In an ongoing conversation earlier, the question was asked of me:
"What specific temptations do you think the wealthy have?"
It's a good and fair question. Here then, is an attempt to answer. I invite others to add to the list.
A caveat: When I say wealthy, I'm talking about me and all of us in the top ten percent of world wealth - not just the Gates and Bushes and Clintons of the world.
Given that, it must give us pause when we read Jesus' words: "Woe to you who are rich now..."
Temptations for We Wealthy Types:
1. The temptation to do what it takes to stay rich. (This general temptation covers nearly countless lesser, specific temptations - the temptation to wage war to protect your stuff, the temptation to not want to pay your fair share, the temptation to enact numerous unjust policies that benefit the wealthy at the cost of the poor, the marginalized, the earth or future generations. I'd suggest adding about 1000 for this generalization if you want to talk specifics.)
2. The temptation to rely on your wealth and not God and your brothers and sisters.
3. The temptation to turn a blind eye to flaws in the system that are keeping you rich, failing to see how it negatively impacts others.
4. The temptation to look down on the poor, "After all, if I pulled myself up by myself, why shouldn't they??"
5. The temptation to think that you pulled yourself up by yourself.
6. The temptation to forget that this is GOD's world and GOD's stuff. Not ours.
7. The temptation to try to explain away why verses like, "Woe to the rich," and "Is it not the rich who exploit you," etc, DON'T apply to you.
8. The temptation to seek answers in patriarchal, horizontal, Us/Them sorts of solutions ("What can I do to help the poor wretches?") rather than communal, vertical, side-by-side solutions ("How can we improve our lot, brothers and sisters? How can I help?")
9. The temptation to not even understand the difference between the two above.
10. The temptation to want to see your wealth grow.
Others?
The temptation to see the rich as a "them" instead of an "us".
ReplyDeleteNow, I did post right at the beginning of this post that the "rich" I was speaking of were ME and WE who are in the top ten percent of the wealthiest people in the world.
ReplyDeleteSo, are you saying that the Rich see the Rich as a Them, or was that a critique of this conceit, or that this is a temptation for those who are not rich?
I would think that this IS a temptation of the rich:
ReplyDelete11. To see the poor as a Them, distinct and different from "We, who are refined."
Not that all rich folk fall to this temptation, just that it IS a temptation.
Well, yes. I didn't mean to come across as nit-picky, Dan. What I mean is that it can be very easy to sit in our comforts and think of the rich as someone other than ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a parishioner who lived in a shack with no running water, power, or food. And he felt blessed to have the shack, until he was kicked out of it by the owner.
I have to look at him and conclude that I'm filthy rich.
Well, that IS what I said, after all. I, WE, are the wealthy.
ReplyDeleteDan, I've tagged you for a game on Levellers.
ReplyDelete