We owe thanks for this sections to our friends Roland, Sue, Dan, Alf, Paul, Reinhard Joe, Bob, Ulrike and Ash of the "Jesus Christians", a group of sincere Christians who eschew money and live an economically and environmentally sustainable life without it as far as is possible. Vivid conversations with them motivated us to consider what the Scriptures really say about this topic.
We
find the first advice for those who are cleansed by a Christian baptism, for those who
repent their sins and turn to God, in the words of John the Baptist in Luke
chapter 3:
‘10
And the crowds would ask him: “What, then, shall we do?” 11 In
reply he would say to them: “Let the man that has two undergarments share with
the man that has none, and let him that has things to eat do the same.” 12
But even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him: “Teacher,
what shall we do?” 13 He said to them: “Do not demand anything
more than directed to you.” 14 Also, those in military service
would ask him: “What shall we also do?” And he said to them: “Do not
harass anybody or accuse anybody falsely, but be satisfied with your wages.”
(Luke3)
From
verse 11 we can deduce that all those who entered under the same baptism as
Jesus were told to share their belongings with the poor and only to keep for
themselves what they personally needed. But were the 2
groups explicitly mentioned told to stop working in their profession? No, John allowed
the tax
collectors to continue in their job, but commanded them to do so honestly. Even the
soldiers were allowed to continue serving in the army, but were commanded
to display a fine conduct.
In a nutshell, John commanded to share all the surplus we have while keeping for yourself what we immediately need. And he commanded those in authority be it financial or military not to abuse their authority for their advantage. He did not advise them to give up their authority. For we all learn from the world every day. So we are free to continue in our jobs but we have to apply Christian principles whilst doing them.
17 And whatever it is that you do in word or in work, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him. (Colossians3)
But
what about Jesus' advice to the young man who asked him about everlasting life?
Matthew writes...
16 Now, look! a certain one
came up to him and said: Teacher, what good must I do in order to get
everlasting life?
17 He said to him: Why do you ask me about what is good?
One there is that is good. If, though, you want to enter into life, observe the
commandments continually.
18 He said to him: Which ones? Jesus said: Why, You must
not murder, You must not commit adultery, You must not steal, You must not bear
false witness,
19 Honour [your] father and [your] mother, and, You must
love your neighbour as yourself.
20 The young man said to him: I have kept all these; what
yet am I lacking?
21 Jesus said to him: If you want to be perfect, go sell
your belongings and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and
come be my follower.
22 When the young man heard this saying, he went away
grieved, for he was holding many possessions. (Matthew 19 NWT)
The
question of verse 16 covers 2 aspects:1. What good must I do…
Life into the ages or everlasting. So he was not only
asking what he should do to qualify merely as a disciple of Jesus, he wanted to
know what honourable behaviour will secure him eternal blessings/life
Jesus
now gives an answer that will lead the young man to “life”. “…if you
want to enter into life”. What does he have to do? “…observe the
commandments continually.” Our friend knows the Law of Moses but he wants to
make sure he covers all aspects of “the commandments” so he asks: “which
ones?”
What follows now are the requirements for all who want to gain eternal life through being a Christian.
“Jesus
said: “Why, You must not murder, You must not commit adultery, You must not
steal, You must not bear false witness, 19 Honour [your] father and
[your] mother, and, You must love your neighbour as yourself.”” (Matthew19)
Here
we see what Jesus really expected from his disciples. The young man wants to
know the details and Jesus names all the essential commandments for him. If we
keep those, Jesus reassures us that we will enter “into life”. Now the last
commandment he repeated, to love our neighbour as ourselves, includes the baptism
requirements of John. If you love the other one as yourself, you share your
surplus and just keep what you need to cover your own direct needs.
Now
we all know that this conversation continues. Let us see how! The young man kept
all these laws but he feels inside that there is still something wrong with him,
that he is lacking something. He now asks Jesus to do a spiritual X-ray on him,
using his “physician’s gaze”.
