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Originally posted by Starlight
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Christ: "Sell everything you own and give to the poor" (Mat 19:21 / Luke 18:22)
Money, wealth, and poverty is together pretty close to the biggest topic of Jesus' teachings as recorded in the gospels. He certainly told you what to do, indeed, and spent a lot of his time on it. Guess he thought it was important.
He followed up the above verse with the comment: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24 / Luke 18:24-25). Unsurprisingly, the one time he tells a story about someone being in hell and someone else being in heaven, the difference is that the man in hell was rich during his life and the one in heaven was poor (Luke 16:19-31). Likewise the one time he gives a detailed depiction of the final judgment, the criteria he lists for the decision as to whether the person goes to heaven or hell are whether they helped the poor and needy or not (Mat 25:31-46).
Going through all the many and various other commandments and encouragements and teachings Jesus gave on the topic of wealth and sharing it with the poor, would take a John Reece length thread of posts. Suffice it to say that Jesus seemed to think money being transferred from the rich who had excess to the poor and those in need, was utterly crucial, and that one's afterlife depended on it.
Paul, likewise, shows a strong interest in this topic, apparently dedicating a lot of his time and effort into collecting money from the richer churches to redistribute to the poorer ones. He writes that when he met Peter and other apostles, they "asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do" (Gal 2:10). Each church gave according to its ability and the money was redistributed to others according to their need. Sound familiar?
Money, wealth, and poverty is together pretty close to the biggest topic of Jesus' teachings as recorded in the gospels. He certainly told you what to do, indeed, and spent a lot of his time on it. Guess he thought it was important.
He followed up the above verse with the comment: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24 / Luke 18:24-25). Unsurprisingly, the one time he tells a story about someone being in hell and someone else being in heaven, the difference is that the man in hell was rich during his life and the one in heaven was poor (Luke 16:19-31). Likewise the one time he gives a detailed depiction of the final judgment, the criteria he lists for the decision as to whether the person goes to heaven or hell are whether they helped the poor and needy or not (Mat 25:31-46).
Going through all the many and various other commandments and encouragements and teachings Jesus gave on the topic of wealth and sharing it with the poor, would take a John Reece length thread of posts. Suffice it to say that Jesus seemed to think money being transferred from the rich who had excess to the poor and those in need, was utterly crucial, and that one's afterlife depended on it.
Paul, likewise, shows a strong interest in this topic, apparently dedicating a lot of his time and effort into collecting money from the richer churches to redistribute to the poorer ones. He writes that when he met Peter and other apostles, they "asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do" (Gal 2:10). Each church gave according to its ability and the money was redistributed to others according to their need. Sound familiar?
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