The Privilege of Taxes

Oh my word - I love this piece. Thank you for writing it.

My culture here in South West Michigan is the same as yours. I am forever fighting CHRISTIANS about giving money to the poor! Somehow the idea of living generously is too LIBERAL. Heaven forbid.

I am convinced that the core failure of Christians - especially those from America - is unyielding belief that "we weren't like everyone else".

Most of us have an inherent, dare I say "entitlement mentality" that we are so much better than the poor around us.

This is all the more striking when we consider the Jesus we say we believe in, who came to "seek and save the lost" to "eat with sinners" and had nothing but contempt for those who were smug and comfortable in their religion and financial security.

I have always thought that a good question to ask might be, if we were alive at the time of Jesus, would we be more comfortable with the rag-tag uneducated disciples and prostitutes that Jesus poured his life into, or would we be more comfortable with the respectable "religious" people who played it safe - and knew that for their own safety and security - certainly not for their sins - Jesus had to die?

When we make even the most tentative and painful steps towards encountering the reality that we are in fact "like everyone else" we come ever closer to understanding both who Jesus is - and what he calls us to.

I am convinced that the core failure of Christians - especially those from America - is unyielding belief that "we weren't like everyone else".

Most of us have an inherent, dare I say "entitlement mentality" that we are so much better than the poor around us.

This is all the more striking when we consider the Jesus we say we believe in, who came to "seek and save the lost" to "eat with sinners" and had nothing but contempt for those who were smug and comfortable in their religion and financial security.

I have always thought that a good question to ask might be, if we were alive at the time of Jesus, would we be more comfortable with the rag-tag uneducated disciples and prostitutes that Jesus poured his life into, or would we be more comfortable with the respectable "religious" people who played it safe - and knew that for their own safety and security - certainly not for their sins - Jesus had to die?

When we make even the most tentative and painful steps towards encountering the reality that we are in fact "like everyone else" we come ever closer to understanding both who Jesus is - and what he calls us to.

I'm glad that you were able to find help with your healthcare bills. I had friends in a similar situation and medicaid was able to help them out as well. I have to say that our healthcare system is out of control and it needs reform.

I'm not sure though about your statement that we are supposed to care for the down and out without qualifications. As a Christian I don't want anyone to be in a difficult situation and I want to make sure that they are helped. However people find themselves in difficult situations for different reasons. The Bible speaks A LOT about laziness and how it leads to poverty. Too many verses to list here. Does that mean that everyone in poverty is lazy?...No. I have ministered in areas where people find themselves in difficulty through no fault of their own. (And the Bible talks about it). I have also lived and ministered in areas where I find people are just lazy and don't want to work and they have found a way to "live off" of local, state and federal government. (And the Bible talks about that too)

It is irresponsible for Chistians to just give money to people without first asking why is this person in the situation that they are in? How can I best help them get out of this situation?
I have seen a number of "evangelical" churches that are extremely generous to the less fortunate and do a lot for social issues and they don't complain about giving money to people who don't desrve it. I also know A LOT of Christians who do not agree President Obama but not one of them have shown "outright hatred" towards him.
You are also quick to point out that President Obama's kindness should resonate with Christians regardless of his policies. I wonder if you would say the same thing about President Bush's kindness?

Years ago I was a missionary in inner-city Philadelphia and that was one of the first times that I was ever confronted with poverty, day in and day out (unlike my trip to East Africa when I left after a month). I often questioned whether I should give to the poor or homeless because I didn't know what they would do with the money.

Then one day a friend said, "diane, we are called to GIVE. God simply calls Christians to GIVE TO THE POOR. You don't have to worry about where the money goes. God is concerned about what YOU are doing with YOUR money."

Would God bless you if you were walking down the street, saw a house ablaze, and in a reckless fit of compassion, decided to "do something about it" by throwing gasoline on the fire? Suppose someone came along and said "but you are making the problem WORSE?" Would you respond in a pique of self-righteousness that at least you were doing SOMETHING? God may be happy with your motives, but the result will still be destruction.

