It has become somewhat of a popular avocation to comment on the immense wealth of fabulously successful, high profile people like Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (Tesla), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).
Generally the comments are not of a favourable nature with insinuations that people don’t get that rich by being honest and they must not be paying their workers enough. This cynical assessment of their success often then heads in the direction of saying it is obscene for anyone to be so ‘filthy rich’ and ‘there oughta be a law’ that would properly tax their wealth for distribution to society.
Criticizing rich folks is not our focus today, but rather the thinking behind such criticism. It seems to me most of us have an innate sense (“common sense’?) of fairness that makes us believe the more someone has, the more they have a responsibility to share and use their bounty for others.
Indeed I think most of us when kids were taught some version of this responsibility by our parents, and any of us who have raised children have sought to do likewise.
This is probably why many of us bristle at seeing very rich people apparently hoarding and flouting their wealth and privilege with conspicuously self-centered, opulent lifestyles.
Jesus reflected this ‘common sense’ about bounty and responsibility when He taught: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” (Luke 12:48)
At this time of year we always mark two celebrations that actually remind us of how ‘filthy rich’ we are – Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day.
At Thanksgiving we reflect on the many blessings that immensely enrich our lives. We are none of us as wealthy as Jeff, Elon and Mark, but in the scope of world history we are a people of elite bounty. Millions of people before us worked and sacrificed to build a country and economy that provides us with opportunities and wellbeing unparalleled in history. Never have so many people enjoyed so high a standard of living nor such good healthcare nor such length of life nor such safety from famine or other tragic death.
Looking at our lives from an historical perspective we have to admit that compared to billions of other people, now and in the past, we are among the ‘filthy rich.’
Every Thanksgiving we pause and are reminded of how very blessed we are with abundance.
On Remembrance Day we reflect on the awesome freedom we have in life and the many who were willing to give their lives to protect it. We enjoy amazing freedoms to practice our religious faith, to publicly complain about governments, to pursue economic activities (free enterprise/capitalism), to vote freely, to live where we want, etc. We take this freedom entirely for granted and thus often do not think about how very blessed we are to live in this ‘free country’.
Looking at our lives from a historical perspective, we have to admit that compared to billions of other people, now and in the past, when it comes to being “free” we are among the ‘filthy rich’. Every Remembrance Day we pause and are reminded of how very blessed we are with freedom.
See where I’m going with this? What many of us expect of people like Jeff, Elon and Mark because they are so ‘filthy rich’ – that the more someone has the more they have a responsibility to share and use their bounty for others – applies similarly to us.
What does it mean to live out the “common sense” of Jesus: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded”?
To grow into healthy adult maturity is to recognize how we are beneficiaries of those who lived, worked and sacrificed before us.
It is to recognize that life at its best is about responsibilities, shared relationships and sacrificing for others. Rich life does not come from wealth of freedom, independence, money and possessions, but from wealth of relationships and giving. Sharing life means assuming responsibility for the wellbeing of others and for the greater good.
Life is squandered and we become poor when we strive only for our own riches and ignore the plight of others. Sometimes the poorest among us are actually those with the most wealth and possessions.
Of course it would be good and appropriate for people who are fabulously successful and rich to share generously of their good fortune with the world around them, although forcing them to do so by onerous taxation is probably not the best answer.
How about we rather strive as a culture to adopt, live by, and promote the ‘common sense’ ethic “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required”?
How about we quit looking enviously at those we deem to be ‘filthy rich’ pontificating about how more of their wealth should be confiscated, and instead humbly recognize our own ‘filthy richness’ so we can figure out how to benefit others and find abundant life for ourselves by sharing rather than hoarding our numerous blessings?
It is an awesome privilege to be given much, and an even more awesome privilege to shoulder the responsibility of giving much.
By Dave Tiessen