‘20
The young man said to him: “I have kept all these; what yet am I
lacking?”’ (Matthew19)
Please
discern carefully what happens next. Jesus has already defined the requirements
for gaining everlasting life. What comes next is his personal advice to this
particular young man.
21
“If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and give to the poor and
you will have treasure in heaven, and come,
follow me.”’ (Matthew19)
Let
us analyse that verse a little more closely. The word translated “perfect” is
“teleios“
meaning “brought to end", "finished" or "perfected”. So
this is distinctively different from “getting life into the ages”. The word
for “sell” is “pwlew”.
The last words of this verse are correctly translated “come, follow me”. The
call “follow me“ is “akolouqei moi”
in Greek. Now “akoloutheō” is a verb meaning “to follow one who
proceeds” or “accompany him”. It is stated in the present tense, active
voice and in imperative mood. It cannot correctly be translated as “come, be
my follower” in the sense of generally being his disciple. This individual
young man needed to do this to be “perfect”. Another man who for example
lived a promiscuous life the requirement for perfection might have been “marry
the one girl you love and stop sleeping with the other”. Jesus was specially analysing what this man needed, not to gain “life” but to gain
“perfection”!
It
is nonetheless very interesting to see what happens next. The account
continues…
27
Then Peter said to him in reply: “Look! We have left all and followed you;
what actually will there be for us?” (Matthew19)
Good
question, Peter! Again, analysing the Greek gives us more insight. Peter does
not use the word for sell, “pwlew”. He uses “aqhkamen“
meaning to “let go off”, “to disregard” or “to go away from”. Yes,
Peter confirms that a true disciple of Christ must detach from all, he must not
regard it anymore, he must let go off from all attachment. But it does not say
that Peter or any other apostle sold all he had. He just left it behind and
wandered around with the Messiah.
And
as we will see in the next verse, it does not only refer to material things. The
word “things” is not in the text, the word “panta” just means “all”.
28
Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, In the re-creation, when the Son of
man sits down upon his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also
yourselves sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29
And everyone that has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or lands for the sake of my name will receive many times more and will
inherit everlasting life.’ (Matthew19)
The
word “followed” in verse 28 is the same verb as used in the calling of the
young man of verse 21. But verse 29 shows us that this detachment, this letting
go, cannot possibly refer to material belongings alone. Again “aqhken”
is used. So we as true Christians are guaranteed that we will not only receive
“life into the ages” if we become detached from all our relationships -
personal and material - on account of Jesus, but we will also receive many
times more – personal and material!
If we think about it we can see the reason why God can give us all resources and assets if we detach ourselves from the world. Because we have then already proven that we don’t trust in people or possessions, we have shown that we put Jesus first and disregard everything else in comparison. Now we have qualified for being set over many things, having shown our loyalty, not to the world but to God!
15 Do not be
loving either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him;
16 because everything in the world—the desire of the
flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does
not originate with the Father, but originates with the world.
17
Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does
the will of God remains forever. (1John2)
16
They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world. (John17)
In
Luke12:15 Jesus gives the real problem a proper name…
13
Then
a certain one of the crowd said to him: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide
the inheritance with me.”
14
He said to him: “Man, who appointed
me judge or apportioner over you persons?”
15
Then he said to them:
“Keep your eyes open and guard against every sort of covetousness,
because even when a person has an abundance his life does not result from his
possessions.’ (Luke12)
“Covetousness”
is “a greedy desire to posses more”. This is the real problem a Christian
has to overcome for this desire of the flesh will keep him attached to the
material things and will dim his or her spiritual vision.
The
word translated “abundance” too, is very interesting. It means “to exceed
a fixed number of measure”, “something that overflows”. We remember
sharing our 2 garments with the one who does not have any.