The issue here is not how we FEEL about our virtues of selflessness nor our INTENTIONS. Eventually we have to combine calls for economic repentance with a hardnosed analysis of whether our activity simply enhances overall destitution, economic stratification, loss of freedom, and the growth of tyranny. That is true compassion, and it not measured by our intentions.

My wife and I have made decisions to live far below our earning power in order to attempt repentance from the idols of mammon. One of those areas of repentance is to refuse the lie that compassion can be done by proxy.
It cannot. It requires personal involvement. Taxes are not a moral privelege because it is fundamentally immoral to use government power to force others to give. That is simply theft, no matter how we feel about their greediness. Further it is immoral in that it makes the house burn down faster. It will breed waste. It will ensconce power at the top faster than the most corrupt corporation imaginable. It will destroy the ability of a society to produce the largesse we now fuss at them for consuming rather than sharing. Finally, it will destroy the very groups in is claiming to want to help.

This is politicizing spirituality (rather than the obverse, which is what God calls us to do!) no less than the fundamentalist who insists that God is pleased when we vote Republican.

The tragic thing about this story is what it leaves out. Poor young mothers have had life threatening medical complications with children for time immemorial. It is only since 1965 that medical costs in America have assumed a meteoric rise to the point where getting care without third party payments is unthinkable.

Why is 1965 significant? That is the first year that we as a society decided to show "compassion" to those with no ability to pay by socializing the healthcare of the poor (medicare/medicaid). The results of this and any other governmental intervention are always the same. A river of waste, fat cats at the top, favored companies (pharmas) becoming filthy rich, and eventual economic imbalance which threaten the whole system with bankruptcy. Look at the charts. The river of cash that flowed into the medical profession from the government sent prices on a rocket ride, so that poor people have NO options other than utter dependency. This is neither wise nor compassionate.

Praising the system that created this mess and spiritualizing it into a reason for advocating ever more leftism in the name of Christian compassion is woefully foolish and destructive.

First of all I would like to stay that this note is exactly what has been in my heart for a while, and I've never been able to spit it out, Bethany you did a beautiful job.

In response to Vince's comment; I might actually have to call you out on a couple things. I'm not trying to start something, but I would like to share an idea.

As a citizen of this country, someone who's only been on the earth a scant 23 years, and as someone who's lived in a household that was modestly comfortable in my highschool years, and only survived because of government aid prior to that.

I feel I've seen both sides to an age old argument of "to give, or not to give" and have some humble insight.

My parents weren't proud of it, in fact they were ashamed at times, I remember leaving church on Sundays to visit the grocery store to pick up lunch meat for sandwiches. We'd have to post pone the check out because people from our church were in front of us; they might judge my parents for what some people call "taking advantage" of the tax payers dollar by using stamps to feed our family. People from church knew our situation, but there was never nearly enough help from our friends.

Over and over again I hear people say that our welfare system should be reformed. This may be true in some respects, but there is one solid fact that protrudes from the muck of political bologna: People really do need help.

Should it be the "church"? I don't really know. If you refer to one body united under Christ, then yes, the BODY should take care of one another. But we don't help eachother- because unlike God our generosity runs out. We get all warm and fuzzy at the idea of donating money or time to the local shelter, and we smile because we bought a homeless guy some dinner but heaven forbid someone solicit help more than once.
The inherent evils of government aid can be, and have been used as a soap box for people who've worked hard they're whole life without help from others (if that even exists)- only to sneer at those people who don't "deserve" help because CLEARLY they haven't worked nearly as hard, or they would've succeeded. In my mind that translates to Greed.
Who are you to judge whether someone deserves help or not? Isn't that the point of Gospel we proclaim?

Grace.

I have to say that not a single one of us deserves help in anyway. Not a single one of us deserves, love, freedom or success. We are all sinners, and yet all loved the same by God. Do you believe that ?

The Bible talks about this point over and over again. The Gospel isn�t fair, because the gospel is full of Grace. None of us deserve it, there�s nothing we could do to earn it, and there�s nothing we can do to return it. God loves us, and he gives grace FREELY. If we are called to be like Christ, shouldn�t we give just as freely?

