Blessed are the Poor
Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. - Jesus in Luke 6:20, 24
Jesus doesn’t hold back when it comes to talking about money. He completely upends how the world approaches money. He blesses the poor and he decenters the rich.
If Jesus’s values about money were more common, what do you think would be the implications? is there a way for capitalism to thrive if we took Jesus’s words to heart?
Spend some time pondering these things - steering clear of shame and shoulds and recriminations - just do some holy wondering. To spur you along, here’s an insight to push your thinking:
Jesus is not against wealth and property, just unsacrificial ways of holding it. He’s against those who gather wealth for their own families and not the whole body. He’s against individual and family selfishness, the heart of modern middle class living. - Dismissing Jesus by Douglas M. Jones and Peter J. Leithart