

To no one owe anything, except to love one another
Romans 13:8

His silver he hath not given in usury, And a bribe against the innocent Hath not taken; Whoso is doing these is not moved to the age!
Psalms 15:5

Thou dost not lend in usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of food, usury of anything which is lent on usury.
Deuteronomy 23:19

In usury he hath given, and increase taken, And he liveth: he doth not live, All these abominations he hath done, He doth surely die, his blood is on him.
Ezekiel 18:13

At this point I should clarify: I don’t believe having money in the bank or being a banker is a ticket to hell. We live by grace now. But, I do believe charging interest is unjust (although it’s irrelevant if we’re forgiving debts as God forgives our debts). [Note from 2nd May 2014: I don’t know what I meant exactly by “We live by grace now”, but I think I may have meant our actions don’t matter to God any more. Just to note, I don’t believe that now.]

Here’s Peter Maurin’s Easy Essay, ‘Mortgaged’. You can see all his Easy Essays by clicking here.

Mortgaged

1. Because John Calvin legalized money-lending at interest the State has legalized money-lending at interest.

2. Because the State has legalized money-lending at interest, home owners have mortgaged their farms; institutions have mortgaged their buildings; congregations have mortgaged their churches; cities, counties, States and Federal Government have mortgaged their budgets.

3. So people find themselves in all kinds of financial difficulties because the State has legalized money-lending at interest in spite of the teachings of the Prophets of Israel and the Fathers of the Church.

God bless you.

The money in the bank

A while ago I wrote that I do not believe Christians should lend at interest (here’s the original post where I said it, it’s called ‘Jesus’ Economics’). I based this simply on Jesus’ command that,

to him who is asking of thee be giving, and him who is willing to borrow from thee thou mayest not turn away.’
Matthew 5:42

and that if you may charge interest on this, you make his word worthless. And of course, Jewish law did not allow lending at interest either.
I applied this in my day to day life, to the extent I was given the opportunity to. However, I left a small amount of money in the bank (mainly because it’s awkward to get it out), gathering interest.
I can no longer keep my money there. It was being part of the system of greed and extortion, while I could have been giving/lending in love.
Plus, in removing my money from the bank, they have that little bit less power to take from those least able to pay, and to get a living off of the work of others. Yes, my money is probably negligible to the bank, but what if all the anarchists, or socialists, or Christians did likewise? What if just a fraction? The entire economy would be transformed. Even if just me, I will use my money to produce a micro-transformation in my micro-economy, even at a personal loss.

If many people did this with me, what would happen? Banks might collapse with people withdrawing money the banks don’t have. People would be there to help.
When people lend freely, (theoretically) there will be inflation. People won’t value money as highly. Perhaps people will stop valuing anything they have as their own, and share possessions as happily as they lend money.
Poverty will be profoundly affected. I should note here, that Jesus also said

‘But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward will be great, and ye shall be sons of the Highest, because He is kind unto the ungracious and evil’
Luke 6:35

So this wouldn’t result in harsher punishments for those who fail to repay their debts. We would forgive our debtors, as God forgives us our debts.
I would even venture to say, that if we used our money in such a way, it would not only touch the fabric of society; it may also begin the withering away of the state, as people rely more on human kindness, and so less on state thievery.
There is a remarkable idea among economists, that all working for themselves is for the best of all, and any helping others is harmful to all. I don’t buy it. We are the most naturally sociable of all creatures, and must function best with and for one another.
I’ll pop to the bank for this tomorrow.

God bless you.

P.S. I’ve now done it. However, I did leave 92p in my account, because when I asked to withdraw it all, it was given in pounds, and I didn’t want to bother with the trouble of asking for such a tiny amount. I also don’t know if accounts can be kept without any money in.
I understand that I will need a bank account, because few employers are willing to pay cash. I plan to withdraw money as it goes in.
I’m writing this because I don’t want to seem like something I’m not. Perhaps also so that my actions may be tested against my own standard.

