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Being Faithful with Dishonest Wealth:
Stewardship in the Face of Global Poverty

It is easy to become overwhelmed when we consider the immense nature of global economic inequality. The disparities are so great that one cannot help but be repulsed, and, as with anything which is repulsing, we are tempted to simply turn away and focus on more “pleasant” considerations.  It is certain that the global capitalist economic system is the source of much of this inequality, or at least seems to amplify and perpetuate existing inequalities.  What is more, Christians who live in the West are implicated in this process, simply by virtue of participating in the economic life of their own societal setting. Even those of us who make efforts to buy ethically and use fair trade products as much as possible cannot completely remove ourselves from the system which produces great excess for some and great suffering for others. If you were born in the West, you were born into privilege at the expense of others.  How should the church respond to this situation?  What are we to do in the face of an economic system which is built on exploitation?  Should we focus our efforts on systemic and revolutionary change, or work “within the system”?

There is a notoriously difficult parable in Luke’s gospel that may have something to contribute to this issue.   It is usually known as the parable of the “shrewd manager” (Luke 16:1-13).  The manager in the parable is commended by his master for using tactics that many of us would consider shady. Space does not permit a detailed treatment of all the problems that arise in attempting to interpret this parable, however, Jesus own’ words at the end of the parable give us some direction as to the message he is trying to get across:

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” (Luke 16:10-12)

The force of the passage seems to be that we should use even wealth, though it is corrupt and “dishonest,” in a way that is faithful to the call of Jesus Christ upon our lives.  The parable is not urging us to use corrupt means to attain wealth, of course.  Rather, it is saying that we need to be faithful with the corrupt wealth we’ve been given.

It is notable that it is in this context that Luke includes Jesus’ saying about the impossibility of serving God and wealth (16:13).  We are not to become slaves to wealth. Such a thing as money, which is corrupt, must be handled in a way that is faithful to our call as Christ’s disciples.  In serving him in a context where we cannot help but participate on some level in the exploitative structures of global capitalism, we need to incorporate our dealings with such “dishonest wealth” into this life of service and discipleship. We have been given an abundance of wealth.  If we are not faithful with something which is so corrupt, how can we deal with truly valuable things such as the preaching of the gospel? Our dealings with money are part of our stewardship of the things with which we have been entrusted.

In a sermon based on this passage, John Wesley came up with his famous three point plan for stewardship among the early Methodists: Gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can (see Sermon 50, “The Use of Money.”). Methodists proved very proficient at points 1 and 2, but their efforts at giving were a disappointment to Wesley.  Gaining and saving all you can is simply the way of the world – it is in the giving that Christian stewardship emerges.

But let not any man imagine that he has done anything, barely by going thus far, by "gaining and saving all he can," if he were to stop here. All this is nothing, if a man go not forward, if he does not point all this at a farther end. Nor, indeed, can a man properly be said to save anything, if he only lays it up. You may as well throw your money into the sea, as bury it in the earth. And you may as well bury it in the earth, as in your chest, or in the Bank of England. Not to use, is effectually to throw it away. If, therefore, you would indeed "make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness," add the Third rule to the two preceding. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then "give all you can." (Sermon 50, “The Use of Money,” §III.1)

Giving “all you can” meant that whatever is left once you’ve provided for the basic needs of yourself and your household - that is, “food to eat, raiment to put on, whatever nature moderately requires for preserving the body in health and strength,” §III.3 - the rest is to be made available for helping others, beginning with the church and moving outward to the whole world. Wesley wanted to do away with all surplus accumulation, which he viewed as tantamount to robbing the poor of their basic needs.  

In spite of the failings of early Methodists to enact Wesley’s vision (and putting aside the debatable details of what “provision” for one’s family today might require), I would suggest that the best course of action for Christians in the West is to mobilize the resources we are able to gain through the capitalist system in order to do what we can to alleviate poverty.  While it is important for Christians to lobby governments for systemic reform, this goal should not take precedence over the immediate demand of alleviating the needs of others through the means at our disposal under the current system.

There is great potential for relieving poverty through the current system.  The individual Western Christian has a relatively large amount of disposable income. Ron Sider, in a 1998 article in Christianity Today, noted that Christians at that time had a total income of $10 trillion dollars.  This figure would be even greater today.  Given this fact, it is simply the most obvious course of action to use these resources for the alleviation of global poverty.  Though this great wealth is obtained, partly at least, through the exploitation of labour in the developing world, the fact that so much of this excess makes its way into the hands of Christians means that we are obligated to use it to relieve what needs we can.  Western Christians, whether we realize it or not, are stewards of this multi-trillion dollar fortune.  This places an immediate ethical demand upon us as Christians.

By using the wealth that we have, we can subvert the exploitation of the developing world by means of turning those exploitative profits back to the ones who are themselves being exploited.  The tendency of capitalism to generate incredible amounts of excess can be, in a sense, “exploited” by Christians for the immediate relief of those who are disadvantaged by it.  While the exploitation of labour itself is to be condemned, and the church can by no means endorse this kind of mistreatment of other human beings, we are bound, given the wealth we do possess, to use it for good.

Of course this leaves whole host of theological problems unanswered.  Why is it that Western Christians have been born into such affluence and excess, while others have been born in deplorable conditions?  This is indeed a difficult question, to which we are not likely to find an answer, apart from the conviction that the world in which we live is profoundly broken by the corruption of sin. What we can know is that it is not God’s intention that human beings should be so devalued as to die of hunger while many of us have more food than we can stuff down our throats.  Our inability to answer the questions about how this is allowed to occur under God’s providence should not prevent us from making use of the “dishonest wealth” with which we have been entrusted, in order to better the lives of others.

Does this leave no room for Christians to work towards systemic change which will counteract the exploitative nature of consumer capitalism?  Of course, we must also speak out and lobby governments to enact regulations which will protect the livelihood of all people. To exclude such action would implicitly condone the systems which create this problem in the first place.  It would be to only treat the symptom without attacking the disease.  To ignore systemic problems would be foolish, and it is not what I am proposing.  Rather, I am proposing that, as the disease itself is not likely to be cured in the near future, our current obligation is primarily to use what we have and seek to relieve the plight of the poor.

It is true that Christians have been on the forefront of some of the most important social reforms in the past few centuries.  However, we should guard against utopian visions of a world in which total equality is brought about by human social reforms. The profound brokenness of sin affects all of creation, including all social structures and relationships.  While we can work for systemic improvements, we will not see complete equality in this current age.  We will not see an end to suffering, strife, and exploitation.  Human effort, which is always hampered by the effects of sin, is not sufficient to totally rid the world of so great a problem, and surely we are all aware that state regulation and provision cannot solve these issues.  It is only when God intervenes in a decisive way at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ that we will see God’s vision for justice and peace realized in its fullness.  The complete eradication of poverty is a part of God’s plan, for he has “made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-10).  Surely economic disparity is one of those things “on earth” which, when gathered under the headship of Christ, will be made right. While we await this coming reign expectantly, we can participate in God’s transforming action by living in obedience to his call to care for the poor.  Our grace-enabled response to these challenges can be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the coming Kingdom.