We
all have to understand that our life does not result from the things or
relationships we have here on earth but from our relationship with God. Jesus
concludes the parable that follows with the words:
“So
it goes with the man that lays up treasure for himself but is not rich toward
God.” (Luke12)
Again,
we see the two aspects. This man forgets to become rich toward God because
he has so much surplus in material, fleshly things. He forgets about God. It all
would be different if he also had heaped up treasures in heaven!
‘22
Then he said to his disciples: “On this account I say to you, do not be
anxious about your souls as to what you will eat or about your bodies as to what
you will wear.’ (Luke12)
Here
and in the subsequent verses, the Lord tells us to stop being “anxious” or
“troubled with care”, “merimnate”, about material things like food, clothing and our bodies.
So
Jesus concludes in verse 29 and 30…
29 So quit seeking what you
might eat and what you might drink, and quit being in anxious suspense;
30 for all these are the things the nations of the world
are eagerly pursuing, but your Father knows you need these things.
31 Nevertheless, seek ye his kingdom, and these things
will be added to you. (Luke 12)
We as Christians should rather “seek the Kingdom” as verse 31 puts it. We
should desire or long for that, which has a future, rather than material riches. It is all about focus!
However it is absolutely not necessary for salvation to sell everything you own. for it it was very few would be saved! The example here is little Zacchaeus, the tax collector.
8
But having stood up Zacchaeus said to the Lord: Look!
The half of the [things] belonging of me, Lord, I am giving to the
poor [ones], and whatever [thing] from anyone I extorted-by-trickery I am restoring fourfold.
9
But Jesus said to him that today salvation has
occurred in [dative] this house [not
a physical house of Zacchaeus, not the genetic house of Zacchaeus, but the
genetic house of Abraham!], because he
also is a son of Abraham
[this was a sealing into the FRC]
(Luke 19).
Zacchaeus was saved, not merely baptised into a test, but given a completed and passed salvation test. He was sealed because he righted all of his wrongs and in addition to that he gave half of the balance of his wealth to the poor. He did not give everything he had to the poor. For we must love our brothers as ourselves, not more than ourselves.
33
Sell your wealth, and give gifts of mercy. Make purses for yourselves that do
not wear out, a never-failing treasure in the heavens, where a thief does not
get near nor moth consumes.’ (Luke12)
The
word translated “wealth” or sometimes “goods” is “uparcwnta”.
It’s root word means “to begin below” or “to come forth, hence to be
there, be ready, be at hand”. If we do so, we will put our focus in heaven.
The Geneva study Bible comments on the first sentence…
“This is
the figure of speech metonymy, for by this word alms is meant that compassion
and friendliness of a heart that cares tenderly for the misery and poor
condition of a man, and shows this feeling by some gift, and has the name given
to it in the Greek language of mercy and compassion: and therefore he is said to
give alms who gives something to another, and gives to the poor, showing by this
that he pities their poor condition.”
We
can shed some more light on Jesus’ instructions for those who preach the
gospel by comparing Luke9 with
Luke22…
1
Then
he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the
demons and to cure sicknesses.
2
And so he sent them forth to preach
the kingdom of God and to heal,
3
and he said to them: “Carry
nothing for the trip, neither staff nor food pouch, nor bread nor silver;
neither have two undergarments.
4
But wherever you enter into a home,
stay there and leave from there.’ (Luke9)
35
He
also said to them: “When I sent you forth without purse and food pouch and
sandals, you did not want for anything, did you?” They said: “No!”
36 Then he said to them: “But now let the one that has a purse take it up,
likewise also a food pouch; and let the one having no sword sell his outer
garment and buy one’ (Luke22)
First
Jesus commissioned his newly empowered friends neither to take any provisions
nor any silver/money while they are on an evangelical journey. He promises them
that they will be cared for by those who will listen to the good news.
At
his last day on earth however, he warns them that the climate for them will
change, that things will get rougher after his departure and he warns them not
to rely on the charity they experienced on their earlier campaigns. He tells
them to take their purses/wallets, a food pouch with provisions and even a sword
for their defence. So this was the last advice he gave for those who preach the
gospel.