God bless you

[19th of September 2014: I do currently keep my money in the bank. I have been considering lending my savings via a microfinance organisation (such as Zidisha), but I’m not sure if I’ll need it sooner than that will allow. This post was kind of silly, because it seems to propose just having cash, which is obviously foolish.
I don’t really like having money in the bank still, but it is the prudent thing to do, and I’m intent on being a good steward. I’m also still intent on living the virtue of poverty, but I’m not yet sure how…]

Jesus‘ economics

Jesus, as you probably know, didn’t talk much about economics. He was more into the way we use our own resources, rather than how they are allocated nationally and internationally.
But he does say a few significant things.

‘to him who is asking of thee be giving, and him who is willing to borrow from thee thou mayest not turn away.’
Matthew 5:42(Young’s Literal Translation)

That’s two pretty radical commands. There are said to be two billion Christians alive today. Imagine the impact on the world economy if we lent to whoever was willing.
First thing I‘d expect is the rapid and egalitarian growth of “developing economies“. Poverty would soon only be relative.
The rich or crafty could theoretically take advantage and also borrow. I think this would be small though, because of self-respect, hatred of debt, and the awkwardness of getting money from many Christians. When those in need ask for help, we spread the word, but there’s no desire to share the request of the rich or crafty.
And (unless we‘re willing to render Jesus‘ words pointless) we must assume that, in accordance with Jewish law, it is lent without interest.
And giving clearly helps people, and simplifies Christian life.

‘And forgive us our debts, as also we forgive our debtors.‘
Matthew 6:12

We forgive our debtors now. This is wonderful liberation. Did you know that 16,000 people commit suicide in the USA each year because of debt problems? Our forgiveness is just a fraction of God‘s, and our debts to each other are nothing compared to our debt to God, but it can still save lives.
So if there’s easy forgiveness, and zero interest, where’s the deterrent to borrowing? None (apart from pride). So, many Christians would have to simplify their lives and live with less.

‘Give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God’
Mark 12:17

Before this, Jesus was asked whether they should pay tax to their Roman occupiers; Jesus asked who‘s inscription and image are upon the coin (a denarius); They answer Caesar‘s.
Caesar was worshipped under the state religion as a god. His image was an idol. The inscription Jesus looked at, proclaimed Caesar as son of a god. So to Jesus, this was a matter of false god vs true God.
So, in asking about the image and inscription, he points to their idolatry. In saying to give back to each, he questions which god owns what, and whether we are indebted to either.
If you are in bed with Caesar and that is how you have his money, you should give it back. He is not the lord of the righteous. If you have taken anything from God (and everything is God’s), you should return it to His service.

‘and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles.’
Luke 16:9 (follows the parable of the unrighteous steward, Luke 16:1-8)

Jesus said that we‘ll be received into age-during tabernacles because of making friends from “the mammon of unrighteousness”. Is the mammon of unrighteousness all money? I do not know. What friends are we to make, who can receive us to age-during tabernacles? I would assume the poor and needy, as Jesus says that our treatment of them is our treatment of the King (Matthew 25:40, 45), and links that to judgment.

Now, my last two points are not directly from Jesus, so have somewhat less authority. But, I believe they followed him vigorously, and were taught by the Holy Spirit, so they’re certainly worth our attention.

and all those believing were at the same place, and had all things common, and the possessions and the goods they were selling, and were parting them to all, according as any one had need.
Acts 2:43

In the spirit of brotherly love, the early assembly in Jerusalem, led by the apostles, shared all things, ignoring their private property, and supporting all the needy.
And it was all voluntary. This is the image of Christian love expressed through all our belongings, for His service and glory.

To no one owe anything, except to love one another.
Romans 13:8

Should this be taken as a general command to pay off our debts then take no more?

The rich over the poor ruleth, And a servant is the borrower to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7

a servant—wast thou called? be not anxious; but if also thou art able to become free—use it rather;
1Corinthians 7:21

with a price ye were bought, become not servants of men;
1Corinthians 7:23

In the freedom, then, with which Christ did make you free—stand ye, and be not held fast again by a yoke of servitude
Galatians 5:1

[The last quote is about legalism, but I believe it applies elsewhere too]

If you know any other passages on being free from all bondage if possible, please share them with me.

In summary, Jesus taught us to be free and free others economically, and use our wealth in love.
God bless you.