A while ago it was my turn to write an introduction for a Bible-study. The subject of the study was "Are Christians allowed to be rich?" Here's the text of the introduction I wrote.

Reading Luke 6: 20 - 26.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
24 "But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

On march 31 a small research was conducted based tax data. The subject of this study was to which percentage of their income Dutch Christians gave to charity. This turned out to be 1,8 percent. There's nothing wrong with that: we're not obligated to give to charity. The question that pops-up is about the way we Christians view our money and how we view our neighbor. Last year a book of Philip Goodchild came out, The Theology of Money. In this book Goodchild describes how our societies replaced religion for monetary value. Everything is brought back to costs. Even moral values are guided by budget.

People should not seek to imitate the poor or feel they have to become marginalized to support the impoverished, but they must practice some form of austerity that keeps them sensitive.
Gustavo Gutierrez

Blessed are the poor

Since the second ecumenical Vatican council we know the theological term "Gods preferential option for the poor." The poor here are defined in the broadest sense of the word. Not only financially, but everyone oppressed or ill, etc. We have just read Luke 6, the beginning of what is know as the Sermon on the Plain. Blessings are wishes towards a beautiful future. Woes are the opposite. How is it possible that Jesus blesses poor, ill, hungry and weeping people? Why are we to envy their faith? This is a paradox of Gods Kingdom. Before anyone is able to do something, in the midst of misery, Gods brings a new initiative: His Kingdom in the work of Jesus Christ. Luke copies the blessings from Jesus, but emphasizes the 'now'. Jesus fulfilled Gods promise. The poor, in what ever sense, can put his trust in Christ and rejoice.

On the other hand there's a warning toward the ones that are rich now and always get their way now. A man like that is likely to forget the Creator and miss the evangelical joy.

In what way do we show Gods preference

In what way do we let Gods preference guide our choice? It is possible to think about charity, but what percentage of our time do we give to our neighbor? And what about our political preferences? What do we think about foreign aid? How do we think about minority policies? I hope we let Gods preference show by being an instrument of God. Like a poem of Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is Hatred, let me sow Love.
Where there is Injury, Pardon.
Where there is Doubt, Faith.
Where there is Despair, Hope.
Where there is Darkness, Light, and
Where there is Sadness, Joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.