Next
we want to consider the lifestyle of the believers just after Jesus died. We
read in Acts 4…
32
Moreover, the multitude of those who had believed had one heart and soul, and
not even one would say that any of the things he possessed was his own; but they
had all things in common.
33 Also, with great power the apostles
continued giving forth the witness concerning the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus; and undeserved kindness in large measure was upon them all.
34 In fact, there was not one in need among them; for those who were possessors of
fields or houses would sell them and bring the values of the things sold
35 and they would deposit them at the feet of the apostles. In turn distribution
would be made to each one, just as he would have the need. ‘(Acts4)
Verse
35 also shows that all received from the apostles what they needed, both those
who contributed and those who had nothing to contribute.
Let
us now consider the cases of Ananias and
Sapphira…
1 However, a certain man,
Ananias by name, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession
2 and secretly held back some of the price, his wife also
knowing about it, and he brought just a part and deposited it at the feet of the
apostles.
3 But Peter said: Ananias, why has Satan emboldened you to
play false to the holy spirit and to hold back secretly some of the price of the
field?
4 As long as it remained with you did it not remain yours,
and after it was sold did it not continue in your control? Why was it that you
purposed such a deed as this in your heart? You have played false, not to men,
but to God.
5 On hearing these words Ananias fell down and expired.
And great fear came over all those hearing of it.
6 But the younger men rose, wrapped him in cloths, and
carried him out and buried him.
7 Now after an interval of about 3 hours his wife came in,
not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter said to her: Tell me, did you [two] sell the field
for so much? She said: Yes, for so much.
9 So Peter said to her: Why was it agreed upon between you
[two] to make a test of the spirit of Jehovah? Look! The feet of those who
buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.
10 Instantly she fell down at his feet and expired. When
the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried
her alongside her husband. (Acts 5 NWT)
The
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on verse 4
While it
remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own
power?-from which we see how purely voluntary were all these sacrifices
for the support of the infant community.
Matthew
Henry's Concise Commentary on the account:
The sin of
Ananias and Sapphira was, that they were ambitious of being thought eminent
disciples, when they were not true disciples. Hypocrites may deny
themselves, may forego their worldly advantage in one instance, with a prospect
of finding their account in something else. They were covetous of the wealth of
the world, and distrustful of God and his providence. They thought they might
serve both God and mammon. They thought to deceive the apostles. The Spirit of
God in Peter discerned the principle of unbelief reigning in the heart of
Ananias. But whatever Satan might suggest, he could not have filled the heart of
Ananias with this wickedness had he not been consenting. The falsehood was an
attempt to deceive the Spirit of truth, who so manifestly spoke and acted by the
apostles. The crime of Ananias was not his retaining part of the price of the
land; he might have kept it all, had he pleased; but his endeavouring to impose
upon the apostles with an awful lie, from a desire to make a vain show,
joined with covetousness. But if we think to put a cheat upon God, we shall put
a fatal cheat upon our own souls.
As we have seen Zacchaeus in Luke 19 only gave half of his belongings to the poor, and was saved as a result.
Let
us now also see how money and secular work were handled during the first century
among Christians. First, let us consider what the “apostle of the nations” (Romans11:13),
Paul, did to serve the Lord. We find some fascinating information in Acts18…
1 After these things he
departed from Athens and came to Corinth.
2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of
Pontus who had recently come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife, because of the
fact that Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. So he went to
them
3 and on account of being of the same trade he stayed at
their home, and they worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
4 However, he would give a talk in the synagogue every Sabbath
and would persuade Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18 NWT)
We
can learn 3 aspects from those verses. Paul had learned a trade, he was a
tentmaker. Brother Aquila and sister Priscilla were tentmakers and they worked
together with Paul in their trade. So Paul had a secular job to sustain himself
while preaching in Corinth. In fact, the 3rd element we can see here
is, that Paul only preached on the Sabbath in the synagogue.