Suggested reading: Matthew 20: 1-6

Is God concerned about our finances, certainly! But it seems like people get hung up very often and very easily about giving money to the poor, and reasonably so. No one wants to inadvertently enable a drug addict, alcoholic etc.

But cash is not the only thing nor the only way to give of your own resources.

Firstly, try giving to a specific organization that deals with problems of poverty, homelessness, job-loss and skills training. It's not cash in hand, but with the right organization it's guaranteed to provide help.

Second, someone asks you for money to buy lunch, why not just take them out for lunch? I've used this approach, and the people who sincerely need food (and not habit-funds) will go with you 100% of the time. This has led to great conversations about the world, God, my faith etc.

Lastly, give of your time. Go visit people at a retirement home. Do dishes at the local soup kitchen. Spend a saturday or a week even doing habitat for humanity. There is so much more community benefit and personal reward when you become directly involved in giving instead of just writing a check. (Though some are certainly called to that.)

To those whom much is given, much will be required.

So...my friend Dave and I were talking. Dave is far to the right and I am around mid-left. Dave is an economic genius and makes his living this way. I approached the topic of giving and was ready for debate. No debate ensued.
This is what my friend Dave said. "I used to use the cable test. You know, if a guy had cable and was asking for money...no deal. He was obviously wasting his money. Then I realized that God gives sunlight and air to everyone. No exceptions. The righteous and the wrong. God gives because God is a giver. I want to be the kind of giver God is. So, no more cable test. I just give."
Thanks, Dave.

Giving is an amazing thing and is surely the right thing to do. Giving to the government (regardless of who is in power) in the form of taxes is also correct, as long as the money is used wisely. Take some time to read the just-passes "stimulus" package. Only $4 billion (0.5%) for small businesses but small businesses employ 70% of Americans. So... I don't see how all taxes can be a privelege when the gov't is not using them wisely. I would much rather give my tithe to a church, where I know where its going and can even have some influence.

Also, its not about feelings, its about what the Bible actually says and your article is scant on quotes. I won't go near Proverbs because they are easy to misunderstand. However, this one strikes me:

"For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread." 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12

And:

"Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.�
Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

God also commands (not requests) us to help those in need and widows and orphans. We need to do that too, AS A CHURCH, not by asking the government to help them. I'd like to see a verse, any verse that suggests letting the government take care of us. God wants us to take care of those around us, through His bride, The Church.

Respectfully, Dean

L,
If you read over my comment again, you seem to be addressing things I never said.
I never said that we should give only to people who really need help. Nor did I say that there are not people out there who really need our help. I actually confirmed that there are people who need help. What I did say is that we need to ask the questions on how best to help people who give the impression that they need help.
You give an example of your personal situation which is fine. But open your eyes outside of your situation. There are thieves, liars and scam artists out there. Do you realize that if you just give to them without asking if they really need help in that way then you are robbing the people who really genuiniely need help.

Please be responsible in your giving. Matt 20 is a parable. The central message is that the grace of God is for everyone who turns to him regardless of when they do it in life. If you feel that Matt. 20 means that you can do whatever you want with your money (really God's money by the way) and are not accountable for it, then you have to explain Matt 25:14-30.

My point is this, people need help in different ways. Just giving money to everyone who asks for it is foolish. Ask the question, "How can I best help this person get out of the difficult situation they are in?" Maybe someone needs money to pay their rent, fine. Maybe it's food, fine. Those are short term solutions to what could be a bigger problem in their life. Maybe it's job training, maybe it's taking care of their kids while they go to work, maybe it's helping them secure scholarships for a better education. Maybe no one ever taught them how to manage money and you could help in that way. Or maybe they are a thief or scam artist, then they need the radically transforming power of Jesus Christ in their life and you can tell them about that. (In the end that's really what Jesus wanted to give people, salvation.)

Giving without asking the real problem is selfish because it only makes you feel good and doesn't really HELP people in the end. I for one would rather help people by helping them find their self-worth than keeping them in a dependant state where they never find value in life.

Thank you for this post Bethany! Well written and put together.