BRADY'S BALLPOINT - November 2011
If
you have been watching any national news recently you have become aware
of what is taking place in New York City regarding the Occupy Wall
Street movement. This movement is made up of thousands of protesters who
have basically taken over Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. The organizers
and participants in this event say they are protesting the social and
economic inequality that has become too prevalent in the United States
and around the world. Their main beef is that corporations seem to
possess too much power and influence over our government while everyday
people have very little.
The Occupy Wall Street protestors say that something doesn’t make sense
when it comes to money matters in our country. They are actually right.
This is not just true on Wall Street. It is also the case when it comes
to the giving practices of many American churches and Christians. As
David Platt writes, “In other words, for every one hundred dollars a
North American Christian earns, he will give five cents to a world with
urgent spiritual and physical needs. This does not make sense.” (Radical
Together, p. 16).
Christians average giving five cents of every $100 they make to help a
world with urgent spiritual and physical needs. How could such a thing
happen to the church and followers of Christ? Is it that we have been
like the Occupy Wall Street protestors? Our focus has been too much on
other people’s money practices (aka Wall Street’s) and too little on our
own. It’s time for all of us to remember who and what we are. Then maybe
the way that we invest “our” money will no longer be a scandal.
Brady