Another inspired letter we have to consider is the letter to Philemon. The apostle’s purpose in writing this letter was to encourage Philemon to accept his runaway slave Onesimus back kindly. Instead of using his apostolic authority to command him to do so, Paul appealed on the basis of love and personal friendship.
1 Paul, a prisoner for the sake of
Christ Jesus, and Timothy, [our] brother, to Philemon, our beloved one and
fellow worker,
2 and to Apphia, our sister, and to Archippus, our fellow
soldier, and to the congregation that is in your house:
3 May you people have undeserved kindness and peace from
God our Father and [the] Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God when I make mention of you in my
prayers,
5 as I keep hearing of your love and faith which you have
toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the holy ones;
6 in order that the sharing of your faith may go into
action by your acknowledging of every good thing among us as related to Christ.
7 For I got much joy and comfort over your love, because
the tender affections of the holy ones have been refreshed through you, brother.
8 For this very reason, though I have great freeness of
speech in connection with Christ to order you to do what is proper,
9 I am exhorting you rather on the basis of love, seeing
that I am such as I am, Paul an aged man, yes, now also a prisoner for the sake
of Christ Jesus;
10 I am exhorting you concerning my child, to whom I
became a father while in my [prison] bonds, Onesimus,
11 formerly useless to you but now useful to you and to
me.
12 This very one I am sending back to you, yes, him, that
is, my own tender affections.
13 I would like to hold him back for myself that in place
of you he might keep on ministering to me in the [prison] bonds I bear for the
sake of the good news.
14 But without your consent I do not want to do anything,
so that your good act may be, not as under compulsion, but of your own free
will.
15 Perhaps really on this account he broke away for an
hour, that you may have him back forever,
16 no longer as a slave but as more than a slave, as a
brother beloved, especially so to me, yet how much more so to you both in
fleshly relationship and in [the] Lord.
17 If, therefore, you consider me a sharer, receive him
kindly the way you would me.
18 Moreover, if he did you any wrong or owes you anything,
keep this charged to my account.
19 I Paul am writing with my own hand: I will pay it back
-- not to be telling you that, besides, you owe me even yourself.
20 Yes, brother, may I derive profit from you in
connection with [the] Lord: refresh my tender affections in connection with
Christ.
21 Trusting in your compliance, I am writing you, knowing
you will even do more than the things I say.
22 But along with that, also get lodging ready for me, for
I am hoping that through the prayers of you people I shall be set at liberty for
you. (Philemon 1 NWT)
The interesting thing to 21st century man is that Paul did
not ask Philemon to set Onesimus free so
that he could do more work for Jesus. Neither did he ask Philemon to give up his
possession (his slave) for the sake of the Kingdom.
5 you slaves, be obedient to those
who are [your] masters in a fleshly sense, with fear and trembling in the
sincerity of your hearts, as to the Christ,
6 not by way of eye-service as men pleasers, but as
Christ's slaves, doing the will of God whole-souled.
7 Be slaves with good inclinations, as to Jehovah, and not
to men,
8 for you know that each one, whatever good he may do,
will receive this back from Jehovah, whether he be slave or freeman.
9 Also, you masters, keep doing the same things to them,
letting up on the threatening, for you know that the Master of both them and you
is in the heavens, and there is no partiality with him. (Ephesians 6 NWT)
Besides
that the letter to Philemon tells us something about the early Christians. They assembled in
private homes, prayed for one another (4, 22), and were encouraged by the faith and love
manifested by fellow believers (4-7).
So surely, believers kept their houses, but they gladly made them available for the congregation of believers.
Returning to the words of Jesus to the rich man...
21
Jesus said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go sell your belongings and
give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.”
22
When the young man heard this saying, he went away grieved, for he was holding
many possessions.’ (Matthew19)
Comparing Jesus' advice with Paul's advice we see that Jesus was applying the principle of 'if thy right eye offends you, pluck it out' to the dominant malaise that he saw in the rich man's heart. His wealth was stumbling him. It was inhibiting him spiritually. This is why he chose to stick to his possessions rather than accept the invitation to follow Jesus literally. So it is possible for another man to become perfect whilst retaining excess possessions. For Paul did not say to Philemon: If you want to be perfect sell Onesimus!!
