Let me take, as a fixed point of evangelical orthodoxy, the penal, substitutionary atonement of Christ. Let me also take, as a point of personal privilege, the knowledge that Rene Girard has offered some stunning and cogent observations about human nature, the process of scapegoating, triangular desire, and all the rest of it. How are …
Ananias and Sapphira Must Have Been Liberals
One of the constant refrains that provide the background noise to our contemporary political debates is the idea, oft repeated, that liberals are open-hearted, generous, ready to share, while conservatives are pinched souls, close-fisted, and skinflinty. The problem is that we have a lot of data on this, and the data shows, in remarkably broad …
Think Globally, Sit On Your Butt Locally
I am preaching through the book of Amos, and so issues of economics, finances, generosity, and so on keep coming up. This last Sunday, someone after the service asked about something they had heard, which was that Catholic charities outgive evangelical charities, and do so by a long shot. This had application to Amos, but …
A Financial Miscellany
Many other aspects of Proverbs’ teaching on wealth and finances remain, but time does not. A good conclusion to this short series of posts will perhaps be found in an assorted discussion of some of the more important remaining issues. Other than the general relationship to finances, one sustained theme will not necessarily connect these …
Learning to Taste the Gravel Early
The problem of dishonesty in work and labor is a difficult one to address because it is often the case that the first one “lied to” is the liar himself. He is dishonest in his work and labor, and in order to do this most effectively, he must be dishonest first with himself. Remember that …
Laziness and Poverty
We will find no real help in looking at the Hebrew word for lazy man, or sluggard. It means . . . well, it means lazy man or sluggard. Some things are so universal that they translate well into any language; we all understand what a shirker is. It would simplistic to say that poverty …
He Has a Hole Under His Nose. And Money Runs Into It.
We may be induced to throw our money away in any number of ways. Here we need to consider some of the ways we lose money through the sensual snares which wait for us. Typically, when such sins are mentioned, it is so that God’s people will know that they are bad. This is of …
Robert P. Greedybuckets III
We have already established that wealth can be a blessing from God. But wealth is by no means the highest blessing which God can bestow. As you set your priorities for the vocation of money-management, a number of things should be in line ahead of profit. Before we get money right, we have to get …
Seeking Financial Wisdom
Many Christians tend not to think of their work, their business, their money, as being under the specific authority of God. We acknowledge that He owns it all, in a general way, but when it comes to money we frequently assume He is some kind of an absentee landlord, who doesn’t much mind what we …
Real Ambition
INTRODUCTION: So we have considered desire, envy, and competition, and we now come to ambition. To address the subject rightly, we have to recall what we learned thus far. There is a certain kind of desire that every human being has to deal with, and this is a desire that tends to veer toward envy. …