7 For you
yourselves know the way you ought to imitate us, because we did not behave
disorderly among you
8 nor did we eat food from anyone free. To
the contrary, by labor and toil night and day we were working so as not to
impose an expensive burden upon any one of you.
9 Not that we do not have authority, but in
order that we might offer ourselves as an example to you to imitate us.
10 In fact, also, when we were with you, we
used to give you this order: If anyone does not want to work, neither let him
eat.
11 For we hear certain ones are walking
disorderly among you, not working at all but meddling with what does not concern
them.
12 To such persons we give the order and
exhortation in [the] Lord Jesus Christ that by working with quietness they
should eat food they themselves earn (2 Thessalonians3).
What more can we say?
What
we have been doing herein is “listening to Jesus”. We acted like Mary
who set at the feet of the Lord and listened instead of attending to many duties
like her sister Martha.
38 Now as they were going
their way he entered into a certain village. Here a certain woman named Martha
received him as guest into the house.
39 This woman also had a sister called Mary, who, however,
sat down at the feet of the Lord and kept listening to his word.
40 Martha, on the other hand, was distracted with
attending to many duties. So, she came near and said: Lord, does it not matter
to you that my sister has left me alone to attend to things? Tell her,
therefore, to join in helping me.
41 In answer the Lord said to her: Martha, Martha, you are
anxious and disturbed about many things.
42 A few things, though, are needed, or just one. For her
part, Mary chose the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her. (Luke
10 NWT)
Today
we listen to Jesus by scrutinizing the Bible. This is something a noble
believer is asked to do. Actually, it is a requirement for keeping alive…
1 Then Jesus was led by the
spirit up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.
2 After he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, then he felt
hungry.
3 Also, the Tempter came and said to him: If you are a son
of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.
4 But in reply he said: It is written, 'Man must live, not
on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah's mouth.'
(Matthew 4 NWT)
We ‘live’ as Christians on those utterances of God’s mouth. His ‘mouth’ is the Bible, his divine revelation to us believers. While on earth Jesus, the incarnated Word of God equalled the Bible, the written word of God, with truth...
17
Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is
truth. (John17)
So let us take into account the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his reply to the devil, by honestly studying and harmonizing “every utterance” of the Holy Bible as we are commanded to do. Only by doing so ‘in the sweat of our face’ (Gen3:19), shall we eat the bread of life, the word of God, Jesus Christ, and find out what the truth is.
It
is like Solomon, the king blessed with divine wisdom concluded…
2
The glory of God is the keeping of a matter secret, and the glory of kings is
the searching through a matter. (Proverbs25)
Yes,
God our father urges us…
2 so as to pay attention to
wisdom with your ear, that you may incline your heart to discernment;
3 if, moreover, you call out for understanding itself and
you give forth your voice for discernment itself,
4 if you keep seeking for it as for silver, and as for hid
treasures you keep searching for it,
5 in that case you will understand the fear of Jehovah,
and you will find the very knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2 NWT)
Jesus our
Saviour assures us of success saying:
7
Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find;
keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you. 8
For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds, and to everyone
knocking it will be opened (Matthew7)
So
let us all continue to share freely with each other all the abundance we have,
be it our time or our resources.
Let us love God and our neighbours as ourselves, not more than ourselves
and not less than ourselves. Let us listen to our Lord
and learn to live “not by bread alone” but by studying all the Scriptures so
as to be able to progress on the path of love, truth and righteousness.
The more one can live without money the less of a test one will face when the UN brings in the ban of Revelation13, which will prohibit people without a UNID card from buying or selling anything we understand. The less you have to buy and sell in order to live, the easier it will be for you to avoid making what will be an idolatrous agreement with the beast.